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 4 by the prophet, saying: "Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold, thy 5 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 command- 6 ed them, and brought the ass, and the colt; and put on them their 7 clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread 8 their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, his death, resurrection, and other attendant events. 3. The Lord. Simply, the Master. That would be a sufficient reason to him. 4. That it might be fulfilled. Or, according to Wakefield, so as to fulfil. Jesus' peaceful entry into Jerusalem corresponded with Zechariah's description of the Messiah, an analogy which, according to John xii. 16, the disciples did not at first understand, but perceived it after Jesus was glorified. --The prophet. Zech. ix. 9, also Isa. lxii. 11. The sense, rather than the exact words, seems to be regarded by Matthew. 5. The daughter of Sion, i. e. the city of Jerusalem, so called from Mount Zion on which it was built. A poetical personification of cities was common among the orientals. -Meek, and sitting upon an ass. The horse was used in war, but to ride upon an ass was an emblem of peace. By this symbolic act, Jesus presented himself to public notice, not in the character of a haughty monarch, riding upon a spirited charger, and fulfilling the worldly expectations of his countrymen, but as a lowly and peaceful prophet, riding upon an humble ass. In the earlier periods of the Jewish commonwealth, to ride upon an ass was a mark of the highest distinction; Judg. v. 10, 2 Sam. xvii. 23; but in later times, as the number of horses increased in Judea, the ass was resigned to the use of the poorer people, and to ride upon it became a mark of poverty and lowliness, as would seem to be indicated by the saying of Zechariah. Even in his most triumphant hour, Jesus would declare the pacific character of his kingdom. 7. Put on them their clothes, i. e. on both the animals, not knowing on which Jesus would ride, or as an honor to him. 2 Kings ix. 13. The garments served the purpose of a saddle.-Set him thereon, i. e. on the colt; for though the original has it on them, yet that was a popular idiom, used probably because both had been spoken of before. The sense is, on one of them. Judg. xii. 7. The other Evangelists mention only one animal. Some understand thereon as referring to the clothes on which they placed Jesus. 8. A very great multitude. One circumstance, which had drawn together this crowd, was the interest produced by the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Besides, vast multitudes congregated at this time at Jerusalem, and Jesus had become known through the country and therefore attracted their notice. John xi. 56.-Spread their garments in the way, i. e. their outside garments, their mantles or cloaks. 2 Kings ix. 13. These acts were insignia of respect and honor, paid to one whom the fickle multitude at the time seem to have regarded as the veritable Messiah. 9 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 high10 est!And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was 11 moved, saying: Who is this? And the multitude said: This is Jesus 12 the prophet, of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, As the branches were boughs of the palm-tree, John xii. 13, and were flat, they would not obstruct the way. They were emblems of victory and peace. It has been customary in all ages, to offer similar tokens of honor to the great and distinguished, and to strew flowers, garments, and branches in their way. Myrtle boughs were thrown in the path of Xerxes, the king, as he advanced into Greece. Our own day has witnessed spectacles not dissimilar. 9. Hosanna. Compounded of two Hebrew words, Save now, or, Save, we beseech thee. These were acclamations of reverence and joy used at the feast of tabernacles, and here employed to express their welcome of the Expected One. They have some similarity to the modern expression, "God save the king."-Hosanna to the Son of David. Signifies, God save the Son of David.-Blessed is he that cometh, &c. Ps. cxviii. 25, 26. Luke xix. 38. John v. 43.-Hosanna in the highest, i. e. with supreme praises, or, in the highest places, or heaven. Save now, thou who dwellest in the heights. Luke ii. 14. From the differing accounts of the historians we may infer that the jubilant voices uttered a variety of enthusiastic salutations and praises. Spontaneous and gratifying as was this public homage, Jesus clearly looked beyond it all, and foresaw how soon, under altered circumstan ces, the multitude would cry, Crucify him, crucify him. "Ride on, ride on in majesty! Hark! all the tribes Hosannas cry! O Christ thy triumphs now begin 10. All the city was moved. The previous fame of Jesus, the shouts of thronging multitudes, and the tokens of joy and triumph which attended the procession, naturally stirred the people with mingled emotions of fear and hope, curiosity and hatred, wonder and veneration. 11. The prophet, of Nazareth. This would imply that they still regarded him more as a prophet, like John or some one of the old prophets, than as the mighty Messiah of intense Jewish hope. 12, 13. Parallel to Mark xi. 1519, Luke xix. 45-48. Matthew appears to neglect the order of this transaction, which properly belongs between verses 19 and 20, in order to recite the account of the withering of the fig-tree in one paragraph continuously. We learn, from Mark xi. 11-15, that this was not done on the day of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, but the day after, he having passed the night in Bethany. 12. Into the temple of God, i. e. the outer court of the temple, whither Gentiles were accustomed to resort. Jesus had before made a similar purification of the temple. and overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves; and said unto them: It is written: "My house 13 shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves." And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and 14 he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the 15 wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! they were sore displeased, John ii. 13-17.-The money-changers. Or, brokers, persons who exchanged the coin of the Jews, which was necessary for those who paid the usual taxes and contributions to the temple, and took in return Roman and other foreign coin.-Them that sold doves. The poor, who were unable to purchase larger animals, were allowed to offer doves for sacrifice. Lev. v. 7, xii. 8. These traffickers had stationed themselves in the courts of the temple, for the convenience of trading, to provide for the approaching festival. 13. It is written. Isa. lvi. 7. Jer. vii. 11. Jesus, with a reference to the prophets whom they respected, expressed his detestation of their dishonesty and overreaching in trade, and their profaning the precincts of the most holy temple. A den of thieves. Robbers. Reference is here made to a custom common to robbers of all countries, to take refuge in caves. It is unnecessary to suppose that any miraculous power was exerted on this occasion. Jesus was already known as a distinguished individual. His very boldness awed them, and encouraged the impression that he was a prophet, and therefore, according to the opinion of the times, had a right to regulate these things. Their own consciences too might secretly subdue any inclination to resist. But we find here no traces of sedition, or of a political attempt on the part of Jesus, for he was the sole actor, and 14, 15. We are here carried back again to what occurred on the day of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, which had been interrupted by the episode of the cleansing of the temple.-The wonderful things. Alluding, probably, to his entrance in triumph, and his miracles of healing.—The children. Luke xix. 39. Understood by some commentators to be the servants, i. e. the disciples or followers of Christ; for the original word is rendered thus in most places in the New Testament. -Sore displeased. Highly displeased. The cause of their displeasure is indicated in John xii. 19. They were envious of his popularity, as tending to obscure their own. 16 and said unto him: Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them: Yea; have ye never read: "Out of the mouth of babes 17 and sucklings thou hast perfected praise"? And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany, and he lodged there. 18 Now in the morning, as he returned into the city, he hungered. 19 And when he saw a fig-tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only; and said unto it: Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. 16. Luke relates still another incident; that the Pharisees requested Jesus to check his disciples; but that he told them that the very stones would cry out, if man should be dumb on so glorious an occasion.-Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, &c. Ps. viii. 2. According to the conjecture of the last verse respecting the children, we understand these to be, not babes in years, but in spiritual attainments. Mat. xi. 25. 17-19. Parallel to Mark xi. 11 -14. 17. Bethany. As this was the village of Lazarus and his sisters, it has been plausibly conjectured that he made their house his home at this time. Mark informs us that he was accompanied by the Twelve. What more palpable proof could there be against the theory advanced by some, of Jesus' aspiring to political power, than the fact, that, after his triumphal procession, when the people were ripe for revolution, and the whole nation were congregated in the holy city, Jesus retires to a quiet village and huinble friends to pass his nights? He thus escaped any plots against his own life, and avoided any occasion of popular tumult_that might be raised in his favor. Besides, the calm scenes of Mount Olivet were more congenial to his mind than the din of the crowded city. How unambitious and beautiful was his retiring to Bethany, after thousands And presently the fig-tree withered had saluted him with every mark of royal honor! This humility bears the palm alone. 18, 19. As Jesus was returning into the city from Bethany, fully bent on his great duties, he suffered hunger; an evidence of his absorption in his work, and forgetfulness of his bodily wants. He finds a fig-tree by the roadside, and therefore belonging to no one. The original is more exact, one fig-tree, one among many, a fig-tree that was distinguished from others. Mark says, that "the time of figs was not yet." It might be asked, then, why he went to it, expecting fruit. The answer is, that, as the fruit of the fig-tree appears before the leaves, and as this tree was covered with leaves, it was reasonable to expect that it had fruit. As it was not the usual time for gathering figs, none were expected from any tree but this, because perhaps no others had leaves, the indication of fruit. It was not likely that the fruit had been picked, for the fig harvest was not yet. Failing of receiving physical nourishment from the tree, Jesus makes it an instrument of spiritual good; the highest use to which any object can be put. Not in the petulance of disappointment, but with a calm power, seeking to impress his disciples, he devotes the tree to barrenness benceforth, and it soon withered away. Perhaps this event had some connexion with the parable of the fig away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying: How 20 soon is the fig-tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto 21 them: Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree, but also, if ye shall say unto this mountain: Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, 22 believing, ye shall receive. And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the 23 tree, Luke xiii. 6-9. He would teach the value of faith, as we learn from verse 21, by a symbolical action, a frequent method in the east. This lesson was especially needed by the disciples, standing, as they did, on the eve of mighty events that would try their faith severely. Most commentators have drawn also another moral from the event, that of the unfruitfulness and destruction of the Jewish nation, to which, covered over as it were with the leaves of good professions, our Lord had come seeking fruit, but finding none. 20-22. Parallel to Mark xi. 20 -26. 20. The disciples saw it. This was on the next morning, as they went from Bethany to Jerusalem. How soon is the fig-tree withered away! Or, according to Winer, How did the fig-tree wither away so quickly? The miracle astonished them the more as being unusual, out of the ordinary course of Jesus miraculous deeds, and startling on account of its suddenness. 21. This mountain. The Mount of Olives. A similar hyperbole concerning this very mountain is found in Zech. xiv. 4. See note on Mat. xvii. 20, xviii. 19. In general, they would be able, if they had faith, to perform the greatest miracles for the promotion of religion; not that literally the plucking up and casting of a mountain into the sea would be a proper act to perform. The Jews called those who were most distinguished as teachers, for genius aud virtue, rooters up of mountains, or capable of overcoming the greatest difficulties. The gift of working miracles was limited to the apostolic age, and there are no trustworthy accounts of its having been since possessed or exercised. 22. Believing, ye shall receive. Mark, in the parallel passage, states forgiveness, as well as faith, to be a condition of efficacious prayer. If the declaration was applicable only to the Apostles, the sense would be, that God would grant them, in answer to believing prayer, all things necessary to their office. If the promise was more extensive, it announces that whatever shall be asked in prayer, in a confiding spirit, shall be received. For a good man will pray that only what is consistent with God's will may be given him. His devotions will always have this saving clause, If it be the Divine pleasure. Prayer is therefore eminently an act of faith, a referring of all things to God, a full confiding in his goodness, as able and willing to grant us, if not the identical objects of our petition, yet what is far better. We have, in 1 John v. 14, 15, the Christian philosophy of prayer. 23-27. Parallel to Mark xi. 27— 33. Luke xx. 1-8. 23. The chief priests and the elders of the people. Members of the |