The Secret Codes in Matthew: Examining Israel’s Messiah, Part 16: Matthew 21:1-46, by Kevin M. Williams
It was however, in keeping with the prophetic Scripture, as Matthew reminds the reader:
Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’” (Matthew 21:4-5).
Critics of the New Testament oft claim that this was no miracle, but that Yeshua arranged the whole event ahead of time so that he could fulfill the prophecy, thereby invalidating the event as genuine. Yet this argument falls apart when one considers the other circumstances surrounding the whole entry into Jerusalem.
Yeshua was not the first person to ride into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, but he was the first to be greeted by “multitudes” praising him as the “Son of David,”
And the multitudes going before Him, and those who followed after were crying out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” And when He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, “Who is this?” And the multitudes were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth in Galilee” (Matthew 21:9-11).
The Gospel of Mark (10:52) gives us a clue that Bartimeaus, the blind man healed by Yeshua, “began following Him on the road” to Jerusalem. In Luke’s gospel, he defines the multitudes as “the whole multitude of the disciples,” (Luke 19:37). They were not merely passersby, or common Israelites going to Jerusalem for Passover who unwittingly joined some group mind-set. Luke specifically says they were disciples.
John gives us an even greater insight: “And so the multitude who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, and raised him from the dead, were bearing Him witness” (John 12:17). If Yeshua had conveniently arranged his ride, it hardly discredits the other witnesses being born by the multitudes, disciples giving testimony to the healing of the blind and the resurrection of the dead—telltale signs of the promised Messiah. If Yeshua had those abilities at His disposal, arranging a colt and donkey to be on hand, and for others to find it in a place formerly unrevealed, would be a simple matter entirely.
This entry into Jerusalem filled the streets with the thronging, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9).
Category: Biblical Studies, Pneuma Review, Winter 2005
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