Some things you might have missed!

In reading through the passion narratives in the four gospels, it is interesting to note some things that are often overlooked.  If you have spent much time in church, you probably are familiar with the general story: Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, riding on a donkey and is received by a triumphant parade.  He cleanses the temple, prays in the Garden, is arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified.  Yet, as in all narrative, the devil is in the details.  Here are a couple of things you might have missed, yet are fascinating in their own right.

How many donkey's does Jesus ride into Jerusalem on? In Mark and Luke, Jesus instructs his disciples to go and get him a colt that had never been ridden.  They do so, and put him on the colt, and he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem.  Yet, in Matthew's gospel, Jesus instructs them to get two donkeys, or more precisely, a donkey, and a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew 21:7 reads:

they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.

I actually found this picture which depicts Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, AND on a colt.  It makes for a strange picture, Jesus riding into Jerusalem on two animals.  No wonder it is rare to see the image depicted this way.  Now, surely Matthew is doing this to conform to Zechariah 9:9, the end of which reads:

Lo, your king comes to you;
        triumphant and victorious is he,
    humble and riding on a donkey,
        on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

 Now, Matthew is supposed to be the most Jewish of the gospel writers. How then is he ignorant of the Hebrew poetry in Zechariah and how does he miss the obvious parallelism and instead weave a literal two donkeys into his narrative?  Food for thought.

The next strange passage also comes from Matthew.  Read what happens right after Jesus dies in Matthew's gospel (27:51-53):

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split.  The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 

In Matthew, Jesus' death brings about a sort of ancient night of the living dead, apparently without all of the gruesome blood and death.  I couldn't even find a picture depicting this scene in Matthew.  So, what do you think is going on here.  I would love comments.