NOTES for Mat 21:1-17

In almost every line of this account the evangelist draws a parallel with biblical prophecies, and some of them are quoted directly in the text. Yet almost every quotation is interpreted and understood anew here; Jesus becomes the center of all the prophecies and psalms. This newness is naturally grounded in the course of the events that follow: everything will take place in this way and, at the same time, not in the way expected by the disciples and the crowd accompanying Jesus. He enters the holy city, but there He is awaited not by triumph but by 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 reveals a new way—not the one people expect (even His disciples!). He will fulfill the prophecies in a new way, in a manner that even the wisest of the wise would never guess how to read. 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.