Messiah came riding into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, not on an elegant steed. He knew the future. He would sit on a throne in heaven. But He also knew His time had not yet come. Psalm 118 describes a conqueror. It’s a psalm read by the Jews at Passover, part of the Messianic expectation. Salvation would come.
We might wonder whether the people understood the implications of how the humble Messiah King arrived in Jerusalem.
The donkey He rode was prophesied in the book of Zechariah. We find a clue about the significance of the clothes strewn before Jesus in 2 Kings 9:13. When Jehu was declared king, the people took off their outer garments and placed them under Jehu’s feet. The people recognized Jesus as “King.”
But John 12:13 tells us the people also placed palm branches in Jesus’ path. “Palm branches are always associated in the Old Testament with celebrations,” John MacArthur wrote.
