The King Arrives, Part 1

 Greetings

Today, I will continue my exegesis of Luke 19, looking at the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  This story will need two posts to conver, so today, I will give you Part 1, looking at verses 28-35.  Here is my translation:

28 After saying this, Jesus continued on, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he came near Bethpage and Bethany, by the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a donkey colt tied up that no one has ever sat upon. Untie it and bring it to me. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ Tell them, ‘The Lord needs it.’ 
32 The two he sent left and found things just as Jesus said they would be. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked, “Why are you untying that colt?” 
34 So they responded, “Because the Lord needs it.” 35 So they brought the animal to Jesus and placed their garments on it.  Then they put Jesus on it.

The journey toward Jerusalem that began back in chapter 9 is finally over.  Jesus is about to arrive in Jerusalem. In Luke 13:33, he had said, “I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day - for surely no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem.”  Aloing the way, Jesus has predicted his death more than once. He is on a mission of self-sacrifice and ultimately, death.  Jesus has been saying this, but no one has really understood it.

In his arrival, he shows up in such a way to declare himself to the Messiah. Zechariah 9:9 says, "Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!  See, you king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey."  Jesus is aware this prophecy.  So are the Pharisees, scribes and elders, the group that will confront him, later.  The king will ride in on a donkey colt.  So, to announce his arrival, Jesus needs a donkey.

Jesus gives specific instructions to two of his disciples.  He tells them where to go and exactly what they will find. He even tells them what to say if anyone questions them.  Then, everything happens just as Jesus says it will. The two apostles that are sent into the town are told to respond to anyone who asks about the colt, “The Lord needs it.”  

In Mark’s account, Jesus’ message for the donkey-lender was “The Lord has need of it. He will send it back to you soon.” Jesus is a good borrower. We see that Jesus has a prescience about him that is unexplainable except to say, “Well, he is God in the flesh.”   We have seen that he knows what is in people's hearts.  Now, we see that knew where he could get a donkey colt in the nearby town.  It seems that he knew that the owner of the donkey would allow him to use it, even knowing exactly what to say to assure the owner that his donkey colt was not being stolen. 

Jesus has his donkey colt and could now fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy while also declaring himself king.  In his book, King Jesus, Steve Kinnard makes a really great point.  Jesus did not enter on a stallion or war-horse.  He entered on a symbol of peace. Jesus declares himself king, but in a way that would not have been expected. (Kinnard, 234.) He is a servant riding on a donkey, not the military commander they were seeking to cast out the Romans. The disciples placed their cloaks and King Jesus sat on it and rode into town.  People placed their own clothes out in the road for the donkey to walk on.  They run out into the fields and cut off leafy branches for the donkey to walk on.  It seems that they recognized what was happening,  A king had come to Jerusalem.

Zechariah 14:3-5 indicates that when the Messiah comes, he would come into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.  Verse 3 says, ‘the Lord will go out and fight against the nations.”  Verse 4: “On that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.”  So when Jesus rides into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives on the colt of a donkey, he is fulfilling both of these Zechariah prophecies.  There is no mistaking it.  Jesus is declaring himself to be king.