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1 As they were approaching Jerusalem and coming into Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, he sent ahead two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and you will immediately find a tethered donkey and her foal. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone should say anything to you, say that the Lord has need of them, and they will release them to you.” 4 This happened to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet when he said: 5 Tell daughter Zion: Behold your king comes to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on the foal of a beast of burden.

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and her foal and they laid their cloaks over them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from trees to do the same. 9 Part of the crowd walked ahead of him and part walked behind. They cried out, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

10 As he entered Jerusalem, there was a commotion throughout the whole city. People said, “Who is this?” 11 The people of the crowd told them, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Comments

Jesus enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9.9 (quoted in verse 5), which said that the Messiah would enter Jerusalem in this way. In the ancient world, donkeys were symbols of peace, because unlike horses they could not be practically rode into battle. By enacting this prophecy, Jesus is making a public, symbolic claim to be the Messiah. At the same time, he is publicly rejecting a militaristic understanding of that role: no one will be fighting the Roman Empire from the back of a donkey. Mt has Jesus ride in on a donkey along with her foal, unlike the equivalent passages in other gospels in which there is only one animal (Mk 11.1-11, Lk 19.28-40). Mt may be trying to literally match the parallelism in Zech 9.9, or he may be recording an actual historical detail: foals were often kept with their mothers prior to be broken into service. Jesus’ supporters welcome him by laying down their cloaks and branches from trees (hence the modern Palm Sunday tradition, cf. Ps. 118.27) and by shouting Ps 118.25-26. Hosanna is roughly Hebrew for “save please” or “grant salvation,” and was just as much a shout of praise as a call for help.