Matthew 21: 1-11 Palm Sunday Gospel Bible Study

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives,                                                             

Bethphage means ‘ House of Figs ‘ or ‘ House of dates ‘ and is one mile from Jerusalem. 

( See map below )  Mount of Olives naturally was the hill upon which olives groves stood.          

This occurred on the Sunday before Passover. Holy Thursday that year, that is Jewish Passover was the 14^th day of Nisan. Thus Palm Sunday was on 10^th day of Nissan. It was always on the 10^th day of Nisan that the victim lamb was chosen for the Passover.  This was also stated as the day when Joshua passed over the Jordan River thereby leading the Hebrew People into the Promised Land.  On this day Jesus processed as the soon to be sacrificed Lamb into Jerusalem.

Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them,                                

                                                              ‘Go into the village ahead of you,

The two disciples are unnamed – that is can be you or me. We assume that the Palm Sunday procession began in Bethphage – although here it does say – the village ahead of you, so it may not have been Bethphage as such.

and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her;

untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, 

“The Lord needs them.”    And he will send them immediately.’

In St Matthew is both a colt and a donkey while the other Gospels only have a colt. Why ? The young colt represents the Gentiles while the  donkey is the ancient line of the Hebrew People. The colt has never been ridden before and thus represents the New Law and the donkey the Old Law. Both receive His yoke.  Both are untied but then Jesus becomes in control of both of them. He leads colt and donkey. He takes the reins. He alone, not even the disciples lead the two into Jerusalem.

THE Lord needs it. Notice here that it is not – OUR Lord needs it or YOUR Lord – but rather THE Lord.

 This took place to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,
‘Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
   humble, and mounted on a donkey,
     and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ 

These are not exact quotes from the prophets but rather – Zechariah 9:9 “ Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem. See (behold) your king shall come to you; a just Saviour is he, meek and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”   and Isaiah 62:11 “See, the Lord proclaims to the ends of the earth – Say to daughter Zion, your Saviour comes.”

 
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;

they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

Apparently Jesus sat on one then the other beast as He enter the city. Usually Jesus always walked but now He rides. Why? 1. To fulfill the prophecy  2. To show His Kingship and dignity ( although He choose not a horse as kings would do but a colt and donkey) 3. This was an opportunity for the people to acknowledge Him – so He did not only walk into the city  4. To confirm the faith of the disciples who were there and saw  5. To publically stir up His opponents  Here Jesus is both magnificent and humble. 

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees       

This gathering of the people was totally spontaneous – how often do other kings force their subjects to join a parade of honour. Here the people gather – interestingly still to this day people love to gather on Palm Sunday. Note the people cut branches – only in St John are ‘palms’ mentioned.  In the city large large crowds were gathering for the Passover, as well as the citizens of the city. Jerusalem was crowded.

 and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
‘Hosanna to the Son of David!
   Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ 

Hosanna means in Hebrew “Hosian-na” – ‘save us – now’ . See Psalm 118:25 – 26 “We beg You Lord, save us (hosanna); we beg you Lord give us victory. Blessed in the Name of the Lord is He who is coming.” This chant is similar to ‘Long live the king’ or ‘ the king will protect us’ or ‘Praise the king’ thus a mixture of petition and praise. We continue to use this sentence at Mass – “Holy, holy, holy, ….. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” This is exactly the same as Palm Sunday – as at Mass … Lord come and save us !  as soon the king shall enter ( into the bread and wine to become the king of kings. Let us welcome, greet, praise and await Him.  As Bristow states – this ‘represents the exultation of priest and people, expecting, as it were, and rejoicing at His coming.”  He both on Palm Sunday and at Mass IS Son of David and Lord.  He who comes in the Name of the Lord is as a Prophet ( see below )

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil asking, 

‘Who is this?’ The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.’ 

Jesus enters through the Golden Gate – it was through this gate that the Messiah would enter.            In modern day Jerusalem this gate is now bricked, closed forever ..?   “Whole city was in turmoil’     is sometimes translated as the whole city was shaken – that is in the Hebrew word ‘quaken’ like an earthquake – the noise was so great. This quake would be felt… on Good Friday.

This chapter is then followed by the Cleansing in the Temple by the Lord.