Jesus Fulfills Daniel's Prophecy

April 30th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Matthew 21:1-5 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 “If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you, Gentle, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ”

As Jesus approached Jerusalem, he first came to Bethphage and Bethany one mile from the city. And he stopped to fulfill the OT Scriptures. All that Jesus has done up to this point during his earthly ministry had led to this day, the day Daniel 9:25 speaks of when the Messiah will be “cut off.” Jesus approaches Jerusalem and goes to the Mount of Olives, an elevated hill right next to the city. As He looked out over the city He sent two disciples to a nearby village to fetch a colt that had never been ridden by which he could enter the city. Jesus instructed the two as to what they would find and what they should say to anyone who asked what they were doing.

The two disciples did just as Jesus told them, and when they found the colt and untied it, Mark 11:7-11 says that they were indeed questioned as to what they were doing. But after responding the way Jesus told them to the colt was released to them. Possibly the owner was a follower of Jesus who was just honored to help his Lord. Wanting both the donkey and her colt, the two disciples brought both to Jesus. The colt was what Jesus wanted, but it would not have cooperated without the presence of the mother donkey. Jesus, in His omniscience, knew just where these animals would be. For the owner to release these animals, even his colt having never been mounted, was a sign of respect and admiration toward Jesus whom he likely knew.

Now there are significant reasons why these seemingly mundane details about a colt are written. First, they fulfill the Genesis 49:11 prophecy, namely that “He will tender his donkey to the vine”—signifying great wealth, fertility, joy, and peace. Second, they fulfill the 500 year old prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 which says, “Rejoice greatly… your king is coming to you… gentle and mounted on a donkey, even a colt...” If Daniel’s prophecy was not clear enough about the exact day the Messiah would stroll into town, Zechariah’s would solidify it with the King coming in on a colt and not a powerful stallion as might be expected for a king or a warrior. This was the same animal that King David had his son Solomon ride through town on when he became king (1 Kings 1:33). Though it was a lowly beast of burden in Jesus’ day, it signified that a king was coming into his kingdom, and this was Jesus’ way of not only fulfilling the prophecies about His coming but also that He was the king of the Jews. This action by Jesus would leave no doubt as to who He was. It did, however, leave questions as to what His plan was, for since He failed to set up His kingdom at His first coming, it awaits His second coming.

Food for Thought
Jesus turned out to be a huge disappointment to the masses who hailed him as their Messiah. The very same people who praised him were the ones who later crucified him. Jesus simply didn’t fulfill their expectations. They wanted a Messiah who conquered the Romans. Like the Twelve, their view of the Messiah was one of earthly power. But Jesus’ first coming was not in power, it was in humility. This fell short of the crowd’s expectations, so they rejected him. His monarchy challenged their own. But people have always rejected the truth in light of their own ideas of what they think the Messiah ought to be. Let us therefore not only receive Him for who He is, let us also present Him to others as the humble Savior of mankind—God in the flesh.