Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday
April 17, 2011

What Does The Donkey Say?
Matthew 21:1-11

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear friends,

I've always been confused about the role of the donkey on Palm Sunday. Did riding on that donkey make Jesus more royal and regal? Or did it make Him ordinary and plain? I think that when these questions are answered, they'll help to inform our view of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and of Holy Week itself.

Growing up I heard that Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem was kind of like a President riding in a limo into Washington, D.C. The basic idea was that a donkey was considered to be a royal animal or at least an animal that carries royalty. But, of course, we usually think of donkeys as lowly animals, lowly beasts of burden used by common people to carry ordinary people and mundane cargo.

Consider some other people in the Bible who have ridden on donkeys. Maybe this will help us to understand the significance of the donkey. Moses' wife and kids rode on a donkey as they traveled with Moses as he went to tell Pharoah to let God's people go (Exodus 4). Balaam, a false prophet, rode a donkey on his way to curse God's people (read Numbers 22 to see how God used the donkey to actually save Balaam's life). Wise Abigail brought herself and many gifts to David on a donkey (1 Samuel 25). King Saul's invalid son Mephibosheth rode a donkey, but he never ruled anything (2 Samuel 16). We read last Sunday how the Shunammite widow rode a donkey on her way to cry and grieve at Elisha's feet over her dead son (2 Kings 4). There were a couple of other folks who rode on donkeys, but explaining who they were would take too long. Suffice to say, none of them were kings.

Another picture of Palm Sunday and Jesus riding a donkey was of a general who has conquered an enemy and was given a ticker-tape parade (or what the Romans used to call, a triumph, essentially a controlled riot) as he rides along in a chariot or on his war horse. I've also heard experts say that in the Middle East the donkey was an animal that symbolized peace, so that contrary to riding a war horse, Jesus was using this symbolism to show that He was a peaceful king.

Bottom line: there are lots of ways to understand what the donkey says or symbolizes. But the only way to understand Jesus' very intentional use of a donkey is to read Zechariah.

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:9-10)

The folks laying down palms and cloaks on Jesus' path knew their Bibles. They knew God's Word because their parents had diligently taught them. So these kids grew knowing the promises about the Savior, the Messiah. Along with the buzz about Lazarus' resurrection, riding a donkey into the Holy City of David silently shouted, “This is the Messiah! This is the Christ! This is the Anointed One!”

Many in the crown, to be sure, were certain that Jesus was finally going to lead a coup d'etat against Pontius Pilate and Herod. A moment like Palm Sunday didn't come along very often, and they thought, Jesus riding a donkey was yet another sign that He was Messiah, the Chosen One. One can almost imagine people laying out palm branches leading toward the Roman palace and Herod's mansion. Perhaps they could even see Jesus' purpose in raising Lazarus from the dead to rally the people to His cause. And it had worked. Jesus had it all in the palm of His hand: the power, the crowd, the momentum. This was it!

Then He allowed the moment to pass.

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,”He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’ ”
The blind and the lame came to Him at the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things He did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked Him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“ ‘From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise’?”
And He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night. (Matthew 21:12-17)

Instead of going to the Roman palace and kicking out Pilate, He went to the Temple and kicked out the money-changers. Then He healed some people, had one more debate with the chief priests, and finally went back to Bethany. Huh? This isn't how you start a revolution.

To understand what the donkey says and what Palm Sunday is all about, just one thing. Move it. Move all of it back one week. Wouldn't this celebration have been so much more appropriate after Jesus rose from the dead?

So why ride a donkey now? For the same reason He rose Lazarus from the dead. To announce His true identity—the Son of God made flesh—and to bring about His true purpose—to suffer and die for our sin.

This Holy Week let us watch and pray and comtemplate our Savior's identity and purpose. The donkey says a lot. He says, “I am carrying your Savior. I am carrying your Salvation.”

Amen.