Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.” This took place to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet:
“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.” Matthew 21: 1 – 5
The book of Matthew was written mostly to Greek speaking Jews to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and so there are frequent references to Jesus fulfilling Old Testament prophecy.
In this instance, as we know, Jesus was about to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. A donkey is a sign of humility and peace and on which David’s sons rode (II Samuel 13: 29). Jesus as the Son of David would also ride a donkey in his triumphant entry when the crowd recognised him as king.
This was a wonderful prophetic sign to the people and those who had eyes to see would have recognised its significance. The crowd also played their part in fulfilling prophecy. They spontaneously welcomed Jesus, casting their cloaks and branches on the road and crying out ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord’ from Psalm 118: 25 – 26. It was a royal welcome by the people to the Son of David into the city of David.
What is also very interesting is that in three of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) one of the events preceding the triumphal entry is the healing of a blind man or Bartimaus, or two blind men all of whom called out to Jesus as the ‘Son of David.’ When asked by Jesus what they wanted, they all replied that they wanted to see and Jesus opened their eyes. For those who recognise their need for Jesus, the Messiah, Son of David, he will open their eyes so they can see; not just naturally but supernaturally. They believed and then they saw. The spiritually blind will never recognise Jesus or what he is doing.
Today God is continuing to fulfil prophecy as the end of the age draws nearer and he will open our eyes to see and understand what is happening if we ask him. Again and again Jesus fulfilled prophecy and through miraculous events revealed that he was the Messiah to anyone who had eyes to see or to those who would ask him to open their eyes. We too need to be like the men of Issachar who understood the times (I Chronicles 12: 32) when they came to make David king at Hebron. We also must keep asking God to open our eyes to see what he is doing and understand these times so we too can be ready to welcome Jesus, the King of kings, the Son of David, when he returns.
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