ACC ~ Luke 19 v29 - 36

THE DISCIPLES SENT TO A PLACE OF OBEDIENCE AND A PLACE FOR PRIESTS

ORIGEN: When the Savior had come “to Bethphage and Bethany near Mount Olivet, he sent two of his disciples” to untie “the foal of a donkey” that had been tied, “on which no man had ever sat.” To me, this seems to apply more to the deeper sense than to the simple narrative. The donkey had been bound. Where was it bound? “Across from Bethphage and Bethany.” “Bethany” means “house of obedience,” and “Bethphage” means “house of jaws.” Bethphage is a priestly place, because jawbones were given to priests, as the law commands. [1] The Savior sends his disciples to the place where “obedience” is and where “the place given over to priests” is, to unbind “the foal of an ass, on which no man had ever sat.” HOMILY ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 37.1. [2]

[1] Deut 18:3.

[2] FC 94:153*.

JESUS COMES TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES

AMBROSE: He came to the Mount of Olivet [1] so that he could plant new olive trees [2] on the heights of virtue, the mother of which is the Jerusalem that is above. [3] The heavenly Gardener is on this mountain so that all those who are planted in the house of the Lord [4] may say, “But I am as a fruitful olive in the house of the Lord.” [5] Perhaps that mountain is Christ himself. Who else could produce such fruits, not in many round berries but in the fullness of spirit in the fruitful Gentiles? We ascend by him, and we ascend to him. [6] He is the Door [7] and the Way [8] that is opened and which opens. Those entering knock on it, [9] and those leaving worship it. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.2. [10]

[1] Lk 19:2, 9.

[2] Ps 127:4 LXX.

[3] Gal 4:26.

[4] Ps 92:13 (91:14 LXX).

[5] Ps 52:8 (51:10 LXX).

[6] See Jn 3:13.

[7] Jn 10:9.

[8] Jn 14:6.

[9] Mt 7:7-8; Lk 11:9-10.

[10] EHG 371**.

WHY JESUS RIDES ON A COLT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What then was the sign? He sat on a colt, as we have just heard the blessed Evangelist clearly telling us. Perhaps someone will say, “When he traveled all Judea—for he taught in their synagogues and added the working of miracles to his words—he did not ask for an animal on which to ride. When Christ could have purchased one, he would not, although he often was wearied by his long journeys on the way. When passing through Samaria, he was wearied with his journey, [1] as it is written. Who can make us believe that when he was going from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, places separated from one another by so short an interval, that he would require a colt? Since the mother accompanied the colt, why did he not take the mother instead of choosing the colt? The donkey that bore the colt was brought to him also. We learn this from the words of Matthew, who says that he sent the disciples to a village opposite them. He said to them,”You will find a donkey tied and a colt with her. Untie and bring them to me.” “They brought,” it says, “the donkey and the colt with her.” [2] We must consider, therefore, what are the explanations and the benefits that we derive from this occurrence and how we make Christ riding on the colt a type of the calling of the Gentiles. The colt of a donkey is mounted on which none has sat, because no one before Christ called the peoples of the nations to the church. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 130. [3]

[1] Jn 4:6.

[2] Mt 21:2.

[3] CGSL 514-15**.

A MANGER AND A DONKEY

EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “Untie the donkey and bring it to me.” [1] He began with a manger and finished with a donkey, in Bethlehem with a manger, in Jerusalem with a donkey. COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 18.1. [2]

[1] Mk 11:2; Mt 21:2.

[2] ECTD 269.

JACOB’S BLESSING ON JUDAH

JUSTIN MARTYR: People from every nation look for him who was crucified in Judea, after whose coming the country of the Jews was immediately given over to you as the loot of war. The words “tying his foal to the vine and washing his robe in the blood of the grape” [1] allegorically signified the things that would happen to Christ and the deeds he would perform. The foal of a donkey stood tied to a vine at the entrance to a village. He ordered his disciples to lead it to him. When this was done, he mounted it and sat on it and entered Jerusalem where was located the greatest Jewish temple, which you later destroyed. FIRST APOLOGY 32. [2]

[1] Gen 49:11.

[2] FC 6:68-69*. Addressed to the Roman emperor.

CHRIST THE MYSTIC RIDER

AMBROSE: The apostles threw down their own garments before Christ. By their preaching of the gospel, they would present the glory of their action. In Holy Scripture, very often garments are virtues, which are to soften the hardness of the Gentiles to some extent by their own virtue, so that with zealous good will they may show the undisturbed obedience of a joyful passage. The Lord of the world was not happy to be carried in a public spectacle on the back of a donkey. With the generalship of piety, he subdued the accustomed disposition of the Gentile people. The mystic Rider therefore could cover the inmost places of our mind with the hidden mystery. He would take his seat in an inward possession of the secret places of the spirits, as if infused with the Godhead, ruling the footprints of the mind and curbing the lusts of the flesh. Those who received such a Rider in their inmost hearts are happy. A heavenly bridle curbed those mouths, or else they would be unloosed in a multitude of words. [1] EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 9.9. [2]

[1] See Prov 10:19.

[2] EHG 373**.