King Jesus on a Donkey

Palm Sunday

March 28, 1999

Matthew 21:1-13; Philippians 2:5-11

The face-to-face showdown was inevitable. Jesus had become unbearable to the religious powers that controlled Jerusalem. They were on a collision course. But no one could predict how that final confrontation would take place.

Some who thought they knew Jesus saw in him a possible leader for a revolt against hated foreign government. Maybe the people would rally and they could take back Jerusalem from the hated Romans.

Others thought they knew Jesus, and told him to stay away from Jerusalem altogether. They were sure his kind spirit and his powerful words were no match for swords and spears. They just wanted to keep things the way they were as long as they could.

But both ways of facing the conflict were mistaken. The battle would be joined. Jesus would meet his challenge head on. But no one could predict how the inevitable conflict would unfold.

It began with a parade.

The joyful, tumultuous procession down the hill called Olivet may have looked as though it just spontaneously happened. But this Triumphal Procession was orchestrated and deliberate. The gospels make it clear that Jesus sent for the donkey he would ride. It wasn't the disciples' idea; it was Jesus'.

A parade may seem at first to be a total contradiction to both the humility of the lowly Man from Galilee and the terrible events of the Friday to follow. And it might even seem silly or ludicrous for the lowly Nazarene to ride a donkey down Olivet's hill, and be hailed as a king. But the funny thing is, no one was laughing!

The enemies of Jesus certainly were not laughing. They said, "The whole world is going after him!" And maybe not the whole world just then, but Matthew tells us that this excitement got the attention of the entire city. The battle was joined. The opposition could not ignore further.

The crowd certainly was not laughing! They were shouting and jubilant! They were caught in the excitement of praise! It was entirely fitting!

Jesus was not laughing, either! He was accepting of the praise that should only be given to God; in fact he told his critics, "If these don't praise me, the stone in the road will cry out praise to their creator!"

King Jesus on a donkey! What a statement of contrasts! Jesus is Emmanuel. He is God and he is fully human. In him combine the majesty and strength as well as the humility and faith of very God and very man.

That parade down the slope of Olivet made a powerful statement about Jesus. It gave a glimpse into his majesty and authority. It refuted the idea that he was a local, temporal revolutionary, for he was sent for the salvation of the whole world. It made it clear that he was not to be a martyr or victim, no matter how it looked that next Friday. Jesus was moving without swerving to do the father's will, conquering sin, and death, and hell.

A Statement of Authority: Lion and Lamb combine in Jesus

Everything about Jesus that day spoke of his majesty and authority. In the way Jesus orchestrated the parade Jesus showed it was not by accident this parade took place. The very act of sitting calmly on an unbroken colt which had never before been ridden is remarkable. Somehow I have the feeling the colt was delighted to have the opportunity to carry its Creator.

As the parade reached the temple area, Jesus exercised authority in a remarkable way. He moved through the holy ground overturning the money changers tables and driving out the people making business out of religion. "My house," he shouted in majestic anger,"is to be a place of prayer for all nations. You have made it a den of robbers!"

A Higher Vision than Freeing Israel from Romans

The parade did not make its way to the houses of government: it stopped at the temple. Jesus knew he was the Paschal Lamb, and that this Passover would be the fulfillment of the Baptist's prophecy: "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!" Jesus told Pilate late that next week: "My kingdom is not of this world or my people would fight!"

The parade that day was to make the statement that Jesus was not a Martyr, but a Champion.

The King was taking the fight to the enemy; he came to bear witness to the Truth; he IS the Truth. He was not running away or hiding from fear. Yes, he would be arrested. Yes, he would be mocked and crucified. But he could forgive even those who crucified him. And hardened soldiers saw something awesome in the One they nailed to the cross.

Here, today, we make a break in the story of Christ's passion that we know so very well. We know in our minds how it unfolds; we have heard it over and over. But it is not a myth. It was all very real: Jesus had to live through that Holy Week.

There was a crisis in the drama on that same mountainside that next Thursday night, in a garden called Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed "Not my will but thine be done." He was arrested, and the final confrontation continued to the Cross, and then to the Open Tomb, and on to the Emmaus Road, and beyond.

Exactly 47 days after this strange and wonderful parade, on this very hillside where the people shouted hosanna and the authorities complained, Jesus, now risen from the dead, led his disciples to the very place where the parade began. There he told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit. And then Jesus ascended into the very Presence of the glory of the Father. There he sat down in unspeakable majesty to begin his Session.

He had not hesitated to humble himself to do the Father's will. He did not once violate the integrity of his love for God and for you and me. And as a result he has opened a pathway between a holy God and sinful me and sinful you. He has made it possible for us to walk that wonderful pathway. And the story continues to this very moment . . .

Hear the challenge of the scripture:

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it something to be held onto to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a slave, and being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

"Therefore God also highly exalted him gave him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 5 - 11)

Prayer

Almighty God our father, We pay homage to Christ in his majestic triumph, With songs and palms we follow his parade into the holy city. Grant that we may dare to follow him in his humility as well, With surrender and trust and obedience to the father's will for our lives, So that with joy we may come to the Heavenly Jerusalem To be with Him who reigns with You and the Holy Spirit To all eternity. Amen

Hymn 215 All Glory Laud and Honor

or 217 Hosanna, Loud Hosanna

or 124 All Hail the Pow'r