“Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it.” “The Lord needs it and will return it soon.” It has been noted that when Jesus conducted the final approximately three years of His ministry, He owned very little. He had overnight stays with friends. He borrowed a boat from which to preach or to cross the lake. Even the tomb in which His body laid, belonged to a rich man. And now on the Sunday prior to the Friday of His crucifixion, He again borrows. This time, a donkey from someone. It is faith-building, however, when we are informed that some of these times of “borrowing” had long since been in the prophetic plan of God. Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, had the body of Jesus placed in Joseph’s own new tomb. Isaiah, the prophet, hundreds of years prior, recorded, “He was put in a rich man’s grave.” On this Palm Sunday, we see that Jesus needed a donkey upon which to ride into Jerusalem. Actually the use of a donkey was foretold by God more than four hundred years before the event. The prophet Zechariah predicted, “Look, your king is coming to you, riding on a donkey’s colt.”
Not a charging horse, not a clattering chariot, rather, a donkey. The kingdom that Christ establishes is one of persuasion, not military power; humility not vindictiveness. A gentle animal carrying the One who is majesty yet meekness.
The animal was a young donkey that had never been ridden on before. Yet, with garments of admirers placed over the back of the donkey, it would gently carry Jesus from the Mount of Olives, down the Kedron Valley and through the Eastern Gate of the city of Jerusalem. It is significant that Jesus is proclaimed King while riding on a donkey. Not a charging horse, not a clattering chariot, rather, a donkey. The kingdom that Christ establishes is one of persuasion, not military power; humility not vindictiveness. A gentle animal carrying the One who is majesty yet meekness. Let us shout “Hosanna”, meaning “Save us now!” What a King! What a Saviour! May we be persuaded to make Him our own.