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From: Matthew 21:1-22 (At the Procession with Palms)

The Messiah Enters the Holy City

[1] And when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, [2] saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. [3] If any one says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,’ and he will send them immediately.” [4] This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, [5] “Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass, and on a colt, the foal of an ass.” [6] The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; [7] they brought the ass and the colt, and put their garments on them, and he sat thereon. [8] Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. [9] And the crowds that went before him and that followed him shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” [10] And when he entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” [11] And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Jesus in the temple

12 And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you make it a den of robbers.” 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant; 16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast brought perfect praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.

The cursing of the fig tree

18 In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. 19 And seeing a fig tree by the wayside he went to it, and found nothing on it but leaves only. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. 20 When the disciples saw it they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” 21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and never doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
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Commentary:

1-5. In his triumphant entry into Jerusalem Jesus reveals himself as Messiah, as St Matthew and St John (12:14) stress by quoting the prophecy Zechariah 9:9. Although the Latin translation says “mounted on a [female] ass”, the original Hebrew text says “mounted on a [male] ass”, and the latter is text followed in this translation (in the Greek translation of the Septuagint no sex is specified). The other two Synoptic Gospels limit themselves to giving the key fact of Jesus’ messianic entry into the Holy City mounted on the (Mk 11:2; Lk 19:30). St Matthew sees in the fact that the colt is with the further detail of the prophecy, which refers to the colt being the foal of ass (that seems to be why the ass is referred to throughout the account, the ass being with the colt, although Jesus was mounted only on the colt).

In the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 (which in the original Old Testament is longer than the quotation in Matthew) the future messianic king is described as “humble”. The ass, originally a noble mount (cf. Gen 22:3; Ex 4;20; Num 22:21; Jud 5:10), was replaced by the horse in the period of the Israelite monarchy (cf. 1 Kings 4:26; 10:28; etc). The prophecy, by referring to an ass, shows that the King of peace wins his victory by humility and gentleness by force of arms.

The Fathers have read a deeper meaning into this episode. They see the ass symbolizing Judaism, for long subject to the yoke of the Law, and the on which no one has ridden, as symbolizing the Gentiles. Jesus leads both Jews and Gentiles into the Church, the new Jerusalem.

9. The Hebrew word “Hosanna”, which the people use to acclaim our Lord, was originally an appeal to God meaning “Save us”. Later it was used as a shout of joy, an acclamation, meaning something like “Long live...”. The people are demonstrating their enthusiasm by shouting, “Long live the Son of David!” The phrase “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” comes from Psalm 118:26 and is a jubilant and appreciative greeting to someone entrusted with a mission from God. The Church takes up these acclamations, incorporating them into the preface of the Mass, to proclaim the kingship of Christ.

12-22. See commentary.

From: Isaiah 50:4-9a

Third Song of the Servant of the Lord

[4] The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught; that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. [5] The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. [6]I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

[7] For the LORD GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; [8] he who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together. Who is my adversary? Let him come near me. [9a] Behold, the Lord GOD helps me; who will declare me guilty?

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Commentary:

50:4-9. The second song dealt with the servant’s mission (cf. 49:6); the third song focuses on the servant himself. The term “servant” as such does not appear here, and therefore some commentators read the passage as being a description of a prophet and not part of the songs. Still, the context (cf. 50:10) does suggest that the protagonist is the servant. The poem is neatly constructed in three stanzas, each beginning with the words, “The Lord God” (vv. 4, 5, 7), and it has a conclusion containing that same wording (v. 9). The first stanza emphasizes the servant’s docility to the word of God; that is, he is not depicted as a self-taught teacher with original ideas, but as an obedient disciple. The second (vv. 5-6) speaks of the suffering that that docility has brought him, without his uttering a word of complaint. The third (vv. 7-8) shows how determined the servant is: if he suffers in silence, it is not out of cowardice but because God helps him and makes him stronger than his persecutors. The conclusion (v. 9) is like the verdict of a trial: when all is said and done, the servant will stand tall, and all his enemies will be struck down.

The evangelists saw the words of this song as finding fulfillment in Jesus—especially what the song has to say about the suffering and silent fortitude of the servant. The Gospel of John, for example, quotes Nicodemus’ acknowledgment of Christ’s wisdom: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him” (Jn 3:21). But the description of the servant’s sufferings was the part that most impressed the early Christians; that part of the song was recalled when they meditated on the passion of Jesus and how “they spat in his face; and struck him; and some slapped him” (Mt 26:67) and later how the Roman soldiers “spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head” (Mt 27:30; cf. also Mk 15:19; Jn 19:3). St Paul refers to v. 9 when applying to Christ Jesus the role of intercessor on behalf of the elect in the suit pressed constantly against them by the enemies of the soul: “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33).

St Jerome sees the servant’s docility as a reference to Christ: “His self-discipline and wisdom enabled him to communicate to us the knowledge of the Father. And he was obedient onto death, death on the cross; he offered his body to the blows they struck, his shoulders to the lash; and though he was wounded on the chest and on his face, he did not try to turn away and escape their violence” (”Commentarii In Isaiam”, 50, 4). This passage is used in the liturgy of Palm Sunday (along with Psalm 22 and St Paul’s hymn in the Letter to the Philippians 2:6-11), before the reading of our Lord’s passion.