Palm Sunday: Your King Rides to You on a Donkey

Dear fellow redeemed and fellow subjects of our gracious and victorious King:

What do you expect from a king? How would you expect a king to act? What would you expect a king to do? What would you expect a king to ride? If Queen Elizabeth or President Clinton came to visit Milwaukee, we would expect a Boeing 747 with the appropriate markings to land at Mitchell Airport. We wouldn't expect them to arrive in a Piper Cub or in coach class on Budget Air. If they were to go from place to place in Milwaukee, we would anticipate them to ride in a bulletproof limousine, not on the city bus.

However, it appears that the King of kings operates differently. We see today how the heavenly King acts. See, Your King Comes to You. He comes gently riding a donkey. And he comes to serve by dying as the sacrifice promised by God.

Our account this morning begins with Jesus asking his disciples to get a donkey and her colt. Now, it might seem like Jesus has a lot of nerve asking his disciples to go to a stranger's house, take that person's personal property, and walk off with it. But what does Jesus say? "If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." Our Lord knew that he was borrowing these animals from a man of faith, one who knew Jesus is God (the Lord) and trusted that if the Lord had need of them, they would be alright or they would be replaced. What faith! How often would we be willing to lend our prized possessions to our Lord? Even, as in our text today, to those representing the Lord? Or even the talents and gifts which God has given us-are we willing to recognize what those are and lend those talents and gifts back to the Lord?

What happened, Matthew tells us, happened to fulfil what the prophet, in this case Zechariah, said: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'" Now, what happened to cause Zechariah to say those words? Prophecy in the Old Testament often had some event that triggered God revealing another piece of information about the Messiah he was to send. So what happened in Zechariah's time that prompted this prophecy?

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