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, saying,

“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.”

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 21:1-9)

[insight]
How could Jesus be humble? He healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead. Massive crowds hung on his every word. He was God in the flesh, the creator of the universe.

There were many prophesies in the Old Testament about when the Messiah would come, what he would be like. The prophet Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would arrive humbly, upon a donkey. Donkeys were beasts of burden, used for carrying food and supplies. They were not the sort of animal anyone expected to carry a conquering king. When heading off to war, kings sat on mighty steeds or in chariots behind a team of horses. The president of the United States does not peddle a bicycle to across town to address Congress. But that’s just how Jesus rode into Jerusalem, upon the lowliest of animals used for human transportation.

By arriving in Jerusalem in such a manner, Jesus announced to the crowds that though he was the Messiah, he was not going to conquer the world in quite the manner they might have expected. Most of the disciples missed that Jesus was God’s servant, conquering the world by dying for its sins.

This same Jesus has come into your life. Have you accepted what that really means? Or have you allowed your expectations to get in the way of glorious reality?

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