Sermons

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Donkey Power
April 16, 2000
Palm Sunday
Sermon Series on the Gospel of John
Pastor Dan Baumgartner

John 12:12-19

Jesus rode a donkey.

Our mode of transportation has a lot to say about us, doesn’t it? The image we convey by what kind of car we choose to drive (or not drive) is usually more carefully considered than whether or not the car works. What statement will I make when I drive up in this car? Mazda Miata? Too flashy for a pastor. BMW? Too expensive. Suburban? Everyone will think I’m too trendy. A Jeep? No, it makes me seem like I’m trying to be younger than I am. Minivan? No character. We look at cars like people used to look at their wardrobe. Too old? Too new? What will people think?

In 1993 when we moved from Seattle to New Jersey, we shipped all our things on a moving truck, and then drove across the country with our three very young kids. We were driving a brand new station wagon, the only new car I’d ever owned in my life. And I was a little worried about the impression that would make as we arrived at seminary in that new car. After we got as far as Chicago, I didn’t have to worry about that.

You see, the plan was to stop in Chicago for two days, and stay at the very nice Marriott Hotel. I’d stayed at Marriots on business trips for eleven years, so I had points for free nights, and we were going to treat ourselves. But it just so happened that we limped into Chicago after driving for thirteen hours that day. And when we hit the city, there was a huge traffic jam that took us about another hour to get through.

Finally we made it to the hotel, and pulled up under the big awning where the valet could park the car. I jumped out of the car, and realized that the valet and the doorman were staring at us. So I stopped and looked with him. I had my shirt off, and my shoes were untied. The car had 1700 miles worth of dirt caked everywhere on it. The windshield had taken a rock somewhere in Montana, and the crack was now visible across the entire width of it. The luggage rack on top of the car had about two inches of bugs smashed on it, and a couple of pieces of clothing hanging out. I opened the back door of the wagon to grab my wallet, and was practically engulfed by the balls, bats, McDonald’s wrappers and books which came spilling out. And the kids had just had enough of being in the car, and were all clamoring to get out. Those guys looked at us like we were the Beverly Hillbillies. It was quite an entrance.

Jesus rode a donkey. As he made his entrance into Jerusalem, he knew it was his last time. He had been talking with his followers about it, he was concerned with giving them final instructions before his death and he knew this was his last week. And there was great opportunity there to really dazzle folks. The crowd was big.

Passover was approaching, and back then, as now, there was a huge migration of people to Jerusalem for Passover. Even today, you will hear Jewish friends who celebrate the Passover away from Israel say, “This year here, next year in Jerusalem. Some historians think that between one and two million people crammed into Jerusalem for the Passover, the celebration of God’s saving rescue of His people from Egypt.

There were two crowds, really. One crowd was already following Jesus, for they had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead just outside of town. And as the word spread of his arrival, another crowd from Jerusalem came out to meet him. It was an incredible chance for Jesus to set an impression; there was real excitement was in the air.

When I was a kid, we used to go down to the Seafair Torchlight Parade, and we’d stand there on the side of the street, and crane our necks to try and spot when the beginning of the parade was coming. I can imagine the kids in Jerusalem, “Do you see anything yet?!” “Nah, just some guy on a donkey.”

Jesus rode a donkey.

Jerusalem had seen dramatic entrances. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, conqueror of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and all the way into India rode into Jerusalem. Alexander, armor shining, sword drawn, triumphant, confident, head of the world’s mightiest army rides into Jerusalem on a magnificent white warhorse. The expectations for Jesus were high. Could he conquer the Romans like Alexander, could he draw a huge army to his side, was he the man? But what was he doing on a donkey?

Still the crowd was excited. The palm branches came out, and were waved back and forth. Palms were used in the temple for worship. In fact, the imagery of this picture is very much of a worship scene. At a different celebration, the Feast of Tabernacles, Psalm 118 (that Lynne read part of) was sung each morning, and when the word “Hosanna” was read, the people would shout it three times and wave the palms. But there’s more to this picture as well. The palm branch became a symbol for Jewish attempts to throw off the yoke of foreign oppressors. In the second century BC, as the Maccabean guerrilla fighters re-claimed and rededicated the Temple and then won full political independence for Israel, the palm branch was the symbol of the resistance, even appearing on Jewish coins. And so the expectation lingered with the people of Jesus the liberator who would throw out the intruders and bring a new round of national liberation.

Jesus rode a donkey.

People were shouting. Some in the crowd were shouting “Hosanna!” Again, the meanings overlap. The word means “Save!” with urgency. “Save us! Rescue us! Do it now! Hosanna!” Again the words were used at the temple as a shout of praise. There was a sense of worship. But also an agenda. Save us from what? Ourselves? Our sin? Our enemies? What did the crowd expect?

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” others shouted. The words the pilgrims were greeted with at the temple…but also words that began to be applied to the expectation of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the Savior. “Blessed is the King of Israel!….see, your king is coming!” (Zechariah 9). Oh, for a King. A King like David, that would come and unify the land, and conquer enemies, and protect his people, and provide leadership and wisdom. David once stormed into Jerusalem and captured it for his royal capital city, in the heyday of the kingdom. Or again, King David danced through the gates of the city as the ark was brought in signaling God’s presence. Or King Solomon the Wise, whose leadership brought raw materials streaming through those gates to build the temple. Oh, what those gates had seen of Kings! Oh, that Jesus would come with the POWER of a king, a godly king!

Then Jesus rode in on a donkey.

A donkey wasn’t a bad thing, you know. Donkeys were very useful animals, common in the Middle East. Slow, perhaps a tad stubborn, but dependable for the ordinary person to use, an animal which would carry a load. A beast of burden. Fitting for the kind of king that Jesus saw himself to be. Fitting for the kind of king who was carrying a burden greater than the people at the parade could imagine. Fitting for the kind of king who saved through the power of love and grace and sacrifice. The donkey was a symbol of peace, because it was so obviously not an animal of war. Of humility, not pride. One rabbi speculated long after Jesus (3rd century AD) that “if Israel was worthy, the Son of Man would come to her on the clouds of heaven, but that if she were unworthy, riding on a donkey.”

Jesus rode on a donkey. The mode of transportation is very important. It was no accident. Jesus was a different kind of king.

I’m so struck as we read this morning that everyone in this scene…had it wrong. They just didn’t get it…about Jesus. All of the expectations and agendas of all the different people, all of the reasons why people were attracted to this Jesus…they were all wrong. Even Jesus’ own disciples, John tells us in verse 16, even they didn’t understand what it all meant. Even they had it wrong. And I can’t help but wonder…if we have it wrong, too. Why are YOU attracted to Jesus, what are your expectations of him?

a) Is it power? The name of Jesus still has the ability to attract hundreds of thousands of people in marches, or stadiums, for movements or causes. In this election year, we’ve seen already that large voting blocks of Christians can be mobilized, and are courted by politicians looking for political power.

b) Is it prosperity? Certainly, there have been plenty of people, TV evangelists and others, who have held up a promise of financial prosperity for those who come after Jesus. But that’s too simple. Perhaps more commonly, many of us would see Jesus as a sort of insurance policy that keeps bad things from happening to us. That’s one reason it’s so confusing when difficulties come up, and all we can do is stammer “Why me? I thought if I was a Christian…my family wouldn’t get sick, my parents wouldn’t grow old, there would be no car accidents or deaths.”

c) Are you attracted to Jesus because you’ll get into a great family? If I associate with this Jesus, I get to be part of His family, his church. Sort of like marrying someone for the in-laws you’ll get. It doesn’t work, of course. The Christian family isn’t always great, you don’t always get along with your in-laws. Jesus’ family has at least its share of Uncle George’s that are ungracious, Aunt Sue’s that drink too much and Brother-in-law Fred’s who are total hypocrites. It was Mahatma Gandhi who once said that he liked the Christian God, but it was the behavior of the Christians he couldn’t understand.

d) Are you attracted to Jesus because you’ll attention from people? Maybe people will think you have it together if you have spiritual answers. Or maybe you’ll have an audience to impress in some way. Even here. We come together here to worship together, and each Sunday different ones of us are called out to lead or do things in front of the community. There’s always a danger. Am I preaching what God has given me, or am I mainly concerned with impressing you, or getting you to like me? Are the musicians here to perform for your applause, or to use their gifts to lead us into God’s presence?

What do you expect out of Jesus? Are we attracted because we have expectations of what we can get instead of what He gives? We may be missing it as badly as anyone in this crowd of people.

Jesus is a model of humility for us. When we see Him riding the donkey…The King, Savior, Lord, Messiah riding slowly and lowly into town, bearing a great burden, living a different life, giving away his life, choosing not to pursue power or prosperity or influence or attention the way people all around him did…it makes us reexamine why we do things.

Parker Palmer, a well-known writer and educator tells a story about an opportunity he had to be the president of a large educational institution. It was a step up, a great promotion in status and responsibility, and his first inclination was to say “Yes.” But Palmer is a Christian, a Quaker in fact, and he called together a Quaker “Clearness Committee”… a group to help him discern if this was God’s call for him. Eventually someone asked him, “What would you enjoy most about being president?” Palmer said, “Well, I wouldn’t like to quit teaching. I wouldn’t like the politics involved…I wouldn’t like fund-raising.” But they pushed him. “But what would you like?” After a very long pause, he said very quietly, “I would like to have my picture in the paper with the word “president” under it.”

Jesus was a different kind of king, and he makes us look differently at why we do things. Palm Sunday is the beginning of a different week, Holy Week. We’ll be having short lunchtime services at noon each day for scripture and prayer. We’ll worship on Maundy Thursday night together. My hope is that these times will help us to experience the kind of king Jesus was and is. My hope is that in this time before Easter we will be drawn to Jesus not for what we get, but for what he gives. My hope is that we will personally experience this God who rides in on a donkey, whose eyes move through the crowd until they land on us.

And even as those eyes look at us shouting Hosanna and waving palm branches like we’re the biggest Jesus fans in the world, they know. Those eyes know that we are the very same people who will turn and shout against him if He didn’t give us what we wanted, if he didn’t meet our expectations. And even as those eyes see and they know, they pour out grace and forgiveness. It’s what intrigues me most about Jesus, it’s what attracts me. Even when I have operated out of ego and selfishness, even when I’m more concerned about what people will think of me than what I need to do, even when I fail as a dad or a friend or a son…still those eyes look and find me in the crowd and pour out grace. They find you too.

There’s one last group in this story we haven’t even mentioned, a group who also got it wrong. It’s the Pharisees, the ones who say with great bitterness and envy, “Look, the whole world has gone after him!” You know, they got it exactly wrong. It’s actually Jesus who has gone after the whole world.

And he did it on a donkey.