“And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”
My Notes
What Does Matthew 21:11 Mean?
The crowd identifies Jesus as "the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee" — an accurate but incomplete identification. He is a prophet. He is from Nazareth. He is Galilean. But the crowd's description stops short of the full truth: he's not just a prophet; he's the Messiah. The description is factually correct and theologically insufficient.
The question in verse 10 — "Who is this?" — prompts the crowd's response. The whole city of Jerusalem is "moved" (seio — shaken, like an earthquake) by Jesus' triumphal entry. The shaking produces a question, and the answer reveals how far the crowd has come and how short they've stopped. They know he's significant; they don't fully grasp how significant.
The identification as a prophet "of Nazareth of Galilee" carries social weight. Nazareth was a minor village; Galilee was considered a backwater. The crowd is essentially saying: the cause of this commotion is a small-town preacher from the provinces. Impressive, but provincial.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How would you describe Jesus to someone who asked 'who is this?' — and is your description complete?
- 2.Where does your understanding of Jesus stop short, like the crowd's identification as 'a prophet'?
- 3.How does Jesus' provincial origin (Nazareth, Galilee) challenge expectations about where significance comes from?
- 4.What's the gap between your current understanding of Jesus and the full reality of who he is?
Devotional
"This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." Accurate. Incomplete. The crowd knows enough to identify him but not enough to worship him.
The whole city is shaking — literally, the word means seismic movement — and the question everyone asks is "who is this?" The answer the crowd gives is the best they've got: he's a prophet. From Nazareth. In Galilee. Three facts that are true but miss the point. It's like describing the sun as "a bright object in the sky." Technically correct. Massively inadequate.
The Nazareth-of-Galilee detail reveals what the crowd sees: a provincial figure, impressive but limited. The social geography works against Jesus. Nazareth is a village nobody respects. Galilee is a region nobody expects much from. The crowd's answer has a ceiling built into it: however impressive this prophet is, he's from the margins. He's not Jerusalem royalty.
But Jesus didn't ride into Jerusalem on a donkey to be called a Galilean prophet. He came to be recognized as the King. The gap between what the crowd said (prophet from Nazareth) and what was actually happening (the King entering his city) is the gap where Palm Sunday lives — close enough to celebrate, far enough from understanding to crucify him by Friday.
How do you identify Jesus? Accurately but incompletely? As a teacher, a good man, a prophet? Or as what Palm Sunday was actually announcing: the King, entering his city, ready to claim the throne?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And the multitude said,.... Or the people, as the Vulgate Latin, and Munster's Hebrew Gospel read; the common people,…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture