Read: Matthew 21:1-11
Palm Sunday is often what we like to picture when we think of Easter. We give our kids palm branches to wave, we echo the shouts of Hosanna! from centuries past, and we smile at the thought of Jesus riding a donkey through the streets. In Matthew 21, we read how the crowds welcomed him, spreading their coats and branches on the ground before him. Their King had arrived. Redemption, rescue, hope had come.
It’s a pleasant, triumphant image, one that is quickly replaced by the betrayal, pain, and violence of the rest of the week. Written between the lines, hidden amongst the rejoicing and the celebration, we see the undertones of the cross. Jesus was not a typical king who would conquer and subdue, rule and dominate—and his entrance into Jerusalem gave us that hint. In Matthew 21:2, he commands his disciples to go to a nearby village and find a donkey for him to ride. Humble. Gentle. Lowly. Peaceful. The manner of his entrance revealed the heart of the One riding the donkey.
Through this triumphal entry, he fulfilled the prophecy from Zechariah 9:9, “Tell Daughter Zion, ‘See, your King is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
But this wasn’t the first time Jesus had ridden a donkey. Thirty-three years earlier, when he was in his mother’s womb, he was jostled on a journey to Bethlehem on the back of a donkey, where he would be born. Some of the earliest moments of our Savior’s life—those when he was still in the womb itself—were spent on a donkey. And some of the last moments of our Savior’s life—those when he was days away from facing his death—were also spent on a donkey.
Jesus’s life was bookended by humility. A willingness to lower himself down to be closer to the people around him. A decision to not showcase his power but his love. This was the kind of King he was and still is. No wonder the people shouted Hosanna. They wanted to show their adoration while also declaring the cry of their hearts—save us, Jesus.
On Palm Sunday, we remember that the King had indeed come.
And in the days that follow, we see just how wonderful a King he was.