Palm Sunday

Donkeys have “a bad reputation,” says archaeologist Fiona Marshall. “They’re considered stupid, stubborn and lowly.” But this is unfair and inaccurate. Donkeys are “extremely intelligent,” she says. “Whole trade routes were built on donkeys, and the wealth of ancient Egypt depended on them.”

You know why the donkey went to the bank, don’t you? He needed to burro some money.

Donkeys are even smart enough to celebrate holidays. Around Christmas, they send out Mule-tide greetings.

Many years ago, traders went all the way from the Middle East to China, along with their donkeys. And in the Tang Dynasty, high-class women played a game like polo, in which players rode donkeys instead of horses. When one particular noblewoman died, she had donkeys sacrificed and buried with her, so that she could continue to ride them in the afterlife.

Stupid, stubborn and lowly? That was not the reputation of donkeys in ancient China.

Jesus knew what he was doing when he made his preparations to enter Jerusalem. He sent two of his disciples ahead of him, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it” (Mark 11:1-2). Jesus was taking his chances with an unbroken colt, but he knew that the animal was intelligent, not stupid.

Predicting that the two disciples would encounter resistance, he said to them, “If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately’” (v. 3). Jesus realized that he would have to get people talking if he was going to gather a crowd on the road to Jerusalem. So, he had his followers spread the word that the Lord needed a donkey, and he would return it right away.

Jesus was building a buzz among the people of the village. Creating controversy. Injecting some suspense.

Sure enough, the disciples went into the village and found a colt in the street, just as Jesus predicted. And as they were untying it, people confronted them, just as Jesus said they would. When they told them what Jesus had said, the people allowed the disciples to take it. The donkey was cooperative, not stubborn (vv. 4-6).

The disciples brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it. Jesus sat on it and began to ride it toward Jerusalem (v. 7). He knew that the prophet Zechariah had predicted that the coming ruler of God’s people would arrive in Jerusalem on a donkey: “Lo, your king comes to you,” said the prophet; “triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

In ancient times, leaders would ride donkeys in civil processions and horses in military ones, so a king arriving on a donkey would indicate that he was arriving in peace. Jesus remembered that Solomon had been riding a donkey when he was recognized as the new king of Israel (1 Kings 1:33). The donkey was noble, not lowly.

Mark tells us that many people “spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields” (Mark 11:8). But what were these leafy branches compared to the beast that Jesus was riding? The animal was intelligent, cooperative and noble — a heroic donkey!

You might just call today Donkey Sunday, not Palm Sunday. Intelligent, cooperative, noble. That’s the character of the heroic donkey. And also the qualities of Christians who want to carry Jesus forward in what they think, do, and say.

But the people in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday did not want to see the symbolism of the intelligent, cooperative, noble donkey. No, they were asking Jesus to throw off their Roman oppressors and restore the throne of David as the legitimate ruler over Israel and to do it right away. The palm branches they waved had a specific symbolic meaning. Two hundred years earlier Simon Maccabeus had defeated foreign armies and kept Israel independent. When he rode into Jerusalem, the people shouted cheers and waved palm branches because he was looked upon as a deliverer. If Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah, the people expected no less from him.

Jesus was riding a colt of a donkey, a symbol of humility—not a horse, a symbol of conquest. Jesus approached Jerusalem in peace as a humble servant and not a mighty warrior king. The people were so preoccupied with the notion of political and economic power that they were blind to what was taking place before them. God was at work, but not in a way that they could comprehend. 

That’s a reminder to us—God is still at work even when we can’t see Him. In order to see Him, we have to look for Him.

The late Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most influential and extensively studied filmmakers in the history of cinema. He was known as the master of suspense. But he had a quirk that was endearing to many of his fans. As some of you know, he made cameo appearances in a number of his films. But you have to look closely to really notice that he is in the picture. For example, in the “The Birds” he can be seen winding a clock. In “Dial M for Murder” he can be seen walking a dog. But you have to look for him.

Brian J. Waldrop, in his book titled Ocean Breeze: Inspirational Moments with God at the Beach, tells of flipping through the channels of his TV one morning when he stopped to watch an artist skillfully painting a desert landscape. As the man proceeded to color the canvas in deep browns, reds, and yellows, the picture really started to look good. He felt that the painter ought to stop. The picture looked complete.

Then, as he was thinking those very words, he cringed to see the artist add a dark blackish color of paint to the canvas. As Waldrop had feared, the dark blob looked awkward and out of place. But as the man continued to add texture and other colors to the blob it began to take shape. When the painter was finished, the part of the picture that Brian Waldrop thought was ruined looked great! It was exactly what the painting needed to make it beautiful and complete.

Waldrop writes, “As I sat there watching the program that day, I was really surprised to find myself cringing at many of the moves the artist made with his brush. I got to thinking how typical this is of my Christian life. Many times in my life, after much struggling and hardship, I have come to a place where I am comfortable. As I am basking in the goodness of the Lord, God has chosen to institute a change I neither expected nor wanted. During this time I cry out, ‘No, Lord, You are ruining the picture!’ But often, as I allowed God to continue His work on the canvas of my life, to my surprise the picture would begin to look pretty good. Finally, I would thank Him for the addition or subtraction to my life.”

Then he adds these profound words, “There have been times, however, that the change never looked good to me and perhaps never will. During these times I must remember that God is still painting. The picture has not been completed yet. I must travel on in faith knowing that when I see Him face to face, my painting will be beautiful.

“In the meantime, I can take comfort knowing that every situation, though it may be ugly and bad, is paint that the Master Craftsman can use for good.”

Yes, God is at work even when we are not aware of it. The people that first Palm Sunday were looking for a conquering king. Jesus appreciated the peoples’ high hopes, but he knew that those hopes were shortsighted. God had a different plan— a plan that would change the world forever.