This was the same path taken by Joshua as he led Israel into the promised land. Jericho was the place of a curse (Josh. 6:26), but Jesus was about to be made a curse (Gal. 3:13), and so as Messiah He was able to heal even in this place. It is significant that no miracle was done in the city of Jericho. Christ did not come to improve the flesh… He left the it under the curse, and instead gathered to Himself some out of the world. “Great crowds followed Him”, but many did not have genuine faith. We see them in the next chapter crying “Hosannah”, and then just a few days later crying “crucify him, crucify him”.

 

The Triumphal Entry.

The triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem is important for a number of reasons. First of all, it marked the beginning of the final week of our Lord's life, called the Passion Week. It would have taken place "on the morrow" (John 12:12) after "six days before the passover" (John 12:1); i.e. on the first day of the week. Secondly, the triumphal entry was the final presentation to Israel of their King, the Son of David, at His first coming. It was a final opportunity for them to receive Jesus as their Messiah. After rejecting Him formally this final time, the Lord pronounced "your house is left unto you desolate" (Matt. 23:38). Thirdly, the triumphal entry was prophesied about 550 years earlier by Zechariah the prophet (Zech. 9:9)! It is a clear fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. It also marks the end of of Daniel's 69th week: "unto the Messiah the Prince" (Dan. 9:25). This event was so pivotal in the coming of our Lord that it is recorded in all four gospels.

Parallel passages are: Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-40; John 12:12-19.

 

¶ And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, v.1 The mount of Olives lies to the east of Jerusalem. Every learned Jew knew that it was on the mount of Olives that the Messiah would first plant His feet at His advent (Zech. 14:4). The Lord stops there on His way to Jerusalem, because it was needful that His “coming” to Israel be according to prophecy. So He sends two disciples (all things being done in an orderly fashion). Bethphage means “house of un-ripe figs”. It is a picture of the nation of Israel at the time of Jesus; no fruit for God… and yet there is still a hint of fruit in the future. At Christ’s first coming Israel was not ready to receive the blessing He had in store for them, but one day they will produce fruit for Him!

 

2 saying to them, Go into the village over against you, and immediately ye will find an ass tied, and a colt with it; loose them and lead them to me. 3 And if any one say anything to you, ye shall say, The Lord has need of them, and straightway he will send them. vv.2-3 One of the themes that comes out of this section is the Divine sovereignty that the Lord had over all circumstances. The ass and colt were waiting, tied in a nearby village. They would find it “immediately”, and His control over the minds of all that would speak to them was evident. Under what normal circumstances would the simple reply “the Lord has need of them” convince a man to willing give up his beasts of burden? The answer is that Jesus was the Lord, and He was presiding over every detail including the thoughts of the owner, the donkey, and her colt. It is a typical foreshadowing of the Lord’s ways with Israel. Today, like the donkey, Israel remains tied to a tree, no motion toward Jehovah. They are under the dominion of the Gentiles, but a day will come when the Lord will say, “I have need of them”, and they will be led to Christ to once again be the restored people of the Lord.

 

4 But all this came to pass, that that might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh to thee, meek, and mounted upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” [Zech. 9:9] 6 But the disciples, having gone and done as Jesus had ordered them, 7 brought the ass and the colt and put their garments upon them, and he sat on them. vv.4-7 The Lord’s entry into Jerusalem was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Zech. 9:9). Note the language; “that it might be fulfilled”… an expression indicating an event, without which the prophecy could not be fulfilled (see note). In Mark, Luke, and John only the colt is mentioned, not its mother. Only in Matthew’s gospel do we have the Lord riding on the ass as well as the colt. Why? Two reasons. Firstly, Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy, and to fulfill the prophecy to the letter He must ride in on both animals. Secondly, Matthew is a dispensational book, and the two animals have a dispensational significance. The ass was, according to the law of Moses, “unclean” because it neither divided the hoof nor chewed the cud. It is a picture of Israel after the flesh; i.e. they did not walk separately from the idolatrous nations, nor did they have the Word of God abiding in them (Lev. 11:3). Israel had proven that she was ruined by rejecting the Messiah. The firstborn “foal of an ass” must have its neck broken, unless the owner redeemed it (Ex. 13:13; 34:20). The colt represents the remnant of the Jews, naturally sinful (Job 11:12), but redeemed by the blood of Christ. When we get the Lord riding both animals it brings before us the connection between the faithful remnant of the Jews and the historical nation. It is through a remnant that the nation will be restored! (This is similar to how Naomi found blessing through the relationship of Ruth to Boaz.) The disciples might picture the messengers of the gospel of the kingdom, who lead the remnant to Christ and prepare them morally (garments) for His leadership. We read in Deuteronomy 17:16 that Hebrew kings were not to multiply horses. We read in 1 Kings 1:38 that even Solomon was inaugurated by riding on “David’s own mule.” It was God’s mind that all the kings of Israel be meek and lowly, because then they would have a godly reign. What a humble way for the Messiah to enter (“meek and lowly”). The nation expected the Messiah to come in a display of glory (Rev. 19:11), but did not understand the meekness of their Messiah. 

8 But a very great crowd strewed their own garments on the way, and others kept cutting down branches from the trees and strewing them on the way. 9 And the crowds who went before him and who followed cried, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest.” [Psa. 118:25-26] vv.8-9 The multitude was apparently caught up in the excitement of one coming in fulfillment of Zech. 9:9. There is no evidence that there was genuine faith on the part of the multitude, because days later they were calling for the Lord’s blood. But in the excitement, the crowd was moved to call out “Hosanna to the Son of David”, applying Psalm 118:25-26 to the Lord. They were right to apply it to Him! However, the complete fulfillment will be at His second coming. This was not said in mockery… they really thought for a moment that this was the Messiah. Some of the children picked up the cry, and continued it in the temple (v.15). The branches and garments were similar to modern confetti… they were decorating the path that descended the Mount of Olives with symbols of favor. On previous occasions the Lord had rejected such gestures, but here He was orchestrating the circumstances that He might enter as king. The word “hosanna” means “save now”. In their excitement, they thought the moment had come to be delivered from the Romans. These events were under the control of Divine sovereignty. But rather than set up the kingdom at this time, He was going to the cross, to be bound to “the horns of the altar” (Psa. 118:27).

 

10 And as he entered into Jerusalem, the whole city was moved, saying, Who is this? 11 And the crowds said, This is Jesus the prophet who is from Nazareth of Galilee. vv.10-11 The company entered Jerusalem and the celebration stirred the greater city, who wondered saying “Who is this?” The crowd revealed that their knowledge of Jesus went no further that His being a prophet from the despised region of Galilee. As they had done with many other prophets, they would shortly be calling for His blood.

15 And when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders which he wrought, and the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were indignant, 16a and said to him, Hearest thou what these say? vv.15-16a The wonderful scene in the temple was spoiled by the Jewish leaders. They could not contest the propriety of “the wonders which he wrought”, but the cries of the children were more than the leaders could bear. Who does this one think he is? They were steeped in religious unbelief. The concept that the application of Psa. 118 and the title “Son of David” to Jesus could be accurate was beyond their comprehension. “Hearest thou what these say?”… they thought the only reason He wouldn’t rebuke the cries was that He hadn’t heard them.

 

16b And Jesus says to them, Yea; have ye never read, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” [Psa. 8:2]  v.16b The children in their simplicity were uttering the praise the Son of David was so worthy of! … the same praise that ought to have been rendered by the shepherds of Israel, but was stalled by their pride and unbelief. The Son of David had come to His people, and God saw to it that there were willing mouths to chant His praises! The leaders were unwilling, so the privilege fell to the children.

 

17 And leaving them he went forth out of the city to Bethany, and there he passed the night. v.17 Next we have a symbolic action: having been rejected in His royal entrance, the Lord “left them”, and went out of the city. The Biblical record does not indicate that Jesus spent even one single night in Jerusalem before His arrest. He stayed outside the city with His own, in the town of Bethany, and came back to Jerusalem in the morning to continue His testimony.

 

¶ 18 But early in the morning, as he came back into the city, he hungered. v.18 The final event in this series of symbolic actions is the cursing of the fig tree. It gives us a complete picture of Israel from a dispensational viewpoint. First, the Lord came into the city in a state of hunger. God called Israel to be a fruit-bearing nation (Isa. 5), and when the Messiah came to them He was still seeking fruit. See Luke 13:6-9; Matt. 21:17-20; Matt. 24:32-33.

 

19 And seeing one fig-tree in the way, he came to it and found on it nothing but leaves only. And he says to it, Let there be never more fruit of thee for ever. And the fig-tree was immediately dried up. v.19 Mark says that “the time of figs was not yet”, meaning that the time for the gathering of figs was not come, but at this time of year the tree should have been full of ripening fruit. In most Mediterranean fig trees the fruit appears before the leaves. Instead, the Lord found nothing but leaves (a profession of life, Gen. 3:7), but no fruit (reality). The fig tree is a common picture of the nation of Israel. When Christ came to the nation, there ought to have been fruit for Him, but instead there was only empty profession. The governmental consequence is a curse; “let there be never more fruit on thee for ever… and the fig-tree was immediately died up”. On account of Israel’s unbelief, all their natural advantages would be stripped away. The point is, the rejection of Jesus was the final straw, and brought an end to any hope for Israel after the flesh, “for ever”. In a larger way, Israel is but a sample of the First Man, who was judged at the cross. Note: in Mark 11:20 we learn that the cursing happened on one morning, and the disciples remark on it the next morning. Matthew leaves out the 24 hours to emphasize the immediacy of the withering.

 

Israel’s Restoration. Prophetically, the fig tree will flourish again (Matt. 24:32-33), but it will not bear fruit through the efforts of the flesh. The Spirit of God is able to make it grow; “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.” (Job 14:7-9).

 

20 And when the disciples saw it, they wondered, saying, How immediately is the fig-tree dried up! 21 And Jesus answering said to them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and do not doubt, not only shall ye do what is done to the fig-tree, but even if ye should say to this mountain, Be thou taken away and be thou cast into the sea, it shall come to pass.  vv.20-21 The disciples are amazed at how a lush and apparently vibrant a tree could suddenly become withered. How could such an ancient religious system as Judaism suddenly be set aside in the dispensational ways of God? The answer is: faith. It is faith that displaces the natural religious system of Judaism. “This mountain” symbolized Israel’s exalted place among the nations. The mountain has been cast into the sea; picturing the masses of the Gentiles (Rev. 17:15). This has come to pass. Jerusalem, Israel’s geopolitical center, was destroyed, and the Jews scattered among the Gentiles. Upon whose sentence did this judgment hang? The disciples. We see this in the early chapters of Acts, as a final offer was extended to the nation of Israel. But, that offer being rejected, Israel’s doom was sealed (Acts 7). Judaism was the greatest obstacle to Christianity in the earth, but it could be overcome by faith. The withering of the tree is Israel’s moral judgment (29 A.D.), and the mountain cast into the sea is Israel’s geo-political judgment (70 A.D.).

 

22 And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. v.22 For the disciples in the kingdom of heaven, the very thing lacked by the nation of Israel which became their downfall (faith) would be the key to the remnant’s blessing in Christianity.