Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 21:2-9

"saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose [them], and bring [them] unto me. And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. Now this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did even as Jesus appointed them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their garments; and he sat thereon. And the most part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut branches from the trees, and spread them in the way. And the multitudes that went before him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed [is] he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest." — Matthew 21:2-9 (ASV)

Remigius of Auxerre: The Evangelist related above that the Lord departed from Galilee and began to go up to Jerusalem. Now occupied with telling what He did along the way, he continues his purpose, saying, “And when they drew near to Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage.” Bethphage was a small village of the priests, situated on the slope of the Mount of Olives, one mile from Jerusalem. For the priests who ministered in the temple for their allotted time, when their term of service was finished, withdrew to this village to stay, as did those who were to take their place. This was because it was commanded by their Law that no one should travel on the Sabbath more than a mile.

Origen of Alexandria: For this reason, Bethphage is interpreted as “The House of the Shoulder,” for the shoulder was the priest's portion in the Law. It follows, “Then Jesus sent two of his disciples.”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: He did not say to His disciples, “Say, ‘Your Lord has need of them,’” so that they would understand that He alone is Lord, not only of the animals, but of all people; for even sinners are His by the law of nature, though by their own will they are the Devil's.

St. John Chrysostom: And do not think this was a small thing that was done, for who was it that worked on the owners of the animals so that they did not refuse, but gave them up? By this He also instructs His disciples that He could have restrained the Jews but would not. He further teaches them that they should grant whatever is asked of them, for if those who did not know Christ granted this, how much more should His disciples give to everyone. As for the statement, “and straightway he will send them,”

Pseudo-Chrysostom: it is to be understood that after He entered Jerusalem, the animal was returned by Christ to its owner.

Glossa Ordinaria: Or, the owner of the animals will immediately send them to be used for Christ's service. To this is added the testimony of the Prophet, to show that the Lord fulfilled all things that were written about Him, but that the Scribes and Pharisees, blinded by envy, would not understand the things that they read: “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet,” namely, Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9).¹

Pseudo-Chrysostom: For the Prophet, knowing the malice of the Jews and that they would speak against Christ when He went up to the Temple, gave them this sign beforehand, by which they might know their King: “Say to the daughter of Zion.”

Rabanus Maurus: Historically, “Daughter of Zion” is the name given to the city of Jerusalem, which stands on Mount Zion. But mystically, it is the Church of the faithful, belonging to the Jerusalem that is above.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Behold” is a word used for pointing something out. It means to look not with the physical eye, but with spiritual understanding at the works of His power. In times past He often said, “Behold,” so that He might show that the one of whom He spoke, even before He was born, was already your King. When you see Him, then, do not say, “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:15). “He comes to you,” if you will receive Him, so that He may save you; if you will not receive Him, He comes against you. He is “Meek,” so that He is not to be feared for His power but loved for His meekness. Therefore, He does not sit on a golden chariot, resplendent in costly purple, nor is He mounted on a spirited steed that rejoices in strife and battle, but upon a she-ass that loves peace and quiet.

St. Augustine of Hippo: In this quotation from the Prophet, there is some variation in the different Gospels. Matthew quotes it as if the Prophet had expressly mentioned the she-ass, but it is not quoted this way by Johnⁱ, nor in the church copies of the translation in common use. This seems to me to be explained by the fact that Matthew wrote his Gospel in the Hebrew language. And it is clear to those who know Hebrew and have translated the same books from it that the translation called the Septuagint (LXX) has some things different from what is found in the Hebrew. If we ask the reason for this discrepancy, I consider nothing more likely than that the Septuagint was interpreted with the very same Spirit with which the original was written—a fact confirmed by the wonderful agreement among the translators of which we are told.²

By varying the expression in this way, while not departing from the meaning of God whose words they were, they convey to us the very same truth that we gather from this agreement, with its slight variations, among the Evangelists. This shows us that it is not a lie when someone relates something with such different details, as long as he does not depart from the intention of the one with whom he ought to agree. Knowing this is useful for our morals in avoiding lies, and for faith itself, so that we do not suppose that truth is secured in the sacred sounds, as though God imparted to us not only the substance but also the very words in which that substance is conveyed. Rather, the substance is conveyed in words in such a way that we should not need words at all if it were possible for the substance to be known by us without them, as God and His angels know it.

It follows, “The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the ass and the colt.” The other Evangelists say nothing of the ass. And if Matthew had not mentioned the colt, just as they do not mention the ass, the reader should not have been surprised. How much less, then, should it trouble him when one evangelist mentions the ass that the others omitted, while not forgetting the colt that they did mention. For there is no discrepancy where both events may have occurred, even if one writer related only one of them and another writer the other. How much less is there a discrepancy when one mentions both, even though another mentions only one?

It follows, “and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.”

St. Jerome: But it seems that the Lord could not have sat upon both animals in so short a distance. Since the historical account presents either an impossibility or a triviality, we are directed to higher things—that is, to the figurative sense.

Remigius of Auxerre: Nevertheless, it was possible that the Lord could have sat on both animals.

St. John Chrysostom: It seems to me that He was mounted on the ass not only because of the mystery, but also to give us a lesson in wisdom, teaching us that one does not need to be mounted on horses, but that it is enough to use an ass and be content with what is necessary. But ask the Jews: what king has ever entered Jerusalem mounted on an ass? They can name no other, only this one.

St. Jerome: The crowds that came out of Jericho and followed the Savior threw down their garments and scattered branches from trees on the road. Therefore it follows, “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,” that is, beneath the feet of the ass, so that it would not stumble on a stone, step on a thorn, or fall into a ditch. “While others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road,” from the fruit trees, that is, with which the Mount of Olives was covered.

And when all that could be done was done, they also added the tribute of their voices, as it follows, “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’”

I will now briefly examine the meaning of this word, Hosanna. In the 118th Psalm, which is clearly written about the Savior's coming, we read this among other things: “Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD” (Psalm 118:25-26). For what the Septuagint gives as Ω Κυριε, σωσον δη, “Save now, O Lord,” we read in the Hebrew as “Anna, adonai osianna,” which Symmachus renders more plainly, “I pray you, O Lord, save, I pray you.” Let no one think that it is a word made up of two words, one Greek and one Hebrew, for it is purely Hebrew.

Remigius of Auxerre: And it is composed of one complete and one incomplete word. For “Hosi” means “save,” and “anna” is an interjection used in pleading.

St. Jerome: For it signifies that the coming of Christ is the salvation of the world, from which it follows, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Savior confirms this same thing in the Gospel: “I have come in my Father's name” (John 5:43).

Remigius of Auxerre: This is because in all His good actions, He sought not His own glory, but His Father's.

Glossa Ordinaria: And the meaning is, “Blessed”—that is, Glorious—“is He that comes”—that is, is incarnate—“in the name of the Lord”—that is, of the Father, by glorifying Him. Again they repeat, “Hosanna,” that is, “Save, I pray,” and specify where they wish to be saved: “in the highest,” that is, in the heavenly places, not in the earthly ones.³

St. Jerome: Or by the addition of “Hosanna,” that is, Salvation, “in the highest,” it is clearly shown that the coming of Christ is not the salvation of humanity only, but of the whole world, joining earthly things to heavenly things.

Origen of Alexandria: Or when they say, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” they are setting forth the dispensation of Christ's humanity; but when they say, “Hosanna in the highest,” they are referring to His restoration to the holy places.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Hosanna,” some interpret as “glory,” and some as “redemption.” Glory is His due, and redemption belongs to Him who has redeemed all people.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: The words of their song of praise express His power of redemption. In calling Him the Son of David, they acknowledge His hereditary title to the kingdom.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Never before had the Lord used the service of animals or surrounded Himself with the adornment of green boughs, until now, when He is going up to Jerusalem to suffer. He moved those who watched to do what they had previously desired to do; so it was the opportunity that was now given to them, not a change in their purpose.

St. Jerome: Mystically, the Lord draws near to Jerusalem, departing from Jericho and taking great crowds with Him. Because He is great and laden with great “wares”—that is, the salvation of believers entrusted to Him—He seeks to enter the city of peace, the place of the vision of God. And He comes to Bethphage, that is, “the house of the jawbone,” which also bore the type of confession. He stopped on the Mount of Olives, where there is the light of knowledge and rest from toils and pains. The village “opposite” the Apostles denotes this world, for the world was against the Apostles and was unwilling to receive the light of their teaching.

Remigius of Auxerre: Therefore, the Lord sent His disciples from the Mount of Olives to the village, just as He guided the preachers out from the primitive Church into the world. He sent two because there were two orders of preachers, as the Apostle shows, saying, “For he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised was also at work in me for mine to the Gentiles” (Galatians 2:8); or because there are two precepts of charity; or because there are two testaments; or because there is the letter and the spirit.

St. Jerome: Or, because there is theory and practice, that is, knowledge and works. The ass, which had been under the yoke and was broken in, is understood to be the synagogue. The ass's colt, wild and unbroken, represents the Gentile people, for the Jewish nation is, before God, the mother of the Gentiles.

Rabanus Maurus: For this reason, Matthew, who wrote his Gospel for the Jews, is the only one who mentions that the ass was brought to the Lord, to show that this same Hebrew nation, if it repents, need not despair of salvation.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: People are compared to animals because of the resemblance they bear in their failure to recognize the Son of God. This animal is unclean and, beyond all other beasts, incapable of reasoning—a stupid, helpless, ignoble drudge. Such were people before the coming of Christ: unclean with various passions; unreasoning, that is, lacking the reason of the Word; stupid in their disregard of God; weak in soul; ignoble, because in forgetting their heavenly birth they became slaves to their passions and to demons; and drudges, because they toiled under the load of error laid on them by demons or the Pharisees.

The ass was tied, that is, bound in the chain of diabolical error, so that it did not have the freedom to go where it wished. For before we commit any sin, we have the free will to follow or not follow the will of the Devil. But once we have bound ourselves to do his works by sinning, we are no longer able to escape by our own strength. Like a ship that has lost its rudder and is tossed at the mercy of the storm, so a person, having forfeited the aid of divine grace through sin, no longer acts as he wills, but as the Devil wills. And if God, by the mighty arm of His mercy, does not loose him, he will remain in the chain of his sins until death. Therefore, He says to His disciples, “Untie them,” that is, by your teaching and miracles, for all the Jews and Gentiles were set free by the Apostles, “and bring them to me,” that is, convert them to My glory.

Origen of Alexandria: For this reason also, when He ascended into heaven, He commanded His disciples that they should loose sinners, for which purpose He also gave them the Holy Spirit. But being loosed, making progress, and being nourished by the divinity of the Word, they are considered worthy to be sent back to the place from where they were taken—no longer for their former labors, but to preach the Son of God to them. This is what He signifies when He says, “and straightway he will send them.”

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Or, the ass and the colt show the twofold calling from among the Gentiles. For the Samaritans did serve in a certain manner of obedience, and they are signified by the ass; but the other Gentiles, wild and unbroken, are signified by the colt. Therefore, two are sent to loose those who are bound by the chains of error: Samaria believed through Philip, and Cornelius, as the firstfruits of the Gentiles, was brought to Christ by Peter.

Remigius of Auxerre: But just as it was then said to the Apostles, “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’” so now it is commanded to preachers that, even if any opposition is made to them, they should not cease to preach.

St. Jerome: The Apostles' clothes, which are laid upon the animals, may be understood either as the teaching of virtues, the discernment of the Scriptures, or the truths of ecclesiastical dogmas. Unless the soul is furnished and instructed with these, it does not deserve to have the Lord take His seat there.

Remigius of Auxerre: The Lord, sitting on the ass, goes toward Jerusalem because, by presiding over the Holy Church or the faithful soul, He both guides it in this life and, after this life, leads it to the sight of the heavenly country. The Apostles and other teachers set their garments on the ass when they gave to the Gentiles the glory they had received from Christ. The crowds spread their garments on the road when those of the circumcision who believed set aside the glory they had from the Law. They cut down branches from the trees because they had heard from the Prophets of the green “Branch” as an emblem of Christ.ⁱ

Alternatively, the crowds who spread their garments on the road are the martyrs who gave their bodies—the clothing of their souls—to martyrdom for Christ. Or, they signify those who subdue their bodies by abstinence. Those who cut down the branches of the trees are those who seek out the sayings and examples of the holy fathers for their own salvation or for that of their children.

St. Jerome: When the text says, “The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed,” it shows that both peoples—those who believed in the Lord before the Gospel and those who believed after the Gospel—praise Jesus with the harmonious voice of confession.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: The former, by prophesying, spoke of Christ who was to come; the latter speak in praise of the coming of Christ, which has now been fulfilled.

1. ap. Anselm
2. de Cons. Ev., ii, 66
3. ap. Anselm