MATT. xxi. 4, 5.

"All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was fpoken by the Prophet, faying-Tell ye the Daughter of Sion, behold thy King cometh unto thee meek, and fitting upon an Afs, and a Colt, the Foal of an Afs."

ON reading an account in the gofpels of this entry of our bleffed Lord into Jerufalem, which our Church juftly styles triumphal," we muft ftand in pious aftonifhment at the evidence of God's wifdom and goodness in this event; fince fo many remarkable circumftances as are in it, lead us to trace marks of both thefe divine attributes. Indeed in this event, as in all other very confiderable ones, proofs of God's wifdom and goodnefs must be connected. For as infinite wifdem can never fail of means to accomplish its ends, and God's goodness inclines him to promote the ultimate happinefs of mankind, we may reafonably expect to find the cleareft proofs of God's revelation of his will, when he gives mankind a rule of conduct and of life.-In Ihort, the completion of the prophecies of Ifaiah and Zechariah, in the triumphal Entry of Jefus into Jerufalem, affords one of the cleareft and frongest proofs of the divine original of our most holy religion.

In the following Effay it will be attempted to fhew, in the first place, that the prophecies of Ifaiah, and ftill more those of Zechariah, of which the Evangelift St. Matthew gives a fummary in the text, are fo remarkable, that fome extraordinary event must be defigned to be foretold by them :-In the fecond place, that they appear to have been defigned by God to be fulfilled in the perfon of the Meffias:-In the third place, that fuch a fulfilling appears to have been the expect ation of the Jewish people:-In the fourth place, that if Jefus had not really been the Meffias, his attempt to enter Jerufalem in this manner, muft, naturally speaking, have had confequences directly contrary to what followed. The whole will be concluded with a few practical reflections arifing from the remarkable event now before us.

In the first place, to illuftrate the first pofition laid down, let us recal to our recollection certain remarkable expreffions in the prophecies referred to in the text. Ifaiah expreffes himself pretty nearly as the Evangelift in the text, viz.

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"Say ye to the daughter of Sion, &c."* and Zechariah addreffes himself directly to this "Daughter of Sion," by which is meant the city of Jerufalem, or the people of the Jews, from the Mount Sion which was therein; it being ufual in the language and images of the Eaft to reprefent a city or people by a female perfonage; and God feems with great propriety, here and elsewhere, to call the Jewish people Daughter of Zion," because as a Father he had nourifhed and brought up that nation. The fubject may there fore be reasonably fuppofed to be of great importance, when an whole people is thus folemnly addreffed.-Again, Jerufalem is exhorted in the prophecy of Zechariah "to rejoice greatly," and even "to fhout for joy;" fo that we may reasonably conclude it a matter of very great confe quence which could juftify fuch an exhortation. Still further; in both prophets the Jewish people are called on to "behold;" that is, to attend, to examine, to ufe the evidence of their fenfes, as means of the higheft conviction. And to confirm the reasonablenefs of this exhortation, the Jewish people are told by Zechariah, "thy King cometh ;" and that "he is juft," and "hath falvation;" or, as Ifaiah expreffes himfelf, Ixii. 2. "thy falvation cometh," and "his reward is with him:" by which different expreffions the fame perfon appears to be defcribed.

But laftly, the moft remarkable, nay, furprizing circumftance in either of these prophecies is, that this deliverer, this conqueror, this king of Jerusalem, or Sion, is defcribed by Zechariah with characteristics different from, nay, oppofite to thofe of almost any other king, deliverer, or conqueror, viz. that he is lowly, as Zechariah expreffes himself, or meek, as our Evangelift phrafes it in the text. As a proof of this extraordinary characteriflic meekness, or lowlinefs, he cometh not in a triumphal chariot drawn by noble and warlike animals, fuch as elephants, or other ftately beafts of the Eaft, where this folemnity was to be performed, but on the contrary, on the back of an Afs, a meek and lowly animal, ufed for the most common and domestic purposes. And in order to convince thee, O my people, that there is fomewhat extraordinary in all this, the animal on which thy King shall thus ride, is of the weakest, meaneft, and lowest of his fpecies; moft unlikely to be chofen by any perfon intending a triumphal entry into the royal city, even "a colt the foal of an afs,

Vol. XIII. Churchm. Mag. for November 1807.

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so weak that he is not confidered as fit for any domeftic purpose whatever.-'Tis certainly very remarkable, that although neither our Evangelift St. Matthew,* nor St. John,t who relate this fignal tranfaction, cite the prophets exactly in other refpects, yet are both very particular in recording the cir cumftance of the King coming to Jerufalem on an afs, and even on the colt of an afs; a circumftance which we cannot fuppofe would have been thus fingularly attended to, had it not been effential to the fulfilling the prophecy, and had it not diftinguished our bleffed Lord from every other Jewish prophet and king before or after him.-All these circumftances appear more than fufficient to fhew that fome tranfaction very extraordinary, and not an ordinary entry of a king, was here defigned to be impreffed on the imagination of God's peculiar people, and to be foretold to them.

The fecond point we proposed to investigate was, that the Meffias was here intended to be painted in fome remarkable tranfaction of his miniftry; which indeed feems to be a neceffary confequence of the former point. For though it is paft controversy, that this prophecy was to be fulfilled in the perfon of fome Jewish king; confequently either in that of fome of their ordinary human kings in the well-known fuc ceffion, or of the Meffiah, who was the King of the Jews in a nobler fense and manner. Now it will not be pretended that this defcription of a triumphal entry into Jerufalem of a Jewifh king, fuited any king of that nation, before the time of Zechariah, and before his prophecy, or of any ordinary king after the prophecy. It must then be defcriptive of fome tranfaction of the Meffiah, who was indeed to be the King of the Jews, but in a very extraordinary manner; and in whose perfon many prophecies might be, and actually were fulfilled, which could not be true in any fense of any other king of Ifrael.

Thirdly, it appears moft highly probable, that the Jewish people, particularly in the times when our bleffed Lord appeared, expected that this prophecy would be fulfilled in the perfon of the Meffiah. It is a well-known fact, that according to the calculation of the time fixed by the prophet Daniel, for the coming of the Meffias, the fulness of it was then come; and from this very circumftance, added to fome others, the Jewish nation had a stedfast and earnest expectation

ation of his coming. In confequence of this expectation the people paid uncommon attention to the prophets, and ftudied all the circumftances which could reasonably be fuppofed to contribute to point out this great vifitant. This fact is sufficiently evident from the feveral paffages which occur in the Gofpels, and which go upon this fuppofition. It would therefore be very improbable that the Jewish people, ftudious, to gather every thing in the prophets which could contribute to finish the portrait, fhould omit fixing upon, and studying fo remarkable a tranfaction as that which is recorded by the prophet Zechariah in the text, and which could not with any probability be apprehended to relate to any perfon but the Meffiah, or to have been fulfilled, even in a lefs perfect fenfe, by any other perfon befides him. Indeed the circumftance of the king's being ftyled Salvation, or having Salvation, and having his reward with him, fo plainly described the Meffiah, that one would think it impoffible that these prophecies fhould not be ascribed to him, and him alone, who in an emphatical manner brought, and alone brought Salvation to his people, and to all mankind. The characteristic alfo of his being just, deserved not to be flightly paffed over, but pointed out him who by his death established the only righteoufnefs, or juftification, on which finning man can rationally depend, viz. that which divine mercy vouchfafes, in confequence of man's humble dependance on a voluntarily crucified Saviour, and obedience to his commands. And yet from a paffage of St. John, xii. 16. it feems as though the multitudes, by the immediate operation of God's Spirit, were actuated to fulfil the exhortation of the prophet Zechariah; for that Evangelift affures us, "that these things were not understood, even by his difciples, at the first, but when Jefus was glorified then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done thefe things unto him." But whether the multitude paid our bleffed Lord the honours which the Evangelift records, in confequence of a defign to apply the prophecies to him, or in confequence of the over-ruling operation of the Spirit of God, in either cafe they fulfilled by this action a great and glorious prophecy concerning him.

Again; befides thefe general reafons which tend to prove that the Jewish people had an expectation that this prophecy of Zechariah would be fulfilled in the perfon of the Meffiah; we may justly infift on the fact of their adapting it to the perfon of Jefus.-As foon as the people faw our bleffed Saviour fulfil this prophecy, a very great multitude of them applied to him the character of the Meffiah, and thus fhewed that they underflood

understood this prophecy to relate to that expected deliverer. They not only "fpread their garments in the way," and "cut down branches from the trees and ftrewed them in the way;" but "the multitudes which went before and followed after, cried, faying, Hofanna to the Son of David: bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hofanna in the higheft!" Matt. xxi. 8, 9. The Meffiah is here defcribed, through the Son and Heir of David, as he who was to reign in his right. He was called, "He that cometh-" efpecially at that very time when it was generally and juftly understood that either the Meffiah muft now come, or that the prophecies could not be fulfilled: and Jefus was confidered as he who came in the name of the Lord;" not only as every prophet came in the name of God, but as one who came more exprefsly in that name, as fulfilling the prophetic promises of him which God had made; and as being indeed intitled to the name of Lord, as being the very Lord to whom the fupreme God had faid, "Thou fhalt fit at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footftool!" So that it appears paft a doubt, that when this multitude of the Jews faw our Lord perform this prophecy of Zechariah, they acknowledged him in the character of the Meffiah whom they expected to come and fulfil it.

We muft in the next place, confider with what amazing exactness our bleffed Lord fulfilled this prophecy.

We have remarked above how unfit naturally the foal of an afs was to be applied to any domeftic use, both on account of his weakness and tender age: and this was more particularly true when applied to the carrying of a perfon of mature age into a great city. Yet notwithstanding these na tural objections, our bleffed Lord most literally, and with amazing exactnefs, fulfilled this extraordinary prediction, and entered Jerufalem, in a triumphant manner, on an ass, on the colt or foal of an afs. It is not by any means furprizing that fuch an appearance fhould awaken the attention of the multitude to a fact naturally impracticable, and that it fhould convince them, that He was indeed the Meffias-the Son of David-who came in the name of the Lord-and who had a just right to affume his name.

We now proceed to fhew, that if our bleffed Saviour had not been in reality the long expected Meffias, his attempt to make this triumphant entry into Jerufalem would have been attended with confequences quite oppofite to those which enfued upon it.