Chapter 59

“Who is this?”

“And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11

These verses of Scripture, at first glance, appear to be out of sync with the rest of our Lord’s earthly life. The narrative reads like the account of some royal conqueror returning to his own city. “A great multitude” swelled quickly to “multitudes” (Some estimated the crowd to be more than 300,000!), accompanying the Lord Jesus Christ in what is described as his “triumphal entry “into Jerusalem. Loud cries of praise and expressions of adulation rang through the air. “All the city was moved.” Everyone wanted to know, “Who is this?”

Everything in these eleven verses seems to contradict the whole tenor of our Lord’s earthly life and ministry. It seems to be altogether unlike him who would not cry, nor strive, nor lift up his voice in the streets. He always withdrew from the crowd, hid from applause, and urged those who were healed by his power to tell no one what he had done for them.

Yet, our Lord’s public, triumphal entry into Jerusalem at this time is just what we should expect to see. He knew well that the hour of his death, the hour of his glory, the hour of his manifestation was near. The time of his humiliation and earthly ministry was drawing to a close. The hour was rapidly approaching when he must finish the work, which he had come into this world to do. His last great, climatic work was before him. There was nothing left for him to do except make atonement for and redeem his people by the sacrifice of himself upon the cursed tree. Having assumed our nature, and having fulfilled all other things written in the Book of God concerning him, the Lord Jesus must now finish his work; he must fulfil all righteousness by his sin-atoning death. Now, he must satisfy justice and put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself.

He deemed it proper that every eye should be fixed upon him as he came to be offered up as the Lamb of God. He would have his great work of redemption known and advertised by everyone in Jerusalem. The sin atoning blood of the Son of God was about to be shed. And this great deed was not to be “done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Therefore, he who had deliberately spent most of his life in secrecy, secluded from public view, he who would not allow his admirers to make him a king, now comes to announce himself King in the most public manner imaginable. His death would be his entrance into his kingdom. Therefore, he made a royal procession through the streets of Jerusalem. This royal procession was our Lord’s public declaration that he is indeed the Christ of God, and that he was about to enter into his kingdom.

All four of the Gospel writers were inspired of God to describe our Lord’s triumphal entrance into Jerusalem five days before his death, verifying the prophecies of Isaiah and Zechariah (Isa; 62:11; Zec. 9:9). We should not fail to observe the fact that none but Christ ever made such an entrance. The conclusion that must be drawn from that fact should be as obvious as it is undeniable: — This is the Christ, Zion’s King, of whom all the prophets spoke!

The Omniscient God

All the city asked, “Who is this?” The answers to that question were before them, and are clearly set before us in this passage. This great King is distinguished from all others in that he made his entrance in humility. Yet, even as he did so, he demonstrated both his omniscience and his sovereignty as our great God.

Truly, this man, “Jesus of Nazareth,” is himself God who sees all, knows all, and rules all. He ordered two of his disciples to go into a specific village nearby, where they would find an ass and her colt. Then, he said, “Loose them, and bring them,” assuring them that the owner would immediately surrender his property to them for his sake.

“The Lord hath need.” — I am sure that those four words have a far greater depth of meaning and significance than I am able to grasp. But that which is obvious is profoundly instructive. Taking upon himself our nature, our blessed Savior, while he was in this world, was a man full of needs. Yet, he never relinquished his deity in the least. He had need of the animals. Yet, he exercised absolute sovereignty over them and their owner. He sovereignly requisitioned this man’s property and made him perfectly willing to comply with the requisition.

Obedience to Christ

“All this was done… And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them” (vv. 4 and 6). — To all human reason, the Lord’s orders to these disciples would appear terribly difficult, even dangerous. They might be taken for thieves and dealt with accordingly. Yet, the disciples obeyed the Master without the least hesitancy, completely trusting him to prepare the way before them and make them successful in their task. That is the way we ought to obey our Lord. If he sends us on any errand in his name, he will both prepare our way and make us successful in performing the work to which he sends us. Obedience to Christ must be unquestioning and unhesitating. Genuine obedience, that obedience which arises from true faith, must be blind obedience (John 2:5; Pro. 3:5-10).

Scripture Fulfilled

“All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass” (vv. 4-5).

“All this was done,” not because our Lord Jesus was incapable of walking the distance to Jerusalem, but “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.” Then, our Lord Jesus puts two Old Testament passages together (Isa. 62:11; Zech. 9:9).

“Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” (Isa. 62:11)

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zec. 9:9)

The Bible is, without question, the Word of God, fully and perfectly inspired and without error (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 1:20). Zechariah’s prophecy was made more than 550 years earlier; and it is here fulfilled in every detail. Once more, we see a clear example of the complete harmony of the Old and New Testament Scriptures.

“Hosanna”

“Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” (vv. 5-9)

The Lord Jesus Christ is King over all things by virtue of his obedience to God as our Substitute (John 17:2; Rom. 14:9; Eph. 1:21-22; Phil. 2:9-11). Let us ever worship and obey him as our great King. Let us ever throw off our filthy garments of self-righteousness before him and worship him, saying, “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!”

The word “Hosanna” is an exclamation of adoration and praise; but it is more than that. The word means “save me.” We worship and adore Christ as our Savior only when we bow to him as our King; and we bow to him as our king only when we worship and trust him as our Savior, laying everything at his feet, just as these multitudes “spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way” before the King.

Robert Hawker suggested, “The Feast of Tabernacles was so celebrated, to denote holy joy in the gathering in of all the Lord’s blessings; and some have thought, that this feast was particularly typical of this entry of the Lord Jesus; for it is somewhat remarkable, that at this feast they carried branches, which they called Hosannas.”

“Who is this?”

“And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (vv. 10-11).

Our Savior had been here before; but never had such enthusiastic crowds surrounded him with acclamations of praise. It seems that they were moved by some secret, uncontrollable impulse to go out to meet the King who came into their streets. Perhaps they were moved by nothing more than curiosity. Perhaps they had only some passing interest. Whatever their motives, the Lord’s appearance here stirred the whole city to such a degree that “all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?”

“Who is this?” — No better, more needful question was ever raised. Let none find rest until he knows in the experience of faith that “this is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth,” until he is made to know that this man, who is God our Savior and King, is the Nazarite of God, who has fulfilled all the will of God as the sinner’s Substitute, by whom alone all the blessings of God come upon men (Num. 6:1-27). I do not suggest that the multitude had any idea what they were saying. Yet, like Caiaphas the high priest (John 11:49-52), they identified the Lord Jesus Christ as Jehovah’s righteous Servant and our Mediator, the only true Nazarite of God.