Saint Matthew - Chapter 21
[Palm Sunday]
 |
| The foal of Bethphage. J-J Tissot |
And when they drew nigh to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto mount Olivet, then Jesus sent two disciples,
And when they were come nigh, &c. Mark has (11:1), “And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, He sendeth forth two of His disciples,” and Luke adds (19:29), “And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples.” But Mark and Luke are speaking generally, because Bethphage, Jerusalem, and Bethany are all nigh to each other. For coming to particulars it is clear from S. John (12:1, 12) that on the preceding Sabbath Christ supped, and passed the night at Bethany, and on the following day, or Palm Sunday, He came nearer to Jerusalem, that is to say, to Bethphage, and from thence sent His disciples to fetch the ass with her colt. For Bethphage was nearer to Jerusalem. Whence from Bethany through Bethphage, the Mount of Olives and the valley of Jehoshaphat was the road to Jerusalem. The valley of Jehoshaphat is close to Jerusalem. The brook Kedron flows through it. After this valley you come to the mount of Olives, then to the village of Bethphage, and then to Bethany.
Bethphage, in Hebrew, means the house of the mouth, or, at the mouth of the valley. Beth is a house, phe, the mouth, ge, a valley. For this village of Bethphage was seated at the foot of Mount Olivet, in a sort of cleft, or as it were mouth of the hill. Again this village was situated, as we may say, at the mouth, or entrance of the valley of Jehoshaphat. And this entrance is extremely narrow, as you come from Bethphage into the valley, and so on through the golden gate to the Temple. Whence it is very probable, as Jansen and Adrichomius say, that Bethphage was a village of the priests, in which lambs, goats, and oxen were kept ready for the temple sacrifices. Thus from Bethphage the priests were wont to fetch the paschal lambs, and other victims to the temple. From this cause too, when Christ willed to be brought in triumph from Bethphage through the golden gate unto Jerusalem He would show that He was the Lamb which taketh away the sins of the world, prefigured by the paschal lambs.
Again, He wished in His triumphal entry to pass through the valley of Jehoshaphat, in order to intimate, that in that same valley He will, in the day of Judgment, pass His tremendous judgment upon all men. Now therefore He rides through the valley in triumph to Jerusalem, as her Lord and King, and, thus, as it were, takes possession of His kingdom, which He will bring to a glorious consummation in the Day of Judgment. It is as if He said, “Acknowledge Me, O ye Jews, to be your Messiah, believe and obey Me, that in the day of Judgment, which I will accomplish in this valley, I may award you Heaven. But if ye persist in your unbelief, I shall adjudge you to hell. Wherefore also, I come from Bethany, where a few days since I raised up Lazarus from the dead, which ye have all seen and wondered at, that by it, and My other miracles ye may know that I am your Messiah, the Saviour of the world.”
Then Jesus sent, &c. S. Hilary, Bede, and the Gloss think that these two were Peter and Philip; but Origen and Theophylact think they were Peter and Paul—that is, typically, in such sort that the two who were sent represented Peter and Paul; the one, who was about to be the Apostle of the Jews, the other, who was to become the Apostle of the Gentiles. For Paul was not as yet converted to Christ. With greater probability, Jansen thinks these two were Peter and John: for soon after this Christ sent them to prepare the paschal lamb. But nothing is certain.
[2] dicens eis : Ite in castellum, quod contra vos est, et statim invenietis asinam alligatam, et pullum cum ea : solvite, et adducite mihi :
Saying to them: Go ye into the village that is over against you, and immediately you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them and bring them to me.
Saying, &c. Greek, εἰς κώμην κατέναντι ὑμῶν, i.e., into the village which is opposite to you. From whence it is plain that it is not Jerusalem which is meant, as Lyra thinks, but either Bethphage, as Jansen supposes, or some village opposite to Bethphage, as Adrichomius thinks. For Christ had already come to Bethphage, as I have said in verse 1; unless you prefer to understand when He came to Bethphage, when He was coming to or approaching Bethany.
And straightway ye shall find, &c. Christ here beheld things absent, the ass and her colt, as though they were present. He surely made them known to His Apostles by the gift of prophecy, which His Divinity bestowed upon His humanity. Thus He here gave a proof of His Divinity.
Hear how blessed Peter Damian tropologically applies all the circumstances of this journey to the conversion of a sinner. (Hom. in Dom. Palm.)
“Bethphage is interpreted to mean, the house of the mouth; and it is the understanding of the priests, by which confession is meant. Thither the Lord cometh, because He kindles the heart to make confession.
The castle (as the Latin has instead of village), which is opposite to the Lord and His disciples, is a mind obstinately bent upon its own will.
The two disciples who are sent to it are Hope and Fear.
The ass and her colt tied are Humility and Simplicity. For the mind of such a person sometimes knows what humility and simplicity are, and how he ought to live humbly and simply. But he, as it were, binds them, and sets them aside, when he is not willing to live accordingly. This man fear terrifies, when he draws back from evil, threatening him with torments. Hope comforts him if he repents, by the promise of rewards. By these two the mind is pricked.
The ass and the colt are loosed, when meeting the Lord in the way to Bethphage, he confesses that he hath sinned, and promises that he will live humbly and simply for the time to come.
And thus he who aforetime was a castle of the devil becomes Sion, the city of our strength.
The Saviour is placed in it for a wall and a bulwark. The wall is humility, the bulwark is patience.
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us go forth to meet the Lord at Bethphage, pricked with fear of punishment, and strengthened by the hope of heavenly life, confessing our sins with humility and simplicity, treading down the garments of our carnality, that the Lord may deign to sit upon us, and to bring us with Himself into the Heavenly Jerusalem.”[3] et si quis vobis aliquid dixerit, dicite quia Dominus his opus habet : et confestim dimittet eos.
And if any man shall say anything to you, say ye, that the Lord hath need of them: and forthwith he will let them go.
And if any man, &c. The Lord: for I am indeed Messiah, the Lord and God of all things. Christ did not wish that the ass and her colt should be taken away against the owner’s will. For as His Providence worketh mightily, so also sweetly. By the power of His Divinity He influenced their minds, so that they should assent to the Apostles loosing the ass, yea that they should co-operate with them.
Christ, Who for three years had always gone on foot, and thus had traversed the whole of Judea, wished to show that He was the King of Judea, the Messiah, the Son of David. Therefore does He enter Jerusalem, which was the metropolis of Judea in regal pomp. But He is not carried on a horse with splendid trappings, or in a gilded chariot, with an accompanying multitude of noble knights, with trumpets sounding, resplendent in purple robes, as the kings of the earth are wont to do. But He is carried on an ass, to show that His kingdom is of another sort, spiritual and heavenly, and therefore meek and lowly, despising pomp. Nevertheless asses in Judea are better and stronger than our asses, more like mules. The sons of princes were accustomed to ride on asses. (See Judg. 12:14.) “Christ,” says Auctor Imperfecti, “sits upon the ass of tranquillity and peace, which is most patient to bear labours and burdens. You see not round about Him glittering swords, or the other ornaments of dreadful arms. But what do you see? leafy boughs, the tokens of affection. He came in meekness that he might not be dreaded because of His power, but that he might be loved for His gentleness.”
[4] Hoc autem totum factum est, ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per prophetam dicentem :
Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
All this was done, &c. The prophet, Zachariah. Tell ye the daughter of Sion. Some think these words are a quotation from Isaiah 62:11, as though Matthew put the quotation together from Isaiah and Zechariah. More simply, F. Lucas and others think Christ cited Zechariah only, but his meaning, not his exact words. Tell ye therefore the daughter of Sion is the same as, exult greatly (the Hebrew meod is very much), O daughter of Sion, shout O daughter of Jerusalem, as Zechariah has (9:9), for thy King Messias is coming to thee to save thee. Zechariah is exhorting the citizens of Jerusalem to receive with eagerness their Messiah and Saviour riding on an ass.
Observe: Jerusalem is called the daughter of Sion, either by synecdoche, in that from Sion, the higher part of the city, the whole was called Sion; or else by a metaphor, in that the city of Jerusalem, lying below Mount Sion, and protected by it, and reposing like a daughter on her mother’s bosom, was called the daughter of Sion. Moreover by Jerusalem are to be understood the citizens and inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Mystically, these things are true in the Christian Church, which as Jerusalem and the daughter of Sion is the vision of peace, and therefore always rejoices with Christ.
[5] Dicite filiae Sion : Ecce rex tuus venit tibi mansuetus, sedens super asinam, et pullum filium subjugalis.
Tell ye the daughter of Sion: Behold thy king cometh to thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of her that is used to the yoke.
Behold thy king, &c. Zechariah has, son of an ass, the Vulgate has subjugalis, under the yoke, because it bears the yoke of the man riding upon it.
Saint Mark - Chapter 11
[4] Et abeuntes invenerunt pullum ligatum ante januam foris in bivio : et solvunt eum.
And going their way, they found the colt tied before the gate without, in the meeting of two ways: and they loose him.
[5] Et quidam de illic stantibus dicebant illis : Quid facitis solventes pullum?
And some of them that stood there, said to them: What do you loosing the colt?
[6] Qui dixerunt eis sicut praeceperat illis Jesus, et dimiserunt eis.
Who said to them as Jesus had commanded them; and they let him go with them.
[7] Et duxerunt pullum ad Jesum : et imponunt illi vestimenta sua, et sedit super eum.
And they brought the colt to Jesus; and they lay their garments on him, and he sat upon him.
Saint Luke - Chapter 19
[29] Et factum est, cum appropinquasset ad Bethphage et Bethaniam, ad montem qui vocatur Oliveti, misit duos discipulos suos,
And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethania, unto the mount called Olivet, he sent two of his disciples,
[30] dicens : Ite in castellum quod contra est : in quod introeuntes, invenietis pullum asinae alligatum, cui nemo umquam hominum sedit : solvite illum, et adducite.
Saying: Go into the town which is over against you, at your entering into which you shall find the colt of an ass tied, on which no man ever hath sitten: loose him, and bring him hither.
[31] Et si quis vos interrogaverit : Quare solvitis? sic dicetis ei : Quia Dominus operam ejus desiderat.
And if any man shall ask you: Why do you loose him? you shall say thus unto him: Because the Lord hath need of his service.
[32] Abierunt autem qui missi erant : et invenerunt, sicut dixit illis, stantem pullum.
And they that were sent, went their way, and found the colt standing, as he had said unto them.
[33] Solventibus autem illis pullum, dixerunt domini ejus ad illos : Quid solvitis pullum?
And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said to them: Why loose you the colt?
[34] At illi dixerunt : Quia Dominus eum necessarium habet.
But they said: Because the Lord hath need of him.
[35] Et duxerunt illum ad Jesum. Et jacentes vestimenta sua supra pullum, imposuerunt Jesum.
And they brought him to Jesus. And casting their garments on the colt, they set Jesus thereon.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam
Ad Jesum per Mariam
No comments:
Post a Comment