And (1) when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to
Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,
(1) Christ by his humility, triumphing over the pride of this world,
ascends to true glory by the shame of the cross.... [ Continue Reading ]
And if any [man] say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need
of them; and straightway (a) he will send them.
(a) He that will say anything to you will let them go, that is, the
ass and the colt.... [ Continue Reading ]
Tell ye the (b) daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee,
meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
(b) The city of Sion. This is a Hebrew idiom, common in the
Lamentations of Jeremiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their (c) clothes,
and they set [him] (d) thereon.
(c) Their uppermost garment.
(d) Upon their garments, not upon the ass and the colt.... [ Continue Reading ]
And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying,
(e) Hosanna to the Son of David: (f) Blessed [is] he that cometh in
the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
(e) This was an ancient kind of cry, which they voiced in the feast of
Tabernacles, when they carried boughs accor... [ Continue Reading ]
And when he was come into Jerusalem, (g) all the city was moved,
saying, Who is this?
(g) That is, all the men of Jerusalem were moved.... [ Continue Reading ]
(2) And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things
that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying,
Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
(2) Those that should be masters of godliness are the ones that envy
most the glory of Christ: but in vain.... [ Continue Reading ]
And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto
them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
thou hast (h) perfected praise?
(h) You have made most perfect. We read in David, "Thou hast
established" or "grounded", and if the matter is considered well,... [ Continue Reading ]
(3) And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he
lodged there.
(3) Christ does in this way forsake the wicked, for he has a
consideration and regard for his Church.... [ Continue Reading ]
(4) Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered.
(4) Hypocrites will at length have their masks discovered, and any
false faces taken away.... [ Continue Reading ]
(5) Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye
have faith, and (i) doubt not, ye shall not only do this [which is
done] to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
(5) How great the force of fai... [ Continue Reading ]
(6) And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the
elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By
what (k) authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this
authority?
(6) Against those who neglect the doctrine and bind the calling and
vocation to an or... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you (l) one
thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what
authority I do these things.
(l) One thing, that is to say, I will ask you one thing first before I
answer your questions.... [ Continue Reading ]
The (m) baptism of John, whence was it? from (n) heaven, or of men?
And they (o) reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From
heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him?
(m) The preaching of John is called by the figure "baptism" because he
preached the baptism of repen... [ Continue Reading ]
Whether of them twain did the will of [his] father? They say unto him,
The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the
publicans and the harlots (p) go into the kingdom of God before you.
(p) They hurry to the kingdom of God and you go slowly, so that you
should at least have foll... [ Continue Reading ]
For John came unto you in the (q) way of righteousness, and ye
believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and
ye, when ye had seen [it], repented not afterward, that ye might
believe him.
(q) Living uprightly, being of good and honest behaviour; For the
Hebrews use this word... [ Continue Reading ]
(8) Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which
planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress
in it, and built a (r) tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went
into a far country:
(8) Those men are often the cruellest enemies of the Church, to whose
faith... [ Continue Reading ]
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This
is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us (s) seize on his
inheritance.
(s) Literally, "let us hold it fast".... [ Continue Reading ]
They say unto him, He will (t) miserably destroy those wicked men, and
will let out [his] vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render
him the fruits in their seasons.
(t) A kind of proverb, showing what punishment the wicked are worthy
of.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone
which the (u) builders rejected, the same is (x) become the (y) head
of the corner: (z) this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in
our eyes?
(u) Master builders, who are chief builders of the house, that is of
the Church.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you,
and given to a nation bringing forth the (a) fruits thereof.
(a) They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God, who bring forth
the fruit of the Spirit, and not of the flesh, (Galatians 5:16).... [ Continue Reading ]
And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on
whomsoever it shall fall, it will (b) grind him to powder.
(b) As chaff used to be scattered with the wind, for he uses a word
which properly signifies separating the chaff from the corn with
winnowing, and to scatter it abroad.... [ Continue Reading ]
(9) But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the
multitude, because they took him for a prophet.
(9) The wicked can do nothing but what God wills.... [ Continue Reading ]