When they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them here to me. 3 And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, ‘The master has need of them.’ Then he will send them at once.” 4 This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: 5 “Say to daughter Zion, ‘Behold, your king comes to you, meek and riding on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. 7 They brought the ass and the colt and laid their cloaks over them, and he sat upon them. 8 The very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and strewed them on the road. 9 The crowds preceding him and those following kept crying out and saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” 10 And when he entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?” 11 And the crowds replied, “This is Jesus the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Bethpage was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, about a Sabbath day’s journey from the city (Acts 1:12). Jerusalem was the capital of Judea and the religious center for the Jews because the Temple was there. The major religious festivals were primarily held in Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives was to the East of the city and about 2,500 feet high. Jesus instructed two of the disciples to go to a nearby village where they would find a donkey and its colt tied up and bring the animals to him. The village was probably Bethany where Jesus was anointed by Mary, Lazarus’ sister (Jn. 12:1-12). Jesus told the two disciples to respond to any questions by saying that the Master needed them. Matthew stresses Jesus’ foreknowledge and lordship (vv. 1-3). Matthew tells us that a prophecy was being fulfilled and combines quotes from Isaiah (Is. 62:11) and Zechariah (vv. 4-5). He ignores the Hebrew parallelism in the quote from Zechariah which offers two descriptions of the one animal; “Behold: your king is coming to you, a just savior is he, Humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9).” It would be difficult for Jesus to sit on two animals at the same time (v. 7).
The disciples obeyed Jesus, brought the animals to him, and in a gesture of honor, laid their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead and many in the crowd who witnessed the miracle expected him to go to Jerusalem for the Passover which was one of the major Jewish festivals held annually in Jerusalem. Great excitement had been created by the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection and as Jesus entered Jerusalem a very large crowd spread cloaks and branches of trees on the road. That act was a gesture of welcome, honor, and reverence usually shown to rulers and kings in the ancient world (2 Kgs. 9:13). “Hosanna to the Son of David (v. 9)” is a shout of joy similar to shouting ‘glory to God on high’. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” was originally a welcome to pilgrims coming to the Passover feast and is from the Psalms (Ps. 118:26). It more importantly signified their recognition of Jesus as a royal figure and their acknowledgment of his authority and kingship. He was the long-awaited Messiah, and their expectation was that he would bring salvation. The city of Jerusalem was in turmoil and some of the visitors who knew nothing about the miracle worker Jesus wondered who he was. The crowd identified Jesus as a prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.
Almighty God, help us to welcome Jesus into our hearts with joy and reverence. Help us to lay down our cloaks of pride and spread branches of humility before Him, acknowledging Him as our King and Savior. Grant us the grace to follow His example of meekness and love, that we may walk in His ways and proclaim Hosanna in the highest. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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