The narrative about the event of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey to fulfill prophecy was controlled by none other than Jesus Christ himself. He was the one who orchestrated all of this. Why did he? And was it to only fulfill prophecy?

While prophecy fulfillment is an important reason, I think there are additional important reasons as well. He was forcing the Jewish leaders to a final decision. Jesus had tried to get the Jewish leaders to understand that his miracles were evidence of him being their Messiah, just as Isaiah prophesied: “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert” (Is 35:5-6).

Isaiah spoke of a future time when sickness would be no more, and people would live a long time. Jesus’ miracles confirmed that he could cure the sick and keep people form dying. The Jewish leaders had to decide if they were going to overcome their pride and accept Jesus for who he claimed to be.

Jesus wasn’t against the Jewish leaders, even though he spoke harshly to them. He just wanted them to be who they claimed to be. After all he told the people, “So you must be careful to do everything they [i.e., teachers of the Law and the Pharisees] tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach” (Mt 23:3).

Jesus now enacted a prophecy all Jews, and especially the Jewish leaders, would be extremely familiar with. The question was, were they now going to accept Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy as the people were currently doing?

As mentioned previously, Jesus likely entered the Sheep Gate with many of the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover with their lambs as he was presenting himself as the paschal lamb they had been waiting for since the time of Moses. This was the 10th of Nisan, the time that lambs for Passover were set aside and evaluated before offered and verified fit for Passover sacrifice (Ex 12:3-7).

The Jewish leaders wanted Jesus to stop the people from praising him for two important reasons, or at least important to these Jewish leaders: (1) This Hallel psalm the crowd was quoting from was about the Messiah, which they did not believe Jesus to be, and (2) This Hallel psalm was the one they quoted when they took the paschal lamb to the temple for sacrifice; so, according to them, this was not the right time for the psalm to be quoted. They, as always, looked at the prophecy without considering how and when it would be fulfilled.

Both of these reasons indicated Jesus was the Messiah and the people’s national paschal lamb. The Jewish leaders asked Jesus to stop the people from quoting from this Hallel psalm, but Jesus replied that if they stopped, the very stones would take up their cry. Jesus being the Messiah was not just for the people but for the Earth as well. Paul tells us in Romans, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Ro 8:22). The Earth itself is also waiting for the reign of the King of kings.

There is another important reason Jesus rode into Jerusalem. He was also fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy. We’ll get into that reason next time. I hope you join me.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

In Genesis, Jacob (whose name was changed to Israel) gave a prophecy to Judah which said, in part, “[Judah] will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk” (Gn 49:8-12).

Judah’s blessing has always been believed to be a Messianic prophecy. It indicates he is of perfection and his blood will somehow be important. Donkeys represent peace and the vine prosperity.

It seems the prophet Zechariah picked up on this theme from Genesis as he spoke of a coming king: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zc 9:9).

The verse before this one speaks of the One to come to be a victorious warrior, but he would have Israel reign in peace. This is reminiscent of King Solomon (1Ki 1:32-40). His father, King David, had been the warrior king and conquered many nations and incorporated them into Israel. Solomon became a king of peace. When he was inaugurated, he was placed on David’s mule and paraded throughout Jerusalem so that all would know he was the succeeding king and that he was about peace and not war.

The mule is different from a donkey. The mule has a mare, a female horse, for a mother and a donkey for a father. Solomon riding on David’s mule indicated he was the current king’s choice for who would be the next king, and the animal he rode being a mule indicated the kingdom was going from a nation at war (the mare) to a nation at peace (the mule).

Jesus told two of his disciples: “Go to the village [Bethphage] ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me” (Mt 21:2). When the disciples were questioned as to what they were doing, they simply stated that the Lord had need of them and those questioning let the disciples take them.

Jesus had the colt and its mother brought to him because some believed the passages in Genesis and Zechariah spoke of two separate animals. This ensured no one could claim the prophecy was not fulfilled. It is also likely that the colt’s mother being present helped the animal to remain calm when amid the throng of people around it.

Scripture states that Jesus rode on the colt of the donkey which had never been ridden. Normally, without being trained, a donkey would never allow a human to ride it. Yet, Jesus had no problem in riding on the donkey colt. Jesus was indicating two things by doing this. One, he was indicating his kingdom. Solomon rode on David’s mule to indicate he was now the reigning king of David’s kingdom. Jesus is riding on a donkey which had never been ridden indicating that his kingdom is not of this world for no one in the world could ride a donkey of this type without issue. Second, he, like Solomon, would be a king of peace, and the donkey indicated how he would bring about that peace.

It is interesting that all donkeys bear a dorsal cross on their backs. This likely explains, at least in part, why Jesus rode on a donkey to indicate how he was going to bring peace. Solomon rode on a mule which does not have this cross. He was going to bring peace based upon his father David’s previous work by bringing other nations under the umbrella of Israel. Jesus was going to bring peace based upon his Father’s work as well. His death would bring those currently under Satan’s kingdom under the umbrella of peace of his spiritual kingdom.

Note that here at Jesus’ first coming, Jesus is riding on a donkey to indicate the peace he offers. Yet, when he returns to this earth, he will be riding on a horse, as Revelation 19:11 states: “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” As noted, the horse is a symbol of war because Jesus will defeat Satan and take the Earth which will null and void any rights Satan currently has to it.

I think this can be a lesson for us today as well. Scripture will always be fulfilled just as biblical prophecy indicates. Yet, it is us humans who use our imagination as to how God will accomplish his prophecy but it is rarely how God fulfills his word. His fulfilment is always more profound and impactful than we can ever imagine. So, we should know our Scripture and know what God is going to do, but we should let God be God and follow his lead when he fulfills Scripture before our eyes. We don’t want to miss it as the Jewish leaders did in this case we just mentioned. Let’s be watchful, vigilant, and be open to God’s leading.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the donkey colt, it would look like a triumphal entry based upon all the pageantry that went on. Yet, this question in the title of this post is somewhat of a tricky question, as it requires one to know from whose perspective one is looking.

From Jesus’ perspective, he accomplished exactly what he wanted to have accomplished. Yet, for the disciples and the people’s point of view, the prophecy of the event was not fully realized in their eyes as they had expected. And, for the Pharisees and Jewish leaders, they considered the event an absolute debacle.

Maybe getting some additional background would be helpful at this point. The current time is early Spring. Back in the winter, Jesus was teaching at the temple in Jerusalem during the Feast of Dedication (which today is called Hannukah). He claimed his divinity, and this angered the Jewish leaders so much that they actually tried to have Jesus stoned right then and there. Jesus escapes and heads to Bethany across the Jordan River with his disciples (this town is also known as Bethabara to distinguish it from the Bethany at the base of the Mount of Olives). This is also the place where John the Baptist taught and baptized, as well as the place where Jesus received the message that his friend Lazarus had died.

Jesus remained in this area for four additional days and then headed back across the Jordan River to Bethany with his disciples and raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:38-44). As a result of this, many flock to Bethany to see Lazarus and hear his testimony. The Jewish leaders now want to kill both Jesus and Lazarus because many were now believing in Jesus because of Lazarus’ account of how Jesus brought him back to life (Jn 12:10).

Jesus and his disciples travel up to Ephraim, north of Jerusalem but still within Judea, to be away from all the commotion (Jn 11:54). They remain here until early Spring when Jesus decides to travel throughout Perea and then recrosses the Jordan River into Jericho where he performs several miracles. From there, he and his disciples once again enter Bethany and the home of Lazarus six days before Passover (Jn 12:1). Yet, there is an almost tangible buzz among all the people of the area wondering if Jesus will come back to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Some want to see Jesus do more miracles, some want to see the sparks fly between Jesus and the Pharisees, and others want to hear Jesus speak to them again as they know his words are truth and so much different from how their Jewish leaders speak. Because of all of this, there were likely more in attendance for this Passover than previous ones.

Next time, we’ll go over the actual events that occurred on the day Christ enters Jerusalem. Please join us.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens