Hi everyone. Welcome back to logical Bible
study as always in this podcast. We take a look at the Gospel
reading from today's mass and we want to give you the tools to
help you work out what the original author was trying to
communicate to their original audience.
So we're going to attempt to provide an exit.
Jesus of the literal sense of the text.
And today, we're looking at Matthew chapter 21 verse 12, 11.
Now this is the Palm Sunday reading and it's worth
emphasizing that it Palm Sunday. There's actually two gospel
readings. There's one shorter Gospel
reading during the entrance procession of the mass and
that's the one we're going to look at.
That's Matthew chapter 21. And then later in the mass, it's
that really long Passion of the Lord Gospel reading, where
there's people playing different parts, reading the gospel and
that goes on for quite a while. While that's a very long
reading. So we're doing the shorter
reading for Palm Sunday, from Matthew chapter 21.
When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to bethphage to the
Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples saying to them go into
the village facing you and immediately, you will find an
ass tied and a Colt with her, untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, the Lord has need
of them and he will send them immediately.
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet
saying. Tell the daughter of Zion
behold, your king is coming to you humble and mounted on an
ass. And on a Colt, the foal of an
ass. The disciples went and did as
Jesus had directed them, they brought the ass and the colt and
put their garments on them and he sat thereon.
Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road and others
cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road and the
crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted.
Hosanna to the son of David blessed.
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord hosanna in the highest?
And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city stirred saying, who
is this? And the crowd said, this is the
prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.
So quite a well-known reading and there's a lot going on
underneath the text here. So let's jump into it.
The context here, is it appears to be the Sunday before?
What we know is Good, Friday, Jesus crucifixion day.
So it's five days before Good Friday.
And since Scholars have been able to work out pretty much,
we're pretty certain, we know the crucifixion date now which
would be April third of 33 ad the date.
We're talking about here for Palm Sunday.
Was. Sunday, March 29th, a d-33.
So we have the date when this happened, and people have
arrived to Jerusalem from all over Israel because they're all
there to prepare for the Passover, which we know occurred
on Good Friday, the law required that Jews must arrive in
Jerusalem, seven days before Passover in order to do ritual
Washings. We've talked about that on the
podcast before, so the pilgrims have all arrived seven days
before the feast, they're all here on Palm Sunday.
So the Would be swelling with people as it does today at
Passover. And probably a whole lot of the
people in Jerusalem. Are anxiously waiting for Jesus
to come. We know from John's gospel that
people are asking, I wonder if Jesus is going to come up for
the feast. So the city is full, it's
overflowing. And there's a lot of
anticipation. So, verse 1, when they drew near
to Jerusalem, so they're coming to Jerusalem from the area of
Jericho that's where he just was, and that's about two days
journey away. So they make the two-day journey
to Jerusalem and came to bethphage.
Now, why does Matthew mention bethphage?
He doesn't have to, but it's probably because of the meaning
of the word. Bethphage bethphage is this
small village nearby, and it means House of unripe figs House
of unripe, figs and Matthew, probably mentions that to
prepare his readers for something that else is about to
happen in this chapter, which is the parable of the unripe,
sorry, the parable of the Fig Tree.
So Matthew is probably mentioned that deliberately and they come
up to the Mount of Olives. So that's where bethphage is
located. It's located on this big Mount
of Olives, which is just east of Jerusalem.
If you're on top of the Mount of Olives, you can look down and
see Jerusalem. It's quite an amazing view.
So Matthew deliberately meant again, Matthew goes out of his
way to mention certain things. About what Jesus is doing and
where he is the, we might not see a significant, but certainly
his Jewish audience would have. So here's mention the Mount of
Olives because by that time in history, the Mount of Olives
have become associated with the Messiah.
So Zechariah 14:4, 29, describes how God would one day on this
great. Day of the Messiah, he would
defend Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and become king over
all the Earth. Earth.
So that's in reference to God, but it was sort of attached to
the Messiah as well. So the Mount of Olives was a
significant prophetic location, so Jesus sends two disciples and
he's going to give them a small task, he says go into the
village facing you. So we're talking here about we
shouldn't imagine that they're going into Jerusalem.
That's not where they get the ass from.
They going into a small village nearby, now that could be
bethphage, the village that was just mentioned or it could be
another small unknown. Named Village some sort of small
village on the outskirts of Jerusalem, which could be seen
from the mountain. Jesus points out the village in
says, go there. Now, think about what's, there's
a lot of interesting stuff here in terms of Jesus, sending them
to get the ass. And the Colt, first thing to
notice is he's clearly using supernatural abilities here
because he's able to describe to the disciples exactly what
they'll find when they enter the village.
So probably God has provider providentially arranged for the
Assam occult to be there. Ready for Jesus?
This is all been set up beforehand. so, Jesus says to
the two disciples immediately, you will find an ass tied.
So, on asses a donkey and donkeys were often owned by
people in villages, they were quite useful for carrying
things. And this one here is a female
mother donkey. Now the mention of the donkey
again is significant because in second Samuel 15, David King
David. He got on an ass on the Mount of
Olives when his fling Jerusalem. So there's a time when David has
to run away from Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives who gets on
an ass and runs away and this the scholars Davies and Allison
say this, if David went from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives
amid cries of I'm in tation Jesus, the son of David goes
from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem amid shouts of
Jubilation. So there probably is a parallel
Here with Jesus getting on the ass on the Mount of Olives just
like David did except with the reverse.
It's a time of exotic exaltation and Jubilation not sadness.
So Jesus continues. His instructions you'll also
find a Colt with her. So a cult was a baby donkey
often. What the question is, why is he
asked for two animals because he only needs one, there's a couple
of explanations. Firstly, the Colts baby donkeys
were often kept with their mothers while they're still
being trained. So it could just be a matter of
Jesus doesn't want to separate the mother from the child donkey
and that's certainly possible. But as some Scholars have
pointed out, there's a couple of prophecies in the Old Testament.
Particularly this Zechariah one, the most famous one that we're
look at shortly, but also in Genesis chapter 49 verse 10 to
11, which is a prophecy of the coming Messiah.
Both of these prophecies about the Messiah in the Old
Testament, mention both a mother donkey and ass, as well as a
cult. So it seems like these
prophecies have set up that the Messiah is going to be
associated with both an ass and a Colt.
So Jesus is deliberately fulfilling that He says untie
them and bring them to me. Now, apparently, this isn't
stealing because it seems that in some way Jesus has a claim on
these animals, which is quite striking.
Now, the fact that even the Jesus requests animals to ride
is pretty unusual because he hasn't actually written any
animals at all in his ministry as far as we know, up to this
point and most pilgrims don't enter the city that way they
just walk in by foot. So, Jesus clearly is doing
something specific. He's setting this scene up in a
very specific way, he's trying to do something with a specific
purpose. Verse 3.
He says, if anyone says anything to you, you shall say the Lord.
Lord has need of them and he will send them immediately.
So Jesus here is saying to the disciples.
If you go into the village and you try and take the donkey and
people tell you why you taking them then say the Lord has need
of them. Now, this could mean, one of two
things because there's some ambiguity about the word, the
Lord, it could refer either to God or to Jesus.
So, if it refers to Jesus, then apparently the people in this
Village all believe in Jesus. And so, when the disciples say
the Lord has need of them. Say okay, that's fine.
Jesus can have them or maybe the Lord refers to God and so in
that case the people in the village are faithful Jews and
they're happy to give their animals to God.
It's one of those too. Verse 4.
Now, we get to this really interesting.
Quite Matthew says, this took place to fulfill what was spoken
by the prophet. So here we clearly learned that
Jesus gets the animals deliberately in order to fulfill
a prophecy and the prophecy as will see is from Zechariah in
that prophecy, it declares that the Messiah would arrive on a
donkey. And in fact, on an ass and a
Colt, so Jesus could have entered Jerusalem.
However, he likes, but he wants to ensure that he as the Messiah
is fulfilling all of the prophecies relating to the
Messiah. And this is one specific one
that he has to make sure that he arranges and make sure that it
happens and this is the quote from the prophet Zechariah tell
the daughter of Zion behold. Your king is coming to you
humble and mounted on an yes. And on a Colt, the foal of an
ass. So that's from Zechariah 9:9 in
context of the original Zechariah book.
It is a prophecy. It's a prophecy that one day,
Jerusalem would see their King arrived on an ass and a Colt.
That's what Zechariah is saying to the people of Jerusalem.
He doesn't say what king it is. He just says that one day, there
will be a king that does that And by the time of Jesus, it had
become quite recognized. Well, Solomon had entered
Jerusalem in a similar way on a donkey or those Zechariah of
rights after the time of Solomon.
So Zechariah can't be thinking of Solomon.
So by the time of Jesus, people have worked out that it's
basically a prophecy of the coming Messiah.
The Messianic King. So, the Jews of the time of
Jesus expected the Messiah to enter Jerusalem in this way, So
by Jesus, choosing to have to fulfill this prophecy.
He can basically Proclaim himself to be the Messiah to be
the king without saying a single word.
At the same time, though notice in the prophecy, the king is
coming in a humble way Meek and humble on a donkey, not on a
horse or a chariot. So a king could arrive on a
horse or a chariot. And the fact that Jesus chooses
to go with that, that model of using a donkey, rather than
something else indicates that Jesus is highlighting, that he
does not want to be seen as a powerful military leader, which
is what some people expected the Messiah to be.
Verse 6, the disciples went and did, as Jesus directed them,
they brought the s in the colt and put their garments on them.
So, the disciples put the garments on the animals to make
the seat more comfortable for Jesus.
Basically, it's kind of like a saddle and Jesus sat thereon.
So Jesus is on the animals. He wants to look different from
his Apostles. It's the one time where he wants
to stand out from the crowd. He's sitting on these animals
Now, there's some discussion about the translation here
because it says he sat on them and some Scholars have wondered
whether that means his writing, both the ass and the Colt.
Which one is he writing? Well, he's almost certainly not
writing both at the same time because that's pretty hard to
do. It require a lot of flexibility
and a lot of balance to ride both of the same time, although
that's possible. There will be quite unusual.
Most likely the vehm. When it says Jesus rode them,
his actually the them refers to the garments as in Jesus, is
sitting on the garments plural. Or it's also possible that he
did. Write each animal successively.
He got off one got on the other. So there's a few easy solutions
there. So the same nail ships to the
road between the village in Jerusalem.
So he's on the donkey and he's going from the small village
which every village it is to the rode into Jerusalem.
Verse 8, we now introduced to the crowd.
So this crowd is the crowd of believing disciples that have
been following Jesus up to Jerusalem.
It's Jesus large crowd of disciples.
They're about to make a royal procession for Jesus, because
this crowd recognizes that he is the Messiah, but keep in mind,
though that even his faithful followers, hear the crowds, they
believe him to be a political Messiah, who is going to save
them from the Romans? They don't really understand the
nature of the Messiah. And that's why, when Jesus is
captured later, they all flee because they weren't expecting
the Messiah to be captured like that.
So he's believing crowd is here that all very excited, that
Jesus is. Coming in as King, which is
correct. It's just that they think that
is also proclaiming himself to be a military missile, which is
not correct. So they spread their garments on
the road and this is basically like spreading out a royal
carpet, which we know they did do in the ancient world.
It's an ancient custom for honoring Kings.
We see this happening in Second Kings, 9 chapter 13.
That's how the Jewish people welcomed.
Their new King in second Kings. Chapter 9, they literally put
their guard. On the road.
So it's a clear indication that they're recognizing this man as
their King. And that they recognize that
he's fulfilling The Prophecy of the Messiah King.
So some people spread their garments on the road and others
cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Now, this is an interesting one, it's a reference to some 118
verse 27, In that Psalm. It's a Psalm about going up to
the temple, and it's like a festive procession that.
It's a festive song. Psalm 118 that people would sing
as they went up to the temple. And in that some verse 27, it
says that we will take branches and we will put them on the road
in honor of the festive procession Now, the crowd is
then going to go on to recite more of some 118.
And we'll look at that shortly. So, this some 118 is right in
the crowds mind as they see Jesus coming in now, we learn
from the other gospels that the kind of tree branches that they
cut down our palm branches, hence, why it's called Palm
Sunday. It appears that there's nothing
particularly significant about palm branches in and of
themself. It's just that they grew a lot
in that area. And there the branches that
happened to be nearby. So, people cut down the palm
branches because those were the branches that were available.
But both actions putting the garments on the road and putting
the Palms on the road representations that they are.
Welcome the spreading out, this Royal carpet for the king.
They're recognizing Jesus is the king verse 9, the crowds went
before him and and they followed shouting.
So they're deliberately forming this Royal procession before him
and behind him. So that the city will take
notice, they want people to notice the king coming in.
They're forming a large loud. Royal procession now, some
hundred eighteen verse 25 to 26. Remember, this is a Psalm that
people would sing as they go up to the temple for major feasts.
Here's what those verses say in Psalm 118 save us, we beseech
thee, O Lord O Lord we beseech thee, give us success Blessed,
Be he who enters in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
So keep that verse that passage in mind as we explore the rest
of the end. The Jerusalem here.
So now the crowd shouts. This out, Hosanna to the son of
David. The word Hosanna just means save
us so that comes straight out of what we just heard from.
Psalm 118, remember the some 118 verse 25 says save us we beseech
thee, O Lord, and that carries over as a transliteration, it
becomes Hosanna. So the people here are shouting
Hosanna, And by that time, it would become an expression of
Praise of God to say. Hosanna was praising God.
Basically, in connection with liturgical worship?
You would say hosanna during the Liturgy.
So what's the crowd doing here? The saying, Hosanna to the son
of David. Or in other words, save us to
the son of David. The crowd is doing two things
here. They're praising God.
And they're asking God to save us through the son of David.
And they're thinking here of political salvation.
They're basically praying to God, and saying to God, please
save us through your Messiah. Please set us free.
That's what Hosanna to the son of David means save us through
your Messiah, Now, the phrase, son of David, as we've talked
about a lot. When we look at the gospel of
Matthew, it's a title wizard for the Messiah, son of David means
Messiah. All the Jews knew that the
coming Messiah King would be descended from David because
that's what the Old Testament says and so they look forward to
the coming of the son of David. So here the believing crowd when
they call. Jesus is the son of David,
they're calling him the Messiah, the long-awaited one, and Jesus
allows it for the first time in other places.
Jesus says, don't say anything or he tries to run away when
people call him Messiah. Here he welcomes it, he welcomes
the title. And The Crowd Goes On.
So they've said Hosanna to the son of David.
Now they say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord?
And that is very similar again to Psalm 118.
Which says Blessed Be he who enters in the name of the Lord.
In the psalm, the blessing is invoked on pilgrims coming into
the temple as in entering the temple.
But here the crowd uses it to talk about Jesus, they're
claiming that Jesus is the ultimate one who is literally
coming in the name of the Lord as in his the messenger sent
from The Lord acting on his behalf in the name of the Lord.
Jesus, you know, Jesus has been sent as the messenger and that's
what the crowd is. Proclaiming, here is our
Messiah. The one who is sent on behalf of
God, and then they finish by saying, hosanna in the highest
and essentially, that means they're invoking, God's highest
blessings Heavens, highest blessings and they invoking or
praying for the Salvation that the Messiah is about, Bring
hosanna in the highest. Save us in the highest.
So those words that we've just heard that the crowd yells out
as Jesus comes in hosanna in the highest and blessed.
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord, they come out of
Summer, some 118. And they're also things are
crowd, shouts here. They should be familiar to you.
Because they're things that we say is part of the Eucharistic
prayers during mass hosanna in the highest blessed, is he who
comes in the name of the Lord. And this is yet another example
of how our Catholic mass is very similar and it's based heavily
on On the Jewish liturgy. Verse 10 and when he entered
Jerusalem, there's only a few main entrances to Jerusalem.
So the Royal procession everyone would have seen him coming into
one of these Gates and it would have attracted a lot of
attention. So, all the city was stirred
saying, who is this? So, the people of Jerusalem can
see this loud, Royal procession coming in, they want to know who
it is. The sitting on the animals.
Who is this guy that they're proclaiming?
His King? Remember that?
At this time the people in Jerusalem or from all over
Israel there's all these pills. Is there some people recognize
Jesus? Probably some people don't?
They have never seen him before in their life.
So they have a legitimate question.
Who is this? Now, this is a fairly similar
reaction to earlier in Matthew. So Matthew Chapter 2, when the
wise men arise in Jerusalem, arrived in Jerusalem, and they
announced that the king of the Jews has been born.
It's a similar reaction. Matthew says, all of Jerusalem
was Disturbed at the news of the wise men, and it's a fairly
similar reaction here. All of Jerusalem is Disturbed at
the news of the king. So there's probably a parallel
here that Matthew is deliberately highlighting.
So the whole city is troubled, apparently or stirred is the
word that's used here, the Romans would be troubled, as any
rival King, which is what Jesus apparently was being pronounced,
as would be considered to be a threat to Caesar.
So, the Romans would be worried, the Jewish leaders and the
Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, they're probably troubled as
well. Perhaps, they felt that their
own leadership positions were under threat.
Because if the Messiah or the king is truly here, here might
depose them And we also we know that the Sanhedrin has been
waiting for Jesus to arrive so that they can arrest him.
So everyone is very tense in Jerusalem as he arrives.
And so the crowd answers, they say this is the prophet Jesus
from Nazareth of Galilee. So this crowd, his crowded
believing disciples is more than happy to tell the people of
Jerusalem who it is. Now, that's the end of our
passage. If you read on in Matthew
chapter 21, the very next thing Jesus does.
Is he cleanses the temple? He overturns the tables in the
temple, which is not what they expected the Messiah to do.
Now, where does this passage from Palm Sunday appear in the
catechism. There's one particular
paragraph, which is basically a description, a commentary on
what Palm Sunday is. So paragraph. 559 is in the
section about Jesus, Messianic entrance into Jerusalem.
Here's what it says, how will Jerusalem welcome her Messiah or
though? Jesus had always refused popular
attempts to make him King he now chooses the time and prepares
the details. For his Messianic entry into the
city of his father, David acclaimed as son of David as the
one who brings salvation Hosanna means save or give salvation the
king of glory enters. His City riding on an ass.
Jesus conquers, the daughter of Zion, a figure of his church
neither by ruse nor by violence, but by the humility, the Bears
witness to the truth. And so the subjects of his
kingdom on that day, our children and God's poor who are
claimed him as the Angels had when they announce him to the
shepherd's there acclamation. Blessed, Be he who comes in the
name of the Lord is taken up by the church, in the Sanctus of
the Eucharistic liturgy that introduces, the memorial of the
Lord's Passover. So there's a lot in that
passage. And from that, we learn that the
Catholic Church teaches this was a real event.
It did happen. This is how Jesus rode into
Jerusalem. What the crowd said.
Informs us about a Eucharistic liturgy and Jesus choosing to
ride in on an ass. Tells us about his humility and
his character, he is not a political Messiah and also that
this is foreordained. Jesus deliberately sets up the
details of his entrance to Jerusalem.
And then in paragraph, 4 39, in the section about Christ we have
a brief discussion about how the people at the time, understood
the word Messiah or Christ, it says many Jews and even certain
Gentiles who shared their hope recognized in Jesus, the
fundamental attributes of the Messianic, son of David promised
by God to Israel. Jesus accepted the rightful
title of Messiah, though, with some Reserve, because it was
understood by some of his contemporaries. into human
assets as essentially political And we certainly see that
amongst the crowd in Matthew chapter 21 here.
They think he's a political Messiah, as we've talked about a
lot in this podcast, so that's our passage for today.
A really interesting one, I'm sure you'd agree.
There's a lot going on behind the text particularly in terms
of the prophecies about the donkey and some 118.
It all comes together. Here is Jesus enters Jerusalem.
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