Last week we looked at Jesus’
first entry into Jerusalem in judgment. This week we
will look at his second entry in blessing. The second
entry occurred on the very next day, the 10th of Nisan,
and involved two animals, an ass and a colt the foal
of an ass. Only Matthew records this entry.
Matthew 21:1,2
And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come
to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus
two disciples, 2 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.
Here Jesus directs them
to ask for both an ass and her colt.
Matthew 21:3-5
And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The
Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send
them.
4 All this was done, [with the result] that it might
be [was] fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying,
5 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.
Jesus made a second entry
in this fashion thus fulfilling Zechariah’s prophesy.
Jesus recognized that he was the King of whom the prophecy
spoke. In John 12:15 the verse was only partially quoted.
Here in Matthew, the entire verse is quoted. Remember
Matthew is the Gospel which presents Jesus as Jehovah’s
king.
Zechariah 9:9
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.
The king is prophesied
to be just having salvation. What greater blessing could
a ruler offer? Again note the king would enter riding
on an ass and accompanied by the colt, the foal of the
ass. This second entry was an entry of blessing and
was the complete fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophesy.
Two asses are used to show blessing elsewhere in God’s
Word. In II Kings 5:15-17, Naaman wanted to thank Elisha
for his healing and asks him to take a blessing of two
mules. Also in II Samuel 16:1-3 Ziba met David with
two asses and their cargo indicating blessing and abundance.
Matthew 21:6-11
And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and
the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set
him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude
spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches
from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 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. 10 And when he was come
into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who
is this? 11 And the multitude said,
This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
This is similar to the
day before but not identical. The entry on the day before
involved the rejoicing of the disciples and the multitude
of bystanders attracted by the news that the man who
had raised Lazarus from the dead was coming. In this
second entry the entire city responded and questioned,
“Who is this?” It says, “all the city
was moved” and unwittingly they were witnessing
God’s selection of Jesus as the final Passover
lamb. Note that this day is the 10th of Nisan, the day
designated to select the Passover lamb. How remarkable
that Israel was seeing the perfect lamb without spot
or blemish.
Exodus 12:3-65
Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying,
In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them
every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers,
a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be
too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next
unto his house take it according to the number of the
souls; every man according to his eating shall make
your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without
blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it
out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up
until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the
whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill
it in the evening.
I Corinthians 5:7 says
that “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”
We can see Jesus meeting all the requirements for the
perfect Passover lamb. Jesus was chosen on the tenth
and sacrificed on the fourteenth of Nisan. He was chosen
as the final Passover lamb.
Matthew 21:12,13
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out
all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew
the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them
that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It
is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer;
but ye have made it a den of thieves.
Unlike the previous day,
he did not simply enter the temple and look around,
and go back to Bethany. This time he overthrew the merchant’s
table and taught the people.
When Jesus went into the Temple during his second
entry, he was completely familiar with the tradition
of the Temple market. The Temple market was situated
in the outer courts of the Temple. There merchants exchanged
money and sold wine, salt, oil, sacrificial animals,
and other necessities used by the worshippers. The market
was a lucrative business for both the merchants and
the religious leaders of the Temple. Jesus did not object
to the commerce that went on there, but rather the corruption
and hypocrisy involved—the selling of second rate
goods at first rate prices. The Temple had become dishonest,
a den of thieves. Jesus was not abusive to the people,
but he did overthrow their tables and tell them to get
out. Malachi records a similar situation. God had Malachi
confront similar dishonesty.
Malachi 1:7,8
Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say,
Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table
of the LORD is contemptible. 8 And if ye offer the blind
for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame
and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor;
will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?
saith the LORD of hosts.
To sell polluted bread
and crippled animals for offerings to the Lord was in
complete contradiction to the Word of God which specified
that only the best animals were to be offered. This
cleansing of the Temple was necessary for the Temple
to be properly prepared and cleansed for Passover and
the Feast of Unleaven bread. Not only was Jesus our
passover lamb, but he had to cleanse the temple to properly
prepare for his own sacrifice.
Matthew 21:1,2
And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be
called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den
of thieves.
This record is also noted
in Mark 11:15-17, but without all the details included
in Matthew. However, the words “on the morrow”
in Mark 11:12 clarifies that these events in the temple
occurred on the 10th and not on the 9th.
Luke does not mention the second entry although it does
record this incident with the money changers immediately
following the account of the first entry in Luke 19:45,46.
By studying the Gospels together with the principle
of narrative development, one can understand that the
passage in Luke covers events over a period longer than
a single day. Luke simply records events that occur
over a long period of time without relating the time
factors involved. Luke 24:35-53 covers a span of four
days.
Matthew 21:14-17
And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple;
and he healed them. [Now, there’s a blessing.] 15 And when the chief priests
and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and
the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna
to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, [The
people repeated the same greeting, and the rulers responded
with the same indignation.] 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 and sucklings
thou hast perfected praise? 17 And he left them, and
went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.
Before we chose let’s
go to Psalms 8 and read the scriptures, which Jesus
quoted.
Psalm 8:1,2
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the
earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of
thine enemies [adversaries], that thou mightest still
the enemy and the avenger.
Matthew 21:16 is translated,
“Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou
hast perfected praise?” But when you read it in
Psalms from which Jesus quotes it says, “Out of
the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
strength….” Bullinger says that “strength”
is put by metonymy for “praise.” It is clear
that Jesus understood it as praise. Bullinger says it
is a metonymy where the attribute of “strength”
is put for the praise and celebration of that “strength.”
We see the same kind of metonymy in Psalms 29:1.
Psalm 29:1 {A
Psalm of David.}
Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD
glory and strength.
How can we give glory
and strength to God? We can praise Him for these, but
we cannot give them to Him. They are put this way by
metonymy, for the praise that is due Him for His glory
and strength. Psalms 96:7,8 demonstrates the same metonymy.
The attribute of God is put for the praise that is due
Him because He is that way.
There is an association between strength and
praise, which these metonymies indicate. Not only should
our recognition of strength provoke praise, but our
praise in its recognition provides strength. Simply
put, praise provides strength. God has ordained strength
for our lives, and we will realize it as we perfect
praise. When we speak of the glory and magnificence
of God it strengthens us. The more we praise God and
appreciate his greatness, the more piddling and mundane
the attacks of our adversaries become.
What is perfect praise in our administration?
Speaking in tongues is perfect praise. What strengthens
us with might in our inner man? Speaking in tongues
strengthens us with might in our inner man.
Let’s read that verse again: “Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained
strength because of thine enemies [adversaries], that
thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.”
Why was strength ordained? Why did God set it up that
way? THAT thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
We just read two excellent examples of it. For the second
time in two days Jesus is greeted upon entry into Jerusalem
with praise that thwarted the purposes of the religious
leaders who wanted to apprehend him (John 11:53-57).
Do you want to still the enemy in your life?
Learn to praise God and strengthen yourself. As we ascribe
praise unto God we strengthen ourselves to do His will.
The praise of the people during his second entry
was similar to the praise and thanksgiving in the hearts
of those who had selected and sanctified their Passover
lamb. Unbeknowst to them, they had just witnessed the
selection of the last Passover lamb, Jesus Christ, the
lamb of God.
Jesus entered into Jerusalem on two animals,
to indicate the blessing he was bringing to Jerusalem.
With the masses of Jerusalem looking on Jesus was selected
as God’s consummate Passover lamb. He cleansed
the temple, taught the Word, and healed the sick after
which he returned to Bethany. Matthew records a second
entry.
On the church calendar the Sunday before Easter
has come to be known as “Palm Sunday.” It
was named for the palm branches involved in Jesus’
first entry into Jerusalem and possibly with his second
entry into Jerusalem. Tradition has combined them into
one event. They are not identical and they did not occur
on Sunday. We have seen from God’s word that these
were two distinct entries occurring on Friday and Saturday.
Let’s close by reviewing these events.
Yes, The events were similar:
Jesus sent two disciples on both
occasions to secure the animals.
On both occasions the instructions
for the use of the temple animals was given.
On both occasions Jesus was seated
on the animal and garments and tree branches were strawed
in the way.
On both occasions Jesus was greeted
with “Hosanna.”
On both occasions the religious
leaders were displeased by the reception Jesus received.
However, these similarities
did not make the incidents identical. Using the principle
of narrative development we saw that there were also
dissimilarities that showed that the incidents were
not identical.
The first entry was on Friday the
9th of Nisan. The second entry was on Saturday the 10th
of Nisan when the Passover lamb was to be selected.
On the first only one animal was
used; on the second two animals were used.
On the first the disciples who had
witnessed Lazarus’ being raised from the dead
spread the news; on the second all the city was moved
asking “Who is this?”
On the first entry Jesus came in
judgment and wept as he prophesied over Jerusalem; on
the second Jesus came in blessing as God’s consummate
Passover lamb, cleaned out the moneychangers, taught
the Word and healed the sick before returning to Bethany.
In John the verse in Zechariah
9:9 was only partially quoted and in Matthew it was
completely quoted when it was fulfilled in full.
Building on the key of
scripture build-up and understanding that similar things
are not necessarily identical allows us to see the beautiful
detail of God’s wonderful matchless Word. Then
we can better appreciate God’s plan for our redemption
and salvation and for our Lord Jesus Christ who always
did His Father’s will. He was about His Father’s
business at age 12 in the Temple, and he was still about
it until he said, “It is finished.” Jesus
Christ our Passover lamb is crucified for us. He completely
fulfilled the law, every jot and tittle. He was selected
on the 10th and killed on the 14th. His blood was shed
for the forgiveness of sin and his body was broken for
our healing. Because of his accomplished work we enjoy
our sonship rights today and live as more than conquerors.
