Today on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous we expect to see Rolls Royces. But in the garages of the rich and famous back in the ancient Near East, we would have found donkeys. Consider the following narrative, in which King David speaks to his wife, Bathsheba, about their son:

“I will keep today the oath I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel: ‘Surely Solomon your son will be king after me; he will sit in my place on my throne.’” Bathsheba bowed down to the king with her face to the floor and said, “May my master, King David, live forever!” King David said, “Summon Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada.” They came before the king, and he told them, “Take your master’s servants with you, put my son Solomon on my mule, and lead him down to Gihon. There Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet will anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and declare, ‘Long live King Solomon!’“ (1 Kgs.1:30–34, NET).

A coronation required a mule—the king’s own mule. Beasts of burden, not fine horses, were the transportation of the nobility. Solomon, on his coronation day, rode his father’s mule as he made his grand entry into the capital city. Keep that image in mind as you read this prophecy about the Messiah:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you; he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey—on a young donkey, colt, the foal of a female donkey. I will remove the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be removed. Then he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth (Zech. 9:9–10).

Does this bring an image to mind? Do you know the day this prophecy was initially fulfilled? Today we commemorate it on Palm Sunday—one week before Easter.

Do you see the significance of Jesus’ riding a donkey during His triumphal entry? He entered Jerusalem similarly to how Solomon entered the city on his own coronation day. And the people called Jesus the King of Israel. John records it this way in his Gospel:

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him. They began to shout, “Hosanna! [Save now!] Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Do not be afraid, O people of Zion; look, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt!” (His disciples did not understand these things when they first happened, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered these things were written about him and that these things happened to him) (John 12:12–16, NET).

The people called Jesus the “King of Israel”! Their king had arrived, righteous and bringing salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey’s colt.

In His second advent, our King will arrive on a white horse ready to make war and avenge those who have persecuted His Bride. But in His first advent, Jesus entered the Holy City in like manner as His ancestor and His nations’ leaders before Him—the King of Kings on a donkey, seated on a donkey’s colt, announcing peace. (Excerpted from Java with the Judges.)