"Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to
you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey" (vs. 9).
Written centuries before the time of Jesus Christ, Zechariah the prophet included in his book this look ahead to the day the Messiah enters Jerusalem. Rather than riding a valiant steed or a majestic stallion, the king comes to His people humbly, upon a small donkey, more typically viewed as a beast of burden than a ride for royalty.
When Jesus came riding a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, to begin the last week of His life on earth, the scene might have been a little comical had it not had such profound messianic overtones from this verse of Zechariah. Even today, it is standard reading for Holy Week invocations. Those who have never heard or read another single word of Zechariah have probably a passing familiarity with this verse.
And why shouldn't they? Zechariah was blessed to be a prophet bringing good news; specifically, looking ahead to the time when the real "good news" (the gospel) would be ushered into the city of Jerusalem shortly before taking its wings to the whole world. For what Zechariah foresaw in a coming kingdom of Jewish influence and power was about to be realized, but not as the Jews expected. This would not be a military conquest or a political kingdom; it would be a spiritual dominion that would fling open the gates of God's grace to Gentiles as well as Jews, slaves as well as free, poor as well as rich, captives as well as captors. Rather than launching with power and control, it begins meekly, humbly, gently.
And it all started with Jesus' donkey ride into Jerusalem, one foreseen by the prophets of old...
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