“And (Jesus) saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him” (Mark 11:2).

On that first Palm Sunday, over 1960 years ago, the Lord Jesus fulfilled the ancient prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Always before, so far as all records indicate, Jesus walked wherever He went.

But now He must ride! And so He borrowed, from some unknown friend in the village, an ass’s colt, upon which He could enter the city of the great King.

Although Jesus’ circumstances seemed far too lowly for Him to claim a throne, He did indeed come having salvation for the few who would receive Him. Most of the people, of course, and almost all their leaders, crowned Him only with thorns, and then made a cross His throne.

There was one who recognized him, however. The colt he requested was a colt “whereon never man sat,” and one can be sure that such a colt could not be ridden by any ordinary man without vehement protest and rejection.

Once long ago, the Lord had opened the mouth of an ass and “the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet” (II Peter 2:16). The animals were originally created to be under man’s dominion (Genesis 1:26–28) and it was only the entrance of sin into the world that caused the dread of man to come on them (Genesis 9:2). When the true Son of man and true King of Creation calls, then the creatures of the animal kingdom respond, even though His human creatures, whom He loves most of all, still refuse to submit to His rule. HMM