Matthew 21
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem — on a donkey, fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, with crowds spreading cloaks and branches and shouting Hosanna to the Son of David — is immediately followed by the temple cleansing, in which Jesus drives out those buying and selling, quoting Isaiah 56:7 (my house will be called a house of prayer) against Jeremiah 7:11 (you have made it a den of robbers). The blind and lame are healed in the temple; children cry Hosanna; the chief priests and scribes are indignant. The cursing of the fruitless fig tree (withered by the next morning) interprets what Jesus has just done to the temple establishment. The question about Jesus' authority is answered with a counter-question about John's baptism that silences his questioners. The two sons parable and the wicked tenants parable both make the same point: tax collectors and prostitutes enter the kingdom before the religious leaders; the vineyard will be given to others who produce its fruit. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone — the Jewish leaders know Jesus is speaking about them.
Matthew 21:1
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples. The triumphal entry begins with the approach to Jerusalem from the east — from Jericho up through the Mount of Olives to Bethphage. The Mount of Olives is the location from which the divine king was expected to approach Jerusalem according to Zechariah 14:4. The sending of the two disciples to prepare the entry communicates the deliberate, prepared character of the entry: Jesus is not swept into Jerusalem by the crowd's enthusiasm but orchestrates his entry.
Matthew 21:2
Saying to them: go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. The specific instructions — a donkey tied, and a colt with her — communicates Jesus' foreknowledge and the deliberate fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. The two animals correspond to the Hebrew poetry of Zechariah where the parallelism describes one animal: a donkey, even a colt, the foal of a donkey. Matthew's literal reading of the parallelism produces two animals; Jesus rides the colt.
Matthew 21:3
If anyone says anything to you, you shall say: the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once. The simple authorization — the Lord needs them — is sufficient to secure the animals. The immediate sending communicates the pre-arranged character of the entry: someone who knew what the disciples would say was waiting. The lordship that the entry enacts is anticipated in the language of authorization.
Matthew 21:4
This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying. The fulfillment citation from Zechariah 9:9 grounds the triumphal entry in the prophetic expectation of the messianic king. The fulfillment pattern that has structured Matthew's Gospel from the birth narrative reaches its climax in the passion week's events.