"And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straightway he will send them" (Matthew 21:3).

In His humanity, the Lord Jesus no doubt had the same needs that everyone else does-food, clothing, shelter, etc. Interestingly enough, it appears He only expressed one need in a recorded, verbal conversation. That need was the need for a little donkey colt to ride on as He entered Jerusalem for that last week before His bitterly cruel death.

For over three years, He had been walking all over Galilee and Judaea-even Samaria. Why would He suddenly need to ride now? Matthew tells us why. "All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass" (Matthew 21:4-5). This event had been prophesied four centuries earlier (Zechariah 9:9), and the time had finally come for Jesus to see that the prophecy was fulfilled. As He entered the city, the people took "branches of palm trees [hence the name Palm Sunday] . . . and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (John 12:13). However, just a few days later, these same crowds were crying, "Crucify Him" (Luke 23:21).

By a quirk of the calendar, Palm Sunday this year falls also on the date of the vernal equinox, the end of winter and beginning of spring. Perhaps we can suggest an appropriate metaphor to mark this convergence.

That is, as the final blasts of a bitter winter give way to a beautiful and fruitful spring, so this terrible "Passion Week" beginning so meekly and proceeding so cruelly, would shortly be overcome by the glorious resurrection and everlasting life. HMM