What is the meaning of Matthew 21:4? This took place The immediate setting is Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-3). The disciples find the donkey exactly as He said, and the crowd soon hails Him as “Son of David.” • Matthew records the event as real history, not symbolism. • God is orchestrating every detail, just as He did when “when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son” (Galatians 4:4). • Similar moments of divinely arranged circumstance appear in John 19:36-37 where specific actions around the cross “took place” so Scripture “might be fulfilled.” to fulfill Fulfillment is Matthew’s favorite way of tying Jesus’ life to the Old Testament (cf. Matthew 1:22; 2:15; 4:14). • Jesus rides a donkey not for convenience but “to fulfill” prophecy, proving He is the promised Messiah. • He declared, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). • Luke 24:44 shows the same theme: “Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” what was spoken God’s Word is living, fixed, and trustworthy. • Hebrews 1:1 reminds us, “In the past God spoke to our fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways.” • 2 Peter 1:21 clarifies that “men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, what the prophet said centuries before still stands, and Jesus acts on that unbroken promise. through the prophet Matthew cites Zechariah 9:9 (and echoes Isaiah 62:11). The prophecy reads: “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your King comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey’” (Matthew 21:5, quoting Zechariah). • Zechariah foretold a humble King, contrasting Rome’s war-horses. • Jesus’ choice of a colt signals peace and meekness, fulfilling the exact words “through the prophet.” • Other prophets likewise pointed to precise Messianic details—Micah 5:2 pinpointing Bethlehem, Isaiah 53 describing the suffering Servant—showing a consistent prophetic tapestry. summary Matthew 21:4 is Matthew’s inspired footnote telling us why the donkey episode matters. Every detail “took place” under God’s hand “to fulfill” an unbreakable promise “spoken through the prophet.” The verse assures readers that Jesus is the long-promised King, Scripture is precise and reliable, and God completes every word He has spoken. |
    |