(Verse 6, 7) However, the disciples went and did as Jesus had ordered them. They brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. This colt and donkey, on which the apostles spread their cloaks so that Jesus might sit more comfortably, were naked before the coming of the Savior, and they shivered without cover, with many claiming dominion over them. But after they received the apostolic garments, they became more beautiful and had the Lord as their rider. The apostolic garment, or the teaching of virtues, or the exposition of Scriptures, can be understood, or the variations of ecclesiastical doctrines: unless the soul is instructed and adorned by these, it does not deserve to have the Lord as its dwelling.
21:8
(Verse 8.) But a great crowd spread their garments on the road. Notice the difference in each person. The apostles put their garments on the donkey, while the crowd, which is more humble, lays their garments in front of the donkey's feet, so that it does not stumble on a stone, step on a thorn, or fall into a ditch.
On the other hand, some were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. They were cutting branches from fruit-bearing trees, with which the Mount of Olives is planted, and spreading them on the road in order to make the crooked straight and the rough places smooth, so that Christ, the victor over demons and vices, could walk more easily and securely in the hearts of believers.
21:9
(Verse 9.) But the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!' Let us now follow the spiritual order of discourse, for the story is clear. The crowds that had come out of Jericho and had followed the Savior and his disciples, after they saw the foal of a donkey loosed (which had been tied up before) and adorned with the apostles' garments, and the Lord Jesus sitting on it, they placed their garments on the ground and spread branches of trees on the road. And when they had completed all things with great effort, they also give testimony of their voice: and those who went before and those who followed after confessed not with a short and silent confession, but with a very loud clamor: Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And what he says: The crowds that went before and that followed after, showed both the people who believed in the Lord before the Gospel, and those who believed in the Lord after the Gospel, praising Jesus with a unified voice of confession: and according to the example of the parable of the workers of different hours in the higher story, to accept one reward of faith. Furthermore, regarding what follows: 'Hosanna to the Son of David,' I remember having said, in a short letter to Damasus, who was the bishop of the city of Rome at that time, and now I will briefly explain. In the 117th psalm, which clearly speaks of the coming of the Savior, among other things we read: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.' This was done by the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. And immediately it follows: O Lord, save me: O Lord, prosper me. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord, etc. (Psalm 118:22 seqq.). For what is said in the Septuagint interpreters; O Lord, save now, that is, O Lord, save; in Hebrew we read: Hosanna, which Symmachus interprets more clearly, saying: I beseech thee, Lord, save, I beseech thee. Therefore, no one thinks that the phrase is composed of two words, namely Greek and Hebrew, but it is entirely Hebrew and signifies that the coming of Christ is the salvation of the world. Hence, it follows: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This is also confirmed by the Savior Himself in the Gospel: I came in my Father's name, and you did not receive me. Another will come in his own name, and you will receive him (John 5:43). Moreover, the joining of 'Hosanna', that is, 'salvation in the highest', clearly shows that the coming of Christ is not only the salvation of mankind, but of the whole world: connecting the earthly with the heavenly, so that every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Philippians 2:10).
21:10
(Verse 10) And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, 'Who is this?' And the people ((or Many)) were saying, 'This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.' As Jesus entered the city with the whole crowd, the city of Jerusalem was stirred up, amazed at the multitude, not knowing the truth, and saying, 'Who is this?' Indeed, we read in another place the angels saying: 'Who is this King of glory?' (Psalm 24:8). But to others who were doubting or asking, the lowly common people confess: starting from the least, in order to reach the greatest, and they say:
163 This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee. The prophet whom even Moses had said would come, and who is specifically written with the article among the Greeks. From Nazareth in Galilee because he was brought up there: so that, like a flower of the field, he would be nurtured in the flower of virtues.
21:12-13
(Verse 12, 13.) And Jesus entered the temple of God and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. And He said to them, 'It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.' Then Jesus entered the temple area accompanied by the crowd of believers (who had spread their garments so that the colt could walk on them without being harmed). He expelled all those who were selling and buying in the temple, overturned the tables of the money changers, and scattered the seats of those selling doves. And he said to them, quoting from the holy scriptures (Isaiah 56) and (Jeremiah 7), that his Father's house should be a house of prayer and not a den of robbers or a house of merchandise, as it is written in another Gospel (John 2). First of all, it must be known that according to the commands of the most august Law, in the whole world, in the temple of the Lord, and from almost all the regions of the Jews, countless offerings were being sacrificed, especially on festive days, of bulls, rams, and goats; so that the poor would not be without offering, those who offered would present young doves and turtles; it often happened that those who had come from afar did not have victims. Therefore, the priests devised a way to take prey from the people, and they sold all the animals they needed for sacrifices, so that they would sell to those who did not have them, and they themselves would receive them again when bought. He dispersed this band of people who were frequently coming due to their lack of resources, those who were in need of expenses, and not only did they not have offerings, but they didn't even have birds and cheap gifts to buy. So they appointed moneylenders who would lend money under collateral. But because there was a law, as commanded in Leviticus 25 and Deuteronomy 23, that no interest should be received, and borrowed money could not bring any benefit, as it had no gain, and sometimes it could even result in loss, they invented another technique, that they would make 'Collybistas' instead of moneylenders, which the Latin language does not express the exact meaning of the word. Among them, what we call trinkets or cheap gifts are called collybadicuntur. For example, roasted chickpeas, dried grapes, and various types of fruits. Therefore, because the moneylenders, called Collybistae, could not charge interest, they would accept various goods instead of interest, so that they could demand what was not allowed in currency, but could be purchased with these items, as if Ezekiel himself did not preach this, saying: 'You shall not take interest and profits.' (Ezek. XXII, 12). The Lord, seeing such a trade or robbery in his Father's house, was stirred with zeal (as it is written in the 68th Psalm, verse 10: The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up), and he made for himself a whip out of cords, and drove out such a great multitude of people from the temple, saying: It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves. For he is a thief, and he turns the temple of God into a cave of thieves, who seeks profits from religion, and whose worship is not so much the worship of God as it is an opportunity for business. According to the story, Jesus enters the temple of the Father daily, and drives out all, both bishops and priests and deacons, as well as lay people, and the entire crowd from His Church, and He has only one crime, that of buying and selling. For it is written: Freely you have received, freely give. He also overturns the tables of the money changers. Note, because of the greed of the priests, the altars of God are called the tables of money changers. And he overturned the seats of those who were selling doves, who were selling the grace of the Holy Spirit, and they do everything to devour the subject peoples, of whom it is said (as is said): They devour my people like bread (Ps. 13:4). According to simple understanding, doves were not in seats but in cages, unless perhaps the caretakers of the doves were sitting in seats. But that is completely absurd, because in seats, the dignity of teachers is more clearly indicated, which is reduced to nothing when it is mixed with profits. Concerning the churches, let each one understand concerning themselves. For the Apostle says: You are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you (I Cor. VI, 15, and II Cor. III, 16). Let there be no dealing in the house of our hearts, no buying and selling, no desire for gifts, lest Jesus enters angry and stern, and does not cleanse His temple except by using a whip, so as to make a house of prayer out of a den of thieves and a house of commerce.
21:14
(Verse 14) And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them. If he had not overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, the blind and the lame would not have deserved to receive their former sight and the ability to walk.
21:15
(Verse 15) But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David', they were indignant and said to him, 'Do you hear what these are saying?' Many believe that the raising of Lazarus is the greatest sign, that the blind man received sight from birth, that the voice of the Father was heard at the Jordan, and that he showed the glory of the triumphant one when he was transfigured on the mountain. Among all the signs that he performed, it seems more amazing to me that one man, at that time considered despicable and exceedingly lowly to the point of being crucified later, could drive out such a multitude with a whip of cords, overturn tables, break chairs, and do other things that an infinite army would not have done. For a fiery and heavenly radiance shone forth from his eyes, and the majesty of divinity shone upon his face. And though the priests dared not lay hands on him, they nevertheless plotted against him, and they twisted the testimony of the people and children who cried out, 'Hosanna to the son of David,' into a slander: for it is clear that this can only be said of the Son of God alone. Therefore, let the bishops and all holy men see with what danger they allow these things to be said of themselves, if the Lord to whom this was truly said is accused of a crime, since the faith of the believers was not yet solidified.
21:16
(Verse 16.) But Jesus said to them: Of course. Have you never read that from the mouths of infants and nursing babies you have perfected praise? How moderate is this statement, and how balanced is the response, not giving in to slander? He did not say what the Scribes wanted to hear, that children do good, to testify to me, nor did he say they are mistaken: they are children, you should forgive their age; but he brings forward an example from the eighth psalm, to strengthen the testimony of the Scriptures through the words of children, when the Lord is silent.
21:17
(Verse 17) And leaving them, he went out outside the city to Bethany, and he stayed there. He left the unbelievers and, leaving the city of opposition, he went to Bethany, which means house of obedience, foreshadowing at that time the calling of the gentiles, and he stayed there because he could not remain in Israel. This also should be understood, that he was of such great poverty and was not flattered by anyone, that in the greatest city he found no guest, no dwelling, but he lived in a small field with Lazarus and his sisters: for their village is Bethany.
21:18-20
(Verse 18 and following) But when he returned to the city in the morning, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, he went to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, 'May no fruit ever come from you again!' And immediately the fig tree withered. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, 'How did the fig tree wither at once?' After the darkness of the night had dispersed, as the morning light shone and midday approached, during which the Lord was going to illuminate the world by means of his passion, when he returned to the city, he was hungry. Whether to reveal the truth of his human flesh or to hunger for the salvation of believers and to burn with incredulity towards the Jews. And when he saw a certain tree (which we understand to be the Synagogue and assembly of the Jews) by the road, for it had the Law and therefore it was by the road, because it did not believe in the way, he came to it, standing namely and immobile, and not having the feet of the Gospel: and he found nothing in it, except leaves alone, the noise of promises, Pharisaic traditions, and the ostentation of the Law, and the ornaments of words without any fruits of truth. And another evangelist says: For the time had not yet come (Mark 10:13); either because the time of the salvation of Israel had not yet come, since the Gentile people had not yet entered, or because the time of faith had passed, because, coming to him first, and rejected, it had passed to the nations. And he said to him: May no fruit ever be born from you, either forever or for eternity: for both αἰὼν (( Al. αἰῶνα)) in Greek means. And the little bed was dried up, which did not have the food that the hungry Lord desired. Likewise, the leaves withered, so that only the trunk remained, and with the branches broken, the root revived. If it wishes to believe in the last times, may the shoot of faith sprout, and may the Scripture be fulfilled, saying: 'There is hope for a tree.' (Job 14:7). However, according to the letter, the Lord, who was to suffer among the peoples and bear the scandal of the cross, had to strengthen the hearts of his disciples with the anticipation of a sign. And the disciples were amazed, saying: How did it wither immediately? Therefore, by the same power, could the Savior also dry up his enemies, unless he had awaited their salvation through repentance.
21:21-22
(Verse 21, 22.) And Jesus answered and said to them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen. And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. The dogs of the Gentiles bark against us in their volumes, which they have left as a memorial of their own impiety, asserting that the apostles did not have faith because they were not able to move mountains. To which we will respond, many signs were done by the Lord, according to the testimony of St. John the Evangelist, which were written down, the world could not contain them all (John 21:25). Not that the world could not contain the books, which it can, even though they are many, in one small chest or bookcase; but rather that the magnitude of the signs cannot be borne by miracles and unbelief. Therefore, we believe that the apostles did these things, but they were not written down so as not to give greater occasion to unbelievers to contradict. Otherwise, let us ask them whether they believe in these signs that are written about or not. And when we see them as unbelievers, we will consequently prove that they will not believe in greater things if they do not believe in smaller things. This is against them. But let us understand the devil, who is called corrupt mountain by the prophet, as we have said before, proud and boasting against his Creator. And when it possesses the soul of a man and is rooted in it, it can be transferred by the apostles and those who are similar to the apostles into the sea, that is, into salty, turbulent, and bitter places that have no sweetness of God. And it is read in the Psalms: We will not fear when the earth is troubled, and the mountains are carried into the heart of the sea (Ps. XLV, 2).
21:23
(Verse 23.) And when he came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him as he was teaching, saying, 'By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?' In different words, they construct the same accusation as before, when they said, 'He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.' For when they say, 'By what authority are you doing these things?' they doubt the authority of God and want it to be understood that what he does is by the power of the devil. Moreover, they added: Who gave you this authority? They openly deny the Son of God, whom they consider to be not working by his own power, but by the power of others, to perform miracles.