Prophecies of a Triumphant Messiah — The Messiah Rides Humbly Upon a Donkey

Jesus’s dramatic act of riding into Jerusalem upon a donkey was regarded as the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy:

“Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ‘Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt” (John 12:14–15).

This was a reference to an Old Testament prophecy in the book of Zechariah about Zion’s future king:

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!

Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech 9:9).

Various Jewish texts applied this verse directly to the promised Messiah who was expected to ride upon a donkey or ass.[1] According to the Jewish scholar Joseph Klausner:

“The Jews wait for one ‘lowly and riding upon an ass’ who is to come, and the Christians affirm that the Messiah has already come as one ‘lowly and riding upon an ass’” (Messianic Idea, 203–204, original emphasis).

In another Old Testament text, the patriarch Jacob predicted the coming of a significant leader who was associated with a donkey and with the vine that represented God’s chosen people:

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine” (Gen 49:10–11).

It is interesting that around 6–7 AD, King Herod’s son Archelaus was removed as ruler of Judea and replaced with a Roman procurator. The Sanhedrin no longer had the power to adjudicate capital cases, so the scepter of authority was removed from Judah around the time of Jesus’s birth, consistent with Jacob’s prophecy. Various Jewish interpreters have applied Jacob’s prediction in Genesis to the Messiah:

• The Babylonian Talmud recorded the words of Rabbi Johanan: “What is his [the Messiah’s] name? The school of Rabbi Shila said: His name is Shiloh, for it is written, until Shiloh come” (Sanhedrin 98b).[2]

• The highly regarded rabbi known as Rashi noted that the coming of Shiloh in Genesis 49:10 “means until the King Messiah will come, whose will be the kingdom.”[3]

• An Aramaic interpretation (known as Targum Jonathan) rendered the Hebrew text of Genesis 49:10 in this form: “Kings shall not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Jehuda, nor sapherim teaching the law from his seed, till the time that the King the Meshiha, shall come.”[4]

• An ancient Dead Sea scroll contains this messianic reference to Jacob’s prophecy: “The scepter shall not depart from the tribe of Judah . . . until the messiah of righteousness comes, the branch of David” (4Q252, col. 5.1–3).

• A rabbinic text provides this messianic interpretation: “If one sees a choice vine, he may look forward to seeing the Messiah, since it says, Binding his foal unto the vine and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine” (Berakoth 57a).[5]

It was therefore a highly significant event when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem during his last days on earth.

Jewish prophets also expressed the expectation that God would one day manifest Himself on earth (Mic 1:3; Zech 14:5; Job 19:25). Biblical scholar N. T. Wright therefore suggests that Jesus “saw his journey to Jerusalem as the symbol and embodiment of YHWH’s return to Zion,” and his “riding on a donkey over the Mount of Olives, across Kidron, and up to the Temple mount spoke more powerfully than words could have done of a royal claim” (Victory, 639, 490). Jesus also visited the temple during his last visit to Jerusalem, which brings to mind God’s promise of a future figure who would be Lord and messenger of the covenant:

“‘Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Mal 3:1).

The description of Jesus’s final days in Jerusalem therefore identifies him as the victorious king and messenger of the covenant portrayed in the Old Testament.

[1]. The following Jewish texts express the belief that Zechariah 9:9 refers to the future Messiah, who will ride upon a donkey or ass: · Kohelet Rabbah 1.9 https://www.sefaria.org/Kohelet_Rabbah.1.9 · Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a,98b, and 99a https://halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_98.html https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.99a.1?lang=bi · Pesiqta Rabbati 34 http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/784513/20134680/1346769645447/Lecture+3+PR+34+New+Trans.pdf?token=gJ9T9fx%2FaYcDkHfS5HMUpf71sjI%3D · Berakoth 56b https://halakhah.com/berakoth/berakoth_56.html#PARTb [2]. https://halakhah.com/sanhedrin/sanhedrin_98.html#PARTb [3]. https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Genesis.49.10.3?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en [4]. https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.49.10?lang=bi The oral Targums (translations) accompanied readings of the Hebrew Bible in the synagogues, and were written down from the second century AD onwards. It seems significant that Targum Jonathan removed the reference to a donkey in its messianic interpretation of Jacob’s prediction, possibly as a reaction against Christian claims that Jesus was the promised Messiah. [5]. https://halakhah.com/berakoth/berakoth_57.html