‘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.” ’
Matthew 21:5 NIVUK
A number of years ago, we holidayed with our family on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. While we were in the island’s capital, Puerto Princesa, the island had a visitor who certainly shook things up. We saw his motorcade heading for the place that had been set up for his appearance. It was wild: horns were tooting, people were hanging out of cars and buildings waving, music was blaring. You’d have thought a major rock star was arriving.
Who was it?
Rodrigo Duterte.
Among the most controversial presidents the islands have ever known. Locally, known for vast improvements in healthcare and access to higher education for the poor.
Internationally, known for his war on drugs, and allegations that he and his men were responsible for the deaths of a hundred thousand people.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was no doubt noisy, and likely a little chaotic, and absolutely triumphant.
But it was very different from Duterte’s into Puerto Princesa.
You see, Jesus wasn’t coming into Jerusalem to make a campaign speech. His miracles, His words and His deeds spoke for themselves.
No, He was coming as a king.
So let's look at Jesus’ actions during the Triumphal Entry.
What Jesus asks His disciples to do is thoroughly unusual:
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. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’
Matthew 21:1-3 NIVUK
Donkeys were the mode of transport of the common man. Horses were for kings and noblemen. Camels were for wise men and traders. Donkeys were notoriously bad tempered and wild, and yet were a strong beasts of burden.
Especially a young colt that had never been ridden. Jesus was taking quite a risk of, at the very least, looking very silly, and at most, being injured, if the colt decided it didn’t want to be ridden.
This picture is one of incredible humility, and also the effects it has. Notice that the donkey appears calm, despite all the noise and the colour and clamour around it.
Interestingly, this can also apply to people. Those who are unruly and dangerous were sometimes accused if being senseless, like wild donkeys (see what God tells Hagar about Ishmael in Genesis 16:12, or about Israel in Jeremiah 2:23-24, or what happened to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 5:21). The idea is of a human being behaving like a wild, senseless, feckless beast.
And yet here, the gentleness and humility of Jesus Christ tames it.
Could this not be a picture of what He did in the lives of the disciples, and can also do in ours?
Of course, Jesus deliberately chose this method of transportation for a reason – a reason explained in Zechariah 9:9, which Matthew quotes:
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 NIVUK
Jesus does this to make a statement: that He is the Messiah-King they are longing for. He is their hope. He is the One.
And this wasn’t a statement they were about to miss.
So having seen Jesus’ action, let’s see the crowd’s reaction:
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 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!’
Matthew 21:8-9 NIVUK
There are three parts to their reaction.
They spread their cloaks – their outer garments – onto the road. This was a declaration of support and allegiance.
They cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road as a declaration of joy.
They shouted as a declaration of praise.
And what a significant declaration of praise!
‘Hosanna to the son of David!’ is a Messianic chant, recognising His earthly origins.
‘Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!’ recognises His Divine mission – sent from God on His behalf.
‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ recognises His Divine origin.
They recognise in these three chants that He is the Messiah and that He is Divine.
But there is something else too – an undercurrent that’s easy to miss.
It’s in the word of praise they use: ‘Hosanna’. Of all the words to use, this one is highly significant. It means ‘Save!’. In fact, it’s an entreaty to do so, like someone in trouble yelling ‘Help!’.
So the people are not just recognising Him as a Divine Messiah-King; they are also asking for His help.
But what are they wanting Him to help them with?
The Jews at the time believed that the Messiah would defeat the Romans, free the Jews from oppression and lead them into some kind of heavenly utopia.
But Jesus didn’t.
And for very good reason.
If you read the history books in the Bible (Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles in particular), you will see that there is a pattern. And it goes like this:
· The Israelites sin
· God sends an invader to discipline them
· God sends someone to save them from the invader
· The people repent
· The saviour dies
· The Israelites revert to their sinful ways
· And the cycle repeats again
So what good would it do for Jesus to defeat the Romans, if the Jews would just commit the same sins that caused the Romans to invade in the first place?
Jesus came to deal with sin, not just put a Band-Aid on it and start again.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the people were so fickle, why one day they shouted ‘Hosanna!’, and a few days later shouted ‘Crucify!’, is because Jesus was not the Saviour they wanted, even if He was the Saviour they needed.
The last thing we see here is the leaders’ reaction. And this is less fickle, more vicious. Luke and John pick this up:
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’
Luke 19:39 NIVUK
Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’
John 12:17-19 NIVUK
As far as the Pharisees were concerned, things are way out of control now. They desperately need Jesus to silence His disciples. They cannot have them proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah-King. That will not do.
Because the Messiah was a threat to Roman hegemony, and therefore to the power that kept them in place.
Is it not interesting that the humble Teacher from Nazareth is now a threat to the proud, powerful Pharisees because He has ridden a donkey’s colt through the city gate?
That’s the thing. We have got humility all wrong. Our aggressive, macho society (especially elements of male misogynistic culture) sees humility as a sign of weakness.
It is not.
Humility is power under control.
Jesus had huge power at His disposal, as He told the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:53). But He didn’t use it for His own ends, and that is true humility.
Jesus’ riding the colt into Jerusalem was an act of humility and an act of strength at the same time. It stated who He was, but not in a way that should offend and alarm.
The fact that it did is due to the crowd’s ecstatic reaction, and the Pharisees’ desperation to cling onto their power and position. The fact that this led them to crucify Him showed that Jesus is truly humble: while they were prepared to do anything – including murdering their own Messiah – to keep their place, Jesus sacrificed everything to save people like them (Philippians 2:6-8).
Jesus demonstrated here what true humility looks like. He also showed us what it can do, when He guided that unridden colt through the noisy and chaotic city gate.
So tell me: wouldn’t you rather be humble?
Questions
1. What did Jesus do in this story that was humble?
2. What did Jesus do that was a clear statement of who He was?
3. When you look at the three reactions to His humility (calm obedience, ecstatic but temporary joy and strict disapproval), which is the correct reaction? Which of the characters in the story had this reaction? What does this tell us about what humility can do?
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