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THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM, ON AN ASS (REPRESENTING YOU AND ME)

01-15-12

PROPHECY OF THE COMING MESSIAH

(Isa 62:11)  Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion [Heb: a mountain of Jerusalem], Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

(Zec 9:9)  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just [Heb: lawful, righteous], and having salvation; lowly [Heb: humble (meek)], and riding upon an ass [a donkey] [Heb: chamowr; a male ass], and upon a colt [Heb: a young ass] the foal [Heb: ben; son] of an ass [Heb: 'athown; (in the sense of patience); a female ass (from its docility].

1.      colt = Heb: in the sense of raising (i.e. bearing a burden); prop. a young ass (as just broken to a load); hence an ass-colt.

2.      Dictionary: ass = 1. A long-eared, usually ash-colored mammal, Equus asinus, related to the horse, serving as a slow, patient, sure-footed beast of burden; the donkey. 2. a fool; a blockhead.

3.      (Exo 13:13 & repeated in Exo 34:20)  And every firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem [Heb: ransom: deliver, rescue] with a lamb; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break his neck: and all the firstborn of man among thy children shalt thou redeem.

4.      Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types: Both [firstborn ass and man] must be redeemed with a lamb. Nothing less than a sacrificial act could bring such a being to God. The ass in this passage is typical of the sinner who must be redeemed by the death of the Lamb of God, or else be lost under the judgment of God.

5.      Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types: Here we have a type of the consecrated believer who is willing to be a burden bearer for God and for man. He bears the burdens of God’s people, and carries them to God. He bears the burden of God’s message, and carries it to the people. He realizes that a path of rest and peace is good for God’s people, and he wants [is willing] to share in the work of making it possible. This may also be a type of the Lord Jesus Himself. Certainly He is our burden bearer; He bears the burden of our relationship to God, and also [the burden of] our relationship to other people. He too sees that rest is good, and calls on us to cast every burden on Him [1 Pet 5:7], so that we may be free ourselves to carry the burdens of others. Certainly this is a wonderful picture of the ministry of Christ Jesus, our Lord.

a.      (1 Pet 5:7)  Casting all your care [Gk: distractions] upon him; for he careth [Gk: is interested in, is concerned] for you.

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO…

(Mat 21:1-7)  And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage [Heb: fig-house], unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you [Bethany: Chald = date-house], and straightway ye shall find an ass [Gk: onos; a donkey] tied [Gk: bound], and a colt [Gk: a young foal][“whereon never man sat” Mark 11:2, i.e., he was unbroken, a virgin] with her [the “onos” ass]: loose them, and bring them unto me [completing the process of salvation]. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that it [prophecy] might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass [Gk: onos], and a colt the foal [Gk: huios; son] of an ass [Gk: hupozugion; an animal under the yoke (draught-beast), i.e. (spec.) a donkey]. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them [Mark 11:4; 16:15], And brought the ass [Gk; onos], and the colt [Gk: foal], and put on them their clothes [sacrificing their worldly coverings (things)], and they set him thereon [thereby acknowledging the hierarchy of Father God’s authority, both literally and spiritually].

1.      Commentary: “loose them” = binding and loosing. “Loose them” for both the mother ass, representing the church, and her foal (Gk: huios; son), representing us (ideally, the 144,000 of Rev 14:1-4), were bound to the world. Who loosed the mother and the son? “then sent Jesus two disciples” (Mat 21:1 & Mark 6:7).  Who fed the 5,000? (“his disciples” Mark 6:41)

a.      (Rev 14:4) These [the 144,000] are they which were not defiled [Gk: soiled] with women [i.e., false doctrines (adulteries)]; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. [ref. Exo 13:13]

b.      (Rev 12:5)  And she [a type of the church] brought forth a man child [a type of us], who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up [Gk: harpazo; (4x, raptured: 2 Cor 12:2,4; 1 Thess 4:17)] unto God, and to his throne.

c.      (Mark 6:7)  And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power [to bind and loose] over unclean spirits [fallen angels, demons devils];

d.      (Mat 18:18,19)  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.

e.      (Mark 6:41)  And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, [the principle of godly distribution] and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

2.      Commentary: “sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass” = A literal interpretation of this phrase is not possible for it would indicate that Jesus was riding two animals at the same time; but this phrase is a broad expression connoting dominion. By “sitting upon an ass, and a colt,” Jesus, the Messiah (Heb: the anointed) and King (priest and king), is expressing dominion (general covering) over the church (the female ass) and her children (the male son – inclusive of females of course).

3.      (Mark 11:4)  And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without [Gk: outside] in a place where two ways met [Jesus’ way and Satan’s way]; and they loose him [from Satan’s way (the way of self) to Jesus’ way (the way of sacrifice, i.e., the way of the cross)].

4.      (Mark 16:15)  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world [Gk: kosmos; (universe)], and preach the gospel [of love] to every creature.

a.      Commentary:  the phrase “to every creature” encompasses man, but is not at all limited to man. God made both the beasts of the earth and man on the same sixth day (Gen 1:24-31), thereby creating a definite element of innate commonality, which is further strengthened by Eccl 3:18. Our beast nature is the natural man, versus the “transformed” (Rom 12:2) spiritual man.

b.      (Eccl 3:18)  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest [Heb: show] them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

(Mat 21:8-11)  And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way [sacrificing their worldly coverings (possessions) for His way to heaven (He came with salvation)]; others cut down branches from the trees [trees are symbolic of men; their diverging branches are symbolic of false doctrines, now cut off, dry and lifeless], and strowed [strew] them in the way [that Messiah might tread upon the discarded branches and garments]. And the multitudes that went before [representing the Old Testament], and that followed [representing the New Testament] cried, saying, Hosanna [Heb: oh save!, please save, save now, save – I beseech thee, save, help now] to the son of David [thereby acknowledging Jesus to be the Messiah]: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee [rather than “the Messiah”].

1.      The Nelson Study Bible: “a very great multitude” = refers not to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but the large crowd that had accompanied Jesus from Jericho. The scene was a royal procession. Prior to this time, the Lord Jesus had steadfastly avoided such a display. Now He was publicly presenting Himself to Israel as the nation’s Messiah and King. 

2.      Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible: All this was customary in parades of conquerors and great princes honored by the people. They expected Jesus to save them from their enemies, but 5 days later they were crying for His life.

3.     Commentary: “This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” = although Jesus was intentionally fulfilling Messianic prophecy before their eyes, the multitude did not run and excitedly exclaim that Jesus was the Messiah, but merely said Jesus was “the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee,” and everybody knew the saying “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). The multitude did all the right things (works), but for all the wrong reasons, “Having a form [Gk: an appearance, semblance] of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Tim 3:5).