See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The focus of the Palm Sunday account is on Jesus, not on the crowd nor on their response. Jesus is meek and lowly. The donkey is a symbol of his gentleness and humility. Thus Jesus enters the Year of Grace to give hope to the hopeless, to give courage to those who cannot bear to even think of another day, and to offer forgiveness to those who are consumed by the pervasive malignancy of their daily rebellion against God.
Sin’s debt, that fearful burden,
Let not your souls distress;
Your guilt the Lord will pardon
And cover with His grace.
He comes, He comes procuring
The peace of sin forgiv’n,
For all God’s sons securing
Their heritage in heav’n.
~ELH #94:8