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From: Luke 19:28-40 (At the Procession with Palms)

The Messiah enters the Holy City

[28] And when he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. [29]
When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet,
he sent two of the disciples, [30] saying, “Go into the village opposite, where on
entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and
bring it here. [31] If any one asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say
this, ‘The Lord has need of it.’” [32] So those who were sent went away and found
it as he had told them. [33] And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to
them, “Why are you untying the colt?” [34] And they said, “The Lord has need of
it.” [35] And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their garments on the colt they
set Jesus upon it. [36] And as he rode along, they spread their garments on the
road. [37] As he was now drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the
whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works that they had seen, [38] saying, “Blessed is the King who
comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” [39]
And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your di-
sciples.” [40] He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would
cry out.”

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Commentary:

28. Normally in the Gospels when there is mention of going to the Holy City it is
in terms of “going up” to Jerusalem (cf. Mt 20:18; Jn 7:8), probably because geo-
graphically the city is located on Mount Zion. Besides, since the temple was the
religious and political centre, going up to Jerusalem had also a sacred meaning
of ascending to the holy place, where sacrifices were offered to God.

Particularly in the Gospel of St Luke, our Lord’s whole life is seen in terms of a
continuous ascent towards Jerusalem, where his self-surrender reaches its high
point in the redemptive sacrifice of the cross. Here Jesus is on the point of ente-
ring the city, conscious of the fact that his passion and death are imminent.

30-35. Jesus makes use of a donkey for his entry into Jerusalem, thereby fulfil-
ling an ancient prophecy: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O
daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is
he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass” (Zech 9:9).

The people, and particularly the Pharisees, were quite aware of this prophecy.
Therefore, despite its simplicity of form, there was a certain solemnity about the
whole episode which impressed those present, stirring the hearts of the people
and irritating the Pharisees. By fulfilling the prophecy our Lord was showing eve-
ryone that he was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. Other aspects
of this episode are commented on in connexion with Mk 11:3.

38. Christ is greeted with the prophetic words referring to the enthronement of the
Messiah, contained in Psalm 118:26: “Blessed be he who enters in the name of
the Lord!” But the people also acclaim him as king. This is a great messianic
demonstration, which infuriates the Pharisees. One of the acclamations, “Peace
in heaven and glory in the highest”, echoes the announcement made by the an-
gel to the shepherds on Christmas night (cf. Lk 2:14).

40. To the reproaches of the Pharisees, who are scandalized by the people’s
shouts, our Lord replies in a phrase which sounds like a proverb: so obvious is
his messiahship that if men refused to recognize it nature would proclaim it. In
fact, when his friends were cowed on the hill of Calvary the earth trembled and
the rocks split (cf. Mt 27:51). At other times our Lord imposed silence on those
who want to proclaim him King or Messiah, but now he adopts a different atti-
tude: the moment has come for his dignity and his mission to be made public.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Isaiah 50:4-7

Third Song of the Servant of the Lord

[4] The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught; that I may
know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Morning by morning he wa-
kens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. [5] The Lord GOD
has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. [6]I gave
my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I
hid not my face from shame and spitting.

[7] For the Lord GOD helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; there-
fore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

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Commentary:

50:4-9. The second song dealt with the servant’s mission (cf. 49:6); the third
song focuses on the servant himself. The term “servant” as such does not
appear here, and therefore some commentators read the passage as being a
description of a prophet and not part of the songs. Still, the context (cf. 50:10)
does suggest that the protagonist is the servant. The poem is neatly construc-
ted in three stanzas, each beginning with the words, “The Lord God” (vv. 4, 5, 7),
and it has a conclusion containing that same wording (v. 9). The first stanza em-
phasizes the servant’s docility to the word of God; that is, he is not depicted as
a self-taught teacher with original ideas, but as an obedient disciple. The second
(vv. 5-6) speaks of the suffering that that docility has brought him, without his ut-
tering a word of complaint. The third (vv. 7-8) shows how determined the servant
is: if he suffers in silence, it is not out of cowardice but because God helps him
and makes him stronger than his persecutors. The conclusion (v. 9) is like the
verdict of a trial: when all is said and done, the servant will stand tall, and all his
enemies will be struck down.

The evangelists saw the words of this song as finding fulfillment in Jesus — espe-
cially what the song has to say about the suffering and silent fortitude of the ser-
vant. The Gospel of John, for example, quotes Nicodemus’ acknowledgment of
Christ’s wisdom: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no
one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him” (Jn 3:21). But the
description of the servant’s sufferings was the part that most impressed the ear-
ly Christians; that part of the song was recalled when they meditated on the pas-
sion of Jesus and how “they spat in his face; and struck him; and some slapped
him” (Mt 26:67) and later how the Roman soldiers “spat upon him, and took the
reed and struck him on the head” (Mt 27:30; cf. also Mk 15:19; Jn 19:3). St Paul
refers to v. 9 when applying to Christ Jesus the role of intercessor on behalf of
the elect in the suit pressed constantly against them by the enemies of the soul:
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?” (Rom 8:33).

St Jerome sees the servant’s docility as a reference to Christ: “His self-discipline
and wisdom enabled him to communicate to us the knowledge of the Father. And
he was obedient onto death, death on the cross; he offered his body to the blows
they struck, his shoulders to the lash; and though he was wounded on the chest
and on his face, he did not try to turn away and escape their violence” (”Commen-
tarii In Isaiam”, 50, 4). This passage is used in the liturgy of Palm Sunday (along
with Psalm 22 and St Paul’s hymn in the Letter to the Philippians 2:6-11), before
the reading of our Lord’s passion.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.