Why Did Jesus Ride on a Donkey?

With the donkey and colt secured, Matthew tells us that the disciples laid their cloaks on the animals and Jesus mounted the donkey (Matt. 21:1–5). In no other place in all the Gospels is Jesus ever spoken of as riding a donkey, or any animal for that matter.

Why did this happen? It doesn’t appear that Jesus was injured or unable to walk. There’s no indication that He was sick or wearied or needed the support of an animal. Something more significant was happening.

Jesus made a deliberate choice not to walk but to ride into the Holy City. This choice was intended to make a statement, signaling to all who could see it that the King had come. This is certainly Matthew’s point when he quotes the prophet Zechariah:

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.” (Matt. 21:5)

The long-awaited King, the Messiah, with crowds lining the highway in a long procession anticipating His coronation, rode into the Holy City on a donkey.

Do not all the great men of history have a trusty horse? There was Alexander the Great and his beautiful black stallion, Bucephalus. There was George Washington and his white-coated Arabian, Blueskin. But here Jesus is riding a donkey. It’s almost comical—can you imagine Alexander the Great on a donkey? From the world’s vantage point, it’s ridiculous. But every move Jesus makes is filled with purpose.

He is not like the Alexanders and the Julius Caesars of the world. He is a different kind of ruler. One who comes in humility, not in pursuit of worldly ambition or men’s accolades. Jesus comes to fulfill a divine mission: “Not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

Rounding the eastern slopes, Jesus caught a glimpse of the city in the distance. The streets were filling with pilgrims. Some laid down their cloaks, others cut leafy branches, but everyone shouted, “Hosanna . . . ! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 21:9). This is a quote from Psalm 118:26, and it makes sense that these words would be on their lips. It was Passover, after all, and Psalms 113–118 were the traditional psalms sung by Jewish pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for Passover.

The Greek word *hosanna *has behind it the Hebrew word hoshiah na, which means, “Save us!” Traditionally, it was a cry for help. But as words often do, the connotation shifted over time. Less a cry for help, the exclamation hosanna grew into a hopeful shout of expectation. The people were saying, “Save us!” but what they meant was, “Salvation has come!” The coming of Jesus Christ on a donkey to Jerusalem signaled an answer to prayer: God has brought salvation to His people.

Can you imagine how Jesus might have felt? What encouragement and joy He must have experienced, looking into the hope-filled eyes and hearing the hope-filled cries of His people?

Nothing could be further from the truth.

With the Kidron Valley before Him, Jesus saw the whole city of Jerusalem stretched out in front of Him—a truly magnificent sight. It’s at this very moment that Luke tells us something that the other Gospel writers omit. In Luke 19:41, we read, “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it.”

With palm branches waving and loud hosannas ringing, tears filled Jesus’ eyes. As He wept, He cried:

Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation. (Luke 19:41–44)

Behind the celebration and fanfare, Jesus saw the deep spiritual darkness overshadowing the city. It appeared that they saw the day of visitation, but in reality, they did not. Sure, they saw Jesus, but they did not see Jesus. They saw who they thought He was. They saw who they wanted Him to be.

Jesus did not come to recover the glory days of Israel, to reestablish David’s earthly throne in a political sense. He came, rather, to save the people from sin and death. He did not come to destroy Rome and free Jerusalem from Roman oppression. Ironically, Jesus was coming to save Rome as well.

Jesus was the deliverer they needed. But in the end, He wasn’t the deliverer they wanted.

Within forty years, Jerusalem would be destroyed. Everything that Jesus prophesied came true. In AD 70, Roman legions besieged the city of Jerusalem—leaving not one stone upon another.

All of this now takes us back to Psalm 118—to a different section than we quoted earlier. Before the refrain in verses 25–26, “Hosanna . . . ! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” we read these familiar words:

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. (Ps. 118:19–22)

Paul tells us in Romans that the crucifixion of Jesus is for those who disbelieve “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (Rom. 9:33). This is exactly what we see, is it not? In just a week’s time the shouts of hosanna are replaced with the cry, “Crucify, crucify him!” (Luke 23:20).

Jesus was the Savior they needed, but He wasn’t the Savior they wanted.

Palm Sunday presses us with a question: Do you follow Jesus for Him to build the kingdom you want? Or do you follow Jesus to be built into the kingdom He wants? If we come to Jesus for the kingdom we want to build, then our lives will ultimately be unbuilt—not one stone will be left upon another. But if we come to Jesus to be built into the kingdom that He wants, then we become living stones, made into a spiritual house, built on the Cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is coming again, and when He comes, He will not come on a donkey but on a white horse. He will come as a King leading the armies of heaven, exercising justice, and ushering in the consummation of the ages.

It’s closer now than it’s ever been.