Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 21

The Roman military road from Jericho to Jerusalem was about seventeen miles long and climbed three thousand feet. It passed through Bethany (where Jesus stayed six days before the Passover, Jn 12:1-10) and nearby Bethphage (“house of figs”), which lay on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, then crossed over the mount and the Kidron Valley and entered Jerusalem (v.1).

Jesus sent two disciples ahead to Bethphage to fetch the animals. The ride on a colt, because it was planned by Jesus, could only be an acted parable, a deliberate act of symbolic self-disclosure for those with eyes to see. Secrecy was being lifted.

The Roman military road from Jericho to Jerusalem was about seventeen miles long and climbed three thousand feet. It passed through Bethany (where Jesus stayed six days before the Passover, Jn 12:1-10) and nearby Bethphage (“house of figs”), which lay on the southeast slope of the Mount of Olives, then crossed over the mount and the Kidron Valley and entered Jerusalem (v.1).

Jesus sent two disciples ahead to Bethphage to fetch the animals. The ride on a colt, because it was planned by Jesus, could only be an acted parable, a deliberate act of symbolic self-disclosure for those with eyes to see. Secrecy was being lifted.

The most natural way to take “Lord” here is Jesus’ way of referring to himself. This step is not out of keeping with the authority he has already claimed for himself and fits this late period of his ministry, when he revealed himself with increasing clarity (see comment on Mk 11:3).

It is uncertain whether these are the words of Jesus or of Matthew (NIV chooses the latter). The quotation is from Zec 9:9. A donkey was sometimes ridden by rulers in times of peace (1 Kings 1:33). Jews certainly understood Zec 9:9 to refer to the Messiah, often in terms of the Son of David. Therefore for those with eyes to see, Jesus was not only proclaiming his messiahship and his fulfillment of Scripture but showing the kind of peaceloving approach he was now making to the city.

Matthew alone of the four Gospels mentions two animals: a donkey and her colt (vv.2, 7). This reference is his way of highlighting what the other Synoptics affirm—the animal Jesus rode on was “a colt,” thus fulfilling even this detail of Scripture. In the midst, then, of this excited crowd, an unbroken animal remains calm under the hands of the Messiah, who has nature in his control (8:23–27; 14:22–32). Thus the event points to the peace of the consummated kingdom (cf. Isaiah 11:1–10).

Every year on Palm Sunday, Christain pilgrims make the journey from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem carrying palm branches, reenacting Jesus’ Triumphal Entry.

It is uncertain whether these are the words of Jesus or of Matthew (NIV chooses the latter). The quotation is from Zec 9:9. A donkey was sometimes ridden by rulers in times of peace (1 Kings 1:33). Jews certainly understood Zec 9:9 to refer to the Messiah, often in terms of the Son of David. Therefore for those with eyes to see, Jesus was not only proclaiming his messiahship and his fulfillment of Scripture but showing the kind of peaceloving approach he was now making to the city.

Matthew alone of the four Gospels mentions two animals: a donkey and her colt (vv.2, 7). This reference is his way of highlighting what the other Synoptics affirm—the animal Jesus rode on was “a colt,” thus fulfilling even this detail of Scripture. In the midst, then, of this excited crowd, an unbroken animal remains calm under the hands of the Messiah, who has nature in his control (8:23–27; 14:22–32). Thus the event points to the peace of the consummated kingdom (cf. Isaiah 11:1–10).

Every year on Palm Sunday, Christain pilgrims make the journey from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem carrying palm branches, reenacting Jesus’ Triumphal Entry.