Jesus came to Jerusalem to present Himself formally to the leaders of Israel as the nation's Messiah. He did this when He entered Jerusalem as Isaiah and Zechariah predicted Messiah would appear.
"Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time in a manner which showed that He was none other than the Messiah, the Son of David, who was coming to Sion to claim the city as His own."754
The events Matthew recorded in chapters 21-28 happened within six days. John recorded that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover, evidently the Saturday evening before passion week (John 12:1-10). Jesus had previously travelled from Jericho eventually arriving in Ephraim from which He then went to Bethany (cf. Luke 19:1-28; John 11:55-57). Jesus apparently stayed in Bethany until Monday when He entered Jerusalem.755After that, He seems to have gone back and forth between Bethany and Jerusalem throughout the week (21:17).
21:1-2 Jesus and his disciples travelled the 17 miles from Jericho to Bethany along the Roman road. They climbed about 3,000 feet in elevation between those towns. Bethphage ("house of figs") lay slightly farther west than Bethany also on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives. It no longer exists. When Jesus approached Bethphage He instructed two disciples to go into that village and bring a donkey and its colt to Him.
21:3 This is the only place in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus used the title "Lord"(Gr. kyrios) of Himself. Even though "lord"was a respectful address, used this way it became a title of authority. Probably Jesus had previously made arrangements with the owner to use the animals. Now the disciples went to pick them up and when questioned explained that they were taking them to the gentleman who had made the arrangements (Mark 11:5-6; Luke 19:33-34).
"The careful preparation which the Lord makes indicates His sovereignty. That which is about to transpire is no accident."756
21:4-5 It is possible that Jesus spoke these words. However, it is probable that Matthew added them as he did other fulfillment passages in his Gospel (1:22; et al.). The first two lines of the quotation are from Isaiah 62:11 and the last two cite Zechariah 9:9. Zion is a poetic name for Jerusalem often used of the city under Messiah's rule during the kingdom.757Jerusalem belonged to Messiah (5:35). Matthew omitted quoting the part of Zechariah 9:9 that speaks of Messiah bringing national salvation to Israel. Jesus would not do that then because of Israel's rejection.
Rulers rode donkeys in Israel during times of peace (Judg. 5:10; 1 Kings 1:33). This was a sign of their humble service of the people. Warriors rode horses. Jesus was preparing to declare His messiahship by fulfilling this messianic prophecy. By coming in peace He was extending grace rather than judgment to the city. He was coming as a servant now. He would return as a king on a horse later (cf. Rev. 19:11).
Jesus rode on the colt (a young male donkey), not on its mother, the donkey (Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30). It would have been remarkable that Jesus was able to control a presumably unbroken animal moving through an excited crowd with an unfamiliar burden on its back. This was just one more demonstration that Jesus was the Messiah who was the master of nature (cf. 8:23-27; 14:22-32). Certainly He could bring peace to Israel if He could calm the young colt (Isa. 11:1-10).
"Matthew could hardly make the presentation of the royalty of Jesus more explicit."758
21:6-7 The disciples ran their errand, returned to Jesus, and spread their outer garments on both animals. Both the donkey and the colt entered Jerusalem. The "them"on which Jesus sat were the garments, not both animals.
This deliberate preparation for a citywide reception contrasts with Jesus' former approach to ministry. Before He had not drawn attention to Himself deliberately, but now He prepared to do so. He had formerly withdrawn from the antagonistic hierarchy, but now He organized a parade that they could not miss.759
21:8 The people where acknowledging Jesus as a King by spreading their garments on the road before Him (cf. 2 Kings 9:13). Likewise throwing small branches before Him symbolized the same thing (cf. 1 Macc. 13:51; 2 Macc. 10:7).760
21:9 Crowds preceded Jesus and followed Him as He approached Jerusalem.
"Apparently the Galilean pilgrims accompanying Jesus and the Jerusalem crowd coming out to greet him formed a procession of praise."761
Undoubtedly word of Jesus' coming had preceded him, so the people of Jerusalem were anticipating His arrival.762Their words of praise came from Psalm 118:25-26. The Jews used this psalm at the Passover as part of "the great Hallel"(Pss. 113-18).763"Hosanna"transliterates the Hebrew word for "Save!"(cf. 2 Sam. 14:4; 2 Kings 6:26). It had become an acclamation through usage (cf. Rev. 7:9).764"Son of David"is the messianic title that stressed the kingly role Messiah would play. "He who comes in the name of the Lord"is likewise a messianic reference (23:39; cf. 3:11; 11:3).765"Hosanna in the highest"probably meant "Glory to God in the highest"(Luke 2:14).766This quotation voiced praise to God for sending the Messiah and cried out to Him for deliverance.
"The enthusiastic multitudes thus acclaim Jesus as being blessed by Jehovah, not merely with a verbal benediction, but, as Jehovah always blesses, with the gifts and the treasures implied in the benedictory words; and they acclaim him as coming and bringing all these blessings to them and to their capital and their nation."767
However the people, like the disciples, did not understand Messiah's role as the Suffering Servant who would have to die. They did not appreciate the universal, contrasted with the national, scope of the kingdom either.
21:10-11 Jesus probably entered Jerusalem through the sheep gate (St. Stephen's gate, a name given to it after Stephen's martyrdom; cf. Acts 7:58). This gate pierced the eastern city wall to the north of the temple enclosure. Worshippers brought sheep into the city through this gate for sacrificing because it was the closest gate to the temple. It was fitting that the Lamb of God should enter Jerusalem through this gate. Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem became the popular topic of conversation (cf. 2:3). The residents wondered who He really was. Most people who knew about Him described Him as a prophet from Nazareth whose arena of ministry had been mainly Galilee (cf. 2:23; 16:14; 21:46). This description reflects popular disbelief that He was the Messiah.768
"The significance of the triumphal entry is tremendous in this Gospel. To Matthew it is the final and official presentation of Jesus to Israel as its Messiah. This is evident for several reasons. The first is the manner in which Christ acts throughout this whole course of events. He deliberately makes very careful preparations to fulfill every detail of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. In addition He planned His movements with understanding of their significance. . . .
"A second indication of the fact that Jesus presented Himself to Israel is seen in that the people recognized it as such. . . .769
"A third proof that the Lord presented Himself as the King of Israel is seen in the parables which the Messiah gives following this event. . . .
"A fourth indication . . . is the time in which it occurred. Sir Robert Anderson has shown that the entry of Christ into Jerusalem occurred on the very day that the sixty-ninth week of Daniel's prophecy had run out.770This is the exact time in which the Messiah was to come (Daniel 9:25).
"Because Israel refused to accept the King when He was presented in exact fulfillment of their Scripture, their unbelief was confirmed beyond the shadow of a doubt. The reception which was given the King was without genuine faith and understanding. However, it did give a brief glimpse of that which will characterize the King's reception when He appears to Israel for a second time."771
Matthew stressed Jesus' cleansing of the temple as the work of David's Son (vv. 9, 15). This activity had great messianic significance.772
21:12 The Mosaic Law required that the Jews pay a half-shekel temple tax, which they paid in temple coinage (cf. 17:24-27). To accommodate out of town pilgrims, the religious leaders set up currency exchange tables in the temple courtyard. There people with Greek and Roman money could obtain temple currency. The religious leaders also accommodated worshippers by selling animals used in the offerings of Judaism there. Thus the temple courtyard had come to resemble an outdoor market. Probably greedy merchants cheated their buyers if they could, especially during the feasts when pilgrims from far away crowded the temple area.
"If one bought his animals here, had his money exchanged here, these would be accepted; otherwise he might have trouble on that score."773
Jesus entered the temple area (Gr. hieron) and proceeded to destroy the market.774
21:13 Jesus explained why He was doing what He did to the authorities. He quoted Scripture here similarly to the way He did in replying to Satan (4:1-10). First, He referred to Isaiah 56:7, a passage in which Isaiah looked forward to a time when the temple would be a house of prayer. Significantly Matthew omitted "for all the peoples"from Isaiah's statement focusing his readers' attention on Israel as the target of Jesus' ministry still. Second, Jesus referred to Jeremiah 7:11, a condemnation of superstitious reverence for the temple while the people dishonored it.
"No matter what they do even by violating the sanctity of their Temple, they imagine that their adherence to this Temple will protect and shield them from any penalty."775
In the context of Jeremiah's prophecy, the "robbers"in view were nationalist rebels. That is also the meaning of the Greek word lestaithat Jesus used here. Rather than being a house for prayer, Israel's leaders had turned it into a stronghold of Jewish nationalism that dishonored the temple while they maintained a superstitious respect for it.776
". . . for Jesus to raise the claim through his cleansing of the temple that the temple has, under the custody of the religious leaders, become a den of robbers' and that his purification of it from the desecration of merchants is its restoration to rightful use as Israel's house of prayer and worship, is for him to mount a massive assault on the authority and integrity of the religious leaders (21:12-13)."777
By coming to the temple and purifying it, Jesus was making another messianic claim (cf. Mal. 3:1-4). However the nation's rejection of her Messiah frustrated the cleansing of the temple and precluded the fulfillment of the blessing following purification (Mal. 3:5-6). This prophecy will finally find fulfillment when Messiah comes the second time.
21:14 This is the last reference to Jesus' healing ministry in Matthew's Gospel. The healing probably happened in the Court of the Gentiles. Some of these blind and lame people could not participate fully in worship activities at the temple (cf. 2 Sam. 5:8). However, Jesus made it possible for them to do so by healing them (cf. Acts 3:2). Jesus therefore cleansed both the temple and those who came to it. One greater than the temple had arrived (12:6). The authorities would later question His authority to do this cleansing (v. 23).
21:15-16 The popular response to Jesus' actions agravated the chief priests and teachers of the law further. The wonderful things that Jesus was doing had messianic significance, and the people realized this.
Jesus introduced the Psalm 8:2 quotation with a rebuke. Surely these experts in the Old Testament should have seen the messianic implications of what Jesus was doing and the words people were using as they responded to Him (cf. 12:3; 19:4; 21:42; 22:31). This psalm describes the praise that people, even little children, will give to God for the conditions that will prevail during the messianic kingdom. Ancient Near Eastern mothers often nursed their babes long after the children learned to talk, sometimes for as long as three years following their births.
Jesus' rebuke provided a basis for the children's continuing praise and temporarily stifled the leaders' criticism. It also declared His deity since Jesus accepted praise reserved only for God. Moreover it reinforced the truth that the humble and childlike often perceive spiritual truth more clearly than the sophisticated, though they are often unaware of its full significance (cf. 19:13-15).
"The Magi' (2:1) and the centurion' (8:5) serve as foils for Israel: the faith of these Gentiles contrasts with the unbelief of Israel (2:1-12; 8:5-13). The two blind men' (9:27), the Canaanite woman' (15:22), the other two blind men' (20:30), and the children' in the temple (21:15) also serve as foils for Israel: these no-accounts' see and confess what Israel cannot, namely, that Jesus is its Davidic Messiah."778
21:17 Jesus' withdrawal to Bethany each evening during the festival season was probably for practical reasons. Jerusalem was full of pilgrims, and Jesus had friends in Bethany, namely Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
