1 And when they dre-w nigh unto ( 4 All this was done, that :t might Jerusalem, and were come to Beth- i be fulfilled which was spoken by the phage, unto the mount of Olives, then I prophet, saying,
sent Jesus two disciples, j 5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion,
2 Saying unto them. Go into the : Behold, thy king coraeth unto thee, village over against you, and straight- , meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a way ye shall find an ass tied, and' a ! colt the foal of an ass.
colt with her : loose tliem, and bring i 6 And the disciples went, and did them unto me. i as Jesus commanded them.
3 And if any man say ought unto 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, you, ye shall say. The Lord hath need and put on them their clothes, and of them ; and straightway he will they set him thereon.
send them. I 8 And a very great multitude spread
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their garments in the way ; others cut down branches from the trees, and Btrawed theyn in the Avay.
9 And the mnltitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, say- inir, Hosanna to tlie Son of David ; Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord : Ilosanna in the hijjliest.
10 And when he was come into Je- rusalem, all the city was moved, say- in<?, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
These verses contain a very remarkable passage in our Lord Jesus Christ's life. They describe His public entry into Jerusalem, when He came there for the last time, before He was crucified.
There is something- peculiarly striking in this incident in our Lord's history. The narrative reads like the account of some royal conqueror's return to his own city. " A very great multitude" accompanies him in a kind of triumphal procession. Loud cries and expressions of praise are heard around him. ^^ All the city was moved." The whole transaction is singularly at variance with the past tenor of our Lord's life. It is curiously unlike the ways of Him who did not " cry, nor strive, nor let His voice be heard in the streets" — who withdrew Himself from the multitude on other occasions— and said to those He healed, " see thou say nothing to any Man." (Mark i. 44.) And yet the whole transaction admits of ex- planation. The reasons of this public entry are not hard to find out. — Let us see what they were.
The plain truth is, that our Lord knew well that the time of His earthly ministry was drawing to a close. He knew that the hour was approaching when He must finish the mighty work He came to do, by dying for our sins upon the cross. He knew that His last journey had been accomplished, and that there remained nothing now in His earthly ministry, but to