Palm Sunday                                          

Luke 19:29-44

When [Jesus] 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. Now as he was 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.”

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But, now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”

 

Be the Donkey

I’m sure most of you have at least a passing familiarity with the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, with all of the people laying down palm branches in front of him. This story appears in all four gospels, which means that all of the gospel writers felt it was important enough to include in their accounts of Jesus’ life. In our gospel reading today from Luke, the people spread their cloaks on the road, in front of Jesus, instead of palm branches. In Matthew and Mark, they put their cloaks and branches on the ground, but the texts don’t specify what kind of trees the branches came from. It’s the Book of John that specifically says the people spread palm branches on the ground, so that in all likelihood is where the tradition of Palm Sunday comes from.

We discussed all of this in Bible study this week, and, as usual, some things came up that I’ve just never, ever thought about before. It’s the kind of thing that can only happen when you look at scripture with a group of people, instead of just by yourself. I often mention how important it is to put yourself in the shoes of each of the different characters in the story, to see if that gives you a different perspective on what’s happening, or how the story might correlate to things that are happening in your own life. This is especially important when looking at the parables, which have been coming up a lot lately.

But, as many times as I’ve looked at the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, I’ve never considered what this story might be like from the donkey’s point of view. This got a big chuckle when I brought it up, but we didn’t really get very far with it. But, the idea stuck with me, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

I wanted to find a poem for Palm Sunday to share, and Mary Oliver did not disappoint. It seems like she, too, wondered what the donkey might have been thinking about all of this. So, she wrote this poem, titled “The Poet Thinks about the Donkey.”

On the outskirts of Jerusalem

the donkey waited.

Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,

he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,

   leap with delight!

How doves, released from their cages,

   clatter away, splashed with sunlight.

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.

Then he let himself be led away.

Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!

And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.

Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.

I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,

as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

So, what can we learn from the donkey? When Jesus sends his disciples to find a donkey for him to ride into Jerusalem, he tells them exactly where to go, and specifically asks for one that has never been ridden. He anticipates that the donkey’s owners are going to ask why they’re taking it, and tells them to say, “The Lord needs it.”

This donkey had not been in the world for very long; he hadn’t experienced a lot of things. The gospel of Matthew says that the donkey was so young that he was still with his mother. And yet, when strangers come to take him, he allows himself to be taken away. The donkey is incredibly calm as another stranger rides him into town. This donkey that had never been ridden before, had not been trained to be ridden, doesn’t try to buck Jesus off. When the donkey is surrounded by a cheering crowd of people, he doesn’t take off in fear. He trusts Jesus, trusts that no harm will come to him.

It may not seem like much, but the way that this donkey behaves in this story is a miracle. This just isn’t the way that this animal should have behaved. This isn’t the way that this animal should have responded to strangers taking him away, to being ridden when he had never been ridden before, to being surrounded by a cheering crowd of people. In contrast to this donkey, human beings often don’t handle change very well. We can be reactionary; we get scared, anxious, nervous, worried. So, we can learn from this little donkey. We can place our trust in Jesus. We can trust that Jesus knows what he is doing, and in this knowledge, we can be calm.

Within the context of this story, it doesn’t seem like the donkey does very much. He’s more of a passive character; he doesn’t have a lot of agency. Things happen to the donkey; the donkey doesn’t make a lot of active decisions. But, the donkey did choose to remain calm, and it did bear Jesus into Jerusalem. By carrying Jesus into Jerusalem, the donkey fulfilled the prophecy from the Book of Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

It might not have seemed like much, but the donkey had his role to play. It was his job to bear Jesus into Jerusalem. It was his job to bear the King. The prophecy wouldn’t have been fulfilled without him.

When big things happen around us, when there are important things going on, important things to do, we often wonder what our part is supposed to be in all of it. So many problems seem so much bigger than us, and we wonder if anything we do can ever make a difference. The really big problem that I always talk about is climate change. How does one person make a difference against a problem on that scale. Does it matter that I went to a rally? Does it matter that I recycle this can? Does it matter that I buy an electric car, plant a tree, or vote a certain way. A lot of people become paralyzed when faced with something so immense, that they end up doing nothing.

But, we all have our part to play. Everything that we do creates ripples that go out into the world. Every act of kindness sends kindness into the world. Every act of forgiveness sends forgiveness into the world. We are all connected to each other, and everything that we do affects every other person in the world, even if it’s in ways that we can never understand. I came across this Facebook post the other day that I think exemplifies this idea. It said:

“You may think that you are completely insignificant in the world. But, someone drinks coffee from the favorite cup that you gave them. Someone heard a song on the radio that reminded them of you. Someone read the book that you recommended, and plunged headfirst into it. Someone smiled after a hard day’s work, because they remembered the joke you told them today. Someone loves themselves a little bit more, because you gave them a compliment. Never think that you have no influence whatsoever. Your trace, which you leave behind with every good deed, cannot be erased.”

I sometimes like to think of life as a tapestry, and all of us are the different threads running through it. You may not think that you have any effect on the thread running parallel to you, three-hundred, four-hundred threads away, but the tension that you put on all of the threads connecting you together means that you are affecting that thread. You might think that your presence has no effect on the image on the tapestry, but even if your color doesn’t show up on the surface, you are the thread that’s holding everything together. You are the thread that’s supporting the other threads. And, at some point, inevitably, when your color is needed, you will rise up for everyone to see.

We all have our jobs to do, and all of those jobs are important. The donkey wasn’t Jesus, but it was his job to carry Jesus into Jerusalem. Which brings me to one more thing that we can learn from this donkey. Sometimes, someone just needs you to carry them. In the parables leading up to today’s scripture, we talked about the forgiving of debts, the Good Samaritan, those who were lost being found, the Prodigal Son. And last week, in the story of Zacchaeus the tax collector, we learned that he was spurned by his community, but he was the one who Jesus chose to stay with. These are all stories about taking care of people. These are all stories about carrying people.

So, maybe we’re not politicians or movie stars. Maybe we’re not professional athletes or reality show hosts. Maybe the things that we say and do don’t reach thousands or millions of people. That doesn’t mean that what we do isn’t important. Sometimes, a person will just need someone to carry them. Sometimes, we just need to be the donkey.

The donkey is a humble animal. Besides fulfilling the prophecy from Zechariah, that’s why Jesus chose to ride a donkey into Jerusalem, rather than riding a horse. A horse is often seen as a symbol of strength, and is oftentimes used as an animal of war. But, a donkey is always a work animal. A donkey is a servant animal. And, Jesus was and is and will always be a servant. We don’t need to be in charge; we don’t need to have power and influence. God doesn’t need that. God sees everything and is making sure that everything will come together in the way that it needs to. What God needs is people who are going to take care of other people. God needs people who are going to carry other people. There is no shame in being the donkey. The world only works because of all of the donkeys in it. The image on the tapestry only works because of all the threads running through it. Being the donkey may not seem like much, but it could also be the most important thing in the world.

Amen.

~  Rev. Charles Wei