1622 They praise him for two things: for his coming and for the power of his reign or kingdom. They praise his coming when they say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord . Note that to bless is to speak good things. Now God blesses us in one way, and we bless God in another way. For when God blesses us he makes us good, since for God to speak is to do: "For he commanded [that is, spoke], and they were created" (Ps 148:5). But when we bless God, we profess his goodness: "We bless you from the house of the Lord" (Ps 118:26); "Blessed be every one who blesses you!" (Gen 27:29). Therefore, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord , for Christ worked in the name of God, because every thing he did he directed to the glory of God.
Now because both the Father and the Son are the Lord, the phrase, in the name of the Lord , can be understood in two ways. In one way, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord , means blessed is he who comes in his own name, as Lord: "The Lord is our ruler" (Is 33:22). Moses did not come in the name of the Lord in this way, because he came as a servant: "Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later" (Heb 3:5). According to Augustine, the better interpretation would be to say that in the name of the Lord means in the name of the Father. [14] For Christ's words direct our minds to this: "I have come in my Father's name" (5:45). Further, there are two ways in which Christ is said to have come in the name of the Father. First, he came as the Son, which implies the Father; secondly, he came to manifest the Father: "I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gave me" (17:6).
1623 The people praise the power of his reign when they say, the King of Israel! Literally, the Jews believed that he had come to reign over them temporally, and ransom them from subjection to the Romans. That is why they hailed him as a king: "He shall reign as king and deal wisely" (Jer 23:5); "Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice" (Is 32:1).
1624 We should note that the above words can be gathered from the Psalms. For when the Psalm says, "The stone which the builders rejected�" (Ps 118:22), it then continues on, "Save us, we beseech thee, O Lord!�Blessed is he who enters in the name of the Lord!" (v 25-26). And there Jerome, according to the meaning of the Hebrew, translated hosanna as "blessed." But what the people added, the King of Israel , is not in the psalms. Instead, the Psalm says: "The Lord is God, and he has given us light" (v 27). In saying this, the people, due to their blindness, have lessened his praise: for the Psalm praises our Lord as God, but they praised him as a temporal king.
1625 When the Evangelist says, and Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it , he describes our Lord's coming: first, he tells how he came; secondly, he mentions a prophecy (v 15); and thirdly, he describes the state of mind of the disciples in regard to this event (v 16).
1626 It should be noted in regard to the first point, that John the Evangelist wrote his Gospel after all the others. And so, after carefully noting what these had written, he merely summarized what they had already mentioned, but filled in what they had omitted. Therefore, since the other Evangelists had already told how the Lord sent two of his disciples to bring the ass, John contents himself with mentioning briefly that Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it .
Here it should be pointed out that Christ's actions are in a way midway between the events of the Old Testament and of the New Testament. Thus the crowds praised him, both the one which went before him, and the one which followed him, because Christ's actions are the rule and exemplar of the things that are done in the New Testament, and they were prefigured by the fathers of the Old Testament.
The young ass is an awkward animal, and signifies the Gentiles. Christ sat upon it to signify that he would redeem the Gentiles: "I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth" (Is 49:6); "Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the ass range free," that is, thus uniting the Jews and the Gentiles in one faith.
Now Matthew wrote his Gospel for the Jews, and so he made mention of a she-ass. This she-ass signifies the synagogue of the Jews, which was like a mother to the Gentiles in spiritual matters, because "out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (Is 2:3). The other Evangelists, however, wrote their Gospels for the Gentiles, and so they mention the young colt of the she-ass.
1627 When the Evangelist says, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion! he cites the prophesy which was written in Zechariah (9:9). First, he reassures them; secondly, he promises a kingly majesty; and thirdly, he adds the benefit which the king will bring.
He reassures them when he says, Fear not, daughter of Zion . Zion was the fortress in Jerusalem where the king lived. The daughter of Zion, therefore, would be the people of Jerusalem and of Judea who were subject to the king of Jerusalem. Thus the Jews are being told, Fear not , because the Lord is your defender: "Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass?" (Is 51:12); "The Lord is the defender of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" [Ps 27:1]. Here the Evangelist is driving out their worldly and servile fear.
He promises them a kingly majesty, saying, behold, your king is coming : "For to us a son is given" (Is 9:6); "Upon the throne of David, and over his kingdom" (9:7). He says, your king , that means, taking flesh from you, for "It is not with angels that he is concerned, but with the descendants of Abraham" (Heb 2:16). Again, your king , that is, for your benefit. Thus he adds, is coming , to you: "Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes" (Lk 19:42). But when they resisted, they hindered their own good.
The king comes to you, I say, not to harm you, but to set you free; thus he adds, sitting on an ass's colt! This signifies the mercy of the king, which is most welcome to his subjects: "His throne is upheld by mercy" [Prv 20:28]. This is just the opposite to "A king's wrath is like the growling of a lion" (Prv 19:12). He is saying in effect: He is not coming as a haughty king - Which would make him hateful - but with gentleness: "If they make you master of the feast, do not exalt yourself" (Sir 32:1). Therefore, have no fear that the king will oppress you. Now the Old Law was given in fear, because the Law produced slaves. This phrase also signifies the power of the king, because by coming with humility and in weakness he attracted the entire world: "The weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Cor 1:25).
1628 Then when he says, his disciples did not understand this at first , he describes the state of mind of the disciples regarding this prophecy. And he admits his own ignorance and that of the disciples, for as we read: "The just person is the first to accuse himself" [Prv 18:17]. So he says, his disciples did not understand this , what was predicted, at first , that is, before the passion. But when Jesus was glorified , i.e., when he showed the power of his resurrection, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him . The reason they knew only after he had been glorified was because it was then that they received the power of the Holy Spirit, which made them wiser than all the wise: "The breath of the Almighty makes a man understand" (Job 32:8).
1629 Then he mentions why the crowd went to meet Jesus, which was to bear witness. This was done by the crowd that had been with him , at the resurrection of Lazarus, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb� The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign . "For Jews demand signs" (1 Cor 1:22). Now this was a clearer and more marvelous sign than the others; thus Christ made it the last in order to impress it more forcefully on their memory.
1630 Then when the Evangelist says, The Pharisees then said to one another , he describes the reaction of the Pharisees, who were enraged because their plans had been frustrated. Thus they say, You see that you can do nothing . The Pharisees said this out of envy, as if to say: "We are not having any effect, that is, in our evil intentions; we have failed to check him.
But why were they maddened at the blind crowd? Because the world has gone after him through whom the world was made. This was a sign that the whole world would follow him: "We shall live in his sight. We shall know and we shall follow the Lord" [Hos 6:3].
Chrysostom, however, thinks that these words were said by the Pharisees who believed, but they were spoken privately for fear of the Jews. [15] And they said this to stop the persecution of Christ. It is as though they were saying: No matter what snares you lay, he will grow in stature and his glory will increase. Why then not stop your plotting? This is practically the same as the advice of Gamaliel in the Acts (5:34).
LECTURE 4
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks [Gentiles]. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him." [16]
1631 Having described the glory Christ received from the helpfulness of his friends and from the devotion of the crowd, the Evangelist now describes the glory Christ received from the devotion of the Gentiles. First, the devotion of the Gentiles is mentioned; secondly, this devotion is reported (v 22); and thirdly, we see the prediction of Christ's passion (v 23). Concerning the devotion of the Gentiles, two things are set forth: first, their devotion to the sacraments of the Old Law; secondly, their devotion to Christ (v 21).
1632 The devotion of the Gentiles to the sacraments of the Old Testament is shown by the fact that they visited the temple. Thus he says, Now among those who went up , to Jerusalem, to worship at the feast were some Gentiles . He is saying in effect: Not just the Jews, but the Gentiles, also, honored Christ. According to a Gloss, the reason why they went up to Jerusalem was because they were proselytes, who had been converted to the Jewish rite by the preaching of those Jews who were scattered throughout the world, and who strove to convert whomever they could: "You traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte" (Mt 23:15). [17] And so, in keeping with the Jewish rite, they went up with the others.
But a better reason is given by Chrysostom, namely, that as we read in Maccabees (3:2), the temple of God in Jerusalem was held in such esteem by all the people and rulers throughout the world that they considered it an honor to glorify the temple with the finest gifts. [18] And so it happened that on the feast days even many Gentiles would go up to Jerusalem. An example of this is mentioned in the Acts (8:27), where it tells of a eunuch, a minister to Queen Candace of Ethiopia, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. Thus Isaiah says: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Is 56:7). The fact that these Gentiles came to the temple out of devotion prefigured the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith.
1633 The devotion of the Gentiles to Christ is shown by their desire to see him; for the Evangelist says, So these , that is, the Gentiles, came to Phillip . Here we should note that Christ personally preached only to the Jews: "For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs" (Rom 15:8); but he preached to the Gentiles through the apostles. "And I shall send of them that shall be saved to the Gentiles�, and they shall declare my glory to the Gentiles" [Is 66:19]; "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19). This was now being indicated beforehand inasmuch as the Gentiles who wanted to see Christ did not come to him first, but to one of his disciples, to Philip. And this was fitting, because Philip was the first to preach to those who were not of the Jewish rite, namely, to the Samaritans, as we see from the Acts (8:5): "Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ."
This was also fitting because of his name: for "Philip" means the "mouth of the lantern." [19] Now preachers are the mouth of Christ: "If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as your mouth" (Jer 15:19); and Christ too is the lantern: "I have given you as a light to the nations" (Is 42:6). It was also appropriate to him because of his home: for Philip was from Bethsaida , which means "hunting," and preachers hunt for those whom they convert to Christ: "I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them" (Jer 16:16). Again, it was appropriate because Bethsaida was in Galilee , which means "transmigration," and the Gentiles, by the preaching of the apostles, were transmigrated from the gods of paganism to the state of believers: "Therefore, son of man, prepare for yourself an exile's baggage, and go into exile by day in their sight," as we read in Ezekiel (12:3).