Your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt (John 12b)

John 12:12-19

Key verse 12:15

Not long after the dinner given in honor of Jesus at Bethany, Jesus entered Jerusalem. All three Synoptic record Jesus’ travel to Jerusalem as one of the main themes. The entry to Jerusalem marked the ending of that trip. So the travel embodies a theme, purpose and goal, which are directly connected Jesus’, life and mission. Today’s passage tell us about that entry that was marked by a great welcome from people as the coming King. Jesus was truly was the coming king of Israel and wanted and expected to be accepted as the king of Israel. But from the entry to Jerusalem, there was a subtle but an important difference between what Jesus planned to do as the king and what the people of Israel expected Him to do. The difference is rooted in the difference between what Israel wanted as her king and what God planned to do through her king Jesus. Though both Israel and God acknowledge that Jesus came to be the king, there was a great chasm between what Jesus planned to and what Israel expected him to do.

It is a chasm because it is almost impossible to mitigate the difference between the two unless Israel is willing to believe the King no matter what happens to the King and honor Jesus as the king that God sent.

Even now people reject Jesus and His father God with the same reason that brought doubt and skepticism on what Jesus, the Son and God the father planned to do as the king of the world. That huddle can be overcome only by faith, that believes in what Jesus did especially raising Lazarus.

1.       Israel found the true King in Jesus (12-13)

Since the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, Israel lost her country and had gone under foreign powers, Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greek and finally Romans. They suffered a great deal without a country of their own. Especially under Greek empire, Israel suffered utter humiliation and even total desecration of the temple by. Even while they were going through so many troubles, God was silent. He did not send a prophet. God literally hid his face from them as he would when she violated the Covenant

Deuteronomy 32:20 "I will hide my face from them," he said, "and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.

Micah 3:4 Then they will cry out to the LORD, but he will not answer them. At that time he will hide his face from them because of the evil they have done.

Having gone through these trials, they were in great need of God’s mercy and help. So when John came and preached the repentance, People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. (Mat 3:5 NIV) When Jesus came and healed many, so large crowd came to him for help. Especially when Jesus went up to a mount to have a private time with his disciples, over 5000 people came to listen to him for they felt the true shepherd. There Jesus fed a large crowd with five loaves of bread and two fishes. It was more than five thousand. If women and children were included, it could be even 10 thousands. At that time, people felt that Jesus was the Prophet like Moses prophesied. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, in the minds of those who followed Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem, it became certain that Jesus was the Lord and King. Along with these followers, many visitors that came for the Passover joined to welcome Jesus as the coming King (John 12:12). They shouted in welcoming Jesus as their King (12:13).

"Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the king of Israel!"

Truly they believed that Jesus was the coming King and out of their hearts, they shouted in joy and jubilance in the victory that they saw in Jesus’ mighty power displayed over all kinds of sicknesses, over demonic forces, over the ungodly arguments of the leaders and lastly over the power of death. Jesus was the victor, the warrior that defeated all ungodly forces of the time.   But Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a colt of a donkey. Though they did not doubt that Jesus was truly the king and Savior that God sent, his riding on a colt of a donkey was somewhat unexpected and even odd to their eyes for he was a mighty Lord. There was a clearly mismatch between what the crowd saw and expected Jesus to be and how Jesus presented to Jerusalem. Then what did Jesus mean by riding a colt of a donkey? To understand what Jesus was doing, it is good for us to know how the donkey was viewed in Israel.

·         Donkey was a very common household animal used for carrying all kinds of loads of house goods. It was the least valued among herds and flocks.

·         God would not accept the first born donkey. If anyone wants to use the firstborn donkey, he must redeem it by sacrificing a lamb on behalf of the first born colt of donkey. If the owner is not willing to redeem the donkey, then he must break its neck to death for all the first born are God’s (Exo 34:20).

·         When Israel rebelled against the Lord, Jeremiah and Hosea saw Israel’s rebellious and reckless life to be like a donkey. (Hosea 8:9 For they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey wandering alone. Ephraim has sold herself to lovers. Jeremiah 2:24 a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving-- in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.)   God also said of Ishmael to be a wild donkey of a man. (Gen 16:12)

Through these passages we come to know that the colt of a donkey symbolize Israel particularly in regard to her rebelliousness to the Lord. This is most clearly depicted in Gen 49:  in rebellion. This is futher confirmed in Gen 49:

Genesis 49:9 You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness--who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. 11 He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.

Judah will be the leader until the one to whom Israel belongs comes. When he comes, the obedience of the nation Israel will be his. He will tether his donkey, his colt to the choicest branch. Through this it is obvious that when Jesus rode on a colt of a donkey, he was leading an unredeemed colt of a donkey to the Lord, Jerusalem and its temple of the Lord, where he would die and shed all his blood while the first born donkey see His master washing his garment in wine and in the blood of grapes.

Did his disciples or his followers know this? Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him (16b). What was the basis of their understanding the genuine picture of this Jesus?

15 "Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."

This a partial quote from Zech 9:9 that reads:

Zechariah 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

There is slight change in quoting this passage. The words, “righteous and victorious, lowly’ are replace with ‘Don’t be afraid’. When the crowd shouted with the song of warriors procession (Ps 118), they were only thinking of the power of the king who was mighty and victorious.  It was and is the desire of all men who are under all kinds of suffering and pain. “If God is good and loving, then He must come and rescue them from all travails of life now without any condition. Why does God not rescue us as we going through so much suffering and pain?”  But, to see and have that victory, Jesus was saying that he must take Israel, the stubborn donkey, and lead her to the cross where they shall find the rich blessing from the Lord. Or Israel must come along with Jesus and must carry Him on their back to the cross, where they will see rich blessings of the Lord, the choicest and bloody wine.

Zechariah called out Daughters of Jerusalem to SEE. They must see not just victorious king but also must see righteous and lowly king. The power that leads to victory is not in mighty power of a warrior but in ‘righteousness and lowliness’ who hands his life over to the wicked to uphold the righteousness of God the Father. They must see themselves in a donkey, a stiff-necked and stubborn animal, unwilling to accept this lowly King, and they must be willing to come along with Jesus to the cross for in this lowly king is the real hope to taste the rich blessing, the choicest vine, and the blood of grapes.  

John, being keenly aware of the victory Jesus earned for the people of Israel who murdered their king, appended another quote, “Don’t be afraid”. Their desire to have a king that display mighty power killed the king of lowly, humble and righteous king, the true King of Israel. Yet they must not be afraid of this one whom they murdered, because he was the lowly and righteous king and because he is the one who wants to lead them to the victory in righteousness by full redemption by his own blood.   

We are born with a desire to be a mighty king, a worrier. When we are defeated and realized that we are or cannot be a warrior, and we are unable to achieve the victory that we want, we looking for a savior who has a mighty power. In such hope, we are attracted to many figures of the power of this world. When we realize that money carries a lot of power over others, we want to have a power to garner a lots of money. We want to have a power in knowledge and power in human smartness. But there is only one king who has the power from the Lord Almighty. He is the king lowly and humble riding on a colt of a donkey. We must look up to him and dare to follow him and even uphold him as he leads us to the cross.