The Entry Into Jerusalem
THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
MATTHEW 21:1-11
The steep ascent from Jericho to Jerusalem has almost been completed.
Jesus and the pilgrim crowd have reached the Mount of Olives, which lies to the east of the city. Bethphage (the place of young figs) was a village near Bethany, on the eastern side of the mount, barely two miles from Jerusalem. There Jesus had made advance arrangements for his entry into the city. Matthew’s mention of two animals (21:2-7), over against the other evangelists’ one (Mark 11:2ff.; Luke 19:30ff., John12:14), is “duplication” of a different kind from that in the preceding paragraph; here he emphasizes the express fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, in which “an ass” and “a colt, the foal of an ass” appear in synonymous parallelism (21:5). The other Gospels make it plain that it was on the unbroken colt that Jesus rode into Jerusalem. The introductory formula of 21:4 in this instance implies Jesus’ deliberate plan to give effect to the oracle—probably to see what the response of the Jerusalemites would be to his peaceful approach. It was not encouraging.
It was the pilgrims thronging around Jesus who uttered jubilant shouts—perhaps with more enthusiasm than understanding (21:9). “Hosanna” (“save now,” “give victory now”) is the festal cry of Psalm 118:25; “hosanna to the son of David” is as much as to say “God save the (messianic) King.” The words of welcome (“blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”) come from the same context (Psalm 118:26). The phrase “in the highest” is a substitute for the name of God: “Save now, (thou who dwellest) in the highest (place).” But when the people of Jerusalem ask the cause of all the commotion, the crowds claim nothing more for Jesus than that he is the prophet of Nazareth: Prophet or King, would the city have him on his own terms? Would it recognize him as the Shepherd of Israel, ready to “devote” himself for his people’s salvation, or would it prefer others who would involve it in ruin?