CRITICAL NOTES
We now enter upon the crowded and peculiarly solemn events of the great week of our Saviour’s career, His last week—the passion week (Morison).
Matthew 21:1. Jerusalem.—The Jerusalem of that day, with “its imperial mantle of proud towers,” was regarded as one of the wonders of the world. Tac., Hist., Matthew 21:8 (Farrar). In every respect this city is the mysterious and wonderful flower of history; in its situation, in its history, in its religious position, and especially in its symbolical character. The city lay high; and the hills around came first into view, over which it spread gradually into the higher and lower city; the hill of Zion being the centre—Zion, Moriah, Bezetha, Akra. Then the valleys, which made it a natural fortress: toward the west the Valley of Gihon; toward the south-west and south, Ge-hinnom; toward the east, the Valley of Kidron, bounded by the low hill of Gihon, the Mount of Evil Counsel, and the Mount of Olives with its three peaks. The city belonged to the inheritance of Benjamin, but was for the most part inhabited by the tribe of Judah (Lange). Bethphage.—Is by some supposed to have been close to Bethany; others place it on the summit of Olivet, where the Arab hamlet of Et Tôr now stands. A third possible site is the present village of Silwân, especially if we may suppose the name to be a corruption of Beth-Aphek, and to mean “House of the Fountain” (En Rogel). The position and the name are, however, alike doubtful (C. R. Conder, R.E.). The Mount of Olives.—Bounds Jerusalem on the east, and rises considerably higher than Mount Zion. It is the only one of all the “mountains standing round about Jerusalem” which comes quite close to the city. It is more of a ridge than a mountain, and has four distinct summits, from the loftiest of which a magnificent view is commanded at once of the city on the western side, and of the wilderness of Judæa, the course of the Jordan, and the towering mountains of Moab on the other or eastern side (Morison). The olives and olive-yards, from which it derived its name, must in earlier times have clothed it more completely than at present (Stanley).
Matthew 21:2. The village.—Probably either Bethphage or Bethany. An ass.—Oriental travellers describe the high estimation in which the ass is held in the East (Carr).
Matthew 21:3. He will send them.—The owner was probably, in some sense, a disciple of Jesus.
Matthew 21:4. Spoken by the prophet.—The passage referred to is quoted from Zechariah 9:9. It is quoted freely, however, and in a condensed form. And the Evangelist, while quoting it, had been thinking on another Messianic oracle, which goes delightfully abreast with it, and which is contained in Isaiah 62:11. From this other oracle he adopts the introductory expression, “Tell ye the daughter of Zion” (Morison).
Matthew 21:5. Thy King.—This was the first occasion on which our Lord distinctly put forth His claim to royalty (Gibson).
Matthew 21:8. A very great multitude.—The most part of the multitude (R.V.). Part of the crowd had come with Him from Galilee, part streamed from Bethany, excited by the recent resurrection of Lazarus (John 12:17). Some went before Him, some followed. As they advanced they were met by a fresh crowd pouring forth from Jerusalem. Of the latter, St. John records that they came out with palm-branches in their hands, as if to salute a King with their symbols of triumph. Cf. Revelation 7:9 (Plumptre). Spread their garments.—Oriental mark of honour at the reception of kings on their entrance into cities (2 Kings 9:13) (Lange).
Matthew 21:9. Hosanna.—It was a kind of holy hurrah. The word “hosanna” is the Greek form of a Hebrew phrase occurring in Psalms 118:25, and meaning “O save!” It is thus remarkably like the aspiration or petition that is breathed in our national anthem, “God save the Queen!” And as salvation, in its fulness, is just life, or eternal life, the petition breathed is equivalent to Live! or Live for ever! and is thus tantamount, in the original import, to the French Vive! and the Italian Viva! While, however, the original import of the Hebrew word is O save! the term lost, in its current usage, its precise primary idea, and came, like its modern equivalents, to be just a peculiar form of a hearty acclamation, expressive of a mingled combination of approbation, admiration, and deep desire (Morison). He that Cometh (Habba) was a recognised Messianic title (Carr). In the highest.—There can be no doubt that the expression means in the highest places, i.e. in the heavens; and this is generally admitted by critics. But the import of the entire acclamation, “Hosanna in the heavens,” is a matter of much dispute. We could not say, “Hurrah in the heavens!” But the Hebrews could say, most appropriately and beautifully, “Hosanna in the heavens!” They could use such a complex acclamation because:
1. Hosanna originally means O save! and:
2. The highest salvation possible is consummated, and must be consummated, in the heavens. But when the word hosanna, losing its original supplicatory force, came to be used as a mere acclaiming expression of the highest good feelings, the appended phrase, which owed its peculiar appropriateness to the primary import of the exclamation, just served to intensify, to the highest degree possible, the expression of good wishes. May the richest blessings of heaven be showered upon thy head! Grotius thus was not so very far wrong when he interpreted the expression as meaning—in a holy kind of way—three times three! (Morison.) The parallel passages in Mark 11 and Luke 19 should be studied.
Matthew 21:10. All the city.—By a census taken in the time of Nero it was ascertained that there were 2,700,000 Jews present at the Passover. We may picture the narrow streets of Jerusalem thronged with eager, inquisitive crowds demanding, with Oriental vivacity, in many tongues and dialects, “who is this?” (Carr). Was moved.—The word in the original is forcible, “convulsed” or “stirred” as by an earthquake, or by a violent wind. Cf. Matthew 27:51 and Revelation 6:13, where the same verb is used (ibid.).
MAIN HOMILETIGS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Matthew 21:1-11
The kingdom claimed.—We see the Saviour here in an attitude of a novel description. He goes back, as it were, to what was claimed for Him soon after His birth, when the wise men came to worship Him as born King of the Jews (ii.). He does so, also, in much the same way as was done for Him then. The wise men did not find their King in circumstances of power and display. Neither does this King appear now, as it were, in the purple, notwithstanding the marked explicitness of all that He does. Nothing is meeker, indeed, as nothing is plainer than the claim that He makes. This two-fold character may be traced—first, in the preparation He makes for entering Jerusalem; secondly, in the homage He accepts when so doing; and, thirdly, in the prophecy He fulfils.
I. Preparation for entry.—How noticeable the fact, in His case, that there should be such preparation at all! Such careful choice of messengers! Such specific directions! Such thought for contingencies! Such a general and unusual appearance of “state” (Matthew 21:2-3). How still more noticeable the special method by which this preparation is effected. As Artaxerxes did for Ezra (Ezra 7:8-9), as the Roman Legionaries afterwards did when they “impressed” (Matthew 27:32, R.V., margin) Simon the Cyrenian to “bear the cross,” so did the Saviour do in this case. “The Lord hath need of them” (Matthew 21:3). That is how He then “requisitioned” what was necessary for His service. Was there not, also, a touch of the same in the choice of animal made? As became a king it was to be one which had never before been employed in that way. So Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30 (cf. John 19:41). So, perhaps, Matthew also (undesignedly), in noticing the fact that the animal employed was accompanied by its “mother” (Matthew 21:2; Matthew 21:7). yet, when it came, it was but a lowly creature at best; not such as had been half promised once in connection with that place (Jeremiah 22:4); and only such as a peaceful sovereign (so Wordsworth) would employ. Altogether, therefore, so far, about as unassuming an entry as a royal entry could be!
II. Homage accepted.—This also was marked by that double character of which we have spoken. It was so, on the one hand, in the way of action and deed. The animal ridden on was caparisoned by the garments of the disciples—the best that they had for the purpose on hand. The way was strewn by the multitudes with branches cut down from the neighbouring trees—the best they could obtain for that purpose. All, therefore, in its significance was befitting a king. And yet, on the other hand, in its nature, how unlike that which most kings would expect! What were the garments of the disciples and the branches of the multitude to the purple hangings and gorgeous trappings and costly array with which other sovereigns would have come in? So, on the other hand, of the homage paid now in the way of language and voice. The royal lineage of the Saviour, the more than royal dignity of His mission, the fitness of the occasion for the very highest of praises (Matthew 21:9), are all expressly and loudly acclaimed; and the Holy “City” itself, also, is therefore “stirred” to its depths, because understanding all this (Matthew 21:10). It feels as it listens that it is listening, indeed, to the “shout of a King” (cf. Numbers 23:21). And yet, at the same time, as in those previous cases, how different a note can be easily heard! “Who is this?” the city cries out as it catches the sound of this manifestly royal approach. “This is Jesus, the Prophet of Nazareth in Galilee,” is the reply it receives. A mere “provincial,” therefore, though thus coming to this metropolis! A despised provincial, though entering it as a King! And One who is more at present of a conspicuous Teacher, when all is said, than of a sceptred Ruler of men! (Matthew 21:11).
III. The prophecy fulfilled.—Long before this, “in visions to His saints” (Psalms 89:20, so one version), it had pleased God to show something of this. Something, in the first place, of its peculiar glory and joy. How it should be something to “tell” to “Zion” as good tidings indeed—even the good news of being “visited” by her King—and that, above all, and unlike the experience of centuries, by a King of her own (Matthew 21:5). Something, in the next place, of the singularly unassuming character of that visit, and of the singularly gracious meekness of demeanour and the equally similar lowliness of equipage by which that visit of royalty would be marked (Matthew 21:5 again). And something, therefore, in the last place, of the remarkable deliberation as well as remarkable definiteness which we are taught to see in this scene. Just so exactly had the Lord Jesus always meant to enter Jerusalem at this time. Just so exactly had the Eternal Father meant that He should. And just so exactly, generations before, had He declared that He would. “All this was done” that that prophecy might thus “be fulfilled”!
What is thus presented to us is of yet further importance because of its connection:—
1. With what immediately followed.—It is the key to much that ensued. As the Saviour now began, so He went on—advancing so far, but not for the time any farther; asserting His rights as a King, but not yet acting upon them; never foregoing, but never enforcing them; not flinching from truth, not inflicting punishment; wearing the crown, but not using the sword. The time for that was not yet.
2. With the present condition of things.—What He claimed then is what He wields now—the kingdom only of grace. He asks our submission. He does not enforce it. He rebukes our transgressions, but gives us time to repent. He claims our obedience, He does not compel it. Rather He desires to win it by not yet visiting our transgressions. See Romans 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9; 2 Peter 3:15; 1 Timothy 2:4.
3. With what is yet to appear.—This almost anxious, this carefully maintained, this long protracted postponement of punishment only makes it the more sure in the end. And the more terrible also. Nothing is worse than not punished, yet not repented of, sin! Every succeeding moment of time makes it both greater and worse! (Romans 2:5).
HOMILIES ON THE VERSES.
Matthew 21:1-9. The King and the kingdom.—Not only did the means adopted by our Lord rise naturally out of the circumstances in which He and His followers were placed, but they were specially suited to suggest important truths concerning the kingdom He claimed as His own. If He had entered the city in regal pomp and splendour it would have conveyed an entirely false idea of the kingdom. The method He did adopt was such as to give a true idea of it.
I. It strikingly suggested the kingliness of lowliness, which was one of its great distinctive principles. As we look back over His recent instructions to His disciples we see how very much this thought was in His heart, and how great was the importance He attached to it. He had just taught them that the Son of man had come, not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many; and His manner of entering into His capital must be in harmony with the lowly, self-renouncing work He had come to do. Thus He shows in the most impressive way that His kingdom is not of this world. There is no suggestion of rivalry with Cæsar, yet to those who look beneath the surface He is manifestly more of a king than any Cæsar. He has knowledge of everything without a spy (Matthew 21:2); He has power over men without a soldier (Matthew 21:3); He has simply to say, “The Lord hath need,” and immediately His royal will is loyally fulfilled! Evidently He has the mind of a king and the will of a king; has He not also the heart of a king, of a true shepherd of the people? See how he bears the burden of their future on His heart—a burden which weighs so heavily upon Him that He cannot restrain His tears (Luke 19:41-44). There is no kingly state; but was not His a kingly soul who in such humble guise rode into Jerusalem that day?
II. Not less than lowliness is peace suggested as characteristic of His kingdom.
1. By the manner of His entrance; for while the horse and the chariot were suggestive of war, the ass was the symbol of peace.
2. Then, the prophecy is one of peace. Immediately after the words quoted by the Evangelist there follows this remarkable promise: “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off; and He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.” It would seem, indeed, that some, at least, in the multitude realised that through the Messiah was to be expected a deeper peace than that between man and man. This deeper peace may have been suggested to their minds by the words following next in the prophecy, which goes on to speak of prisoners of hope rescued from the pit, and turning to the stronghold; or by the Psalm from which their cry, “Hosanna in the highest,” was taken (Psalms 118). Certain it is that their minds did rise to a higher conception of the work of the Messiah than they had given token of before; for the cry of some of them, at least, was “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” (Luke 19:38). A striking proof this of the fitness of His manner of entering into His capital to suggest the purest, highest, and best thoughts concerning the kingdom which He claimed as His own.—J. M. Gibson, D.D.
Matthew 21:1-5. Christ’s journey to Jerusalem.—What do we see?
I. The superhuman under the garb of the human.
II. The majestic under the garb of the mean.
III. The eternal under the garb of the incidental.
IV. Truth enunciated by an erring crowd.—D. Thomas, D.D.
Matthew 21:3. A Palm Sunday sermon.—As in a picture, the memorable entry of Jesus into Jerusalem indicates the way in which our blessed Lord goes through the world now. Now, as then:
1. His purpose is to bless.
2. His contact with men awakens their life.
3. Much excitement about Him is transient.
4. Men’s possessions are claimed by Him to further His progress. We are to observe:—
I. The strangeness of His claim.—“The Lord hath need.”
1. The greater has need of the less.—A universal law. The rich have need of the poor; the strong have need of the sick; the parents have need of the child.
2. The Divine has need of the human.—E.g. Jesus Christ is saving man by man, and so has need of the loyalty, activity, gifts, examples of men. This is an illustration of Divine goodness in putting honour on man, for it might have been otherwise. For instance,
(1) God might have sent successive choirs of angels to continue the anthem of the evangel that broke the stillness of the fields over Bethlehem; or
(2) the skies might have been a scroll and the stars the alphabet of the Divine writing. So Constantine’s myth about seeing the cross might have been a fact; or
(3) a direct revelation to each individual man might have been given from God.
II. The dignity of His claim.—“Thy King cometh to thee.” “The Lord.” There were indications of His right here in His supernatural knowledge. He knew exactly where the ass and colt were to be found. So He knows all about our money, every coin of it; about our time, every hour of it; about our power, every element of it. And yet there is another resemblance in this; the ass and colt were tied. So many men’s possessions are “tied” by pleasure, or greed, or gain, or habit, or the gordian-knot of selfishness. So we are bidden “Loose them and bring them unto Me.”
III. The condescension of His claim.—Though the ass was the ordinary beast of burden of the Jews, it was the scorn of the Romans. Asinarii was then a term of contempt for Christians. And in fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy that the King of the Jews should be lowly, Christ thus, by dramatic teaching—for the Greek and Latin supply no adequate word—rode on an ass. So this Prince of peace enters the city of peace in a manner that should for ever emphasise His own teaching, “Blessed are the meek,” etc. In His meekness and condescension He chooses to win His way, the way of blessing and saving men, through the world now, by employing humble, disdained, despised means. If the swift dromedary or the splendid war-horse were the symbol of the agency He employs, but few of the vast world of mediocre men could hope to have any part or lot in the matter. But “God hath chosen the weak things,” etc. He has need of the most ordinary of our powers, the most obscure of our hours, the most commonplace of our days. He can use us and ours in His great triumphal entry into the hearts and nations of the world.—U. R. Thomas, B.A.
Matthew 21:5. Christ the King.—
I. Jesus Christ is the church’s King.—One of our brethren, like unto us, according to the law of the kingdom (Deuteronomy 17:15), He is appointed King over the church (Psalms 2:6). He is accepted King by the church; the daughter of Zion swears allegiance to Him (Hosea 1:11).
II. Christ, the King of His church, came to His church, even in this lower world. “He comes to thee, to rule thee, to rule in thee, to rule for thee;” He is “Head over all things to the church.” He came to Zion that out of Zion the law might go forth.
III. Notice was given to the church beforehand of the coming of her King. “Tell the daughter of Zion.”—M. Henry.
Matthew 21:7. Honouring Christ.—
1. When we have a clear call ready obedience is our part, without troubling ourselves what may be the success.
2. It is our part to honour Christ, so far as we can, and to lay aside our ornaments to glorify Him.
3. Christ contenteth Himself for any state which is to keep in His kingdom here on earth with what His disciples can furnish Him.—David Dickson.
Matthew 21:9. Hosanna to the Son of David.—The hosannas with which Christ was attended speak two things:—
I. Their welcoming His kingdom.—Hosanna speaks the same with “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord” (see Psalms 72:17). Notice:
1. Jesus Christ comes in the name of the Lord. He is sanctified, and sent into the world as Mediator; “Him hath God the Father sealed.”
2. The coming of Christ in the name of the Lord is worthy of all acceptation. We ought all to say, “Blessed,” etc.
II. Their wishing well to His kingdom.—“Send now prosperity” to that kingdom. If they understood it of a temporal kingdom, it was a mistake, which a little time would rectify; however, their goodwill was accepted (Psalms 72:15).—M. Henry.
Matthew 21:10.—Who is this?—
I. The question:—
1. As asked then.—All the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” Thronged for feast; saw strange procession sweep towards temple.
2. As asked now.—All the world is moved, saying, “Who is this?” Procession passed, but procession of events went on. Crucified, dead, and buried. Then news of a resurrection, an ascension, a gift of the Spirit, and a call on all men to believe. The story a nine days’ wonder? No. It spread from land to land, from age to age; survived three hundred years of persecution; rose fresh from wreck of the empire; changed all currents of thought, created new institutions, formed foremost nations, possesses civilised world. Its best effects deeper down, in principles, characters, works, lives, deaths, “which are in Christ Jesus.” He has become a universal presence; a vast mysterious power. What account shall be given of it? Who is this? Question ever reopened. Comes up fresh from time to time, especially now. Talk of worn-out creeds and new accounts attempted. You are as if this Jesus, met you, “Whom do men say that I am?” and you can tell what is said. “But whom say ye that I am?” Everything hangs on:—
II. The answer.—As given by Scripture, in the Catholic Church, and according to the faith of God’s elect, it is reached by four steps, each necessitating the next.
1. This is Jesus the Prophet, etc.—First impression of rudimentary disciples. The prophetic mission evident, certain “We know that Thou art a Teacher sent from God,” etc. “A great Prophet has risen,” etc. “This is of a truth that Prophet,” etc. If so, His witness of Himself is true, and higher conclusions follow.
2. This is the Christ.—I.e. the foreordained One, bearing the office, achieving the work described in prophecy; the Redeemer; the Hope of Israel and of mankind. This the first Christian conviction and proclamation. “God has made this same Jesus both Lord and Christ.” If so:—
3. This is the Son of God.—The Christ is declared to be so (Psalms 2:7). Understood to be so (John 6:69; Matthew 26:63). Witnessed (Matthew 3:17). Preached (Acts 9:20; John 20:31). If so, in what sense?
4. This is the Word who was with God, and was God. One with the Father—by whom all things were made—all things consist—over all God blessed for ever—originally the life and light of men—therefore their Redeemer and eternal life. This answer one. First step involves second—and so on to last. Its vital importance to each separate soul. What He is to you depends on what He is in Himself. What you find Him to be to you must depend upon what you take Him to be in Himself.—T. D. Bernard, M.A
The King entering Jerusalem.—
1. When it pleaseth Christ to take unto Him a kingdom, He will avow Himself King in the midst of His enemies, as now He rideth in this glory into Jerusalem.
2. Where greatest show of religion is, it is no new thing to see Christ to be least known, for, “Who is this?” say they.
3. Where He hath a mind to honour Himself in suffering, He will show Himself so evidently as He may be taken notice of by His enemies. All the city is moved, saying “Who is this?”—David Dickson.
What think ye of Christ?—
I. The merely humanitarian view of the person of Christ involves in it:—
1. The gravest intellectual difficulties. There was something peculiar in His intellectual solitude; the difference between Him and other thinkers was not such as, for example, between Shakespeare and other authors. You know all through that Shakespeare belongs to the same species as the others; but Christ constitutes an entire genus by Himself.
2. But the difficulties which beset the humanitarian view of the Saviour’s person from the intellectual side are as nothing compared with those which it has to encounter on the moral. Remember the honesty and integrity by which He was characterised, and then say how these qualities are to be reconciled with the claims which He put forth as One who had come down from heaven for the express purpose of teaching celestial things, if these claims were not well founded.
3. Note the testimony of history to the Deity of Christ. It is the nature of moral evil to propagate itself. Christ turned the tide for all after-time, and to-day the sole corrective agents at work upon the moral and spiritual condition of men may be traced to Christianity.
II. What is involved in the reception of Jesus as the Son of God?—It involves:—
1. That we should implicitly believe His teachings. It is a mockery for one to say that he believes in the Deity of Christ, and then to cavil at His words or to deny their truth.
2. An obligation to rely alone on His atoning work for our salvation.
3. An obligation to obey His commandments. The practical rejection of our Lord’s Divinity by the disobedience of our lives is a more prevalent heresy than the theoretic denial of His Deity, and it is far more insidious and pestilential.—W. M. Taylor, D.D.