All
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Matthew 21:4-11
Matthew 21 [1.] When they came near to Jerusalem, and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, 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, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
Matthew 21 [4.] All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying,
Matthew 21 [5.] “Tell the daughter of Zion,
behold, your King comes to you,
humble, and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
Matthew 21 [6.] The disciples went, and did just as Jesus commanded them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees, and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21 [10.] When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”
Matthew 21 [12.] Jesus entered into the temple of God, and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”
Meaning:
Jesus had sent two disciples from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives to fetch a donkey and her colt, saying, “The Lord needs them” (Matthew 21:1-3). These verses describe his royal entry into Jerusalem at the start of the last week before the cross, the event remembered on Palm Sunday.
- “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet”
Matthew often shows how Jesus fulfilled Scripture. Here he quotes Zechariah, who wrote after the exile: “Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus chose to act out this prophecy deliberately. For the first time he openly presented himself as Israel’s King.
- “Humble, and riding on a donkey”
Conquering kings rode war horses. Zechariah’s King would “cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem” and “speak peace to the nations” (Zechariah 9:10). A donkey was the mount of peace, and of Israel’s kings in earlier days: when David made Solomon king, they “had Solomon ride on king David’s mule” (1 Kings 1:38). Jesus came as a gentle King, bringing peace and salvation rather than war.
Matthew mentions both the donkey and its colt. The young animal had never been ridden (Mark 11:2), and its mother walked with it to steady it.
- “A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road”
Spreading cloaks was an act of homage to a king. When Jehu was anointed, the army officers “took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, ‘Jehu is king’” (2 Kings 9:13). Others cut branches; John says they were palm branches, a symbol of victory (John 12:13).
- “Hosanna to the son of David!”
The crowds sang words from Psalm 118, a psalm used at the great festivals: “Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh! ... Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!” (Psalm 118:25-26). “Hosanna” means “save us” or “help us, we pray.” By calling Jesus “son of David,” the pilgrims, many of them from Galilee, hailed him as the promised Messiah. Mark adds their cry, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming” (Mark 11:10).
- “All the city was stirred up, saying, ‘Who is this?’”
The word for “stirred up” describes a shaking, like an earthquake. Jerusalem was crowded for the Passover, and the city that had been troubled at the birth of the King of the Jews (Matthew 2:3) was now shaken by his arrival. The Galilean crowds answered, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” It was true, but not the whole truth. Within days many would be asking for his death.
The Significance of Matthew 21:4-11
- The King comes humbly
Jesus did not come to Jerusalem to seize power by force but to give his life. His kingdom is one of peace, righteousness and salvation.
- Welcome him with your whole life
The crowds laid their cloaks before him. True worship means placing ourselves and all we have at his feet, not only shouting praise for a day.
- “Who is this?”
The question of Jerusalem is still the most important question. Each person must answer it for himself.
Cross-References:
Zechariah 9:9: "Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation;" The prophecy Jesus fulfilled.
Psalm 118:26: "Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!" The festival psalm sung by the crowds.
John 12:13: "they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet him," John’s account of the same welcome.
Conclusion: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and its colt, fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy of a humble King who brings salvation. The crowds spread their cloaks and branches on the road and shouted, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” The whole city was shaken and asked, “Who is this?” The passage presents Jesus as the promised King of peace and calls each reader to welcome him and answer that question.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible