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From: Matthew 21:1-11 (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; un-
tie 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 daugh-
ter 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, sa-
ying, “Who is this?” [11] And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus from
Nazareth of Galilee.”

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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 of Zechariah 9:9.
Although the Latin translation says “mounted on a [female] ass”, the original He-
brew 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’ mes-
sianic entry into the Holy City mounted on the colt (Mk 11:2; Lk 19:30). St Mat-
thew sees in the fact that the colt is with the ass a further detail of the prophecy,
which refers to the colt being the foal of ass (that seems to be why the ass is re-
ferred 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 “hum-
ble”. 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, not by force of arms.

The Fathers have read a deeper meaning into this episode. They see the ass
as symbolizing Judaism, for long subject to the yoke of the Law, and the foal
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 de-
monstrating 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.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Isaiah 50:4-7

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.

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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 ap-
pear here, and therefore some commentators read the passage as being a de-
scription 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 construc-
ted 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 se-
cond (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 — es-
pecially 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” (”Commen-
tarii 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.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.