July 31, 2023
His Grand Entrance to Finality
“Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.’ These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.” John 12:14-16 (NASB)
When I was young, I used to think my parents were out of touch. I’d tell my mom, “Now it’s different than when you were a child.” Boy was I wrong. Older now, I often reflect on things my parents taught me. They were actually pretty smart. Some things in the world never change. One is people. People have always been the same. Sinners act like sinners. Plain and simple. The ones who welcomed Jesus as their king, would in one short week, call for His death.
“Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” What a strange arrival. Most conquering generals or kings entered on a war horse. Most wore crowns. Jesus arrived on a donkey; draped with borrowed garments. Jesus sent two of His disciples to bring it earlier (Matthew 21:1, Mark 11:1l, and Luke 19:29). "Matthew 21:2 makes it clear that there was a donkey and her colt, but Jesus used the colt. “When Matthew says that Christ sat upon a she-ass and her colt, we ought to view it as a synecdoche. Some imagine that he sat first on the she-ass, and afterwards on her colt; and out of this conjecture they frame an allegory, that he first sat on the Jewish people, who had been long accustomed to bear the yoke of the Law, and afterwards subdued the Gentiles, like an untrained young ass which had never carried a rider. But the plain truth is, Christ rode on an ass which had been brought along with its mother; and to this agree with the words of the Prophet, who, by a repetition very frequent among the Hebrews, expresses the same thing twice by different words. On an ass, he says, and on the colt of an ass which was under the yoke, (ὑποζυγίου) Our Evangelist, who studies brevity, leaves out the former clause, and quotes only the latter.”[1] “Jesus chose His own time and place to make public His claim to be King. He was not a conquering general on a warhorse, but a special kind of king, the prince of peace. He came on the colt of a donkey, and this had been prophesied in Zechariah 9:9.”[2] The donkey was considered a royal beast, but also an animal of peace, a humble animal. The crowd was looking for a king with a sword. This kingship they wished to endow was not fully understood when He arrived. As time went on, their true loyalty would be revealed.
As the disciples saw Jesus leave this earth (several chapters ahead), they reflected, “These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him.” Time is a strange thing. It causes us to reflect. Often in life when God does things, we don’t understand. Sometimes we get frustrated. If you would have told the disciples Jesus would be crucified in a week, they probably would have laughed at you. He would. When you reflect and don’t understand, wait. In time you will see His hand in all of what happened. Sometimes it doesn’t happen until several years, or decades later. But if you take long enough to look back, you will see God’s hands in all we see and do.
[1] Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on the Gospel according to John (Vol. 2, p. 22). Logos Bible Software.
[2] Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (pp. 136–137). Standard.