Crowd Reactions to Jesus’ Entry into Jerusalem

Scripture: Matthew 21:1–11

21 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 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. ³ If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” ⁴ This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

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.”

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; ⁷ they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!”

¹⁰ When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” ¹¹ The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Questions

1. What did the disciples think was happening when Jesus rode into Jerusalem?
2. What did the crowds around Jesus think was happening?
3. Did the crowd follow Jesus believe that what they were shouting applied to Jesus?

Background

Related Scriptures: Genesis 49:8-12; Psalm 118; Zechariah 9; Matthew 20:29-34

Matthew (unlike the other Gospels) tells us that Jesus was brought both a female donkey and her colt because it corresponds to the Greek translation of Zechariah 9:9.

The words the people behind Jesus sing are from Psalm 118 and are a traditional song sung on entering Jerusalem that anticipated the coming of the Messiah.

The crowds are proclaiming the coming of the son of David echoes back to how the blind men addressed Jesus in the previous passage.

Reflection

One of my favorite elements of the Bible is how it subtly messes with your expectations. For instance, in Matthew’s Gospel “Son of David” is used in five places in relation to Jesus. In three of these the phrase is used by people calling on Jesus for healing (Matt 9; 15; 20). In one (Matt 12) the crowd is unsure of and pondering Jesus’ relation to the Messiah Son of David. And the last time the phrase appears is as the crowds descend on Jerusalem shouting praises and singing Psalm 118. The question that always rings in my mind when I read this passage is, do the people in the crowd understand that Jesus is the Son of David or are they simply caught up in heading to Jerusalem? Do they understand they are walking behind the Messiah or are they lost in the revelry of their own lives? There is no clear answer to this. We are not told how the crowds thought simply what they did. When I think about this and I think about how the crowds shout for Jesus’ crucifixion later in the week, I think they missed the significance of their own song. The crowd singing praise to God for sending the Messiah misses the Messiah riding in front of them.

This is that subtle element, the men who are physically unable to see and barred from temple worship, see who Jesus is. The woman who is outside Israel celebrates Israel’s promised savior and calls on him for help. The crowds who participate fully watching Jesus’ ministry and going to the Temple seem to miss the mark. If the crowds did think (or even hope) he was the Messiah, they turned on him rather abruptly. Did they think he was and then get upset because he was a Messiah who cared for the crippled while not overthrowing the government? Were they turned off by the man who had mercy on the Canaanite woman and brought her into his circle without giving them political power? Or were they so wrapped up in their own religious experience at coming to another Passover in Jerusalem that they simply missed the object of their praise right in front of them?

When I look that the passages in Matthew that speak about the Son of David I see four groups of people. The blind men and the Canaanite woman, people of simple faith who simply wanted to be whole. These people did not get bogged down with anything other than coming to Jesus for healing and saw who he is through that healing. Group two is the disciples. Unsure of what’s going on around them but willing to follow Jesus whatever his plans are and trying to learn as much as they can along the way. The third group is the crowd, caught up in their own lives to such an extent that they miss the fulfillment of their joy right in front of them. So when later that same person is brought in front of them in a different context they have a completely different reaction. Lastly, group four are the Pharisees who watch the procession with deep skepticism because they do not trust that God could work through means other than what they were comfortable with.

Each of these groups can be a paradigm for how we approach Jesus. The first group understands what Jesus has done for them and proclaims that. This is fantastic it allows people to relate to us and use our experiences to help them springboard into a relationship with Jesus. The second group is also great because they are the ones who do not always understand but are determined to follow no matter what and willing to learn and grow as they do. These will be the people who lead others in discipleship and help them grow with God in difficult times. What we must watch out for is falling into the third or fourth categories. Being people too preoccupied with our importance or our experiences that we we do not focus on Jesus and what he is doing. We might see the king riding into his city but it is lost on us. The good news is that even if we do fall into one of these last two categories Jesus comes into the city and lingers, giving us the opportunity to encounter him. Even if we miss one moment where we fail to understand what Jesus is doing, he provides us with many moments to learn from him and grow with him so that we can truly sing praise to the Son of David.