“…[S]ee, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

If you took a random survey and asked what the number one trait of a donkey is, the answer would be stubbornness.  Close behind it would probably be stupidity.  They’re just dumb animals, we might say.  There is no doubt some truth in this, but to summarily dismiss donkeys as such really misses some of the richness of the Scriptures when it comes to Jesus riding on a donkey.  Let’s see what we can find.

First, let’s realize that having donkeys did not mean you were poor, in contrast to the rich owning horses.  This is a common misperception. Horses were good at a number of things, but so were donkeys.   Donkeys are much more sure-footed than horses.  Horses go down faster than donkeys.

Another thing was that Moses warned about what a future Jewish king was not permitted to do: he “must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them” (Deuteronomy 17:16).  Both 1 Kings 9 and 2 Chronicles 8 mention that King Solomon built or rebuilt numerous cities for his “chariots and horses”, or more specifically “charioteers”.  But anybody knows it takes horses, not donkeys, to pull chariots into battle.  Speed was of the essence, and everyone knows donkeys aren’t fast.  There was no prohibition, however, for Hebrew kings from multiplying donkeys, and many did because, as beasts of burden, the more donkeys a king had, the more “stuff” it showed he owned.  A king with a lot of donkeys was rich!  They were one of his many status symbols.

There are only two times in all of Scripture that say Jesus used an alternative form of transportation besides walking.  One is yet to happen: when he returns to earth riding a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16).  The other was riding a donkey on Palm Sunday.  All four gospel writers mention it.  There are numerous contrasts between riding a horse versus a donkey.  The first (as we’ve seen) represents speed, the latter sure footedness.  The horse symbolizes valor; the donkey, as a beast of burden, symbolizes servitude.  A horse means war, a donkey peace.  A charging horse means judgment; a donkey means work.  Jesus on the white horse means a battle is coming with certain death that lasts forever; Jesus on the donkey means salvation is coming with a certain choice of consequences that last forever.

John chapter 12 is where “the disciple whom Jesus loved” — John’s humble self-identification — recorded Palm Sunday.  The crowd shouted, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the King of Israel!” (v. 13).  Then he quotes Zechariah 9:9 as Jesus deliberately sent two disciples to borrow a donkey (Matthew 21:1-5) for the occasion.  Notice what John writes next: “At first, the disciples did not understand all this.  Only after Jesus was glorified did they realized that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him” (v. 16).  Imagine that!  After three years of seeing, hearing, following, doing and being with Jesus, they were clueless.  Fortunately, they got it eventually — after Jesus was glorified.  But when was that?  It began in verse 23: “Jesus replied, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified’”.  The path to the cross began on the back of a donkey.

John’s next three verses (17-19) make an interesting observation.  Because of Lazarus’ resurrection, having been dead for 4 days, many came out to personally meet Jesus.  The typically self-centered Pharisees quipped, “See, this is getting us nowhere.  Look how the whole world has gone after him!”  Well, isn’t that what we (Christians) want: the whole world chasing after Jesus?  In a word, yes. But that wasn’t the situation.  Let’s ask this question: why did the Pharisees make such a comment, other than the obvious fact of what was going on?  They said it because they were jealous, that Jesus had become more popular than them.  And that’s all it was: popularity.  If for no other reason than this example, Christians everywhere should stand up and take a big step back when the whole world chases after things.  These Jews had the real flesh-and-blood Savior right in their midst, and all they saw was a political/social/ economic/welfare Messiah who would give them everything they wanted.  Verse 37 records their stubborn unbelief despite all his miracles.  Jesus saw through their selfish desires, their fawning adulation on Palm Sunday, and kept his focus only on the Father and accomplishing his will.

Are your riding the popularity of Christ’s bandwagon or serving him with your whole heart?