Riding on a Donkey

The President rides in a limo. Royalty is often pictured riding majestic horses. Yet, Jesus rode on a donkey. As we reflect on the events of Palm Sunday Pastor Tim Hartwig tells us about the significance behind Jesus' mode of transportation.

Matthew 21:4-5

The president now rides in the Beast. For those of you that don’t know the beast is a presidential limo. It is designed to protect the president. It has its own atmosphere to withstand chemical attack. Its armor plating is eight inch steel. The bulletproof glass is five inches thick. Its doors weigh the same as a jets. It’s estimated that it weighs twenty thousand pounds. It is a beast.

What would you think if you saw the president riding a donkey in a procession? That would seem out of place in our modern era, but realistically, it would seem out of place in most cultures of history. A powerful King riding a donkey? Yet that is exactly what Jesus chose to do. In Matthew chapter 21 it explains

This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Matthew 21:4-5)

Jesus deliberately chose to ride in on a donkey. A donkey was a humble animal, an animal of burden. Jesus wasn’t riding in to some elaborate party and gathering, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to die. The donkey was a picture of the burden that Jesus was carrying. He rode in bearing the sins of the world, yes, that includes yours.

And he rode in to suffer and die for the sins of the world, yes, that in it’s yours. Jesus, your King, rode in to die for you so that you are forgiven. You are now dearly loved by the Father in heaven. Your King loves you so much that he humbly rode in to die. Amen.

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Timothy Hartwig
Timothy Hartwig

Tim Hartwig is currently serving as President of the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary.

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