Your King Comes Palm Sunday 3.28.2010
Belle Starr was one of the few women outlaws in the Old West, and so she gained widespread notoriety. One day, Judge Isaac Parker was attempting to try a case, but he couldn’t get the courtroom’s attention. Even the members of the jury had wandered from the jury box to stare out the courtroom windows. What was the source of all the excitement? Outlaw Belle Starr was riding by on her horse, and everyone in town wanted to catch a glimpse of her. The judge had to call a five-minute recess to deal with the distraction. (1)
I can imagine a similar distraction on the day Jesus entered Jerusalem. He was no outlaw, of course, even though the law would put him to death. But his time had now come. No use hiding his identity any longer. No use delaying the inevitable. He sends two of his disciples into a village to procure a young colt. He and his followers had probably come by foot all the way from Galilee. But now for the last two miles he wanted to ride a young donkey. Why? There is only one answer: Jesus was deliberately acting out the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9, which states: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of 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.”
When the disciples brought the donkey to Jesus they threw their cloaks on it and then helped Jesus get on. Then, as he rode into the city, the people spread their cloaks on the road and they began to “praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’”
When I read those words, I think of the angels who sang at Jesus’ birth: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
At his birth he came into a world that would reject him. As we enter Holy Week he comes into a city that will reject him. But, at this stage, the people are still singing his praise. In fact, they are so boisterous, they make the Pharisees uneasy.
The Pharisees say to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
To which Jesus replies, “I tell you if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
It’s a wonderful story. No wonder Christians all over this world will be celebrating it today. It is a word of hope in a world of despair. It is a word of hope before entering a week in which we remember Christ’s betrayal and his death at the hands of sinful humanity.
Let’s begin by thinking for a few moments about Christ riding on a donkey. If you and I were to choose a steed to ride in a parade, I dare say a donkey would not be our first choice.
Beth Warpmaeker of Houston, TX says that whenever she hears about Jesus riding on a donkey on Palm Sunday she thinks of a story her mother once told her. She said her mother as a child would often look through the pages of the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Invariably her eye would always stop on a donkey pulling a cute red cart behind it. (Yes, evidently you could buy livestock through the Sears catalog in those days.)
Beth’s mom as a child loved the idea of having a cute little donkey to help her haul things around on the farm especially using that cute little red cart. She begged and begged her father to buy her that cute little donkey in the catalog, and finally he did. When the donkey arrived though, it was not cute or little. It did not have a cart attached to it. It was very dirty, and it smelled just awful. And as hard as she tried, Beth’s mom could not get that donkey to move. No matter what she did, it would just stand there. (2)
Donkeys have a reputation for being like that stubborn, smelly, lowly . . .
There was a bizarre, but true story in the newspapers about a donkey in England that is alcoholic. It seems that patrons of a pub in a certain small town in England have been entertaining themselves watching this donkey swill down pint after pint of ale . . . with no thought of what the consequences might be for the donkey or for the general public. When it gets drunk this donkey becomes mean. It’s already bitten a woman’s finger off.
Donkeys have a poor image. That’s sad because donkeys have played an important role in rural areas of the world throughout history. Go to a biblical concordance or visit a Bible website online and see how many times donkeys are mentioned in the Bible. There is even a website, BibleDonkeys.com. This is no joke.
In spite of their image of being lowly, as well as stubborn, donkeys serve their masters in many ways. In the Middle East donkeys are still used as beasts of burden. One authority says that donkeys are so willing and biddable that they patiently accept crate after crate, stone after stone, shovel after shovel of sand until sometimes they fall to their knees . . . Of all the animals in the world, the donkey is the most hardworking, the most humble, and probably the most abused. “The donkey has a natural caution, which is mistaken for stubbornness,” says this authority, “provoking unknowing owners to beat them.” (3)
And yet Zechariah prophesied the Messiah would arrive “gentle and riding on a donkey.”
Pastor Bass Mitchell tells about an adult Sunday school class that was studying the story of the Palm Sunday. After reading the story aloud, the teacher asked, “What really stood out to you?” The first person to respond was a shy young woman who hardly ever said anything. “What spoke to me,” she said with a strange smile, “is that Jesus needed that little donkey. I know you guys aren’t aware of it, but I have not always felt all that good about myself . . . kind‑of like I don’t have much to offer . . . kind‑of donkey‑like . . . what could I possibly offer this King? . . . but when I heard just now that he had need of a little donkey, then the thought came to mind that he just might have need of me, too . . . if a small beast of burden could be of use to him, could help bear him, then surely I can too . . . .” (4)
Corrie ten Boom was once asked if it was difficult to remain humble when she became the target of so many accolades for her Christian writing. She replied, “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches, throwing garments on the road, and singing praises, do you think for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him?” It captures our imagination that Jesus rode a colt, the foal of a donkey on Palm Sunday. It was a sign of his humility and his commitment to peace.
Notice also the reception of the crowd. Everyone loves a parade. It is clear that the crowds were welcoming Jesus as a liberator from political oppression. The Hebrew word Hosanna means “save us!” It was common in Bible times to spread garments in the path of princes and kings, especially at their coronation. The phrases “Hosanna” and “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” both come from Psalm 118: 25-26, one of the “Hallel” or praise psalms (113-118) used every Passover. These Jewish hymns would be as familiar to the Jewish people as Christmas carols are to Christians. (5)
The people thought Jesus had come to destroy the tyranny of the Romans who ruled them. And they were in a mood to celebrate. Have you ever been part of a celebration like that? A journalist once gave an exciting account of the scene in Pittsburgh, PA in 1996, when the Steelers defeated the Indianapolis Colts to become the AFC Champions and earn a trip to play the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX. The whole city of Pittsburgh went crazy. It had been sixteen years since the Steelers had been to a Super Bowl, and everyone was excited. There were impromptu parties and dancing as thousands jammed the streets. People in the crowds hugged and sang. (6)
It was something like that when the people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem. But, unfortunately, the people were welcoming Jesus as a political liberator. No wonder they turned against him when they discovered he was not about political revolution but spiritual renewal. He was not about riots, but righteous living. He wasn’t interested in setting up a temporal kingdom but introducing an eternal kingdom. And the people were disappointed, then angry, then violent. So they nailed him to a tree.
Pastor John Jewell tells about a professional baseball player who was asked what it was like to be a hero to so many young people. He said, “Well, there was one particular game that made me take all the adulation with a grain of salt. I had four ‘at bats’ with two home runs, a double and a strike out my last time up. The crowd cheered my first three hits and booed loudly when I struck out!” (7)
Sports fans are fickle. So are people in general. Notice how quickly public opinion changes in this land. Any politician who puts too much stock in what the polls say at any one time is going to be disillusioned. We are a people who swing back and forth.
I saw a survey that said that nearly 60 percent of Americans believe the world will come to an end in their lifetimes. Ninety percent of Republicans believe it already has. To think it was only a couple of years ago when ninety percent of Democrats felt the same way. But the republic still stands.
It reminds me of the story of an elderly gentleman who was sitting on a park bench, basking in the sun, when another elderly fellow sat down. They looked at each other for a moment but did not speak. Both men sat there, staring straight ahead.
After a while, one of them heaved a big, heartfelt sigh.
The other jumped and said, “If you’re going to talk politics, I’m leaving.”
People are fickle. Certainly the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem that day changed its mind in a hurry. Many of them who yelled “Hosanna!” on Palm Sunday were most certainly in the mob that yelled “Crucify him! Crucify him!” only a few days later. But it’s all part of the Palm Sunday experience. Jesus riding on a donkey. The crowd shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Finally, note the reaction of the Pharisees. It’s important that we not cast the Pharisees as villains. It’s not that simple. The Pharisees were simply the religious conservatives of their time. They saw it as their responsibility to keep the faith of their fathers.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey in accord with the messianic prophecy of Zechariah, the Pharisees as well as Christ’s disciples were certainly aware of the messianic implications of this act. Given the highly charged atmosphere of thousands of pilgrims pouring into Jerusalem for the annual festival of the Passover, Jesus entering Jerusalem in such an intentionally conspicuous manner as to evoke feelings of national liberation was certainly a great risk. When the Pharisees in the crowd hear the crowd shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” they say to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” Apparently they were afraid that such a tumultuous activity would attract the attention of Roman authorities who might send in a company of soldiers to squelch what could have been seen as the beginning of an insurrection. The Jews were a thorn in the side of the Romans already. If Jesus continued to be seen as a political messiah, an insurrectionist, all of the might of the vast Roman Empire would be arrayed against the people of Palestine. (8)
There was no turning back now, however. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I tell you if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “The die has been cast. There’s no stopping the forces that have been set in motion now. This is why I have come. Even if you quiet the crowd the rest of the events will play out just as my Father has intended.” And they did play out just as the Father intended. It is important to understand that this is no simple human drama of a good man being crushed by the forces of evil.
This is God’s Son laying down his life to rescue a dying world.
Palm Sunday does not exist in isolation. It is the beginning of what has been dubbed Holy Week, when we remember the passion and death of our Lord the week that changed the world.
Some of you are familiar with a song that is often sung in churches on Palm Sunday. Its title is “The Holy City.” In the little book Quiet Moments With God there is a beautiful story about that song that expresses the feeling that Christians have about Palm Sunday.
Thirty men, red‑eyed and disheveled, lined up before a judge in the police court of San Francisco many years ago. It was the regular morning company of “drunks and disorderlies.” Some were old and hardened; others hung their heads in shame. Things had just begun quieting down after the prisoners were brought in when a strange thing happened. From below the courtroom came a man’s voice singing: “Last night I lay a‑sleeping; there came a dream so fair.” Last night! For the men standing in that courtroom, last night had been a drunken stupor.
“I stood in old Jerusalem, beside the Temple there.” The song continued. The judge paused. He made a quiet inquiry. It seems that a former member of a famous opera company was awaiting trial for forgery. It was he who was singing in his cell below the courtroom.
Meanwhile the song went on, and every prisoner in the courthouse showed emotion. Some wept. One or two actually dropped to their knees. “I heard the children singing, /And ever as they sang /Methought the voice of angels /From heaven in answer rang . . .”
At length one man protested, “Judge,” said he, “have we got to submit to this? We’re here to take our punishment, but this . . .” He could not finish his sentence. He, too, began to sob. It was impossible to proceed with the business of court. Still, the judge gave no order to stop the song: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sing for the night is o’er! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna for evermore!”
“In an ecstasy of melody the last words rang out, and then there was silence. The judge looked into the faces of the men before him. There was not one who was not touched by the song, not one in whom some better impulse was not stirred.
“He did not call the cases singly he gave a kind word of advice and then dismissed them all. No man was fined or sentenced to the workhouse that morning. The song had done more good than any punishment could possibly have accomplished.” (9)
That’s Palm Sunday. Christ rode upon a donkey. He was welcomed with hallelujahs and hosannas. The Pharisees were uncomfortable with it all and asked him to quiet the crowd. He indicated to them that it was too late. The drama must play out the Divine drama the drama that gives hope to sinful humanity. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Sing for the night is o’er! Hosanna in the highest! Hosanna for evermore!”
1. Outlaw Tales, Richard Alan Young and Judy Dockrey Young (Little Rock: August House Publishers, Inc., 1992), p. 31.
2. http://www.ctkelc.org/sermons/sermons_bmw/030413.html.
3. Lexington Herald-Leader, January 1, 1996, p. A9.
4. Bass Mitchell, homily@egroups.com. Cited by Dr. Mickey Anders, First Christian Church, Pikeville, KY.
5. Lynn Austin, http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/2000/002/11.39.html.
6. Dr. Daniel Lioy, Tarbell’s Lesson Commentary, Sept. 2004‑Aug. 2005 (Colorado Springs: Cook Communications).
7. http://www.lectionarysermons.com/pzun.html.
8. Jirair Tashjian, http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Clent6nt.html.
9. Tulsa, OK: Honor Books, 2002), pp. 212-213.
