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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat_21:1-11
1When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2instructing them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a
colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,'and immediately he will send them." 4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5Say to the daughter of Zion,
Behold your King is coming to you,
Gentle, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'"
6The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, 7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. 8Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. 9The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting,
Hosanna to the Son of David;
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
Hosanna in the highest!"
10When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?" 11And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee."
Mat_21:1 "Bethphage" This name meant "house of figs." This village was located somewhere between Bethany and Jerusalem on the long ridge known as the Mount of Olives.
▣ "Mount of Olives" It is uncertain where Jesus spent the nights the last week of His life. Some assert that He went back to Bethany and stayed with Lazarus; others say that He bivouacked on the Mount of Olives, possibly in the specific location of the Garden of Gethsemane. Reality is probably the combination of both (cf. Joh_12:1-10).
Mat_21:2-3 This is one of those accounts that is either a miracle of Jesus' supernatural knowledge or a pre-arrangement. There are accounts of both in the New Testament. In context it seems to be a pre-arranged meeting.
Mat_21:2 "a donkey tied there and a colt with her" In Joh_12:14 a donkey is mentioned but not a colt. The reason that the colt is significant is because of the symbolism of the donkey to Israel. The donkey was the mount of the king (i.e., 2Sa_18:9). The king had a royal donkey on which no one but he ever rode. The fact that Jesus came riding on a donkey, particularly on one that had never been ridden, is a fulfillment of the prophecy mentioned in Mat_21:5, from Zec_9:9, with a possible allusion to Isa_62:11. Some late Greek manuscripts add "Zachariah" before "prophet," while some of the editions of the Vulgate and the Coptic translations add "Isaiah." The donkey was not only a symbol of royalty, but the colt a symbol of humility and peace.
Mat_21:3 "if" This is a third class conditional sentence, which denotes potential action.
Mat_21:5 This is a quote from Isa_62:11 and Zec_9:9.
Mat_21:7 "and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats" This act of placing their coats on the two animals is much like our festival saddles used during a parade. It is obvious that Jesus rode on the colt although the Greek text is somewhat ambiguous. "Them" in the Greek texts referred to the coats on both animals, not the animals.
Mat_21:8 "spread their coats in the road" This was another aspect of a royal parade which is similar to our modern expression of " rolling out the red carpet" for a distinguished visitor. There is even a historical allusion to this same act being done to (1) Jehu in 2Ki_9:13, and (2) Simon Maccabeus in 1Ma_13:51 and 2Ma_10:7.
▣ "and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road" Although this symbolic act was regularly done during the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev_23:13-20), those branches were much larger than these. The branches used here were smaller and are comparable to the modern custom of spreading rose petals before a bride as she walks down the aisle. These three acts: (1) the coats on the animals, (2) the coats spread in the road, and (3) the branches spread in the road show that they were honoring Jesus as the coming royal, Davidic King (Messiah).
Mat_21:9 "The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting" The term "shouting" is an imperfect tense which implied that they shouted repeatedly. The quote comes from Psa_118:26-27. It was part of the Passover liturgy known as the Hallel Psalms (cf. Psalms 113-118). These were used every year at the place where the road rose to Jerusalem to welcome the pilgrims to the Feast of Passover, but this year there was unique expectation in the person of Jesus. These verses applied uniquely to Him! He was their fulfillment!
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, NJB "Hosanna"
TEV "Praise to"
The term may have been an Aramaic idiom meaning "royal power to." Literally, this term in Hebrew was "Hosanna" (BDB 446, cf. Psa_118:25), which came to be used as a regular greeting. Originally it meant "save us now." The first usage referred to Jesus and the second (Psa_118:26; Mat_21:10) to God the Father, praising Him for sending the Messiah.
▣ "in the highest" This was a circumlocution for heaven or the presence of God.
▣ "Son of David" This was a Messianic title (cf. Mat_9:27; Mat_12:23; Mat_15:22; Mat_20:30-31; Mat_22:42). This was an allusion to 2 Samuel 7, which predicted that there would always be a descendant of the Davidic line on the throne. This was the necessary fulfillment of the Messiah being from the tribe of Judah (cf. Gen_49:10; Psa_60:7; Psa_108:8).
▣ "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" The parallel in Luke adds "He that is king" and this was the explicit implication.
Mat_21:10 "and when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, 'Who is this'" It is true that many people had heard about the mighty works of Jesus and attributed to Him the title of prophet (cf. Mat_21:11). But it needed to be clearly revealed that He was not only a prophet, but the predicted Messiah. The events that follow will clearly reveal this to anyone who had spiritual eyes to see.
At this point Luk_19:41-44 inserts Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem; however, Matthew does not record this until Mat_23:37-39. The Gospel writers had the ability under inspiration to select, adapt, arrange and summarize Jesus' words and teachings. The Gospels are not a western chronological history but a theological tract to win the lost and teach the saved.
Mat_21:11 "the crowds were saying, 'This is the prophet Jesus' " The recognition of Jesus' divine inspiration and power relates to the Messianic prophecy of Deu_18:15-19. The people freely admitted that Jesus was a prophet of God (cf. Luk_7:16; Luk_24:19; Joh_4:19; Joh_6:14; Joh_7:40; Joh_9:17). This context also asserted His Messiahship. See hyperlink at Mat_11:9.