On the Easter Road 6 PALM/PASSION SUNDAY
Readings: Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Isaiah 50:4-9a; Mark 11:1-11
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, March 24, 2024
One of the central characters in this passage is the colt, the donkey. When you think of a donkey, I don’t know where your mind goes to. I recall being in Seminary in the seaside town of Aberystwyth in Wales. During the summer there were donkeys on the beach, and you could pay for yourself or your kids to take a donkey ride, being escorted up and down the sand. I remember doing that as a kid, on a beach near my home, and it was kind of fun… the nearest some of us ever came to riding a horse. The donkey was a very docile, nonthreatening creature.
While we were living there, one summer a friend from Greece, Tomos, came to visit. He saw the donkeys and asked us, “Why are the donkeys on the beach?” In his culture the donkey was a working creature, not something to entertain the kids. He found it highly amusing to see them being used in such a way!
Then I think about the character “donkey” in the Shrek movies. Voiced by Eddie Murphy, the donkey plays a key role. An incessant talker, sometimes a voice of reason, sometimes the object of ridicule, sometimes the only one making sense. Murphy’s character echoes the donkey as a traditional character in folktales, often serving as the fool who exposes the foolishness of other characters. An example from Shakespeare would be ‘Bottom’ the donkey in ‘A Midsummer Night's Dream.’
And there’s my favorite donkey, the character in Winnie the Pooh known as Eeyore. Eeyore has a poor opinion of most of the other animals in the Forest, describing them as having "No brain at all, some of them", "only grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake." He lives in the southeast corner of the Hundred Acre Wood, in an area labeled "Eeyore's Gloomy Place: Rather Boggy and Sad" on a map in the Winnie-the-Pooh books.
Again, though he often seems a rather sad and grey character, it is often Eeyore who offers the true word of wisdom when all others are losing their way. Which sort of brings us around to the donkey, the colt, in our passage from Mark’s gospel.
We know nothing about this particular colt. As it had never been ridden upon, it was probably a working animal. Maybe its owners had given it a name or maybe they hadn’t. We don’t know the relationship Jesus had with the colt’s owners. We are just told that the disciples are asked to go and untie it. If questioned they are to tell whoever maybe asking, “The Lord needs it and when he’s done with it, he’ll bring it back again.”
When they do go to town, they find the donkey exactly where Jesus said it would be, and they are indeed challenged by some bystanders. Verse 5, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" When they explain what Jesus had told them, they are allowed to take the donkey to Jesus. For the first time the little donkey gets to have a rider. No saddle involved, just some blankets thrown over his back, Jesus gets on and they process into Jerusalem where they are greeted by shouts of "Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”
It must have been a peculiar sight. Rather like a general riding ahead of a military parade in a clown car! You expect Kings to ride a war horse, not a donkey. But then Jesus wasn’t a general, in the way we think of generals, nor a King in the way the world thinks about a King. The army He leads is an army of ordinary people and the nature of His mission is that of being a servant/king.
Maybe on this Palm Sunday there are lessons that we can learn from the donkey. Firstly, before the donkey could be used in Christ’s service, the donkey had to be untied. Next, we observe that the sight of a leader riding a donkey undermined conventional ideas of authority. At the end of the passage, we see how the arrival of Jesus in this manner unnerved the leaders of the day, so much so, that it is not long before they are plotting His death.
UNTIED
The disciples are instructed regarding the colt to “untie it and bring it.” In our lives we become tied to lots of things that hinder our walk of discipleship. It might be a habit, a hurt, a person, a place, an ambition, an attitude, a tragedy, a trauma, bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, a whole host of things! If we wish to grow in our faith, it is worth asking “What are we tied to that’s holding us back? “
Keep in mind, it doesn’t necessarily have to be something negative. It could be something that seems good that we are being asked to leave behind, so we can embark on our next adventure of faith. When Jesus called to the apostles, “Come follow me” they left homes, families, friends, businesses. Their abrupt departure must have seemed a little crazy to everyone who knew them. I suspect that the missions Christ calls us to, will often seem peculiar in the minds of some people.
In Matthew’s telling of this story, Matthew mentions that the disciples bring both a colt and its mother to Jesus. While there was probably a theological reason for him so doing, one commentator also observes that donkeys can be fearful and can’t be forced to do something they see as contrary to their own best interests or safety. They can appear stubborn, but often it is because they are afraid. Having a colt alongside its mother would offer a sense of security to both creatures.
Belonging to a Christian community means that we have others alongside us to encourage us and walk with us. God may lead us to people, places or predicaments that seem fearful or uncomfortable yet God promises to be with us so we can feel safe and secure .It is usually through others that the grace flows to help us though. As I look back on my own discipleship journey, I am grateful for so many wonderful colleagues, guides, and mentors whose advice helped me realize I was not alone. Though we may be called to be untied, we are never asked to walk alone!
A second word springs to mind considering the donkey.
UNDERMINED
The sight of a donkey riding King shattered people’s expectations and caused them to rethink priorities. In 1 Corinthians 1:18 Paul writes “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” In 1 Corinthians 4:10 he writes that “We are fools for the sake of Christ.”
Many years ago I wrote a song that described the Christian’s role as being that of a “Jester Before The Throne.” The song was based partly on an anonymous quote I had read stating "Any Christian is a jester in the court of a king, a dissident in a society of rules, someone who makes mischief and laughter and flirts with danger and in doing so flirts with a higher authority than the one which physically confronts him.”
That image connects in my mind to the donkey in Shrek, or “Bottom” in “Midsummer’s Night Dream” or even the gentle wisdom of Eeyore in the Winnie the Pooh books. The role those characters play is to undermine the pretensions and self-importance of some of the other characters and try and get them to see things from a new perspective.
I feel that is also a task that faces us as Christian people. The wisdom of this world is not the way of the Kingdom. The one who has the most toys does not win the game. Fame and fortune are temporary. To those to whom much is given, much is expected. We live day to day without giving a thought to the eternal dimensions of our lives.
The Jesus who bent down and washed His disciples’ feet calls us to follow His example. His act of riding into town on a donkey undermined and ridiculed those who thought they knew the rules and held the power. The crowds who shouted “Hosanna” realized that something subversive was happening. As they lived in that troublesome corner of the vast Roman empire they rejoiced in this demonstration of an eventual reversal of fortunes.
Jesus action not only undermined the powers that were in place, it also unnerved those who held the keys of power.
UNNERVED
Our reading from Mark closes by saying that “He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple”. In Matthew 21:12-17 we read how that visit developed into a major confrontation. Tables were overturned. Strong words about how the temple had become a den of thieves rather than a place of prayer were spoken. And those with the power started to plot how to get rid of Him.
Palm Sunday is also Passion Sunday, and many traditions will be focusing on the journey Jesus took to the Cross, the layers upon layers of lies and maneuvering that led to His conviction and eventual agonizing crucifixion. The entrance of Jesus riding into Jerusalem had undermined their ideas of authority. As His ministry became increasingly combative, they were so unnerved that their only option came to humiliate and destroy both Him and the movement to which He had given birth.
On Easter Sunday we see how, though their plots and treachery got them what they wanted, the death of Jesus upon the Cross, that was not the end, but a new beginning. Jesus could not be that easily dismissed or destroyed. Love won the day. Light conquered the darkness. Death was swallowed up in resurrection. The Divine foolishness of a donkey riding King continued to influence and change any who took the time to consider His call and follow His way.
On this Palm Sunday, I invite you to consider some lessons from a donkey.
If we are serious about discipleship of Jesus Christ, let us seek to allow ourselves to be untied from other commitments and, free and forgiven, walk the path that He is calling us to follow.
If we wish to make a difference, then let us seek to embrace a lifestyle that undermines the conventional wisdom of the present day. The early disciples outstanding witness was not so much, “Listen to what these people say” as “See how these people love one another.”
Let us be aware, that not everybody will wish to be embraced by the message we have to offer. Shrek thought the donkey talked to much. In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore seemed the only one whom the ever bouncing and foolish Tigger would ever really pay attention to. The traditional donkey of storytelling had a role to play that unnerved the other characters.
Let us pray that our witness, both as individuals and churches, may unnerve those who think they know it all and can do it all and be it all, without reference to God’s Kingdom. May the light of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, be a reality within us that encourages others to follow Christ’s way.
To God be all glory. Amen.
The Reverend Adrian J Pratt B.D.
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