The Triumphal Entry

Yesterday was Palm Sunday. We as believers celebrate the "Trimumphal Entry" of Christ into Jerusalem. As Holy Week begins, we look forward with expectation to the day our Lord demonstrates His power over death. We also know the darkness that Good Friday will bring. Below is a small excerpt from a Greek Exegesis paper I wrote last semester. I do not typically get the chance to publish my school work in any way, so I thought I would let the Lair readers get a little glimpse of some of the work I am involved in. Don't worry about the weird words, those are transliterations of Greek words. This section picks up on the command from Jesus to his disciples to go and get a donkey for him to ride. Blessings today!


The assignment for which Jesus sends two of his disciples is not only strange, but also disputed. The nature of Christ’s imperatival command is uncertain, although the purpose seems to be clear. The imperatives poreuesthe and agapete function as the bookends for Jesus’ instruction. The emphasis on “go” and “bring” provides assurance to the disciples for a successful mission. In addition, Matthew uses a volitive future with ereite in verse 3 that serves in effect as an imperative. There is also a grammatical divine ordering usage of euthews found twice in these instructions, one in verse 2 and another in verse 3. This serves to heighten the assurance of the donkey being in its proper place. Two possibilities are given for the nature of these imperatives. First, Jesus could be relying on his supernatural power for the source of this confident assurance. Second, Jesus could have made prior arrangements with the owner of the donkey.

The arguments supporting the second position are two-fold. First, Matthew does not seem to be as concerned with the divine power of Jesus at this point since he omits the material from Mark highlighting the verbatim details of Jesus’ instructions. Mark 11:4 describes the colt being tied in the street exactly as Jesus had described. Had Matthew wanted to emphasize the divine supernatural power of Christ at this point, he would have surely left those details in his account. Second, some scholars believe the phrase ha kurios autwn creian exei is in effect a password created by Jesus prior to his arrival. Once the disciples spoke this phrase, the owner would know Jesus was in town and needed the donkey. Regardless of the substantiality of this claim, the kurios in this verse clearly stands as a double entendre. The owner of the donkey would have understood the disciples to be speaking of their master or lord, but they were also speaking of the Lord God.

Arguments for the divine foreknowledge of Christ in this setting reject the password theory, arguing that since Jesus made a provision with the disciples concerning the task, he was anticipating some kind of objection. If prior arrangements had been made, it is probable that the owner would not object. The more important argument is in the context of 21:2-3. Matthew’s focus in the introductory text of 20:29-34 and his triad of Jesus’ authority in chapter 23 are clear expositions of the divine power and messianic fulfillment of Jesus. With the triumphal entry serving as the soon coming completion of the eschatological fulfillment and messianic kingship of Christ, Matthew would have had Jesus’ supernatural nature in play here and not his pragmatic fortitude.