Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey

 

 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:

"Tell the daughter of Zion,

'Behold, your King is coming to you,

Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, 

A colt, the foal of a donkey.'"

So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.   They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

"Hosanna to the Son of David!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

Hosanna in the highest!"

And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"   So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."

 

- Matthew 21:1-11 

 

On Saturday we read that as Jesus and the disciples went out of Jericho on the road toward Jerusalem, a great multitude followed Him.  And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!"  So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?"  They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.  And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. 

 

  Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Loose them and bring them to Me.  And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord has need of them,' and immediately he will send them."  All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: "Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  Today's reading covers the events of what we commemorate as Palm Sunday; it is known as Christ's Triumphal Entry into the Holy City of Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah who would deliver them from Roman control, and reestablish David's kingdom.  In humility, Jesus shows that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom through His deliberate instructions to the disciples here.  Rather than riding into Jerusalem on a horse or chariot, as earthly kings would do to show their power and glory, Jesus rides on a donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace, as shown in St. Matthew's quotation of Zechariah 9:9.  My study Bible notes also that St. Matthew reports a colt as well as a donkey.  In the writings of Church Fathers, these two animals are seen as representing the faithful Jews and Gentiles who are brought together in the Kingdom.  At Orthodox Vespers of Palm Sunday, it is sung, "Your riding on a foal prefigured how the untamed and uninstructed Gentiles would pass from unbelief to faith."

 

 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.   They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.  And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  These people who spread their clothes before Jesus on the road do so as paying reverence to a King.  My study Bible says that this is spiritually interpreted as our need to lay down our flesh, even our very lives, for Christ. 

 

 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:  "Hosanna to the Son of David!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  Hosanna in the highest!" And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, "Who is this?"   So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee."  The people's cry comes from Psalm 118:25-26, a refrain associated with messianic expectation.  It as recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (which is also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as ranches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!" an appropriate prayer to one known as Deliverer, or Savior. 

 

As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, we are given a few things to think about.  First of all, let us consider how many times Jesus has avoided this particular day.  For until now the Christ's identity as Messiah has been kept secret in some sense (this is referred to as the Messianic Secret).  He has not openly declared it in a public way, as a king would.  But this entrance into the Holy City proclaims that day, and He boldly lives that claim, as we will see in particular in the reading that follows, when His first act is to cleanse the temple.  He is openly living, and therefore, declaring that identity.  His entrance into Jerusalem, as He has also warned the disciples three times, means that His open and final confrontation with the religious authorities will now take place, and it will culminate in the Cross (and thereafter Resurrection on the third day).  But before now, there have been times when His life was threatened through confrontation of one sort or another, but He avoided this outcome, and eluded those who were after Him, such as when He went into Gentile territory (in this reading) after one such confrontation.  This entrance into Jerusalem is deliberately meant for this time, after an estimated three years of public ministry and preparation for it in the teaching of His disciples, now apostles, and all the signs and teaching of His ministry.  In St. John's Gospel Jesus repeatedly speaks of this time as "His hour," such as when He told His mother, "My hour has not yet come," and said to His brothers, "My time has not yet come but your time is always ready."  St. John also writes before Christ's washing of the disciples' feet at the Last Supper, "Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end."  (See John 2:4; 7:6; 13:1.)   While this event of the Triumphal Entry is also understood to us as imaging God's eternal kingdom, and Christ's rule as Lord, prefiguring the fullness of Christ's wedding as Bridegroom to His Bride the Church in the heavenly Jerusalem, so we must also understand on earthly terms how important timing and boundaries are to the living of our spiritual lives in this world.  There is a discreet time and place for all that Jesus does, as He follows the Father in all that He does.  In other words, although the event we read of in today's reading is publicly declaring who He is, and speaks to us of true eternal realities, so we must also realize that Jesus does things in His earthly ministry for a particular purpose, at particular and deliberate times.  It helps us to think about our own need for discernment and prudence in our own spiritual lives, as we seek to follow Christ in the living of our faith as well.  Most of all, it helps us to consider what a prayerful approach to life looks like.  It is not one in which we rush in as fools who rush in "where angels fear to tread," so to speak.  Rather, we look to our spiritual lives, and our growth in such, as those things which unfold in God's sight, as the work of faith, engaging us in our choices at particular times and in particular ways.  Spiritual struggle is not that of bold declarations and hasty choices, but rather prayerful discernment.  Before sending out the disciples in their first apostolic mission, Jesus taught them, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and gentle as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  We also are to remember that we live in this world that is still a battleground.  Just as in Jesus' life He led the way for us in a world beset by the influence of spiritual evil and its outcomes (see Matthew 4:1-11), so we enter into this battleground with Him as our Lord, our King who enters into Jerusalem on this day we read about in today's reading.  His words still stand for us, and we remain as spiritual sheep in midst of wolves.  Let us remember as we are impatient for outcomes or signs that God's timing is not our timing, God's ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8), and we need prayer and discernment to guide us, and all the collective experience of the Church which we are a part of.  Jesus boldly proceeds to the Cross, but does so fully knowing what He is doing, and with all prudence and wisdom, and the power of God.  For this also is a lesson in humility and service to God.  Let us take His yoke and learn from Him (Matthew 11:29-30).