Matthew 21:1-11 is the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem. The source is Mark. There are really two stories.
One story is about the sending for the colt in v. 1-6
1When they had come near Jerusalem, the journey toward the Holy City and all the events to unfold here are nearing an end, and had reached Bethphage, about one mile from the summit at the Mount of Olives, a place significant for Jewish prophesy. Zechariah 14 specifically recalls that the coronation march for the divine warrior‑king begins at the Mount of Olives. In Jewish tradition, this is the place where the triumphal entry of the new messianic ruler of the city will start. Before Jesus enters the city, he sends his disciples ahead of him on a special mission. Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find, in a change that Matthew makes from Mark, a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” Some scholars insist that the information Jesus relays to his disciples about the waiting colt is not necessarily a demonstration of any special foreknowledge about the animal, its condition or its location. They argue that Jesus could have made prior arrangements with the colt's owner and is now simply passing along to two disciples the details of the deal he had already worked out. However, the detail Jesus knows about his animal and his use of the phrase "The Lord needs it. . ." certainly seems to identify this as another wonder story. Jesus intuitively "knows" a colt meeting all his requirements is located on a certain street. He also can pass along to his disciples the words that will act as a kind of "open sesame" for them. We should also see their response of "The Lord needs it. . ." a reference to Jesus as "the Lord"‑‑not, as some suggest, as "the Lord" or master of the colt. 4 In another addition, Matthew adds that this took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, Isaiah 62:11, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, (a term of affection for Jerusalem), and from Zechariah 9:9, Look, your king is coming to you,humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” For the prophet, the suffering of Zion is ending. 6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. Matthew does not appear to be as interested as Mark was in detailing the interaction between the standing around the donkey and the disciples.
The second story is about the entry proper in verses 7-11. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, like he will ride both, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. Matthew seems to think of this event as a literal fulfillment of the prophecy. However, we now think of this as a form of parallelism, signifying emphasis rather than quantity. Although donkeys once bore persons of influence and position in Old Testament times (and even earlier, as attested in the Ugaritic mythology), by Jesus' time, the donkey had been supplanted by the horse as a means of conveyance by all who could afford it. The point understood by Matthew is that the messianic King's humility extends beyond the simple beast of burden scorned by the Roman overlords of Judea, reaching even to the innocent, immature offspring of such an unassuming beast. Jesus' gesture of self-effacement is a repudiation of the faster-greater-better spirit of his age. True kingship, the King of Kings quietly proclaims, is humility.[1] 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. This symbolizes the portrayal of Jesus as the Savior of the common and ordinary people. The actions next taken by the disciples and the people are symbolic of the authority of Jesus. In II Kings 9:13, the people perform a similar gesture just before they proclaim Jehu king. In Zechariah 9:9, the divine warrior‑king mounts up and rides into the city‑‑just as Jesus himself now prepares to do. Symbolizing the portrayal of Jesus as the Savior of the common and ordinary people, a large crowd assembles and spreads their cloaks on the road. Other people cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. We might contrast this account with the reception of the Queen of Sheba by Solomon in I Kings 10:1-13 and the acclamation of Jehu as king of Israel in II Kings 9:13. The text clearly intends to draw a parallel between the actions of the messianic warrior‑king Zechariah prophesies and the actions of Jesus, the still‑secret, messianic, Prince‑of‑Peace king. Scholars have also noted that these details would have given a visual message familiar to Gentile readers as well. There are elements here that are equally at home among the traditional victory processions of Greco‑Roman warrior‑kings. The large citizen escort, accompanying hymns or chants, symbolic acquiescence in the new ruler's authority, and a concluding temple ritual: All were part of pagan‑political events familiar to the Greco‑Roman world. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, in the words of Psalm 118:25-26, “Hosanna (a prayer for salvation, "Save, now" or "Save, I pray."), with Matthew adding, to the Son of David! We might see such significance in Jesus' epithet "son of David" (applied also to Jerimoth, II Chronicles 11:18, Solomon II Chronicles 1:1, 13:6, 35:3; Proverbs 1:1, the Teacher of Ecclesiastes (1:1), and Jesus' relatives, Joseph, Matthew 1:20) and Nathan (Luke 3:31). Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” This refers to the highest part of a multilayered heaven or to God. Matthew is emphasizing that Jesus is a worthy fulfillment of the expectations regarding the descendants of David. I find it difficult to read these words in this setting without my mind going to a hymn by Jeanette Threlfall, (1821-1880) that opens with “Hosanna, loud hosanna,” referring to little children singing through the court and temple. The anthem is lovely, as they sing to Jesus, who blessed them. It refers to arriving from Olivet, with the victor palm branch waving as the Lord of earth and heaven rode in a humble state. Further, an ancient hymn from the 600s by Theodulph of Orleans and translated by John Mason Neale in the 1800s refers to the lips of children singing sweet hosannas to the King of Israel and the royal Son of David, who comes in the name of the Lord, the King and Blessed One. 10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” For Matthew, however, Jesus is far more in that he is the foretold Messiah of Jewish expectation.
Churches celebrate this event on Sunday. That fact may divert us from the truth of the type of day this was for Jesus, his disciples, and the city they entered. Some biblical scholars have suggested that the procession into Jerusalem took place on Monday.[2] Of course, what day of the week it took place does not really matter, except perhaps from the perspective of the people who rejoiced when Jesus rode into the city. If it was Monday, it was a weekday, not the Sabbath, which, for Jews, was sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Thus, it was certainly not a “holy day” in the religious sense of the term. Further, if it was Sunday, it still was not a holy day, a religious day, like Sunday is for us. Sunday would have been like our Monday, the first day of the workweek, the day after the Sabbath rest. It was time to sweep the stoop, open the shop, wash the clothes, go to the market, repair the oxcart, get the bread in the oven, deal with matters left over from the previous week that they had set aside for the Sabbath and so forth. Besides, there was the Passover coming in a few days. Lots to do! Regardless of the actual day of the week, for the people who greeted Jesus as he rode into the city, it was a Monday type of day.
Is God interested in the marketplace? Does God care about the public arena, about the world of work, about trade, professions, law, government, education and industry? Many Christians seem to operate on the everyday assumption that God is not. For too many, God cares about the church and its affairs, about getting people to heaven, but not about how society and its public places conduct themselves on earth. The result can be a rather dichotomized Christian life in which we invest most of our time that matters (our working lives) in a place and a task that we think does not really matter much to God, while struggling to find opportunities to give some leftover time to the only thing we think does matter to God: evangelism. Yet, the Bible speaks comprehensively about the human marketplace. The Old Testament word was “the gate,” the public square where people met and did their business together. God is intensely interested in this world of human social engagement and activity, this world where we spend most of our time. Work is God’s idea. Genesis 1-2 gives us our first picture of the biblical God as a worker — thinking, choosing, planning, executing, evaluating. So when God decided to create humankind in the image and likeness of God, what else could humans be but workers, reflecting in their working lives something of the nature of God?[3]
A processional entry of a personage like Jesus into the capital city would also recall the Roman triumph of a victorious general surrounded by his conquering troops. The troops would sing songs in praise of their leader, just as do the disciples. Like the returning hero, Jesus heads for the temple of his God. However, there are also notable differences that the first-century listener would notice. Unlike the returning hero, Jesus wears no crown. Jesus’ crown comes later. Yet, we can see here in this welcome a fulfillment of the heavenly situation of the will of God being done on earth, as it is heaven.[4]
Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan, in their book The Last Week, say that on that particular Sunday people in Jerusalem would have witnessed two processions, not one — the Pilate Procession and the Jesus Procession. The Pilate procession for the Roman governor and his accompanying military force coming into the city from the west provided that military deterrent during the festival. According to the contemporary historian Josephus, when Pilate first brought Roman troops to Jerusalem from Caesarea some time earlier, he committed an unprecedented violation of Jewish sensibilities by allowing the troops to bring their military standards and busts of the emperor into Jerusalem by night and set them up in the temple. A massive protest demonstration in Caesarea’s stadium forced the removal of the standards, but only after the Jews used tactics of nonviolent mass resistance, lying down and baring their necks when Pilate’s soldiers, swords in hand, surrounded and attempted to disperse them. Josephus also speaks of protests that broke out on another occasion when Pilate appropriated temple funds to build an aqueduct for Jerusalem. On this occasion, Pilate had Roman soldiers, dressed as Jewish civilians and armed with hidden clubs, mingle with the shouting crowd and attack the people at a prearranged signal. The soldiers killed or hurt many. The Jesus procession was on the east side of the city. Jesus sent his disciples to get a colt, which we assume was a small donkey. When the disciples secured the colt, Jesus rides it down the steep road from the Mount of Olives to the Golden Gate of the city, with a crowd of his supporters shouting “Hosanna!” — a Hebrew word that mixes praise to God with a prayer that God will save his people and do it soon. They spread their cloaks on the colt and cut branches from the surrounding fields — actions that they did only in the presence of royalty. Borg and Crossan see the Palm Sunday parade as a kind of pre-planned political protest, and a look at the context seems to back that up. The symbolism of a ruler riding on a donkey would not be lost on those putting their cloaks in the road, for they would have remembered the words of the prophet Zechariah: an image of a king coming into Jerusalem with shouts of joy from the people. He is “triumphant” and “victorious” — words that Romans and other imperial leaders would have embraced — but he is “humble” and rides on a donkey instead of a war horse (Zechariah 9:9). In fact, continues the prophet, “He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem.” This king is not a conquering hero who uses weapons of mass destruction, but one who will break the power of military might with humility, justice and a “peace” for all the nations (Zechariah 9:10). Jesus’ parade is thus an intentional parable and statement of contrast. If Pilate’s procession embodied power, violence and the glory of the empire that ruled the world, Jesus’ procession embodied the kind of rule that God was ushering in through Jesus’ ministry of healing, his message of good news and, ultimately, his sacrificial death on a Roman cross. Pilate and the empire he represented were the most powerful force in the region on that Sunday. Jesus provided a puzzling contrast. In one sense, and in various ways, the church on Palm Sunday is asking people to join the right parade.
From one perspective, this event suggests the fleeting nature of popularity. On Palm Sunday Jesus was a huge hit with the crowds. Yet, popularity is hardly what the Gospel considers important about Jesus.
A generation ago, John Lennon of the Beatles thought Jesus was a popular fellow. Then in 1966, he infamously proclaimed that he and his Beatle mates were even “more popular than Jesus.” I was only 14 at the time. I would not be unique in my generation to say that they were my favorite band. I was attending a church in Austin, MN at the time. His statement made some uncomfortable times for me. It gave ammunition to adults who did not like the music or appearance of the Beatles. I am not sure if I just overlooked it or forgave John for it, but they remained my favorite band. They are still a favorite, although I liked much of their work after the band broke up. I had the privilege of being present when Paul McCartney was in Indianapolis, a gift from my two sons, who also like the Beatles. After the Beatles, Paul led a band called Wings. I recall someone of the generation of Wings saying that he really liked Wings, but who are these “Beatles”? Fame is a fleeting thing. Lennon was looking at packs of screaming fans every day, while hordes of teens did not overrun churches rabidly wanting to be close to Jesus.
These days, we have Google Trends to indicate popularity. Nathan Smith, writing in the Houston Press in 2012, says Jesus has four times the number of web page hits as do the Beatles, who have a little over 200 million. Of course, the Beatles have not cut an album in decades and half its members have passed on. Jesus is still the main subject of the world’s number one best-selling book and, according to Christians, is still alive and at work.
Lennon also said to The London Evening Standard on March 4, 1966, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right and I will be proved right … I don’t know which will go first — rock ’n’ roll or Christianity.” Google Trends says Christianity and rock ’n’ roll are both still around and, interestingly, running about dead even in search popularity.
While I find it amazing that the popularity of the Beatles remains as strong as it has been, I find it more amazing that the carpenter and rabbi from Galilee, after all these centuries, remains so high in web pages and web searches. Popularity is not everything. Most people have less problem with Jesus than they do with Christianity or church. In one way of looking at this, that is all right with me. I would much rather have people reflecting upon how God works in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. You see, that is the focus of the church as well. As important as the church may be to me and to many others, it exists to point people to Jesus.
Here is a five-minute video, a short life of Jesus. It is worth your time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5-x-FWarNY
I am not sure what we get out of our fascination with celebrity. I do know that it does not typically lead to a changed life. I want you to hear what one person wrote on a web site that received postings from people all over the world after the death of Princess Diana.
Princess Diana: With your sudden passing, we will no longer know the joy of your kindness, but we will see you in every act of kindness man shows man. We will hear you in words of kindness. We will feel your love when every man can show love for himself and his fellow beings. You will be truly missed.[5]
I do not want to get into a discussion of who Diana was. I do not know how long this thought by Tina remained true in her life. However, do we have as much devotion to Christ as people have to their favorite celebrity? What change might occur in our lives if we did?
In a sense, Jesus is still a celebrity. Jesus can still attract a crowd. He still sells magazines. His picture is on the cover of Time and Newsweek twice a year, Easter and Christmas.
If you let him, he will change the way the way you view the world. Who is this Jesus? He is the one who will alter your values and priorities. He will bring healing into your life.
Who is this Jesus? Important question that the churches raise in their preaching, teaching, and life. Who are you? After you have met him, what happened to your life? What continues to happen your life because of him? You have the opportunity, through your following of Jesus, through your witness, to bring healing to others. A good witness is not like a salesperson. A witness focuses on a person rather than a product. A good witness is like a signpost in that the witness points in the right direction in a way others can understand. A witness to Christ in this world points others to Christ.[6]
Pilate and the empire he represented were the most powerful force in the region on that Sunday, but Google up “Jesus” and “Roman Empire” today and it is not even close. Jesus wins in a landslide.
[1](see David R. Bauer, "Matthew," in the Asbury Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992]).
[2] “Chronology of the Holy Week and resurrection appearances in the gospels.” The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. IX Nashville: Abingdon, 1995, 704-705.
Crossan, John Dominic. “Why did Jesus go to Jerusalem? A Holy Week reflection.” HuffPost, March 31, 2012, updated May 31, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
Doig, Kenneth Frank. “The triumphal entry on Palm Sunday,” New Testament Chronology, Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990, chapter 20. nowoezone.com. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
Parkinson, James and Ernie Kuenzli. “When did Jesus enter Jerusalem?” The Herald, heraldmag.org. n.d. (but URL says 2012). Retrieved September 22, 2018.
[3] —Christopher J.H. Wright, “Saints in the marketplace: A biblical perspective on the world of work, TheOtherJournal.com, September 29, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
[4] Barth, Church Dogmatics, III.3 [51.2], 446.
[5] -Posted on the Internet by Tina Heffernan on September 5, 1997.
[6] John White.
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