Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you , and just as you enter it, you will find a (donkey ) colt tied there, which no one has ever r1dden. Untie it and bring it here.” (Mark 11:2)

Jesus’ encounters with people of all types high and low, r1ch and poor, are so fascinating that we almost overlook the smaller roll of animals in Jesus’ life on earth. He was born in a stable, probably surrrounded by animals; and the announcement of his birth, heralded by angels was sent to herds of sheep as well as their shepherds. Nevertheless, Jesus’ most celebrated interaction with an animal, is the event of Palm Sunday, his procession into the city of Jerusalem on the long prophesied colt of a donkey: Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly, and riding on a donkey. . . He will proclaim peace to the nations.

(Zechariah 9:-10b)

Both Mark and Luke report that this animal had never been ridden before, and Jesus chose it specifically for his triumphant, noisy, crowded entry on a street of the bustling city of Jerusalem at the time of the Passover celebration. When I thought about this, it seemed to me that Jesus was displaying only to those who knew him well, the same power over the natural world that he displayed when he stilled the storm, and when he walked on water, but only the two disciples knew about the colt. The colt fulfills the ancient prophecy, and that would be sufficient for many people to connect Jesus to the prophesy, but Jesus wanted at least two, and, undoubtedly, all the rest of the disciples, to see even more than a human king in this eventually. He wanted you and I to know him as God’s son, the eternal one who would be able to give eternal life to us.

The donkey’s colt perfectly fits the prophesy, and fits the conveyor of peace to the whole world. With the colt, Jesus is identifying himself as the one that Israel longed for. Palm Sunday is a powerful celebration for Christians. What it meant to Jesus, his disciples, the crowd, or the Pharisees is not entirely known, but what it means to us will grow and expand every year that we know our God better. The event appears in all four Gospels. It was a vital part of Jesus’ ministry. It held many meanings to the people of his time, and even more meaning to us, who take a long look from different perspectives and grow deeper in our relationship with the God/man who rode a donkey’s colt into Jerusalem more than two thousand years ago.

Love in Him,

Prue