Luke 19:30

And the prophecy, "He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judaea, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, "binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape," was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you.

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. 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."

(sup. Joan. tom. ii.) Now I think this place is not without reason said to be a small village. For as if it were a village without any further name, in comparison of the whole earth the whole heavenly country is despised.

“Untie the donkey and bring it to me.” He began with a manger and finished with a donkey, in Bethlehem with a manger, in Jerusalem with a donkey.

Because the Lord had said, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, they that saw Him going up to Jerusalem thought that He was going then to commence the kingdom of God. When then the parable was finished in which He reproved the error above mentioned, and showed plainly that He had not yet vanquished that death which was plotting against him, he proceeded forth to His passion, going up to Jerusalem.

Here it was evident that there would be a divine summons. For no one can resist God calling for what is His own. But the disciples when ordered to fetch the colt refused not the office as a slight one, but went to bring him.

They who had tied the ass are struck dumb, because of the greatness of His mighty power, and are unable to resist the words of the Saviour; for "the Lord" is a name of majesty, and as a King was He about to come in the sight of all the people.

So likewise should we set about even the lowest works with the greatest zeal and affection, knowing that whatever is done with God before our eyes is not slight, but meet for the kingdom of heaven.

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.

Mystically, our Lord came to Mount Olivet, that he might plant new olive trees on the heights of virtue. And perhaps the mountain itself is Christ, for who else could bear such fruit of olives abounding in the fulness of the Spirit?

For they were in the village, and the colt was tied with its mother, nor could it be loosed except by the command of the Lord. The apostle's hand looses it. Such was the act, such the life, such the grace. Be such, that thou mayest be able to loose those that are bound. In the ass indeed Matthew represented the mother of error, but in the colt Luke has described the general character of the Gentile people. And rightly, whereon yet never man sat, for none before Christ called the nations of the Gentiles into the Church. But this people was tied and bound by the chains of iniquity, being subject to an unjust master, the servant of error, and could not claim to itself authority whom not nature but crime had made guilty. Since the Lord is spoken of, one master is recognised. O wretched bondage under a doubtful mastery! For he has many masters who has not one. Others bind that they may possess, Christ looses that he may keep, for He knew that gifts are more powerful than chains.

Nor is it for nothing that two disciples are directed thither; Peter to Cornelius, Paul to the rest. And therefore He did not mark out the persons, but determined the number. Still should any one require the persons, he may believe it to be spoken of Philip, whom the Holy Spirit sent to Gaza, when he baptized the eunuch of Queen Candace. (Acts 8:38.)

For it pleased not the Lord of the world to be borne upon the ass's back, save that in a hidden mystery by a more inward sitting, the mystical Ruler might take His seat in the secret depths of men's souls, guiding the footsteps of the mind, bridling the wantonness of the heart. His word is a rein, His word is a goad.

He came to the Mount of Olivet so that he could plant new olive trees on the heights of virtue, the mother of which is the Jerusalem that is above. The heavenly Gardener is on this mountain so that all those who are planted in the house of the Lord may say, “But I am as a fruitful olive in the house of the Lord.” 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. He is the Door and the Way that is opened and which opens. Those entering knock on it, and those leaving worship it.

(Hom. 66. in Matt.) At the beginning of His ministry our Lord showed Himself indifferent to the Jews, but when He had given sufficient token of His power, He transacts every thing with the highest authority. Many are the miracles which then took place. He foretold to them, ye shall find an unbroken colt. He foretels also that no one should hinder them, but as soon as they heard it, should hold their peace.

(de con. Ev. lib. ii. cap. 66.) Nor matters it that Matthew speaks of an ass and its foal, while the others say nothing of the ass; for when both may be conceived, there is no variance even though one relate one thing, and another another, much less where one relates one thing, another both.

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, 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.” 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.

Entering there, you will find a colt tied, on which no man has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. And if anyone asks you why you are untying it, you shall say this to him: Because the Lord has need of it. Entering the world, the preachers found the people of the nations entangled in the bonds of perfidy. For each one was constrained by the cords of their sins, not only of the nations, but also of the Jews. For all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God (Rom. III). Hence it is fittingly noted in Matthew that a donkey is also found tied with the colt. Indeed, the donkey, which was domesticated and had borne the yoke of the law, signifies the synagogue: the unruly and free colt of the donkey represents the people of the nations. On whom no man has ever sat, that is, no rational teacher had ever imposed the restraints of correction, by which either their tongue could be kept from evil or they could be forced onto the narrow path of life; none had contributed the garments of salvation by useful teaching, by which they could be spiritually warmed. A man would have sat upon it if anyone using reason had corrected its foolishness by repression. Hence two disciples are fittingly delegated to present the animals to the Lord, just as in the example of the previous parable, the two orders of preachers, one directed to the nations, the other to the circumcision, can be understood. And it should be noted that the three evangelists who wrote in Greek only mention the colt; but Matthew alone, who wrote his Gospel to the Hebrews and in the Hebrew language, also reports the donkey being untied and brought to the Lord, to show that the salvation of the Hebrew nation should not be despaired of if it repents. Untie, he says, and bring. For whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matt. XVIII).

Proving at the same time that the parable had been pronounced concerning the end of that city which was about both to slay Him, and to perish itself by the scourge of the enemy. It follows, And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage, &c. Bethphage was a small village belonging to the priests on Mount Olivet. Bethany was also a little town or hamlet on the side of the same mountain, about fifteen stades from Jerusalem.

According to the other Evangelists, not the disciples only, but very many also out of the crowds scattered their garments in the way.

Rightly are the towns described as placed on Mount Olivet, that is, on the Lord Himself, who rekindles the unction of spiritual graces with the light of knowledge and piety.

Or the two sent imply this, that the Prophets and Apostles make up the two steps to the bringing in of the Gentiles, and their subjection to Christ. But they bring the colt from a certain village, that it may be known to us that this people was rude and unlearned.

(non occ.) The disciples waited upon Christ not only in bringing the colt of another, but also with their own garments, some of which they placed upon the ass, others they strewed in the way.