Jesus Chose a Donkey Reinbeck UMC April 9, 2017

Jesus Chose a Donkey

Reinbeck UMC

April 9, 2017

A donkey? Really?

•           It would have been a lot more impressive if Jesus had come in to Jerusalem in a big stretch limousine.

•           It would have been more memorable if he had come into Jerusalem in a military tank.

•           It world have been more convenient to skip the crowds and come into Jerusalem in a helicopter.

•           Jesus would have looked cooler if he came to town in classic corvette.

•           It would have made more sense for him to come on a camel.

•           It would have been sneaker for him to walk in by a back road.

But he didn’t. He chose a donkey.

 Mathew even says two donkeys. Actually, he says “a donkey and the colt of the donkey.” How does that work like this? Let us get that question out of the way.

 Actually, Jesus didn’t ride two animals. Matthew is quoting from Zechariah 9:9, which is in the middle of a poetic oracle consisting of chapters 9-12.

No one can explain why Matthew didn’t follow the customary way of reading Hebrew poetic parallelism. He took the colt from second line (which customarily expands on or clarifies the first line) and turned it into a second donkey. When he decided to do that, he had to include the second animal in the story of the disciples retrieving the animal for Jesus. That is where we get this strange story of Jesus riding on the donkey and the foal of the donkey. Mark and Luke are clear that there was only one animal. 

If you insist that, there must have been two because Matthew wrote it that way, you might consider how many provision they would have needed for Passover and perhaps the second donkey was a pack animal tied to the side of the one Jesus rode.

Be that as it may, let’s get back to our study of “donkeyology.”

From a practical perspective, donkeys were a common form of transportation. They are strong and reliable. Apparently, Israeli donkeys are not as stubborn as their Americanized cousins are. A donkey would be a natural choice if Jesus had a load to carry, or was tired from his journey, and he might have been.

 If you look at Matthew chapter 20, the last geographic reference we have in the book of Matthew before he gets near Jerusalem and asks for the donkey, you will see that Jesus was in Jericho. Jericho is the lowest city in the world at 846 feet below sea level. One literally went up to Jerusalem… way up… climbing 4,646 feet of elevation in 15 miles. That’s a pretty steep 6% grade, which is the steepest grade on most highways in our country, and you had to walk that steep grade for the full 15 miles. That’s a chore. Perhaps from a practical perspective, a donkey might be in order.

 More than that, however, the donkey is important to the theology of Palm Sunday. Let me give you a quick lesson in “donkeyology.” The donkey made a statement about whom Jesus was. We have been studying the I AM statements of Jesus: I am the bread, I am the good shepherd, I am the vine, I am the way, the truth and the life. Throughout Lent, Jan has been decorating around the cross with symbols of these I am statements.” The donkey is, in essence, another “I AM” statement acted out without words.

 First, Jesus chose a donkey to say, “I AM THE MESSIAH FOR WHOM YOU HAVE BEEN YEARNING”

I am the one Zechariah foretold.

Anyone watching would have immediately thought of the words of Zechariah 9,

“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.”

These words echoed in the minds of the disciples, and apparently the crowd. The crowds along the street started waving palm branches. In Rome, the palm branch was a symbol of victory. Olympic champions were awarded palm branches as symbols of their victory.

In Israel and the surrounding regions, the palm branch was a symbol of immortality. Thus, we can interpret the crowd’s branch waving as a proclamation of Jesus as the eternal victor. Perhaps the one who would free them from Roman occupation once and for all. Perhaps the one who would provide victory to Israel forever. Perhaps the one who would save them for all eternity.

However you interpret the palm branches, it is clear that Jesus chose the donkey to make a statement that he is the one for whom they have been waiting, and the people believed it. He is the one foretold by Zechariah, and Isaiah, and Daniel and about a dozen prophets in total.  Jesus chose the donkey to say, “I AM THE ONE YOU HAVE BEEN EXPECTING.” “I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU.” “I AM THE MESSIAH.”

 Second, Jesus may have chosen he donkey to say, “I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE.” Whereas horses were symbols of war, donkeys were symbols of peace frequently used when going to negotiate a treaty.  In the ancient Middle Eastern world, leaders rode horses if they rode to war, but donkeys if they came in peace. Solomon rode a donkey on the day he was recognized as the new king of Israel.  Judges and 2 Samuel also have stories about kings riding donkeys. 

The verse that immediately follows the prophecy from Zechariah says, 

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.

Note the many details symbolic of peace:

•           “Take away the chariots”: the main vehicle of war.

•           “Take away . . . the warhorses”

•           “The battle bow will be broken”: no need for bows or arrows.

•           “He will proclaim peace to the nations”

•             “His rule shall be from sea to sea”

By choosing a donkey, Jesus may have been saying, “I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE.” Remember the angel’s song when he was born. “ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

It was also likely, (since Passover was kind of the Jewish Independence Day, celebrating freedom from Egyptian slavery) that Pilate would have made an annual militaristic triumphal entry to Jerusalem. He likely rode in with a warhorse, chariot, and weapons just days before Passover to remind the pilgrims that Rome was in charge. Thus, Jesus chose a donkey to remind all those waving Palm branches that Rome was the new Egypt, and the Emperor was the new Pharaoh.  Perhaps he was saying, “I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE COME TO BRING ETERNAL PEACE TO GOD’S PEOPLE.”

 Finally, Jesus may have chosen a donkey to say once and for all, “I AM THE HUMBLE SON OF GOD.”

There are so many ways Jesus was the perfect picture of humility. From being born as a baby,  to washing the feet of his own disciples, and then riding into Jerusalem… not on a grand stallion… or even the old gray mare… but on a lowly donkey. Of course, this is only the beginning. By the end of the week, the humility of the donkey will give way to the shame of the cross. The humble donkey carries him today but by the end of the week, it will give way to the shame of crucifixion.

Soon the “Hosannas” will fade will away to the cries of “CRUCIFY HIM!”

Soon the cilppity-clop of the donkey’s hooves on the stones will fade away to the clang of the centurion’s hammer piercing flesh and crushing bone with every blow to the nail.

As Philippians says:

Although he was in the form of God,

   (he) did not regard equality with God

    as something to be exploited,

but emptied himself,

    taking the form of a slave,

    being born in human likeness.

And being found in human form,

he humbled himself

    and became obedient to the point of death—

EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS.

With a donkey Jesus was saying, “I AM THE HUMBLE SON OF GOD.”

 By Friday the one who chose the donkey to fulfill the prophesy saying, “I AM THE MESSIAH FOR WHOM YOU HAVE BEEN YEARNING” will fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy that he would “be pierced for our transgressions, (and) crushed for our iniquities.”

 By Friday the one who chose donkey to say, “I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE,” will hang upon a cross to fulfill another prophecy that says, “The punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

 By Friday the one who chose the humble beast to say, “I AM THE HUMBLE SON OF GOD” will take one a shallow, excruciating gasp, and cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

 Jesus readily chose a donkey…and a cross to bring you salvation.

You have a choice to make too.

You can choose to take your hosannas and leave here and go about your merry way.

Or you can choose to follow Jesus this week as he faces the betrayal.

You can choose to follow Jesus this week as he feels the sting of the whip on his back.

You can choose to follow Jesus this week as he experiences the searing pain of the nails driven through his flesh.

You can choose to follow Jesus this week as he suffers and dies not because he deserves it, but because he loves you so much that he wants you to live in his grace rather than die in your sin.

He chose the donkey. He chose the cross. He chose you. 

Whom will you choose this week?