ルカによる福音書19:28-38 Luke 19:28-38,

Jesus stayed in the house of Zacchaeus, a tax collector, in the town of Jericho and spoke the word of grace. He proclaimed Zacchaeus’ salvation by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house,” to Zacchaeus, who had repented after believing in Jesus. He then proceeded further from Jericho towards the city of Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, there was a village called Bethphage. Jesus sent two disciples as messengers to this village. The purpose was to bring the colt that Jesus would ride when he entered the city of Jerusalem.

Jesus said, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” Did Jesus foresee the presence of the colt in the other village by some mysterious power? He might have. Or maybe it was just a normal thing that everyone knew about the provision of donkeys for travellers to ride along the road to Jerusalem. Still, “you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it,” is a bit forced, isn’t it? It sounds as if the king had ordered the disciples to go and get the colt. Yes, it is true that Jesus is the king. But he is not like the kings of this world.

In Jesus’ time, worldly kings had strong armies. And as a sign of his strength, the king himself rode a fine horse that could run fast. If anyone opposed him, he would lead his army to war and defeat them. Jesus, however, did not have an army. What Jesus rode on was a small colt. This shows that Jesus is the peacemaking king. The Old Testament prophet Zechariah prophesied that one day the peacemaking king would come to Jerusalem, saying as follows.

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).

 

Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem riding on a colt, in accordance with this prophecy. There were many people in Jerusalem who were looking forward to the appearance of a strong king who would wage war against the Roman Empire that ruled their country and defeat its armies. However, by entering the city of Jerusalem on a colt, Jesus showed that he was not a war-making king, but a true peacemaker. By dying on the cross to atone for people’s sins and resurrecting to give them eternal life, Jesus enabled people to have peace with God and with each other. So we want to be peacemakers by believing in Jesus and living after him.