The Donkey King 4-13-25
The Donkey King
Ps 118:1-2, 19-29; Luke 19:28-40
Ps 118:1-2, 19-29
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beseech you, O Lord! O Lord, we beseech you, give us success! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Luke 19:28-40
After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”
Prayer – God of grace and hope, we are reminded today of the great schism between your kingship and that of our world. We find ourselves being wooed by the power of politics rather than the power of love. Remind us once again, that the One who came to show us of your love is truly worth following, even if he is a donkey king – amen.
Two processions entered Jerusalem on a spring day in the year 30: One was a peasant procession, the other an imperial procession. From the east, Jesus rode a donkey down from the Mount of Olives, cheered by his followers. Jesus was from the peasant village of Nazareth, his message was about the kingdom of God, and his followers from the peasant class...
On the opposite side of the city, from the west, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Idumea, Judea, and Samaria, entered Jerusalem at the head of a column of imperial cavalry and soldiers. Jesus' procession proclaimed the kingdom of God; Pilate's proclaimed the power of empire. The two processions embody the central conflict of the week that led to Jesus's crucifixion.
Imagine the imperial procession's arrival in the city. A visual panoply of imperial power: cavalry on horses, foot soldiers, leather armor, helmets, weapons, banners, golden eagle mounted on poles, sun glinting on metal and gold. Sounds; the marching of feet, the creaking of leather, the clinking of bridles, the beating of drums. the swirling of dust. The eyes of the silent onlookers, some curious, some awed, some resentful.
It is so that many commentaries do not speak of this 'other procession.' And yet, it makes sense, for we do know that there was a more visible military presence in the city on high holy days such as the Passover with the goal of being a visible reminder to the crowds of who or what was really in charge. It follows that these symbols and tools of 'imperial power' would have had to arrive somehow and perhaps this was exactly how this came to be that there were two processions taking place at the same time. And so Borg and Crossan assert that Jesus' actions were very intentional, that he planned this so as to contrast with what was happening on the other side of the city. More than that, by his actions, Jesus drew on the ancient memory of the people who would recall the prophecy of Zechariah:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth." (Zechariah 9:9-10, NRSV)
It seems this colt, this young donkey, was so much more than a sign and symbol of Jesus' humility. Rather, in keeping with this prophecy, it was a sign and symbol to all those who witnessed Jesus' entrance to Jerusalem that God was not yet done with them. More than that, the prophet speaks the truth that the one riding that donkey had been sent to offer the world another way, another path to victory, an avenue to true peace. And this other way? It surely flew in the face of the chosen values and methods of the powers of this world. It still does.
But there is a question that keeps tapping at the window of my mind and it will not let me duck it by a flight into conventionalism. So, as I open the window my mind whispers, “Why does Jesus accept the appellation as king now when Jesus has spent his public ministry avoiding it?”
Jesus could not accept the association with Kingship and rule until he had opportunity to correct the popular experience and understanding of what that meant. Lord knows, the current exemplars of kingship and rule were far from Jesus’ concept. The two Herods in his lifetime, Quirinius, Procurator Pilate and of course the Caesars of Rome, modelled their leadership from the same Macchiavellian mud. Power, control and brutal consequences for those who dissented.
This was not what Jesus wanted to be associated with and so he avoids being proclaimed king until he had had a time to reorient his disciples understanding of kingship. In three and a half years he has modelled what kings are intended to do for their people: He has healed the broken and restored them to full participation in community. He has forgiven those who missed the mark of required ethical and religious standards and included them in his new community. He has raised the dead so as to offer social security to those women who would be destitute by the deaths of the men. He has raised and healed children to break the bondage of bad theology that blamed bad things on parental conditions and culture. He has been inclusive, unconditionally accepting, and restorative in his words and actions.
This is who kings and rulers are meant to be and now it is time for him to own the archetype and to associate with the kingship that the stoned prophets were trying to bring to the palaces of Palestine. King Jesus has come. Palm Sunday makes the first explicit connection to Jesus’s kingship in the Gospel of Luke, but it’s a truth that’s been woven into the very fabric of his existence. From the prophets of old to the heavenly hosts at his birth, through the details of his entry into Jerusalem, Jesus is a king.
And that’s what makes him so dangerous. As the Pharisees watch the parade made up by people putting down cloaks along the road on which Jesus will ride his donkey, they are afraid of what this will bring. Declaring yourself a king while you’re under Roman occupation is a dangerous threat to the quasi-peace and authority that the pharisaical regime has established with the Empire. Jesus’s welcome as “king” to the important city is a direct threat to the stability of the region.
But it’s not only politically worrisome for the Pharisees. There are the clear religious sentiments fueling this parade. Along with the fact that a king never rode an animal that someone else had already been on, the fact that this colt “had never been ridden” carries another undertone, one of sacred purpose—like the first fruits and animals for sacrifice. There is something being said here about holiness and purity as it is used by God for God’s purposes. Yes, it’s a statement about purpose: this is all happening for a purpose, on purpose, intentional and perhaps even inevitable to follow a king on a donkey rather than the power of the empire.
Then there’s the praise for God that bursts forth from the crowd as they remembered all that they have witnessed in their time following Jesus. It leads them to alter Psalm 118 to specify Jesus as King: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” Consider the words that follow in the psalm: “From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine on us.” These words are weighted with meaning that are not fully appreciated by their proclaimers; they speak of a purpose that has been at work in their midst even as it has been beyond their comprehension.
And yet, they know some things about it because they have seen so much from Jesus. And these aren’t even the twelve chosen disciples! This is a crowd of disciples who have taken to the way of Jesus, and even though they are removed from the inner circle, they have witnessed enough to be spurred to praise.
The second half of their shout returns praise that first came from heaven back to heaven: when Jesus was born, the heavenly host of angels sang to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” Now, they return the proclamation of peace, grateful for having received it from Jesus, recognizing in that instant, that wielding peace, not power, is the true calling of a king.
When it comes to understanding, it’s a flash in the pan. It’ll all go sideways and the praise will turn into condemnation. The truth they’ve just proclaimed in word and deed has not yet taken hold and displaced all of the other fears, ideas, and demands God’s people have for God (or the pressures we put on one another). The Pharisees are not alone in their disposition to question the way God has chosen to act.
Thankfully, they (we humans) are not the only ones who bear witness to the purposes of God in the world, or in this moment. The religious leaders tell Jesus to quiet his disciples, but Jesus says that if his human followers don’t shout the truth, then the rocks will take up the call. This is a moment that needs to be remembered and marked. This is a purpose that needs to be witnessed. God’s purpose will be told by his creation. The world must bear witness to God, must return the grace and glory and peace it receives to the one in heaven who sent it down.
Lent is the season of reflecting on our calling from God and what that means, particularly in our current context. What a wonder that for a moment the large crowd of Jesus followers lived fully into their calling to praise and see Jesus as their true King. They welcomed him as One representing the peace of heaven, joyful about the “deeds of power that they had seen.” The whole of creation keeps this calling much better than we. As we enter this week we call Holy, the question is there for each of us to ponder – do we want to cast our discipleship upon the power found in the empire, or do we want to follow a donkey king? May God bless your choices and mine – thanks be to God – amen.