I.
I’ve noticed in a number of bibles this passage is labeled, “Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.”

Is that a fitting description?

What seems to you to be “triumphal” and what seems to you to be not so “triumphal”?

II.
Matthew 21:1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

III.
Jesus is arriving in Jerusalem at Passover time. The city is overflowing with folks there for the festival. In his usual fashion Matthew brings to bear the words from one of the Hebrew prophets. In this case, Zechariah. “… a king is coming to you … mounted on a donkey …” And a borrowed donkey no less.

Is that how royalty enters the capital city of the kingdom?

I have read that it is not how Pilate, his entourage, and his soldiers enter the city. They arrive with much more pomp and circumstance and “fire power”. Pilate may not be a king entering his capital city, but he is representative of Caesar, the ruler of that world, entering the capital city of a vassal state.

What do you think is fitting or not fitting in how Jesus enters the city?

charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}