The Donkey King Part 1
Introduction
Growing up in New Jersey as a seven-year-old was an East Coast dream. Swimming at the sunlit Jersey shore. Fishing in northern Jersey lakes. Strolling through New York’s Times Square. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Jersey boy.
No New Jersey summer was complete without the family visit to Atlantic City’s Steel Pier. Of course, I spent the day dogging my parents about when we would attend Steel Pier’s diving horses extravaganza.
Who wouldn’t be thrilled to watch a woman on horseback plummet 40 feet into a water tank?
The Roy Rogers Rodeo was another contender for my attention. At this Western round-up in New York’s Madison Square Garden, I fantasized I would become the first Jewish buckaroo.
Unfortunately, my parents were adamant that horseback lessons should take a rear saddle to my Bar Mitzvah preparations.
Every winter, my Mom and Dad would ferry my brother and me through the Lincoln Tunnel to attend the Barnum and Bailey Circus at MSG. I always looked forward to the clown acts, but loved the daredevil horseback stunts most.
My favorite horseback riding trick is known as Roman riding. A performer stands or balances on the backs of two horses driven abreast, taking hurdles or performing other stunts.
I was always convinced these dazzling skills only belonged in the three rings or a riding arena. Yet I was recently briefed that Jesus may have performed a daredevil balancing act when He paraded into Jerusalem on what some believe was two donkeys.
Messiah’s Unusual Entrance into Jerusalem
I recently encountered this dilemma surrounding Yeshua’s Triumphal Entry while teaching a seminar on the messianic prophecies in the Gospel of Matthew. I was expounding on Yeshua’s entrance into Jerusalem in fulfillment of the messianic passage in Zechariah 9:9, which reads:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey “ (Zechariah 9:9 ESV).
In Matthew 21:5-7, the gospel writer quotes from the Minor Prophet Zechariah to show how Yeshua’s jaunt into the holy city fulfills this prophecy:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ” The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on” (Matthew 21:5-7 NIV11).
In the NIV and the KJV’s translation of Zechariah 9:9, the Messianic King rides into the holy city on two donkeys. In stark contrast, in most English translations of Zechariah 9:9, the Messiah journeys into a rejoicing Jerusalem on one donkey.
Unsurprisingly, a class member raised her hand to inquire about this quizzical discrepancy in the Matthew text. The student wondered, “Why does Matthew record two donkeys, a mother and a young colt? Didn’t Zechariah prophecy that the Messiah would ride on ONE donkey?
The student questioned further, “Matthew also recorded that Jesus sat on THEM. Did Yeshua sit on BOTH the mother donkey and her colt simultaneously?”
The picture this Bible student was portraying turns Yeshua’s entry into Jerusalem into quite a spectacle. Did He ride on the donkeys both at the exact moment or one at a time? I did not have an immediate response.
I knew my understanding of this passage required more research
I also encountered another quandry about the Triumphant Entry. Was Yeshua’s entry into Jerusalem actually “triumphant”?
Pastors often claim Jesus journeyed into Jerusalem to claim Himself as the long-awaited King of Israel. Initially, the Jewish crowds accepted Jesus’ victorious entry four days before Passover. But later in the week, the “same” crowds cried for Yeshua’s crucifixion.
Was Yeshua’s journey into the city of David a victorious military event? Did the crowd misunderstand Yeshua’s message in His memorable entry before His crucifixion?
I decided to do a deep dive into the messianic prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. Then, I would spring over to Matthew 21 to further investigate this possible biblical juggernaut. The results of my private investigation are found in this article.
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