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20:26
The only way to greatness is service. Those who wish to be great must walk Jesus’ own way of humility, su ering, and love.
21:1
Each year, Christians mark the beginning of Holy Week with Palm Sunday, a commemoration of this entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Jesus enters in triumph, and the people welcome him as they would a king. But at the same time, “the whole city was in turmoil” (21:10). The triumph of this moment will quickly come to an end when Jesus is arrested, condemned,
and cruci ed.
* [20:28] Ransom: this noun, which occurs in the New Testament only here and in the Marcan parallel (Mk 10:45), does not necessarily express the idea of liberation by payment of some price. The cognate verb is used frequently in the LXX of God’s liberating Israel from Egypt or from Babylonia after the Exile; see Ex 6:6; 15:13; Ps 77:16 (76 LXX); Is 43:1; 44:22. The liberation brought by Jesus’ death will be for many; cf. Is 53:12. Many does not mean that some are excluded, but is a Semitism designating the collectivity who bene t from the service of the one, and is equivalent to “all.” While there are few verbal contacts between this saying and the fourth Servant Song (Is 52:13–53:12), the ideas of that passage are re ected here.
* [20:29–34] The cure of the blind men is probably symbolic of what will happen to the disciples, now blind to the meaning of Jesus’ passion and to the necessity of their sharing his su ering. As the men are given sight, so, after the resurrection, will the disciples come to see that to which they are now blind. Matthew has abbreviated his Marcan source (Mk 10:46–52) and has made Mark’s one man two. Such doubling is characteristic of this gospel; see Mt 8:28–34 (// Mk 5:1–20) and the note on Mt 9:27–31.
* [20:30] [Lord,]: some important textual witnesses omit this, but that may be because copyists assimilated this verse to Mt 9:27. Son of David: see note on Mt 9:27.
* [21:1–11] Jesus’ coming to Jerusalem is in accordance with the divine will that he must go there (cf. Mt 16:21) to su er, die, and be raised. He prepares for his entry into the city in such a way as
to make it a ful llment of the prophecy of Zec 9:9 (Mt 21:2) that emphasizes the humility of the king who comes (Mt 21:5). That prophecy, absent from the Marcan parallel account (Mk 11:1–11) although found also in the Johannine account of the entry (Jn 12:15), is the center of the Matthean story. During the procession from Bethphage to Jerusalem, Jesus is acclaimed as the Davidic messianic king by the crowds who accompany him (Mt 21:9). On his arrival the whole city was shaken, and to the inquiry of the amazed populace about Jesus’ identity the crowds with him reply that he is the prophet, from Nazareth in Galilee (Mt 21:10, 11).
* [21:1] Bethphage: a village that can no longer be certainly identi ed. Mark mentions it before Bethany (Mk 11:1), which suggests that it lay to the east of the latter. The Mount of Olives: the hill east of Jerusalem that is spoken of in Zec 14:4 as the place where the Lord will come to rescue Jerusalem from the enemy nations.
* [21:2] An ass tethered, and a colt with her: instead of the one animal of Mk 11:2, Matthew has two, as demanded by his under- standing of Zec 9:9.
* [21:4–5] The prophet: this ful llment citation is actually composed of two distinct Old Testament texts, Is 62:11 (Say to daughter Zion) and Zec 9:9. The ass and the colt are the same animal in the prophecy, mentioned twice in di erent ways, the common Hebrew literary device of poetic parallelism. That Matthew takes them as two is one of the reasons why some scholars think that he was a Gentile rather than a Jewish Christian who would presumably not make that mistake (see Introduction).
d. [20:24–27] Lk 22:25–27.
e. [20:27] Mk 9:35.
f. [20:28] 26:28; Is 53:12; Rom 5:6; 1 Tm 2:6.
g. [20:29–34] Mk 10:46–52; Lk 18:35–43. h. [20:30] 9:27.
Chapter 18
a. [20:8] Lv 19:13; Dt 24:15.
b. [20:17–19] 16:21; 17:22–23;
Mk 10:32–34; Lk 18:31–33. 53
MATTHEW -
said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking.* Can you drink the cupthatIamgoingtodrink?”Theysaidtohim,“Wecan.”23Hereplied, “My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left [, this] is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24d When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. 25But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. 26But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; 27e whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. 28f Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom* for many.”
The Healing of Two Blind Men.* 29g As they left Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30h Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “[Lord,]* Son of David, have pity on us!” 31The crowd warned them to be silent, but they called out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on us!” 32Jesus stopped and called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33They answered him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34Moved with pity, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight, and followed him.
The Entry into Jerusalem.*
211a When they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage* on
the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered, and a colt with her.* Untie them and bring them here to me. 3And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, ‘The master has need of them.’ Then he will send them at once.” 4* This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:
5b “Say to daughter Zion, ‘Behold, your king comes to you,
meek and riding on an ass,
and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”
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