CHAP. I-10. S. Matt. S. Luke xix. 29-40. CHAPTER XI. 1. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sendeth xxi. 1-9. forth two of His disciples, 2. And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. 3. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. 4. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. 5. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? 6. And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go. 7. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and He sat upon him. 8. And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna ; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. In recording the history of the triumphal entry into phal entry Jerusalem S. Matthew mentions an ass with its colt; S. Mark speak of one animal only, confining attention apparently to the animal upon which the Lord actually rode. In describing the manner in which the disciples The trium into Jerusalem. XI. I-IO. to prophecy S. Mark. found the colt, S. Mark, as usual, gives some minute CHAP. details, which seem to bring the whole picture very clearly before our eyes. The colt was tied by the door without, and it was in a place where two ways met, or rather in the street, for that appears to be the meaning of the Greek word.1 It may well be supposed that S. Peter was one of the two disciples who were sent, and that this his own account of what he did. But the chief distinction between S. Matthew and S. Mark is this, that S. Matthew refers the whole transaction to ancient prophecy, and S. Mark does not. Of course the entry Reference into Jerusalem was not the less a fulfilment of prophecy omitted by because S. Mark does not point it out as such; but his omission to do so seems to shew that the story has a meaning and significance additional to, and independent of, that which belongs to it as a fulfilment of prophecy. In fact, this remark is one of very general application. Events are said to have come about in order that prophecy might be fulfilled, but it is equally true that prophecies declared the coming of events, because those events were necessary in themselves. Christ was born of a pure virgin that prophecy might be fulfilled, but it is also true that it was necessary in the economy of God that Christ should be so born, and that the event being thus rendered necessary was declared by the prophet while still in the womb of time. cance of the What, then, was the special significance of the Lord's The signifitriumphal entry? It has for us this value at least, that triumphal it gives us something of a measure of the humiliation of Christ. It was the only occasion upon which He per 1 Dean Trench suggests a crooked lane; Dr. Wordsworth says that the word does not mean the highway in the front of the house, but the back way, which went round the house. entry. CHAP. mitted Himself to be the object of public honour, and it XI. II. S. Matt. xxi. 12-17. A lesson concerning Christian discretion. suggests to us what the humility of the rest of His life was, if this be the occasion most full of worldly glory. And, besides this, it seemed to declare that the Lord's hour was now come; there was to be no more concealment of His person or His character, no more charge to His disciples, See ye tell no man; the people might shout their Hosannas, might proclaim Him to be the King of Israel; the Son of Man was now to be glorified, glorified first by the shouts of the people rejoicing, then by the cross and passion. 11. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the Temple: and when He had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, He went out unto Bethany with the twelve. I have observed, in commenting upon S. Matthew xxi. 12, that this verse supplies an important correction, or rather explanation, of what S. Matthew tells us. It shews, as I have there remarked, that our Lord did not cleanse the Temple with a multitude at His back; He availed Himself of no popular excitement; but He simply went up to the Temple and examined the condition of things there, and then retired to Bethany. If we may venture to draw from so august an occasion a lesson applicable to common life, it may be said that our Lord's conduct gives us a good example of religious discretion. We know how hotly within the Saviour's heart the zeal for the honour of His Father's house was burning, but His time was not yet come, and therefore He could observe all that was going on without saying a word; the fire kindled, but the Lord restrained Himself, and would not yet speak with His tongue; this was the time to be silent, the morrow was the time both to speak and to act. How much mischief is sometimes CHAP. done, and how much good lost, by not speaking and XI. acting at the right time! 12-14. looking upon all Temple. But, leaving this homely view of the subject, how The Lord very grand in its simplicity is the picture of Jesus round about looking round upon all things in the Temple! He had things in the come as the Son into His Father's house, as the Lord and the heir to claim His own. The Temple had been built for Him; all the sacrifices which had been offered up within it had pointed to Him; all the answers to prayer which had been received in it had been given through Him; and now the shadow was to pass away, and the substance to take its place. If we may venture to guess what thoughts passed through the Lord's mind, I should say that He did not wholly think of those evils and corruptions which the next day He rebuked; these were excrescences, so to speak; these were incursions made by the Evil One into the sacred precincts; but the Temple itself was still God's house, it was the holiest spot upon earth, the most especial place of the Divine presence. If it would have affected any seriousminded Jew, who knew the past and the future of that Temple, to stand within its walls at such a time as this, when the true Paschal Lamb had just entered its enclosure, what must have been the thoughts of the Lord Himself as He entered the Temple and looked round about upon all things? xxi. 18, 19. 12. And on the morrow, when they were come from s. Matt. Bethany, He was hungry. 13. And seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find anything thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14. And Jesus CHAP. answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it. XI. 12-14. less fig-tree. The history of the fruitless fig-tree is given in this The fruit- Gospel with great particularity. One sentence which occurs has given considerable trouble to commentators; according to the English version we read that the time of figs was not yet; and the question has suggested itself, if this were so, why should the Lord have pronounced a curse upon the tree? In order to avoid the difficulties raised by this question, various attempts have been made to educe a different sense from the original. It would be rash to give a positive decision in such a case, but it may certainly be stated that the meaning conveyed by the English version is that which is obviously suggested by the original, and which would probably have been adopted at once, if no difficulties had appeared to be necessarily bound up with it. Is it not possible, however, to adopt the words as given by our English version, and yet to assign to them a meaning not inconsistent with our Lord's character or with the whole spirit of the history? It should be remembered that our Lord had been attracted at a distance by the appearance of this tree; there was an abundant show of leaves, and, inasmuch as in the case of the fig-tree the fruit appears before the leaves, there was reason to suppose that there might also be fruit; the show of leaves was extraordinary, and it would not have been much more strange if there had been an extraordinary crop of fruit. Had the tree been like its companions in respect of leaves, Christ would not, as we may suppose, have expected to find in it a difference from them in other respects. |