Palm Sunday — Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 21:1-11

Palm Sunday is April 2, 2023.

Readings for Year A can be found here, along with excerpts from a fascinating essay by Dr Chris Perry on Pontius Pilate’s entry into Jerusalem on the same day. Jesus entered from the east and Pilate from the west.

The Roman emperor was deemed to be the son of (the) god (Apollo). Jesus is the Son of God. This produced tension and mockery at Jesus’s trial because they both made the same claims. Our Lord’s procession was used as a primary piece of evidence later in the week against Him. Without the procession, Pilate might not have sentenced Him to death.

The Gospel reading for the Liturgy of the Palms is as follows (emphases mine):

Matthew 21:1-11

21:1 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,

21:2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.

21:3 If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.”

21:4 This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

21:5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

21:6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them;

21:7 they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

21:8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

21:10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?”

21:11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

Both our commentators say that our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place on a Monday, the day that the Jews purchased their passover lambs.

Matthew Henry’s commentary says:

The passover was on the fourteenth day of the month, and this was the tenth; on which day the law appointed that the paschal lamb should be taken up (Exod 12 3), and set apart for that service; on that day therefore Christ our Passover, who was to be sacrificed for us, was publicly showed.

John MacArthur says:

I don’t know if you know this, but the day He rode in there, on Monday, was the day traditionally that the Jews selected their lamb for sacrifice.

MacArthur sets the scene for us, as Jesus was ending His ministry. Passover was coming, and Jerusalem was already teeming with people for that feast:

… just to bring you right into this scene, the Lord a few weeks before had left Galilee. He had ministered throughout Galilee. He had ministered some in Judea where Jerusalem was the major city, of course. But He had yet really touched Peraea which was the region called the beyond which was east of Jordan. So in leaving Galilee this time, He went east of the Jordan and through the area known as Peraea. And He did what He did everywhere. He preached, He taught, He healed, and He presented to them His credentials as King.

And as He came to the south, moving through Peraea, He was moving directly toward Jerusalem at the same time, knowing it was Passover time, knowing it was time to come to the end of His pilgrimage, knowing it was time to get ready to die. And as He moved, He moved among pilgrims who also were going. And so a crowd collected as He came to the south. And finally He crossed the Jordan, back over to Judea. And He crossed at Jericho, went through the city of Jericho. There He embraced in His salvation a small man by the name of Zacchaeus, healed two blind men – one of whose name was Bartimaeus. And not only those three, perhaps, but even more than that collected with Him, and together they moved up to Jerusalem. So it’s been a few weeks since He left Galilee, ministered in Peraea, came through Jericho, and now He ascends to Jerusalem. And it’s only about 17 miles, but it’s 3,000 feet in elevation. And so when it says, “He went up to Jerusalem,” or when anyone went up to Jerusalem, they really went up from Jericho. And so by now He’s collected an entourage of people. And they’re moving to that great event called Passover. Little do they know that He is the Passover lamb.

At the same time, the city is literally teeming with humanity. Masses of people are there. There was a census ten years after this particular event when there was a counting of the sacrificial lambs, and the count is somewhere around 260,000 Passover lambs that were slaughtered during that week ten years later. And if that’s the case – the Jewish law prescribed one lamb for ten people – there could have been as many as 2.6 million people in the city. So it would have been literally teeming with mobs of people. So, there they were, flowing in the city and flowing to the city. And Jesus was taking the primary moment in the history of Israel’s calendar year for this great event, when the city was swelled to its greatest population.

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples (verse 1) on an errand.

He said to them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me’ (verse 2).

Henry says:

He had lodged at Bethany, a village not far from Jerusalem, for some time; at a supper there the night before Mary had anointed his feet, John 12 3.

Therefore, Bethphage must have been nearby.

Henry tells us:

They were come to Bethphage, which was the suburb of Jerusalem, and was accounted (say the Jewish doctors) in all things, as Jerusalem, a long scattering street that lay toward the mount of Olives …

MacArthur explains:

Now we don’t know anything about this place. We don’t know anything at all about it. We can’t find any archaeological evidence of its existence. It was some kind of a hamlet somewhere near Bethany, because in verse 2 it says He sent two disciples saying, “Go into the village opposite you.” And when He sent them, He was in Bethany. So it’s somewhere near Bethany. Bethany is two miles east of Jerusalem, just on the other side of the valley Kedron, the Mount of Olives, on the backside of the Mount of Olives. And we don’t know where Bethphage is, but it’s in the district of the Mount of Olives. Bethany is there also and Jerusalem is just a two-mile walk from there. And so, Jesus arrives in Bethphage and then in Bethany.

Our Lord’s friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in Bethany.

MacArthur describes the previous six days for Jesus:

… as He approaches the inevitable week of pain and death, He seeks out the comfort and the compassion and the care of His beloved friends. And Bethany becomes for Him, for these six days, a resting place. He spends the time with His dear beloved friends. But even there, the stabs of hell are present, because one of the disciples, Judas Iscariot who was to betray Him, said, “Why was not this ointment sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And this he said not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief and he had the bag.” And so even there He was stabbed with the stabs of hell. The hate for Jesus was relentless.

Six days before the Passover. I believe that’s Saturday – six days before the Passover, and there was a supper in His honor, and He was anointed. And He was loved by everybody but one, and it must have been a warm and wonderful time. Six days before the Lamb of God, the Passover lamb, the true sacrifice, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world is to be offered; six days from the nails; six days from the thorns, the spit, the cursings, the spear, the crown, the hatred, the bitterness, the sin bearing, the loneliness of being God-forsaken; six days – that’s all.

Well, the next day – the next day, John tells us in verses 9 to 11 of chapter 12, that many Jews came to Bethany to see Him – many Jews. And there was a great gathering about Him, so much so that the leaders were very concerned as to how they might kill Him, because He was such a threat. So it seems as though when He arrives, there’s some affirmation coming from Lazarus and Mary and Martha, coming from the people. It looks good. With the exception of Judas, it looks good. And the coronation [triumphal entry] is near, and He knows that. And maybe we might say, boy, everything is really on schedule. He’s being anointed. His friends are caring for Him. Many people are moving out to see Him who have heard of His power in raising Lazarus from the dead, which He had already done. And everyone knew Lazarus. And that’s how it all starts.

Note that Jesus did not request a steed — or an angel — but a donkey.

Henry points out:

Asses were much used in that country for travel; horses were kept only by great men, and for war. Christ could have summoned a cherub to carry him (Ps 18 10); but though by his name Jah, which speaks him God, he rides upon the heavens, yet now by his name Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, in his state of humiliation, he rides upon an ass. Yet some think that he had herein an eye to the custom in Israel for the judges to ride upon white asses (Judg 5 10), and their sons on ass-colts, Judg 12 14. And Christ would thus enter, not as a Conqueror, but as the Judge of Israel, who for judgment came into this world.

MacArthur explains why people who say Jesus was a victim of circumstances are wrong:

Jesus here initiates, He initiates His own coronation. He sets it in motion. They don’t come and get Him and haul Him off. Those critics of Scripture who say that Jesus got carried away in the enthusiasm of the mob, that Jesus was pushed into something He never intended to happen, that Jesus was happy to be a moral teacher, just moving around doing nice things for nice folks, all of a sudden started to get caught up in the energy of His own disciples’ enthusiasm, and they pushed Him into something that ultimately got Him killed, they’re liars who say that, because that’s not true. He initiated everything. He controlled every element of His own ministry, every turn, every action was sovereignly His to initiate. So He dispatched two disciples. It doesn’t tell us which two. On another occasion, in Luke 22:8 when He sent out two, it was Peter and John. It may have been Peter and John here. We don’t know. And He said, “Go to the village,” verse 2, “opposite you” – which would be Bethphage – “and immediately you’ll find an ass tied and a colt with her: loose them and bring them unto Me.” He was about ready to go into the city. He was controlling everything. Let me tell you why.

He wanted to demonstrate to the world that He was no victim, that He was not caught up in some euphoric Messianic movement, but that it was all under His total control, and it was all within His own power. Every detail was worked out accurately. And He wanted to create a mass demonstration. That’s right. He wanted the people to cry “Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” He wanted them to cry out that He was the Messiah, because He wanted it in their very mouths that He had indeed proved Himself to be who He was. He wanted them to bespeak the fact that there was no doubt about the credentials of Jesus Christ. He wanted that whole mob, that whole national multitude to be crying out that this was the Messiah, so that forever and always it could never be said they really didn’t have enough information. They knew what He had taught and they knew what He had done. And the climax of it all was the resurrection of Lazarus whom they had known to be dead for four days. And out of their own mouths came their own affirmation that became for them either the statement of their true belief or the statement of their damnation, because they knew who He was. And He set the scene to put it in their own mouths, and they said it. The credentials were overwhelming. The proof was unanswerable.

And there is another reason that He created this mass demonstration, and that is because it would lead to the anger of the Pharisees, which ultimately would lead them to desire His life, which would ultimately lead to His crucifixion. And He had to set that in motion, too, because it was important not only that He be selected as the Lamb to die, but that He die on the Passover day. And He had to set that all in motion.

Jesus told the two disciples, ‘If anyone says anything to you, just say this, “The Lord needs them.” And he will send them immediately’ (verse 3).

Henry provides this analysis, including practical advice for us:

In the borrowing of this ass,

(1.) We have an instance of Christ’s knowledge. Though the thing was altogether contingent, yet Christ could tell his disciples where they should find an ass tied, and a colt with her. His omniscience extends itself to the meanest of his creatures; asses and their colts, and their being bound or loosed. Doth God take care for oxen? (1 Cor 9 9.) No doubt he doth, and would not see Balaam’s ass abused. He knows all the creatures, so as to make them serve his own purpose.

(2.) We have an instance of his power over the spirits of men. The hearts of the meanest subjects, as well as of kings, are in the hand of the Lord. Christ asserts his right to use the ass, in bidding them bring it to him; the fulness of the earth is the Lord Christ’s; but he foresees some hindrance which disciples might meet with in this service; they must not take them clam et secreto—privily, but in the sight of the owner, much less vi et armis—with force and arms, but with the consent of the owner, which he undertakes they shall have; If any man say aught to you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of him. Note, What Christ sets us to do, he will bear us out in the doing of, and furnish us with answers to the objections we may be assaulted with, and make them prevalent; as here, Straightway he will send them. Christ, in commanding the ass into his service, showed that he is Lord of hosts; and, in inclining the owner to send him without further security, showed that he is the God of the spirits of all flesh, and can bow men’s hearts.

(3.) We have an example of justice and honesty, in not using the ass, though for so small a piece of service as riding the length of a street or two, without the owner’s consent. As some read the latter clause, it gives us a further rule of justice; “You shall say the Lord hath need of them, and he” (that is, the Lord) “will presently send them back, and take care that they be safely delivered to the owner, as soon as he has done with them.” Note, What we borrow we must restore in due time and in good order; for the wicked borrows and pays not again. Care must be taken of borrowed goods, that they be not damaged. Alas, Master, for it was borrowed!

Matthew says that Jesus was about to fulfil what had been spoken through the prophet, saying (verse 4), ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey’ (verse 5).

MacArthur tells us that Zechariah was that prophet:

… in the first eight verses of Zechariah 9, there’s a prophecy of a great ruler that’ll come. And this great ruler is going to come, and there’s going to be a deliverance for Israel under him. I mean, he’s really a great ruler … Basically verses 1 to 8 is a prophecy of Alexander the Great – Alexander the Great who was a human conqueror. But after Alexander the Great, they’ll come a greater than he, and verse 9 is a contrast. Alexander is just used for comparison.

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King cometh unto thee.” Man, there’s coming a king. Alexander and his military triumph, riding on his great white horse with all of his entourage, flashing his sword in the sun, with his great crown signifying him as the conqueror of the world, the great military genius of Alexander with all of his entourage had come to the rescue of Israel. But there is coming another King. “He is righteous and He has salvation.” And then this seemingly inconceivable and contradictory statement, “Lowly and riding on an ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”

There is also an important prophecy from Daniel that Jesus fulfilled that day:

Can I add a footnote here? It isn’t the only prophecy He fulfilled that day. One of the most monumental passages in all the Bible is Daniel 9:24 to 27. And Daniel prophesies there that from the decree of Artaxerxes to rebuild the temple and the city to the coming of Messiah, the Prince, will be 69 weeks of years, 69 times 7, 483 years … the prophet Daniel said there will be a period of time that amounts basically to 173,880 days from the decree of Artaxerxes to the coming of the Prince. And biblical scholars have affirmed that to be exactly what happened.

Henry gives us more Old Testament references which indicate the same. Canticles refers to the Song of Solomon:

How the coming of Christ is foretold; Tell ye the daughter of Sion, the church, the holy mountain, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. Note, (1.) Jesus Christ is the church’s King, one of our brethren like unto us, according to the law of the kingdom, Deut 17 15. He is appointed King over the church, Ps 2 6. He is accepted King by the church; the daughter of Sion swears allegiance to him, Hos 1 11. (2.) Christ, the King of his church, came to his church, even in this lower world; he comes to thee, to rule thee, to rule in thee, to rule for thee; he is Head over all things to the church. He came to Sion (Rom 11 26), that out of Sion the law might go forth; for the church and its interests were all in all with the Redeemer. (3.) Notice was given to the church beforehand of the coming of her King; Tell the daughter of Sion. Note, Christ will have his coming looked for, and waited for, and his subjects big with expectation of it; Tell the daughters of Sion, that they may go forth, and behold King Solomon, Cant 3 11. Notices of Christ’s coming are usually ushered in with a Behold! A note commanding both attention and admiration; Behold thy King cometh; behold, and wonder at him, behold, and welcome him. Here is a royal progress truly admirable …

The disciples did as Jesus had directed them (verse 6).

They brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and He sat on them (verse 7).

MacArthur tells us about the significance of riding an animal that had never been ridden before and explains why the donkey came along, too:

I kind of think He knew the folks that lived there and He knew they had these animals. Because He knew that they would respond, He says, “If they ask you anything, just tell them the Lord has need of it and they’ll send the animals with you.” So He must have known that these were believers. They would not withhold their animals from the Lord. By the way, Mark 11:2 tells us exactly where the two animals were found. And Mark and Luke both tell us, this is very interesting, that neither of them had ever been ridden – neither of them had ever been ridden. You say, is that important? Yes, because it was an honor for someone to ride an animal who had never been ridden. To ride a young animal that had never been ridden was as if to say, “This animal has been saved for you,” very special.

You say, “Well why do they have to take the mother if He’s going to ride the colt?” Well, a donkey’s tough enough to get going and to keep in the right direction. And a donkey colt would be doubly difficult unless you took the mother. And if you led the mother, the colt would follow. Well why ride the colt? Why not ride the mother?” Because the colt is more lowly than its mother, and He seeks out the lowliest stupid beast of burden He can find. You say, this isn’t a coronation like any other. That’s right. He’s not a king like any other. And just tell them, He says, the Lord has need of them – sovereign Lordship – and they’ll respond and send them with you …

Verse 7, “They brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes and set Him thereon.” Probably took off their outer robe and put it on each animal so that He could sit on either one and have some material between Himself and the sweat of the animal’s back. They didn’t know which one He was going to ride, but He choose to ride the lowliest one. Luke 19:35 says, “He took His seat on the colt with the help of the disciples.” They even helped Him up. And the mother would lead the colt along. And so He fulfills the prophecy.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road (verse 8).

Of the crowd, Henry says:

His retinue; there was nothing in this stately or magnificent. Sion’s King comes to Sion, and the daughter of Sion was told of his coming long before; yet he is not attended by the gentlemen of the country, nor met by the magistrates of the city in their formalities as one might have expected; he should have had the keys of the city presented to him, and should have been conducted with all possible convenience to the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David; but here is nothing of all this; yet he has his attendants, a very great multitude; they were only the common people, the mob (the rabble we should have been apt to call them), that graced the solemnity of Christ’s triumph, and none but such. The chief priests and the elders afterward herded themselves with the multitude that abused him upon the cross; but we find none of them here joining with the multitude that did him honour. Ye see here your calling, brethren, not many mighty, or noble, attend on Christ, but the foolish things of this world and base things, which are despised, 1 Cor 1 26, 28.

Henry gives us the historical significance of placing cloaks and branches on the road:

Now, concerning this great multitude, we are here told,

(1.) What they did; according to the best of their capacity, they studied to do honour to Christ. [1.] They spread their garments in the way, that he might ride upon them. When Jehu was proclaimed king, the captains put their garments under him, in token of their subjection to him. Note, Those that take Christ for their King must lay their all under his feet; the clothes, in token of the heart; for when Christ comes, though not when any one else comes, it must be said to the soul, Bow down, that he may go over. Some think that these garments were spread, not upon the ground, but on the hedges or walls, to adorn the roads; as, to beautify a cavalcade, the balconies are hung with tapestry. This was but a poor piece of state, yet Christ accepted their good-will; and we are hereby taught to contrive how to make Christ welcome, Christ and his grace, Christ and his gospel, into our hearts and houses. How shall we express our respects to Christ? What honour and what dignity shall be done to him? [2.] Others cut down branches from the trees, and strewed them in the way, as they used to do at the feast of tabernacles, in token of liberty, victory, and joy; for the mystery of that feast is particularly spoken of as belonging to gospel times, Zech 14 16.

The crowds that went ahead of Jesus and that followed were shouting (verse 9), ‘Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

MacArthur describes how the crowd surged:

You see, you’ve got one massive multitude coming with Jesus to Jerusalem. They’ve been collected in Galilee, down through Peraea. They’ve been collected as He crossed the Jordan through Jericho, up the hill to Bethany. He’s been in Bethany. The crowd has swelled as people have come there to see Him there. And now that whole entourage is with Him. They’re surging toward the city. And out of the city comes this massive humanity that are already there that have heard of Him raising Lazarus from the dead. They hear He’s coming. The word goes like wildfire. And like two great surging seas, they come together just outside the gate of Jerusalem, this mass of humanity. And in the middle of it all, Jesus rides a donkey’s colt.

The people have really disregarded their leaders, because at the end of John 11 we are told there that the Pharisees warned the people that if they knew anything about Him they were to report Him so that they could capture Him and take Him prisoner. They were certainly not to worship Him or pay Him homage or hail Him. But they disregarded their orders. And their expectations for Messianic deliverance were so great that the whole thing turned into a credible mob scene. It was just a total, total chaotic event from the standpoint of the Pharisees and the religious leaders. Everything was out of hand. The people were going mad for this Jesus – throwing down their clothes. What did that mean? Well, you go back to 2 Kings 9 about verse 13, they did that for Jehu when he was c[rown]ed. It’s as if to say, I’m under your feet. I take a place of submission to you. I throw myself at your feet. You may walk over me, in that sense of humiliation.

Things took a 180° turn at the end of the week, because most of these people thought that Jesus would be their earthly King who would rescue them from the Romans. They were disappointed that He came to liberate them from the bondage of sin.

MacArthur tells us:

There’s a joy. There’s an excitement, an ecstasy as He comes in. They knew who He was. They knew what He taught. And they knew what He’d done. And they knew He could raise the dead. And so this multitude moves out, throws everything at His feet. And they cry out – look what they cry, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” Hosanna means save now – save now – save now. They’re crying for salvation. Now listen to me. But it is not soul salvation. It is military deliverance they’re after.

You see, they know what this event is. It’s Passover. And what does Passover celebrate for a Jew? Passover celebrates the deliverance from Egypt. Right? How God delivered His people out of bondage, how God delivered them out of the captivity of Egypt. And that’s all on their minds, that God is a delivering God, that God has delivered us from Egypt in the past. We celebrate that. And now here, at the very time we celebrate our delivering God, comes a new deliverer to deliver us from Rome, to deliver us from the bondage of the present era. And so the euphoria escalates and it is an odd pageant. A man on a donkey without an army, without a weapon and a mass of hundreds of thousands of people crushing around Him, crying out, “Save now. Deliver now.” They wanted material kingdom, physical kingdom, earthly deliverance. And so He comes with a retinue of rabble, poor common people crying out for deliverance. And they know who He is. Hosanna to the Son of David …

So when anybody comes along and says the Jewish people didn’t understand who Jesus was, that’s true to a point. But the credentials had convinced them that He was the Messiah, they just didn’t understand the nature of His Messiahship. They knew He was the King, they just didn’t understand the nature of His kingdom. And they sum it up at the end when they say, “We will not have this man to” – what? – “reign over” – this isn’t the kind of king we want. This isn’t the one we bargained for. And like people today and people in all times who want Jesus, but they want the Jesus of their own devising. They want the Jesus of their own invention. They want the Jesus who walks in and says, “I’m going to solve all your problems. I’m going to deliver you from all your enemies. I’m going to make life wonderful for you.” Not the Jesus who having come in the city, immediately takes a whip and cleans up their dirty house. He didn’t come and overthrow Rome; He came and overthrew the temple. See? That was a terrible turning point. Instead of coming in and knocking off Rome; He came in and wiped out their temple. He was saying to them, you don’t need Roman bondage broken. You need sin bondage broken. You don’t need to solve your problem with Rome. You need to solve your problem with God. And that’s why He came. And He was not the Jesus who comes to offer a panacea for external ills. He was the Jesus who comes to offer men and women peace with God internally.

… And they wouldn’t accept Him on His own terms, so by the end of the week, they cried for His blood and killed Him. Just unimaginable. The world is still like that. You know, people are open to the Jesus they want, the Jesus of their own definition if He gives them what they want: health, wealth, and happiness; instant healing; whatever. But as soon as He confronts the sinfulness of sin and seeks to turn the heart toward God in true salvation, they curse Him. That’s not the Jesus they want. That’s not the king they want. 

When He entered Jerusalem, the city was in turmoil, asking (verse 10), ‘Who is this?’

Henry describes the reactions:

When he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved; every one took notice of him, some were moved with wonder at the novelty of the thing, others with laughter at the meanness of it; some perhaps were moved with joy, who waited for the Consolation of Israel; others, of the Pharisaical class, were moved with envy and indignation. So various are the motions in the minds of men upon the approach of Christ’s kingdom!

The crowds were saying, ‘This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee’ (verse 11).

Henry says that the downtrodden knew more about Jesus than their notional superiors:

How the multitude answered them; This is Jesus, v. 11. The multitude were better acquainted with Christ than the great ones. Vox populi—The voice of the people, is sometimes Vox Dei—the voice of God. Now, in the account they give of him, [1.] They were right in calling him the Prophet, that great Prophet. Hitherto he had been known as a Prophet, teaching and working miracles; now they attend him as a King; Christ’s priestly office was, of all the three, last discovered. [2.] Yet they missed it, in saying he was of Nazareth; and it helped to confirm some in their prejudices against him. Note, Some that are willing to honour Christ, and bear their testimony to him, yet labour under mistakes concerning him, which would be rectified if they would take pains to inform themselves.

MacArthur says that verse proves the Jews knew who Jesus was:

And the word went through, “Who is the Messiah? Who is the Messiah?” It’s Jesus, that prophet of Galilee who came from the town of Nazareth. So there’s no question here, folks. God in this passage is telling the whole world that the Jewish nation knew exactly who their Messiah was.

I mean, the evidence was in. There was no question about it. They were hailing Jesus from the village of Nazareth in the region of Galilee who was a prophet, and they had affirmed that on many occasions, as the one who was the Son of David, who was coming from the Lord to bring deliverance. They knew who He was. Do you know who He is? You see, the problem for them was they knew who He was, and they saw His power and they heard His words but they did not want His kingdom on His terms. They were so earthbound, so materialistic, so physical, if you will, that all they wanted was whatever was for this world and this life. They were not interested in a spiritual kingdom. They did not care to be confronted about their sins. And when that came about, they cursed Him – they cursed Him. And they were so fickle. Some of them here who are led by the euphoria of well-meaning mob members, if you will, or crowd members, are later led by evil intended Pharisees who screamed for His blood. And they know little more about Him then than they do here. They just chime in.

MacArthur concludes:

So, that’s how it is with Jesus. He offers Himself as a King and there are a few who understand – a few. And they embrace Him as the King that He is, the King of peace who brings salvation and makes men right with God. And then there is a group of people who understand who He is, and they see all of His credentials, but they’re looking for external stuff. They want the materialistic kingdom: health, wealth, happiness, here now, give it to me fast. And they’re not willing to face the reality of their sinfulness and emptiness and estrangement from God, and so they curse Him when He confronts that. And then there is the rabble crowd that just get caught up in the sweep and can go either way. How is it with you?

I plan to write about the Gospel for the Liturgy of the Passion later in Holy Week.