115. Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
12The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.1And when Jesus and the apostles drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his apostles, 2and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied; untie it and bring it. 3If anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.'”
4And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door out in the open street; and they untied it. 5And those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
6And they told them what Jesus had said; and they let them go. 7And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their garments on it; and he sat upon it; 14as it is written, 15“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass's colt!”a
16His apostles did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him.
8And many spread their garments on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9And those who went before and those who followed cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!”
(Jn. 12:12; Mk. 11:1–7; Jn. 12:14–16; Mt. 11:8–10) (continued)
a “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass's colt!”—This phrase is a quotation from Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you. He is just and brings salvation. He is lowly, riding upon an ass, upon a colt, the foal of an ass.” (KJV)
A warrior entered a city on a horse. A king on a mission of peace entered riding upon an ass. Jesus would not enter as the warrior king and ruling Messiah expected by the Jews, but rather as a man of peace, fulfilling the spiritual concept of the Messiah. Here, Jesus once more seeks to demonstrate to his followers that his kingdom is not of this world; it is a purely spiritual affair involving the rule of God in the hearts of his earth children.
Mk. 11:1 when Jesus and the apostles drew / when they drew (RSV) • his apostles, and (Ch. 22, fn. a) / his disciples, and (RSV)
Mk. 11:2 tied; untie / tied on which no one has ever sat; untie (RSV)
Jn. 12:16 His apostles did (Ch. 22 fn.a) / His disciples did (RSV) (172:3/1880–2)
