Matthew 21:8, commentary and pictures

A very great multitude honored Jesus on His triumphal entry into Jerusalem by spreading their outer garments in the way as a carpet and strewing and waving leafy branches of palm and olive as emblems of victory and triumph. It was a public, joyful acclamation of Him as King, Messiah, and Son of David, offered especially by glad hearts He had healed and delivered. The crowd unknowingly fulfilled prophecy, and the conspicuous welcome was meant to direct all eyes to His coming sacrifice as the antitypical Passover Lamb. Within days many who shouted hosanna joined the cry for His crucifixion, and amid the praise Jesus wept over blind, impenitent Jerusalem facing doom. The account still exalts Jesus as salvation through Him rather than by law and calls hearers to follow Him, walk in His example, and advance the triumphs of His cross.

Entry Setting and Actions

Matthew 21:8 belongs to Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as He rode, with the disciples spreading their garments on the colt for Him to ride. The hopes of the people for a new kingdom were rising as He came, and they expected Him to enter the capital as King and assert His royal power. As He rode in, the multitude greeted Him with joyous shouts on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, and the Mount echoed with their welcome. It was a joyful yet humble triumph.

A very great multitude honored Him by spreading their outer garments in the way as a carpet for His path. Others cut down leafy branches from the trees, including olive and palm, and strewed them in the way to lay before Him. The disciples spread their garments and palm branches in His path and joined in this welcome. The garments served as a carpet, while the palm branches were waved aloft as emblems of victory and nature's sign and emblem of triumph.

The people had no costly gifts or royal display to offer, so they honored Him humbly with what they had. Unable to furnish royal standards and splendor, they gave Him the homage of glad hearts in this humble display in place of costly gifts. The entry took place shortly before His trial, only a few days before His crucifixion, when He was attended with joyful hosannas and the waving of palm branches. It was in the beautiful feast season when a large, enthusiastic multitude had gathered, many drawn to Jesus because He had raised Lazarus from the dead.

Royal Honor and Expectation

The spreading of garments and leafy branches in the road was a public, triumphal welcome acclaiming Jesus as King, Messiah, and Son of David, with thousands declaring Him king. The outer garments laid down served as a carpet in His path, while palm boughs waved aloft were nature's emblems of victory. This honor belonged to His entry into Jerusalem and expressed the people's hope for a new kingdom. They thought they were escorting Him to take possession of David's throne in Jerusalem.

The homage was given with glad hearts, for no costly gifts or royal display were offered, only what humble love could bring. It was especially a tribute from those He had healed and delivered from suffering, whose praise made the procession memorable. The garments of cleansed lepers spread in the way and the palm branches waved by the healed turned the scene into a public testimony to His works of mercy. Those delivered from affliction praised Him as King because mercy, not conquest, was being honored.

The crowd expected Him to enter the capital and assert royal power. They welcomed Him as their King in joyful expectation that He would take David's throne in Jerusalem and deliver Israel from its oppressors and from Roman rule. That national hope rose high as the humble display took the place of costly gifts and royal splendor. Though prophecy was thereby fulfilled, those hopes were soon shattered when He suffered and died instead of reigning as they expected.

The welcome was therefore a tribute to mercy, not a display of conquest. The disciples shared fully in these high temporal hopes, joining the welcome because they believed He was about to establish an earthly, temporal kingdom and reign as prince over Israel. The entry raised them to the highest pitch of expectation and made them feel highly honored to be connected with Him. Their expectation was not fulfilled as they expected, for within days they saw Him humiliated, crucified, and laid in the tomb, and their joy collapsed into fear, despair, grief, and disappointed hopes as they followed at a distance to Calvary.

Prophecy and Redemptive Purpose

The spreading of garments and branches was the unknowing fulfillment of prophecy, for the prophecy concerning this entry had to be fulfilled. Among those who strewed the way were people He had healed, including cleansed lepers, whose grateful actions made the welcome a memorable occasion even as they did not understand what they were fulfilling. They honored Him as King and Son of David with high royal hopes, expecting Him to take David's throne and deliver Israel from its oppressors, yet within days those hopes were shattered when they saw Him crucified instead of crowned.

The entry was public and conspicuous by design, presenting Him as Redeemer and directing the attention of all to the sacrifice that would complete His mission. That sacrifice was His coming death as the antitypical Passover Lamb. By making the welcome widely known, the demonstration ensured that the people would follow His progress to the cross and afterward connect His entry with His trial and death. They would then search the prophecies and recognize Him as the Messiah.

The ride was also a dim foreshadowing of His coming in the clouds with power and glory, when angels and the saints will rejoice and the words Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord will be fulfilled. It fulfills Isaiah's prophetic vision of Christ's coming amid public rejoicing. In that same vision He is portrayed as a shepherd who gathers and tenderly carries His flock.

The rejoicing crowds and their hosannas accompanied His final appeal of love and compassion to Jerusalem, an appeal the city rejected, so that the triumph pointed to the city's coming doom. This entry immediately preceded His second cleansing of the temple and set the scene for His warning about Jerusalem through the leafy but fruitless fig tree. That tree symbolized the Jewish nation, whose pride and apostasy left it unable to recognize its Redeemer, and its withering represented God's righteous judgment in Jerusalem's destruction.

From Praise to Rejection

The entry was marked by joyful public praise as the rejoicing crowds welcomed Jesus approaching Jerusalem by spreading their garments and branches in His path. Their shouts and waving of palm branches proclaimed Him as the Son of David and hailed Him as king. When priests and rulers by threats intimidated the people into silence, children in the temple courts took up the praise. They waved palm branches and repeated the hosannas shouted the day before, acclaiming Him as the coming King and the Son of David, showing that opposition could not prevent the message about Jesus from being proclaimed.

Only a few days separated the triumphal ride with its joyful hosannas and waving of palm branches from the crucifixion. Many who shouted His praise then did so because it was popular to do so. Those same people soon swelled the cry of Crucify him, Crucify him on the way to Calvary and joined the cry for His crucifixion. The crowd that had honored Him as their king would later hiss at and revile Him when He was condemned.

The disciples joined the welcome with high hopes because they believed He was about to establish a temporal, earthly kingdom and reign as prince over Israel, taking David's throne and delivering the nation from its oppressors. The entry raised them to the highest pitch of expectation and made them feel highly honored to be connected with Him. Their expectation was not fulfilled as they expected, for within days they saw Him crucified instead of crowned, saw Him die and laid Him in the tomb. Their joy and high hopes collapsed into fear, despair, grief and disappointed hopes, and in His humiliation they followed at a distance to Calvary, until His resurrection revived them and their hopes that had seemed to die with Him.

Amid this acclaim Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow and tears because Jerusalem's people were blind and impenitent. The rejoicing crowds and their hosannas accompanied His final appeal of love and compassion to Jerusalem, His last pleadings of rejected love. That triumphal entrance pointed to the city's coming doom and destruction, which He grieved over even as palm branches waved and thousands declared Him king, because the city rejected His love.

Preaching Christ and Following

Preaching the account of Jesus riding into Jerusalem, to which the spreading of garments and branches belongs, exalts and lifts up Jesus, showing salvation through Him rather than by law. That same account calls hearers to follow Him in baptism and to unite with the church, for it shows that the Son of God came to this world to draw all men unto Him. His followers must therefore walk in the light of His glorious example without questioning the cost in labor and trial and suffering. Each and all have a work to maintain the truth in its purity and to push the triumphs of His cross and extend His kingdom. This urgency stands because His coming brings not peace but a sword.