“And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them.” (Matthew 21:3)

In His humanity, the Lord Jesus no doubt had the same physical needs shared by all humans: food, clothing, shelter, etc. Interestingly enough, however, it appears He only expressed one need in a recorded, verbal conversation. He needed a little donkey colt to ride on as He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week before His bitterly cruel death.

For over three years He walked all over Galilee and Judaea—even Samaria. Why would He suddenly need to ride now? Matthew tells us why: “All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass” (Matthew 21:4–5). Amazingly, this event had been prophesied four centuries earlier (Zechariah 9:9), and the time had finally come for Jesus to see that the prophecy was fulfilled. As He entered the city, the people rejoiced and took “branches of palm trees [hence the name Palm Sunday] . . . and cried, Hosanna: blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). However, just a few days later these same crowds turned on Him and cried out, “Crucify him” (Luke 23:21).

We often celebrate Palm Sunday as the final blasts of a bitter winter are beginning to give way to a beautiful and fruitful spring. So this terrible Passion Week, beginning so meekly and proceeding so cruelly, would shortly be overcome by the glorious resurrection of Jesus and everlasting life. HMM