Three of Jesus’ followers accompanied Him up a mountain to see Him transfigured before their eyes (Matthew 17:1-13). Two of His disciples were given the task of finding a donkey. In both instances, they were serving the Lord.
When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.
If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:
“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Matthew 21:1-5)
I believe the man who provided the donkey was an unnamed follower of Jesus. He and the two men who found the donkey had valuable roles to play in the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Like these three humble servants, Jesus humbly fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9.
Peter, James, and John, along with the three unnamed servants in this account, and above all, Jesus, demonstrated the true nature of humility. Whether they witnessed awe-inspiring events or performed lowly service, they simply did the next right thing that the Holy Spirit led them to do. This is a picture of humility that far exceeds any dictionary definition.
Dallas Willard often speaks about living a “Jesus kind of life.” This passage provides a key picture of what living a life like His looks like.
The Triumphal Entry
The crowd that followed Jesus from Galilee joined in parade fashion to accompany Him to Jerusalem. As the crowd traveled to the city, they fulfilled the prayer of Psalm 118:25-26.
The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them.
A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!” (Matthew 21:6-9)
Hosanna translates to “Save now,” or “Save us, we pray!” Their actions and words proclaimed their belief that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. We can certainly assume they expected Jesus to be a ruling power who would deliver them from oppressive Roman rule.
The city dwellers didn’t know what to make of the Galilean crowd and their raucous procession.
When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matthew 21:10-11)
Reflections
The people who accompanied Jesus to Jerusalem were folks willing to find a donkey, allow their donkey to be used, and lay their own cloaks on the ground to honor Jesus as He rode.
We will shortly witness the religious elites rejecting Jesus and God’s purposes through Him.
On the one hand, we have people who were humble enough to follow Jesus’ directions, even when those directions involved sacrifice or humble service. On the other hand, the arrogant and self-sufficient authorities were unwilling to receive Jesus’ words and actions.
As we read this account, let’s be careful to imitate the servants and Jesus, the Servant of all.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed Matthew 21:1-11 on YouTube today.
Real Voices 