The King Comes: Matthew 21:1-11

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village 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."

The approach to Jerusalem. Jesus had been heading here since setting his face toward the city. Now the final week began.

A donkey and her colt. The instructions were precise—Jesus knew exactly where the animals would be. The detail was prophetic.

"If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away."

The Lord needs them. Jesus claimed the right of a king—to requisition what he needed for his entry.

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to Daughter Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

Zechariah 9:9. The prophet had seen this moment five hundred years earlier. The king would come—but not on a war horse. On a donkey. Gentle. Humble. A king unlike any other.

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on.

Cloaks as a saddle. The disciples improvised throne furnishings from their own clothing.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowd joined in. Cloaks on the ground—the treatment for royalty, carpeting the path. Branches cut and waved—palm branches, according to John, symbols of triumph and nationalism.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest heaven!"

Hosanna—save us! The cry was from Psalm 118, part of the Passover liturgy. Son of David—the messianic title. The crowds were declaring Jesus as the long-awaited king.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?"

Stirred—the word suggests an earthquake. The city shook with excitement and confusion. Passover pilgrims from everywhere asked the question: Who is this?

The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."

The prophet from Nazareth. True, but incomplete. He was more than prophet. The week ahead would reveal how much more—and how little Jerusalem understood.

The King had entered his city. The palms waved, the hosannas echoed, the cloaks carpeted his path. In five days, the same city would shout different words.

But for this moment, the prophecy was fulfilled. The gentle king rode in on a donkey, and the people sang.