Into almost every line of this story the evangelist places a parallel with biblical prophecies, and some of them are quoted directly in the text. But almost every quotation is interpreted and understood here in a new way...
Into almost every line of this story the evangelist places a parallel with biblical prophecies, and some of them are quoted directly in the text. But almost every quotation is interpreted and understood here in a new way: Jesus becomes the center of all the prophecies and psalms. And this newness is naturally dictated by the course of the events that follow: everything will be fulfilled both as expected and, at the same time, in a way completely different from what the disciples and the people accompanying Jesus expect.
He enters the holy city, but what awaits Him there is not triumph, but execution. He is greeted as King, but He will be condemned as an impostor and criminal. He cleanses the Jerusalem Temple, but soon He Himself will become the new Temple for those who follow Him after His Resurrection.
Christ shows a new way, not at all the one people expect, even His disciples. He will fulfill the prophecies in a new way, in a way that even the wisest of the wise will not think to read them. He does not do what we expect of Him; He calls us to follow Him into His new life, into a new Heaven and a new Earth.
21
21:1 Mar 11:1; Luk 19:29; Joh 12:12.
21:5 The daughter of Sion - That is, the inhabitants of Jerusalem: the first words of the passage are cited from Isa 62:11; the rest from Zec 9:9. The ancient Jewish doctors were wont to apply these prophecies to the Messiah. On an ass - The Prince of Peace did not take a horse, a warlike animal. But he will ride on that by and by, Rev 19:11. In the patriarchal ages, illustrious persons thought it no disgrace to make use of this animal: but it by no means appears, that this opinion prevailed, or this custom continued, till the reign of Tiberias. Was it a mean attitude wherein our Lord then appeared? Mean even to contempt! I grant it: I glory in it: it is for the comfort of my soul for the honour of his humility, and for the utter confusion of all worldly pomp and grandeur.
21:7 They set him thereon - That is, on the clothes.
21:8 A great multitude spread their garments in the way - A custom which was usual at the creation of a king, Ki2 9:13.
21:9 The multitudes cried, saying - Probably from a Divine impulse; for certainly most of them understood not the words they uttered.Hosanna - (Lord save us) was a solemn word in frequent use among the Jews. The meaning is, "We sing hosanna to the Son of David.Blessed is he, the Messiah, of the Lord. Save. Thou that art in the highest heavens." Our Lord restrained all public tokens of honour from the people till now, lest the envy of his enemies should interrupt his preaching before the time . But this reason now ceasing, he suffered their acclamations, that they might be a public testimony against their wickedness, who in four or five days after cried out, Crucify him, crucify him. The expressions recorded by the other evangelists are somewhat different from these: but all of them were undoubtedly used by some or others of the multitude.
21:11 This is Jesus from Nazareth - What a stumbling block was this!if he was of Nazareth, he could not be the Messiah. But they who earnestly desired to know the truth would not stumble thereat: for upon inquiry (which such would not fail to make) they would find, he was not of Nazareth, but Bethlehem.