Reading the Gospels Together The Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem – Part 2 Clearly Matthew has the same event in mind and he often uses the very same words that Mark used. But Matthew also makes some significant changes to Mark’s story. First of all he drops out the name of the village called Bethany. Why Matthew does that is a mystery – not that this matters much. But, more significantly, Matthew also has the disciples go into the village of Bethany and find both a donkey and its colt. Mark had mentioned only one animal – Matthew tells his readers there are two. Why might Matthew have done this? The answer comes quickly as Matthew adds the quotation from Zephaniah which says that the king comes riding on a donkey and a colt, the foal of the donkey. We have noticed that Matthew uses these OT “proof texts” at other times to bolster his point. And, in an almost humorous way, Matthew takes the quotation from Zephaniah very literally since Zephaniah mentioned both a donkey and a colt. Likely Matthew has just missed the OT use of parallelism which we find often in the Psalms. Instead of thinking of two animals the use of parallelism would have made the second mention of the colt a kind of reinforcement of the first. But that really doesn’t matter. At any rate Matthew is very literal here and tells his readers that Jesus rides on both the donkey and the colt. That is a difficult sight to picture. But perhaps we should not make so much of that. Other than picturing two animals Matthew’s story is the same as Mark’s. The disciples and others place their garments on the animals and the ground and spread branches to welcome the king. The way in which Matthew tells the story, especially his direct quote from Zephaniah, makes it clear that we are to see this symbolic action on the part of Jesus as a demonstration that Jesus intended to enter the city as King Jesus. Matthew makes what Mark has implied completely clear. And Matthew adds one more touch to the story by telling his readers that when the crowds begin to ask who this is they are told that this is the prophet Jesus from Galilee in Nazareth. Whereas Mark’s scene may well have not brought much notice, Matthew wants his readers to know that the event drew at least some attention. Finally, Matthew proceeds to tell his readers that when Jesus entered the Temple – something Mark had also said and then told his readers of Jesus’ retreat back to Bethany for the night – Jesus immediately cleansed it. We will need to wait a bit to work our way through that part of the story. As we look at Luke’s story we notice that Luke is also clearly following Mark. In fact, Luke is far more faithful to Mark than Matthew was. He includes the name of the village of Bethphage and he quotes Mark word for word throughout the telling of the securing of the colt and the entry into Jerusalem. It is only at the very end of the story that Luke makes some significant changes. Luke changes Mark’s scene at the foot of the mountain and tells his readers that some Pharisees in the crowd notice and demand that Jesus make his disciples end the charade as they see it. Clearly they see that in this symbolic action Jesus is entering the city of Jerusalem as King Jesus and they protest! The battle is already on. The event does not go unnoticed! And then Luke adds a heart-wrenching scene. As Jesus sees the city – for the first time in the storyline of the synoptic writers – Jesus weeps! How God desires to gather his children but they will not be gathered. And Luke provides his readers with the significant words, “you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God!” This has been Luke’s driving motif from the beginning of his gospel and it comes to a head here in this clear statement. The passion of Jesus and of God is on full display. Will anyone receive the visitation of God? This is not the first time Luke has pictured Jesus weeping for the city of Jerusalem. Earlier in his gospel as Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem and some Pharisees come to warn him of Herod’s threat Jesus weeps and speaks almost the same words. These words work so well for Luke as he lays forth his theme of the visitation of God to his people. God is willing but will the people be willing? Matthew also knows these words of Jesus weeping for the city of Jerusalem. He saves them for that time when Jesus’ disciples asked him about the beauty of the Temple and they are told of its complete destruction. Likely both Matthew and Luke found these words in the common source they share apart from Mark. And, like Matthew, Luke tells his readers that upon entering the city Jesus goes directly to the Temple and proceeds to cleanse it. We will work our way through that scene shortly.