“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord needs them,” and he will send them at once.’ This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden”’ The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.”

The Triumph of the Good Shepherd

John 10:11,

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

1. The Good Shepherd Enters with Authority

Jesus is God in flesh, and stands as coequal with the Father in the authority that has been given to Him. This can be seen consistently in the profound, life altering lessons He teaches, His clarification and perfect application of God’s law, and in the miracles He performs throughout His ministry. But alongside His authority we also see examples of deep humility, like in Matthew 11:29-30 where Jesus says,

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

And later, in Matthew 20:25-28, as His disciples bicker over their superiority among one another Jesus tells them,

“… You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus as the Good Shepherd has full authority and power, but from this mighty position we see Him exemplify compassion, tenderheartedness and examples of Holy humility from Him. The first thing we see in today’s passage, as Jesus approaches Jerusalem and the hour for Him to be glorified on the cross is just days away, is His position of authority. Throughout His ministry, Jesus has been largely guarded about His identity and role. He has told people at times that He is the Christ, a specific example being the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4. He has identified Himself as the Son of Man at times and certainly pointed to His position through His teaching, all of which worked the Pharisees into a quickly building rage. He affirmed Peter’s confession before the disciples that He is the Son of the Living God, but also charged them to tell no one. But now, approaching Jerusalem where He will lay down His life, He gives instruction to two disciples under very clear authority, with a very specific title.

“Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

“The Lord needs them.” Though Jesus comes humbly and sacrificially, He comes in power. As the Good Shepherd, beloved and sent by the Father, He has the authority to give up His life. Jesus doesn’t go forward to be trapped or tricked, He does not approach His hour of glory as victim, but as victor. He comes to conquer over the world, over sin, over death itself, to call and redeem His people. His free use of “Lord” here helps remind us that in the pain and suffering that lies ahead of Him, He holds the power.

2. The Good Shepherd Fulfills Prophecy

 “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Say to the daughter of Zion, “Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”’”

Zechariah 9:9,

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

We see Jesus fulfill prophecy after prophecy throughout the gospels. There is His childhood flight to Egypt to avoid Herrod the Great’s execution of the male children, and return after Herrod’s death, which fulfilled Hosea 11:1,

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” Also His death on the cross, which fulfilled Zechariah 12:10,

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

Both of these prophetic fulfillment as, while being part of God’s plan, seem to play out over the course of Jesus’s life and sacrificial death. Then we have examples like Jesus’ s first cleaning of the temple in John 2, where His disciples remember Psalm 69:9,

“For zeal for your house has consumed me…”

And realize that Jesus’s actions fulfill this. But during His entry into Jerusalem we see something different. The direction for His disciples is calculated, as opposed to being an element of a larger event or a direct response to something. His instruction to go and bring the donkey and her colt seem to have no purpose other than fulfilling Zechariah 9:9. This message again speaks to the purpose and direction of Jesus’s arrival in Jerusalem for His hour of atonement. Zechariah 9:9 addresses the people of Israel as they struggle with rebuilding the temple in the aftermath of the Babylonian exile, promising the coming king. Here again we see both the awesome strength and humility of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, who comes to save His flock. He comes as King, but humbly, on a donkey. This is not a mount that one would ride into war or conquest, but the animal of transport for one who brings a message of peace. We also see from Luke’s account of the same event in Luke 19:30 that the colt had never been ridden. This helps symbolize the clean slate, that a new kind of peace is being offered through Jesus, an opportunity to draw closer to God through Christ than man has come since before the fall.

“The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.”

Taking a brief pause from the theological significance of this passage, I need to confess a point of confusion, as I imagine I’m not the only one who’s stumbled here. I have always read Matthew’s account of the Triumphal Entry, with a bit of confusion over this part. This is the only place where both the donkey and the colt are mentioned, with the other gospel accounts just addressing the colt that Jesus rides. The wording always threw me, because to me it always sounded kind of like Jesus was somehow riding both the donkey and the colt simultaneously. There are a number of mental images that this provides, including my wife’s suggestion that maybe Jesus could ride side saddle on the donkey, using the colt as a footrest. None of our ideas provided a practical or dignified way for the King to ride to ransom His people, so before we got too deep into theories, I turned to my study Bible. When it says “he sat on them” the “them” is referring to the cloaks… Everyone put their cloaks on the backs of the donkey and her colt and then Jesus sat on the colt, on top of the layered cloaks… I was thirty-two years old when I learned that Matthew was not trying to tell us that Jesus entered Jerusalem while performing some kind of equestrian acrobatics, and in the event that anyone else was confused, I wanted to share my newfound knowledge. And now, back to more important matters.

3. The Good Shepherd Rides to Victory

John 10:14-18,

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus rides forward on a donkey, on a humble steed of peace – but it would be a mistake to overlook the fact that He is mounted. Throughout the extensive travels of His ministry we’ve mainly seen him travel on foot and at times by boat, but this is the only time we see Him riding somewhere, and it’s into Jerusalem, toward the hour of His crucifixion. This again speaks to the authority with which He rides forward, humble, yet clothed in power. As we see from His declaration of being the Good Shepherd in John 10, His plan, His purpose, His mission from God is to lay down His life for His sheep, for the flock of Israel and beyond, so that the world might be offered redemption. This is not the position of one who is outsmarted or deceived by His enemies, and killed as a consequence. Jesus goes, humbly and with all authority, not to be killed as a heretic, but to willingly give up His life as King – the only one with the power to do so. The example given by the Son is one of humility and submission before the Father, showing us how we are to be, but also providing us with a picture of God, mounted and riding forth to redeem His bride. The Good Shepherd shows us sacrifice, but as it’s the sacrifice of God Himself, He is not killed, but freely gives up His life. He is not destroyed, but has the power and authority to take up what He has laid down. He rides forward toward a perfectly orchestrated, sacrificial death, but on the other side of death, there is life for all who come to Him.

*Just a breif disclaimer: The information I had was incorrect and my outline was written for verses 1-7, while my pastor’s sermon (linked below) is on verses 1-11.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yajkr3-zNU