FINAL ENTRY OF JESUS TO JERUSALEM
1Now when they drew
near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus
sent two disciples, 2saying to them,
“Go into the village
in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with
her. Untie them and bring them to me.
3If anyone says
anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at
once.”
4This took place to
fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5“Say to the
daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and
mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
6The disciples went
and did as Jesus had directed them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt and
put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.
8Most of the crowd
spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and
spread them on the road. 9And the crowds that went before him and that followed
him were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son
of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the
highest!”
10And when he entered
Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?”
11And the crowds
said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
MATTHEW 21:1-11
COMMENTARY
The narrative of the
last entry of Lord Jesus into the capital city of Jerusalem accounts as one of
the events with more historical background than many other minor events.
It is narrated in a
very similar way in the four canonical gospels, and a loud entry with
participation with most of the local population could not be invented or
treated as a fable.
Jesus had not long
before, resurrected Lazarus from the dead (John 11), and He made it in public.
Many saw it and his fame acquired limits not expected before. This time, there
was not just a lepper being healed, or a blind given the sight back; or any kind
of miracle which in the incredulity of the unbelievers, could be brought to
doubt or attributed to magic (Matthew 12:27). The self-proclaimed Messiah had
just resurrected a deceased person in state of decomposition (John 11:39),
undeniably dead, and this made the whole population of Juda finally come to
accept Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Jesus knew what was
going to happen this time. His own arrest and crucifixion (Matthew 20:17-19),
but never the less, He still went there to fulfill his mission on Earth, the
atoning sacrifice.
He got two of his
disciples to get him a female donkey and her colt to enter Jerusalem. This was
given to Lord Jesus on loan by a disciple of his, whom the gospel does not
mention by name (Matthew 21:3), and was one of the messianic prophecies Jesus
fulfilled in his lifetime, quoted here freely from Zachariah 9:9.
The prophecy was
fulfilled, our Lord Jesus entered the Holy City, gentle as He always was,
seating on the colt, while the mother of the young animal followed them (Mark 11:7;
Luke19:35).
The people of
Jerusalem came full of joy to welcome Jesus as their Messiah. They shouted :
“Hosanna, meaning in old Hebrew ‘Save us’, Son of David, and they bless Him as
the Envoy of God to Israel, and praise YHWH in the highest.
They probably
expected the Messiah to come as a conqueror mounting a white horse in glory and
flowed by an army; but He entered humbly, seating on a humble beast, without
weapons and escorted by a few of his closest followers, all peaceful men.
However, these people
expected a political leader and a liberation of Roman power, but Jesus came to
rescue hearts from perdition, lost souls to salvation.
Many of these same
multitude, a week later, were applauding the crucifixion of our Lord, because
He did not fit their worldly expectations.
Omar Flores.
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