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Matthew 21:1  As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples,  (2)  saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.  (3)  If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”  (4)  This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:  (5)  “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'”  (6)  The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.  (7)  They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 

Jesus coming into Jerusalem sitting on a colt was a prophetic act signifying that he was in fact the King, the promised Messiah.

(8)  A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  (9)  The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”  (10)  When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”  (11)  The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” 

The very large crowd welcomed Jesus into the city as the Son of David, the promised Messiah who would deliver God’s people. Observe the extraordinary action the Messiah took after entering the temple courts.

(12)  Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves.  (13)  “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.'” 

All the buy and selling activity taking place in the temple courts had to do Old Testament worship. Jews coming from faraway places needed to exchange their money for local currency with which they could purchases doves as temple sacrifices. Each transaction, of course, brought profit to the Pharisees and religious leaders. Now Jesus’ action toward the practice was “violent,” and surely resulted in severe censure and opposition from the Pharisees.

This is most interesting in view of the practice in many churches where “religious” items are sold for profit in the “courts” just outside the church sanctuary. But somehow the practice is justified—for the work of the Lord of course and other worthy causes.

(14)  The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 

In such a context of opposition by the Pharisees in the temple courts, Jesus performed great miracles of healing. They would look for a way to arrest him. Such miracles have happened today in the present dispensation when pharisaical church leaders oppose the servants of Jesus Christ.

(15)  But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.  (16)  “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

The miraculous healings Jesus performed along with the children proclaiming him as the Son of David caused the chief priests even more indignation. This still happens today when the Lord’s servants perform miracles in his name before Pharisaical church leaders.

(23)  Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

(46)  They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.