Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 21:5

"Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass." — Matthew 21:5 (ASV)

It is uncertain whether these are the words of Jesus or of Matthew (NIV chooses the latter). The quotation is from Zec 9:9. A donkey was sometimes ridden by rulers in times of peace (1 Kings 1:33). Jews certainly understood Zec 9:9 to refer to the Messiah, often in terms of the Son of David. Therefore for those with eyes to see, Jesus was not only proclaiming his messiahship and his fulfillment of Scripture but showing the kind of peaceloving approach he was now making to the city.

Matthew alone of the four Gospels mentions two animals: a donkey and her colt (vv.2, 7). This reference is his way of highlighting what the other Synoptics affirm—the animal Jesus rode on was “a colt,” thus fulfilling even this detail of Scripture. In the midst, then, of this excited crowd, an unbroken animal remains calm under the hands of the Messiah, who has nature in his control (8:23–27; 14:22–32). Thus the event points to the peace of the consummated kingdom (cf. Isaiah 11:1–10).

Every year on Palm Sunday, Christain pilgrims make the journey from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem carrying palm branches, reenacting Jesus’ Triumphal Entry.