Today it’s Palm Sunday. We remember the occasion when, just a week before he was crucified, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
In a sense, nothing very remarkable happened. 2,000 years ago – as we all know – there were no cars or buses or lorries. If people were going somewhere they would walk or ride a donkey. Farmers would load their produce on a cart or on a donkey. So it wouldn’t have been at all unusual to see someone coming into Jerusalem by donkey.
But this was different. Jesus had become famous. Lots of people had heard of him. When Jesus got on the donkey to ride into Jerusalem, his followers figured out that this was important. They started shouting out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ [John 12:13]. Others didn’t know who Jesus was. Those who knew told them: ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’ Hmm. Is that what Jesus was?
Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey is recorded in all four gospels. And two gospels, Matthew and John, point out that by riding a donkey into Jerusalem, Jesus fulfilled a prophecy. The prophecy which Jesus fulfilled comes in a book in the Old Testament called Zechariah. Scholars don’t think that Zechariah wrote the whole book that we call Zechariah. As we continue, I’m going to say, for example, ‘Zechariah wrote this.’ But please take that to mean that such-and-such is written in the book of Zechariah. Perhaps it was Zechariah who wrote it and perhaps it wasn’t. Here is Zechariah’s prophecy that Jesus fulfilled:
"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" [Zechariah 9:9].
What I thought we would do today is take a look at why it was so significant that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey – and also why it was so important that Jesus fulfilled Zechariah’s prophecy.
WHY WAS IT SIGNIFICANT THAT JESUS ENTERED JERUSALEM ON A DONKEY?
A donkey is without doubt a symbol of peace. That was clearly Zechariah’s idea too. He wrote that this king was LOWLY and riding on a donkey. Lowly means, not pushing your weight around. The donkey goes with that. Jesus was not entering Jerusalem on a stallion like a conqueror.
The next verse in Zechariah confirms that idea. Zechariah wrote:
"I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
AND HE SHALL SPEAK PEACE TO THE NATIONS" [Zechariah 9:10].
It’s absolutely clear that this king riding on a donkey wants to establish peace. I don’t think I need to say more about it. Let’s turn to the second question.
WHY WAS IT SO IMPORTANT THAT JESUS FULFILLED ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECY?
Zechariah’s prophecy takes this tiny event – Jesus’ riding into Jerusalem on a donkey – and shows that it’s part of a great plan that stretches almost from the beginning of world history to the end of world history. The great purpose of this plan is for Jesus to take his rightful place as king over all creation.
I’m going to do two things. I’m going to try to show how it’s part of a path that stretches back in time. Then I’m going to try to show how it’s part of a path that stretches forward in time. All along the way we’ll see the theme of Jesus as king.
BACK IN TIME
The connection between God’s anointed and a donkey goes back long before Zechariah made his prophecy.
We need to start in Genesis 22. God tests Abraham. He tells Abraham to take his son, his only son, whom he loved—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. When Abraham gets there, he is to sacrifice Isaac as an offering. Isaac’s being sacrificed by his father is a picture of Jesus being given to the world by God, his father. To make the journey to the region of Moriah, Abraham took a donkey. It’s a part of Abraham and Isaac’s story which comes again in Jesus’ story.
But there’s a much clearer connection a little further on in Genesis. Jacob had 12 sons. Before he died, he told each of them something about their futures. He told Reuben that he would no longer excel. He told Simeon and Levi that he would scatter them. Those were not very positive messages. Then he comes to Judah. He tells him, ‘The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.’
It's a remarkable prophecy that someone would come to whom the nations would give their obedience and this person would be from the tribe of Judah. Of course, that was true of Jesus. Then Jacob continues: ‘He’ – that is, this ruler – ‘will tether his DONKEY to a vine, his COLT to the choicest branch’ [Genesis 49:3-11].
Notice that Jacob isn’t just talking about a donkey. He’s talking about A DONKEY AND A COLT! That is exactly what Zechariah prophesied and that is what Jesus’ disciples got for Jesus! Jacob lived about 1,700 or 1,800 years before Jesus! This is a REALLY old prophecy. But what does it mean?
Donkeys thoroughly enjoy a bunch of grapes. So, why would this ruler tether his donkey to a vine? In fact, he doesn’t just tether it to a vine but he tethers it to its choicest branch?! The answer that commentators usually give is that when this ruler comes the land will be so fertile and productive that it really won’t matter if the ruler is short of a few grapes. But it almost looks as though this ruler DELIBERATELY chooses the choicest branch to tether his donkey to! Could it be that this ruler likes his donkey and wants to give it a treat? I certainly don’t know!
What we can see is that by getting on the donkey and the colt Jesus was declaring, ‘I am the ruler in the line of Judah who Jacob prophesied about. I am the king who Zechariah prophesied about.’ Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand that at first, but later they did.
I wonder what they thought about it. I wonder if they felt a sense of wonder as they realised that they had unknowingly fulfilled God’s plan – which went all the way back to Genesis. I wonder if that gave them a sense of assurance that they were in the centre of God’s purposes.
FORWARD IN TIME
I said that Zechariah’s prophecy puts us on a path which takes us both back in time and forward in time.
Once we’ve woken up to the fact that Jesus fulfilled a prophecy in Zechariah we might well wonder what else Zechariah had to say about the king who was to come. And if we did wonder, we’d find the answer is, a lot.
I mentioned that the scholars don’t think that Zechariah wrote all of the Book of Zechariah. They think that someone called Zechariah wrote chapters 1 to 8. Then one or possibly more than one person wrote chapters 9 to 14. That is the part I want to focus on.
When we look at this part of Zechariah we find it contains a series of remarkable prophecies. They happen in sequence. Some have been fulfilled and some have yet to be fulfilled. I’m going to work my way through some of the most significant prophecies.
In chapter 9, we saw the prophecy about a king entering Jerusalem on a donkey [9:9].
I’m not going to comment on Zechariah 10.
In chapter 11, Zechariah prophesies about a shepherd being paid for his work. He is paid thirty pieces of silver [11:12-13]. This was, of course, the price Judas received for betraying Jesus. Matthew sees the thirty pieces of silver as being a fulfilment of prophecy [Matthew 27:9].
In chapter 12, Zechariah prophesies:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, SO THAT, WHEN THEY LOOK ON ME, ON HIM WHOM THEY HAVE PIERCED, they shall mourn for him…” [v.10].
Zechariah had prophesied that Jesus would be pierced. On the cross, Jesus was pierced by a spear. John notes that this is another fulfilment of prophecy [John 19:37].
In chapter 13, Zechariah prophesies:
“Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered” [v.7].
Jesus – the shepherd – was struck, and the sheep – his disciples – were scattered. Jesus quoted this verse in Zechariah before he was crucified to warn his disciples what would happen [Matthew 26:31].
So Zechariah contains a stream of remarkable prophecies concerning Jesus’ death that were fulfilled in exactly the sequence they appear in Zechariah.
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey was he expecting a warm welcome? If he’d read this part of Zechariah he wouldn’t be. He’d be expecting to be betrayed, pierced, and his followers to be scattered.
Zechariah contains a lot of prophecies about the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. But Zechariah also contains many prophecies about what we can call ‘End Times.’
In the last part of chapter 13 there is a time of tribulation. It isn’t clear to me when that happens.
In chapter 14, there is a terrible battle, centred on Jerusalem.
Then Zechariah tells us, ‘Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle’ [v.3]. He will stand on the Mount of Olives. God’s people will flee … and then Zechariah writes, ‘Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him’ [v.5].
He continues, ‘On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem’ [v.8]. That’s theme we find in Revelation. Finally, he tells us, ‘And the Lord will be king over all the earth’ [v.9].
Let me try to draw this together.
It’s Palm Sunday and we’re remembering that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Why is it significant? What have we learned?
First, Jesus entered Jerusalem as king. This was the moment that history had been leading up to. The King of Kings came to his people and presented himself to them as their king. What would they do? Of course, we know the answer: they crucified him. On the cross, Pilate posted a notice. It said, in three languages, ‘King of the Jews.’ HE understood who Jesus was.
When Jesus came to Jerusalem, he was lowly, riding a donkey. He comes to US in the same way, in peace. He knocks on our door. He offers to come into our lives, but he doesn’t force his way in. Like the people of Jerusalem, we can choose how we respond. But we need to be careful. Jesus isn’t a prophet from Galilee. He’s King of Kings. It would be a very good idea to receive him as such.
Second, Zechariah’s prophecy, along with Jacob’s prophecy, gives us a lot of assurance. Jesus’ riding a donkey into Jerusalem was the fulfilment of a plan which God had formed almost from the start of human history.
Third, Zechariah’s prophecy about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey drew us into looking at what else Zechariah has to say. He had a lot to say! His prophecies concerning Jesus’ passion were spot on. So, why would we suppose that his prophecies concerning End Times won’t be? There is tribulation and a battle. But those aren’t the end of the story. The story ends in glory. At the end of his book Zechariah tells us, ‘Then THE LORD MY GOD will come … THE LORD will be king over all the earth’ [Zechariah 14:5,9].
We sometimes think of our Christian faith as being about ME being saved – about being part of God’s kingdom. But that isn’t what’s going on here. This is all about JESUS BEING KING.
We have accepted Jesus as Lord and king. Great! Tick that box! What we long and yearn for now is Jesus to come into HIS rightful place as Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
On Palm Sunday we remember the lowly king, riding on a donkey into Jerusalem. I hope we will reflect on his journey and remember where he’s heading. And I hope we will check on ourselves. Are WE giving him the honour we should, as the rightful king over all creation?
Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, 2nd April 2023, 10.30 a.m. service.
