The Triumphal Entry

Matthew 21:1-11

Verse 1 - The Location

Matthew records Bethphage.

Mark records Bethphage and Bethany. Mark 11:1.

Luke records Bethphage and Bethany. Luke 19:29.

John records Bethany. John 12:1.

He raised Lazarus at Bethany and got anointed by Mary in Bethany.

He gets the donkey to ride into Jerusalem from Bethphage.

Verse 2-3

Matthew mentions a female donkey and a colt.

Jesus rode the colt (Mark 11:7, Luke 19:35, John 12:14-15.)

Jesus exercises divine authority over creation (“The Lord has need of it”).

The colt is unridden, symbolizing purity and consecration.

The act of borrowing reflects Jesus’ non-possessive humility—He enters Jerusalem not with wealth or force, but with borrowed transportation.

Verse 4

This was done in fulfillment of prophecy.

Verse 5

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.”

Matthew and John both give us their understanding that Jesus has fulfilled this by riding into Jerusalem on the colt (John 12:14-15).

Verse 6

They did as they were instructed. They went and asked a stranger for their donkey and just said “the Lord has need of it”!

Will you walk in obedience even if it makes no earthly sense?

Verse 7-9

There are a plethora of verse for what is going on in these verses.

Genesis 49:10–11 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come; And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, And his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; He washed his garments in wine, And his clothes in the blood of grapes:”

Leviticus 23:40 “And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.” (Feast of Tabernacles)

2 Kings 9:13 “Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.”

Nehemiah 8:15 “And that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.” (Feast of Tabernacles)

Psalm 118:25–26 “Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.”

Verse 10

The city was moved, shaken, agitated by this whole scene.

The question “Who is this?” this is the question asked throughout the Gospel narrative.

Lk 7:49, 8:25, 9:9, Mk 4:41, Jn 8:25, 9:36, 12:34, Acts 9:5.

In fact each of us before coming to faith in Christ also asked this question. And in the answering we found eternal life in Him.

Verse 11

They recognized him as prophet, but they did not yet have the revelation of who he truly was (Mt 16:16).

Their answer in part echoes Deuteronomy 18:15 “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” They may have had a messianic expectation, but they did not grasp the full scope of His identity.

Here we have some irony, because Jesus comes from Nazareth in Galilee. A low status town, in Gentile Galilee.

Nathanael ask three years earlier, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” The answer is the same today as it was then, “Come and see.”

Yet we know that in Isaiah 9:1 that the Gentiles would see the great light of the Messiah.

Application

Jesus enters with Humility - Application: True kingship is marked by surrender, not spectacle.

Obedience often proceeds understanding, Faith responds before it fully comprehends. John 12:16 “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.”

The Crowd’s question is still ours: “Who is this?” Every heart must answer the identity of Jesus question personally and fully.