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1.
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Central to the entire operation is the familiar Scripture from
Zechariah 9:9, quoted in part by both Matthew and John, and with subtle
variations from the original text. One of the omissions—the A.V. phrase:
"having salvation'—may seem strange, since it was for this purpose that
Jesus had made his journey to Jerusalem. But the Hebrew verb (in Niphal) really
means "having been saved" (the AV mg, would require Hithpael). The reason for
the omission is now obvious: "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh" (1 Jn.4 :2).
The phrase in Zechariah would only be appropriate after the Lord was risen from
the dead. So the Triumphal Entry was really only a "dress-rehearsal" for the
real thing which is yet to come. Then, "by the blood of his covenant the
prisoners will be sent forth out of the pit wherein is no water" (v.10). Then,
he will "speak peace unto the nations (another keyword in the Triumphal Entry;
Lk.19 :37,41), and his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River
even to the ends of the earth." Yet even in the first century this part of the
prophecy had its primary fulfilment in the preaching of the gospel of peace to
the Gentiles.
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Verse 8 is also marvellously appropriate: "And I will encamp
for the sake of thine house as a garrison (or, because of the image of
false worship) that none pass through or return; and no exactor
shall pass through them any more: for now I have seen with mine eyes."
Is this the lord's inspection of the temple (Mk.ll :11), and his purging of
its abuses (11 :15), and his forbidding of traffic across the temple court (11
:16)?
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John's gospel (12 : 16) declares specifically that at the time
the disciples did not understand the relevance of this Old Testament prophecy to
their Lord's unusual action, "but when Christ was glorified, then remembered
they that these things were written of him." So this commentary is a typical and
important example of the Holy Spirit "bringing all things to their remembrance"
and "guiding them into all truth" (Jn.l4:26; 16:13).
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The days are yet to come when this prophecy will find further
fulfilment, much more vivid than its prototype, for its true reference is to the
Second Coming.
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2.
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It can hardly be accident that in both John and Matthew the
opening phrase of Zechariah 9 :9: "Rejoice greatly," is changed. The Galileans
did rejoice greatly, because they thought they were about to witness the
ultimate fulfilment of all their great Messianic aspirations. But the "daughter
of Zion" did not share the rejoicing then. In the city there was either cynical
indifference or open hostility. So, guided by the Spirit of truth, Matthew has
written: "Tell ye ... ," and this the excited disciples did. But John has
substituted: "Fear not, daughter of Zion." How ironically apt was this change,
for the rulers of Jerusalem were shaking in their shoes. But this modified quote
was also intended to recall the similar scripture in Zephaniah 3 :14-18 where
once again a prophecy of Messiah's kingdom has many expressions singularly
appropriate to the present occasion. "The Lord hath cast out thine enemy (this
is the cleansing of the temple): The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the
midst of thee (the cry of those lining the road) ... In that day it shall be
said to Jerusalem, Fear not .. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty
.. . Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict thee (the
cleansing of the temple): and I will save (this is the name Jesus) her that
halteth (the healing of the lame in the temple: Mt.21 :14)." The LXX of this
passage has two allusions to the Feast, the solemn assembly (the Passover was
just coming on).
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There is much more fascinating detail, especially in LXX, in
the earlier section of this prophecy (3:8-13).
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3.
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But Matthew's quote of the Zechariah prophecy is introduced
differently: "Tell ye the daughter of Zion .. ."This is Isaiah 62 :11, which
continues thus: "Behold, thy salvation (Jesus) cometh;" and the immediate
context is: "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the
people." All this is remarkably appropriate to Christ's Triumphal
Entry.
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4.
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The synoptic gospels are all careful to mention that the Lord
made his approach to the city via the Mount of Olives—this, surely, in
anticipation of the familiar prophecy of the Last Days: "His feet shall stand in
that day upon the mount of Olives" (Zech.14 :4). Also, Ezekiel foretold that the
Glory of the Lord which moved from the temple to the Mount of Olives, and thence
departed, would also return by the same route (Ez.10:4,19; 11
:23;43:2,4).
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5.
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When the disciples put their garments for Jesus to sit on as
he rode the ass, there was deliberate imitation of the coronation of Jehu: "They
hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him" (2 Kgs.9 :15).
Forgetting that Zechariah describes the coming king as "lowly", they were
inviting Jesus to be a ruthless destroying Jehu.
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6.
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When the people saw Jesus riding into the city on an ass, how
many of them recalled that the very Scripture which lays down how Passover shall
be observed also pauses to assert that the Lamb redeems the ass (Ex.13 :13)? One
of the early fathers, with a nice insight into Old Testament prophecy, went so
far as to assert dogmatically that when the disciples went for the ass and colt,
they found them, tethered to a vine (Gen.49:11)
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7.
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The shout of the multitude: "Hosanna, blessed is he that
cometh in the name of the lord," was conscious appropriation of another familiar
Messianic prophecy (Ps.118 :25,26); and the proceeding verse describes the
intense but mistaken rejoicing of the multitude (Lk.19:37). It is not within the
scope of this study to explore all the Messianic foreshadowings of this
psalm. But some of them have a close bearing on the Triumphal Entry; e.g. "Open
to me the gates of righteousness ... this gate of the Lord into which the
righteous shall enter" (v. 19,20) anticipates the Lord's inspection of the
temple. And in verse 27, where the A.V. has "bind the sacrifice with cords, even
unto the horns of the altar"(words appropriate enough to the Lord's final visit
to Jerusalem), the LXX has "celebrate the feast (Passover) with garlands (or,
branches)," which is precisely what the people did. And the Greek text of verse
28: "thou art my God, I will exalt thee," is very close to the cry of the crowd:
"Glory to God in the highest." Normally the psalm was used at the climax of the
Feast of Tabernacles. That the people, in both word and action, should deem it
suitable now shows that they thought Messiah's kingdom, foreshadowed by that
feast, was about to be set up.
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8.
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There is yet another dramatic irony about that "Hosanna" cry
(which Hebrew word actually comes from the same root as the name Jesus), because
it probably reminded the Son of ...man, sick at heart, of a very different
Hosanna, in a psalm of suffering which on two other occasions he was to apply to
himself: "Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies
sake" (Ps.6:4;Jn.l2 :27; Mt.26:38).
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9.
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Can there be any doubt that the Lord's action this day was
intended to set the people and rulers thinking about Jeremiah's solemn words:
"If ye do this thing indeed, then there shall enter in by the gates of this
house (the temple?) kings (probably an intensive plural, meaning a great King!)
sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses (the
cherubim?), he and his servants, and his people. But if ye will not hear these
words, I swear by myself, saith the Lord (thus putting the Promise to Abraham in
reverse; Gen.22 :16), that this house shall become a desolation" (22 :4).
Compare also Jeremiah 17 :24-27.
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10.
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"If these should hold their peace, the Stones would
immediately cry out." The Lord's allusion to Habakkuk 2:11 is surely one of the
most puzzling Bible references ever made: "The stone shall cry out of the wall,
and the beam out of the timber shall answer it." The primary reference of these
words to a prophetic rebuke of the oppressor's ruthlessness (if indeed that is
the idea) is left far behind. Did Jesus envisage the very stones of the temple
protesting because the Stone destined to be the head of the corner was rejected
by the builders (Ps.118 :22)?See also Study 157 on this.
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11.
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The picture of Christ weeping over Jerusalem is one of the
most moving in the gospels. Yet, noted by his enemies, or reported to them
afterwards, it became an occasion for their jibes and mockery; "When I wept, and
chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach . . . They that sit in
the gate speak against me; and I was the song or the drunkards" (Ps.69 :10,12).
The words are found in a psalm which has copious links with the sufferings of
Messiah (v.4,8,9,21,22,25).
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12.
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"Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest," shouted the
people, praising God will) a loud voice. But Jesus wept because Jerusaem "did
not know the things which belong unit peace." Both used the word "peace" in its
specialised Bible sense of "peace with God." The multitude probably had in mind
the high-priestly blessing on the Day of Atonement: "The Lord lift up the light
of his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace" (Num.6 :26). It meant God's
full acceptance of the people, and His forgiveness of the nation's sins. But
there can be no peace with God whilst there is hostility or indifference to the
Son of God. "The things that make for peace" are, quite simply, total surrender,
as in the parable of the king at war (Lk.14 :32), where precisely the same
phrase is used. This expression also supplies an illuminating link with a wide
range of Old Testament prophecies. First, and most obviously, with Zechariah 9
once again: "He shall speak peace to the Gentiles" (v.10). Also, the familiar
words of Isaiah 53: "A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief... the
chastisement of our peace was upon him" (53 :3,4). But Jeremiah 8 was surely the
Scripture which Jesus had specially in mind: "They have rejected the word of the
Lord . . . from the prophet unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. And they
have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people, saying Peace, peace; when
there is no peace ... in the time of their visitation (Lk.19 :44) they shall be
cast down . . . there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree
(Mk.ll ;13,14)... We looked for peace, but no good came... Is not the lord in
Zion? is not her king in her? (Lk.19:38)... For the hurt of the daughter of my
people I am hurt (Lk.19 :41)." The words need no commentary. Could anything be
written more aptly anticipating this unique day of triumph and sorrow?
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13.
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"The days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast
a trench about thee, and compass thee around, and keep thee in on wry side, and
shall lay thee even with the ground." This, too, was plainly anticipated by the
prophets who, in turn, illuminated the mournful expectations of the dejected Son
of God. The prognostications of Ezekiel (4 :l-8; and Jer.6 :6) were by no means
exhausted when the siege of Jerusalem took place in his own day. But Isaiah 29
is perhaps the most pungent of all: "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where
David dwelt:... let the feasts come round ...there shall be mourning and
lamentation ... And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege
against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee. And thou shalt
be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground (Israel dead, yet alive)...
the Lord hath closed your eyes the prophets: and your rulers, the seers, hath he
covered." (v.1-4, 10).
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