Lecture 3 — Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem

^12:12^ And on the next day, a great multitude came to the festival day, when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, [n. 1617]

^12:13^ took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel. [n. 1620]

^12:14^ And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, as it is written: [n. 1626]

^12:15^ fear not, daughter Zion: behold, your king comes, sitting on an ass’s colt. [n. 1627]

^12:16^ These things his disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things to him. [n. 1628]

^12:17^ The multitude, who was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, gave testimony of him. [n. 1629]

^12:18^ For that reason also the people came to meet him, because they heard that he had done this miracle. [n. 1629]

^12:19^ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves: do you see that we accomplish nothing? Behold, the whole world is gone after him. [n. 1630]

1616. Here we see the fervor of the crowd which went to meet Christ.

First, they go to meet Christ;

second, we have the reaction of the Pharisees: the Pharisees therefore said.

Concerning the first the Evangelist does three things:

first, he mentions their going out;

second, he tells of our Lord’s entrance: and Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it;

and third, he states why the crowd went out to him: the multitude.

1617. He mentions four things concerning the crowd which went out to the Lord. First, the time they went out, the next day, that is, the day following the one he meant when he said, **six days before the Pasch **(John 12:1); in other words, the tenth day of the month. This is in keeping with the figure in Exodus, where we read that the Paschal lamb which was to be immolated on the fourteenth day in the evening should be procured on the tenth day of the month (Exod 12:3).

1618. Second, the ones who went out are described, and on the next day, a great multitude came to the festival day. They signify the multitudes of the people who would be converted to Christ: let the assembly of the people be gathered about you (Ps 7:7). He says to the festival day, because believers are converted to Christ so that they may come to the feast day of the heavenly Jerusalem: many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 8:11).

1619. Third, the Evangelist mentions their motive for going out, which was that they heard that Jesus was coming: he says that they when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. For all the faithful are converted to Christ through what they hear about the faith: faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ (Rom 10:17); and the children of Israel heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel; and the peoples believed (Exod 4:31).

1620. Fourth, he mentions how they conducted themselves. And first of all, what they did: took branches of palm trees. Now the palm, since it retains its freshness, signifies victory. Thus in antiquity it was conferred upon conquerors as a symbol of their victory. Again, we read of the conquering martyrs that they held palm branches in their hands (Rev 7:9). And so the branches of palm trees were given as praise, signifying victory, because our Lord was to conquer death by dying and to triumph over the devil, the prince of death, by the victory of the cross. And went forth to meet him: prepare to meet your God, O Israel! (Amos 4:12).

1621. Second, the Evangelist mentions what they said: and cried: hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! Here they combine both petition and praise. There is petition when they say, hosanna, that is save us, I implore you. It is like saying: ‘hosy’, which means ‘save’, and ‘anna’, which means ‘implore’. According to Augustine, this is not a word, but an exclamation of one praying. And it is proper that they should ask the Lord Jesus for salvation, because we read in Isaiah (35:4): behold your God . . . he will come and save you; stir up thy might, and come to save us! (Ps 80:2).

1622. They praise him for two things: for his coming and for the power of his reign or kingdom.

They praise his coming when they say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Note that to bless is to speak good things. Now God blesses us in one way, and we bless God in another way. For when God blesses us he makes us good, since for God to speak is to do: for he spoke and they were created (Ps 148:5). But when we bless God, we profess his goodness: we bless you from the house of the Lord (Ps 118:26); blessed be every one who blesses you! (Gen 27:29). Therefore, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, for Christ worked in the name of God, because everything he did he directed to the glory of God.

Now because both the Father and the Son are the Lord, the phrase, in the name of the Lord, can be understood in two ways. In one way, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, means blessed is he who comes in his own name, as Lord: the Lord is our ruler (Isa 33:22). Moses did not come in the name of the Lord in this way, because he came as a servant: now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later (Heb 3:5). According to Augustine, the better interpretation would be to say that in the name of the Lord means in the name of the Father. For Christ’s words direct our minds to this: I have come in the name of my Father (John 5:43). Further, there are two ways in which Christ is said to have come in the name of the Father. First, he came as the Son, which implies the Father; second, he came to manifest the Father: I have manifested your name to the men (John 17:6).

1623. The people praise the power of his reign when they say, the King of Israel. Literally, the Jews believed that he had come to reign over them temporally, and ransom them from subjection to the Romans. That is why they hailed him as a king: he will reign as king and deal wisely (Jer 23:5); behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice (Isa 32:1).

1624. Note that the above words can be gathered from the Psalms. For when the Psalm says, the stone which the builders rejected (Ps 118:22), it then continues on, save us, we beseech thee, O Lord! . . . blessed is he who enters in the name of the Lord! (Ps 118:25–26). And there Jerome, according to the meaning of the Hebrew, translated hosanna as blessed. But what the people added, the King of Israel, is not in the Psalms. Instead: the Lord is God, and he has given us light (Ps 118:27). In saying this, the people, due to their blindness, have lessened his praise: for the Psalm praises our Lord as God, but they praised him as a temporal king.

1625. When the Evangelist says, and Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it, he describes our Lord’s coming:

first, he tells how he came;

second, he mentions a prophecy;

and third, he describes the state of mind of the disciples in regard to this event.

1626. It should be noted in regard to the first point, that John the Evangelist wrote his Gospel after all the others. And so, after carefully noting what these had written, he merely summarized what they had already mentioned, but filled in what they had omitted. Therefore, since the other Evangelists had already told how the Lord sent two of his disciples to bring the ass, John contents himself with mentioning briefly that Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it.

However, note that Christ’s actions are midway between the events of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. Thus the crowds praised him, both the one which went before him, and the one which followed him, because Christ’s actions are the rule and exemplar of the things that are done in the New Testament, and they were prefigured by the fathers of the Old Testament.

The young ass is an awkward animal, and signifies the gentiles. Christ sat upon it to signify that he would redeem the gentiles: I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth (Isa 49:6); happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the ass range free (Isa 49:20), that is, thus uniting the Jews and the gentiles in one faith.

Now Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jews, and so he made mention of a she-ass. This she-ass signifies the synagogue of the Jews, which was like a mother to the gentiles in spiritual matters, because out of Zion will go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa 2:3). The other Evangelists, however, wrote their Gospels for the gentiles, and so they mention the young colt of the she-ass.

1627. When the Evangelist says, as it is written: fear not, daughter Zion, he cites the prophesy which was written in Zechariah (Zech 9:9). First, he reassures them; second, he promises a kingly majesty; and third, he adds the benefit which the king will bring.

He reassures them when he says, fear not, daughter Zion. Zion was the fortress in Jerusalem where the king lived. The daughter of Zion, therefore, would be the people of Jerusalem and of Judea who were subject to the king of Jerusalem. Thus the Jews are being told, fear not, because the Lord is your defender: who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass? (Isa 51:12); the Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps 27:1). Here the Evangelist is driving out their worldly and servile fear.

He promises them a kingly majesty, saying, behold, your king comes: for to us a son is given (Isa 9:6); he will sit upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom (Isa 9:7).

He says, your king, that means, taking flesh from you, for it is not with angels that he is concerned, but with the descendants of Abraham (Heb 2:16). Again, your king, that is, for your benefit. Thus he adds, comes, to you: would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes (Luke 19:42). But when they resisted, they hindered their own good. The king comes to you, I say, not to harm you, but to set you free; thus he adds, sitting on an ass’s colt. This signifies the mercy of the king, which is most welcome to his subjects: his throne is upheld by mercy (Prov 20:28). This is just the opposite to a king’s wrath is like the growling of a lion (Prov 19:12). He is saying in effect: he is not coming as a haughty king, which would make him hateful, but with gentleness: if they make you master of the feast, do not exalt yourself (Sir 32:1). Therefore, have no fear that the king will oppress you. Now the old law was given in fear, because the law produced slaves. This phrase also signifies the power of the king, because by coming with humility and in weakness he attracted the entire world: the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor 1:25).

1628. Then when he says, these things his disciples did not understand at first, he describes the state of mind of the disciples regarding this prophecy. And he admits his own ignorance and that of the disciples, for as we read: the just person is the first to accuse himself (Prov 18:17).

So he says, these things, what was predicted, his disciples did not understand at first, that is, before the passion. But when Jesus was glorified, i.e., when he showed the power of his resurrection, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and they had done these things to him. The reason they knew only after he had been glorified was because it was then that they received the power of the Holy Spirit, which made them wiser than all the wise: the breath of the almighty makes a man understand (Job 32:8). This however, the Evangelist brings in, to show that it was not which was made, was certainly procured by the disciples.

1629. Then he mentions why the crowd went to meet Jesus, which was to bear witness. This was done by the multitude, who was with him, at the resurrection of Lazarus, when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead, gave testimony of him: for that reason also the people came to meet him. For Jews demand signs (1 Cor 1:22). Now this was a clearer and more marvelous sign than the others; thus Christ made it the last in order to impress it more forcefully on their memory.

1630. Then when the Evangelist says, the Pharisees then said among themselves: do you see that we accomplish nothing? Behold, the whole world is gone after him, he describes the reaction of the Pharisees, who were enraged because their plans had been frustrated. Thus they say, do you see that we accomplish nothing? The Pharisees said this out of envy, as if to say: we are not having any effect, that is, in our evil intentions; we have failed to check him: but evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse: erring, and driving into error (2 Tim 3:13).

But why were they maddened at the blind crowd? Because the whole world is gone after him through whom the world was made. This was a sign that the whole world would follow him: we will live in his sight. We will know and we will follow the Lord (Hos 6:3). Chrysostom, however, thinks that these words were said by the Pharisees who believed, but they were spoken privately for fear of the Jews. And they said this to stop the persecution of Christ. It is as though they were saying: no matter what snares you lay, he will grow in stature and his glory will increase. Why then not stop your plotting? This is practically the same as the advice of Gamaliel (Acts 5:34).