Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” This prophecy is fulfilled in Matthew 8:17: “In order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, He Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” All healings accomplished on fallen people are due to the Lord’s redemption. He took our infirmities and bore our diseases on His cross and accomplished full healing for us there. However, the application of healing by divine power can only be a foretaste in this age; the full taste will be accomplished in the coming age.
In Isaiah 62:11, Zechariah 9:9, and Psalm 118:26 we have the prophecy concerning Christ as the meek King mounting a donkey’s colt and entering Jerusalem triumphantly, to whom the crowds cried, “Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The fulfillment of this prophecy is in Matthew 21:4-10. This prophecy is actually related to Christ’s death. The Lord purposely went back to Jerusalem not to minister but to present Himself as the Lamb of God to be crucified. Therefore, His mounting a donkey’s colt and entering Jerusalem triumphantly was for His wonderful, all-inclusive death.
Matthew 21:4 and 5 say, “Now this took place that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, meek and mounted on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.” The way the King came into Jerusalem fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. The term “daughter of Zion” refers to the people of Jerusalem (cf. Psa. 137:8; 45:12). This prophecy was being fulfilled to them.
Matthew 21:6-8 continues, “And the disciples went and did as Jesus directed them, and led the donkey and the colt and put their garments on them, and He sat on them. And most of the crowd spread their own garments in the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the road.” Garments signify the human virtues of people’s conduct. The disciples honored the lowly King by putting their garments on the donkey and colt for Him to ride on, and the crowd honored Him by spreading their garments in the road for Him to pass through. The people honored the Lord with their clothing, that is, with whatever they had.
In verse 8 we are told that others cut branches from the trees and spread them in the road. These were branches of the palm tree (John 12:13), signifying the victorious life (Rev. 7:9) and the satisfaction of enjoying the rich produce of this life as typified by the feast of tabernacles (Lev. 23:40; Neh. 8:15). The crowd used both their garments and the palm tree branches to celebrate the coming of the lowly King. A palm tree is rooted deeply in hidden springs and grows prevailingly upward into the air. This signifies the victorious life. In honoring the meek King with whatever they were, the people recognized that He was the One with the victorious life.
According to Matthew 21:9, “The crowds who went before Him and those who followed cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” The Hebrew word hosanna means “save now” (Psa. 118:25). The title “The Son of David” was the royal title of the lowly King. In the warm welcome of the King, the people shouted out a quotation from Psalm 118:26: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” According to Psalm 118, only the One who came in the name of the Lord was qualified to be praised in such a way. Thus, the spontaneous praise of the people sovereignly indicated that this meek King came not in His own name but in the name of Jehovah. Those who welcomed the King indicated through their praise that He was the One sent by the Lord, thus the One who came in the name of the Lord.