Upon a Colt

Zechariah made this prophecy about the Savior: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).  This verse was quoted by Matthew as he described the Savior’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  When the Savior and His disciples were approaching the city of Jerusalem before the last week of His life, He told two unnamed disciples, “Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.”  Matthew recorded that they did this and “brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon” (Matt. 21:1-7).  So there was a donkey and a colt, or a young donkey.  Matthew was particular about recording that there were two animals, consistent with the prophecy of Zechariah.  Luke and Mark, on the other hand, only mentioned one animal, a colt (Mark 11:2, Luke 19:30).  So were both animals there?  Which did the Savior ride and what is the significance? 

               I listened to a BYU scripture discussion about the triumphal entry, and one scholar said that the original text makes it clear that it was a female donkey with a male colt, and Jesus rode the colt.  So it may be that Luke and Mark didn’t think it needful to mention the (mother) donkey, since it was the young colt that was the most important and which Jesus actually rode.  Matthew of course was focused on proving to the Jews that Christ’s coming was indeed a fulfillment of ancient prophecy, and so it makes sense that he would have been particular to describe the scene exactly as it had been prophesied.  There is apparently a lot of symbolism with the riding of a donkey, and in the ancient Near East it was a sign of kingship.  Riding a horse into the city would have been a signal to the Romans of a declaration of power, but to them a donkey would have meant little.  So while there may have been some sign of humility in Jesus choosing a donkey to ride, the most important symbolism was the fact that the donkey was a sign of a king—Christ was declaring His kingship to the Jews and the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah.  Those who knew the prophecies would have recognized what the Savior was declaring by His entry. 

               My wife highlighted an interesting comment in Luke about this colt that Jesus rode.  We read, “whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither” (Luke 19:30).  So the young donkey had never before been ridden, and here Jesus was going to ride him without any sort of training or preparation.  Donkeys are stubborn animals, and so riding one for the first time would have been no easy task ordinarily.  That in and of itself was a miracle—Christ rode it without problems, showing that the donkey was subdued by the fact that it was carrying the Son of God when it would have been difficult for anyone else to ride it.  The animal, it seems, recognized who it was carrying and responded with uncharacteristic humility.  When some objected to the declaration of the people that “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord” at the triumphal entry, Jesus responded, “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:38-40).  So not only the animals be even nature itself could feel the significance of triumphal entry of Christ during.  All present that day, from the stones to the donkey to the people themselves, recognized that the King of Israel was entering Jerusalem.