The next day the large crowd that had come to the
feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying
out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King
of Israel!” And Jesus found a young
donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
John tells us that Jesus, when He had found a young donkey,
sat on it; as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is
coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt” (vv. 14–15). The people welcomed Jesus
as their victorious King. However, kings usually rode into their places of
accession on royal steeds. Not Jesus. Knowing what was coming, He gave explicit
directions to His disciples to go and bring a donkey that had never been ridden
(Luke 19:29–30).
The donkeys people ride in the
Holy Land are nothing like the donkeys we breed in the United States. They’re
much smaller, so that grown men have to bend their knees as they ride so that
their feet don’t hit the ground. The donkey Jesus rode was of this small type,
and it was young, too. So instead of riding the steed of a military victor or
of a king, Jesus entered Jerusalem on this lowly donkey, self-consciously
identifying with the messianic prophecy that we find in the book of Zechariah:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is
just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a
donkey.’ ” (9:9)
This
is not the picture of the Messiah that the people had in mind. They wanted
someone to ride into town on a mighty steed and drive the Romans out. But Jesus
identified with God’s Messiah, the Messiah who was to come in lowliness,
meekness, and humility. Not surprisingly, the same people who cheered Him as He
rode into Jerusalem screamed for His blood a few days later after He failed to
give them what they wanted. This should be a lesson to all of us who come to
Jesus with our agendas, making our demands of Him, only to become disappointed,
angry, and sometimes bitter when He doesn’t do things the way we want Him to do
them.
It is important to note that when
Jesus came into the city, He did not deny that He was the people’s rightful
King. However, by riding a donkey colt, He subtly informed them that He was the
King God had appointed, not the King that they had conjured up in their
expectations.
John then gives us an editorial
comment, telling us that His disciples
did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then
they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done
these things to Him (v. 16). Even the disciples missed the message Jesus
was sending, but later, probably after the resurrection, they recalled the
words of Zechariah and understood what God had intended.
John also notes: Therefore the people, who were with Him
when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore
witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He
had done this sign (vv. 17–18). Apparently the raising of Lazarus had been
much talked about by the people who had been there to see it happen. It was
this widespread discussion of the miracle that sparked the interest of the
people to come out and welcome Jesus to Jerusalem.
Finally, John writes of the reaction of the Pharisees: The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!” (v. 19). The Jewish authorities saw that all their efforts to confront Jesus, to seize Him, and to warn the people to have nothing to do with Him had been useless; Jesus’ following was growing by leaps and bounds. From their perspective, it seemed that the entire world was going after Jesus.
But if there is one thing this
passage makes clear, it is that the people’s interest in Jesus was based
largely on curiosity and false expectations that would be dashed in no time.
Jesus was God’s King, and He had come to Jerusalem to fulfill a mission unlike
what anyone, even those closest to him, could envision. All too soon the people
would reject Him, but as Zechariah said, He would become the chief cornerstone.
Sproul, R. C. John. St. Andrew's
Expositional Commentary. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.
