March 28, 2021
/Palm Sunday
Isaiah 50: 1-4; Psalm 31: 9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 11: 1-11
The Rev. James M.L. Grace
In the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Love them or hate them, cars are part of living in Houston. It seems that most of Houston is built around the whole idea of cars with our massive freeways which always seem to be under construction. Hard to imagine living in a city this big without owning a car. I am a proud owner of a fully depreciated 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser that is dented and scratched with thousands of miles on my odometer. I love my car.
While cars were not around during the time of Jesus, transportation was arguably just as important as it is today. In place of a car, horses or other animals were used for transportation. In Jesus’ case, however, he did not ride a horse, but rather a donkey. That might sound a little odd to you. Why a donkey? Donkeys are smaller animals; they do not have the strength of a horse. Why ride a donkey if you could just as easily ride a horse?
It is like if someone offered you at no cost either a 2021 Cadillac Escalade or a 1971 Pontiac, you would probably go with the Escalade, right?
As you might expect, there is a reason why Jesus’ mode of transportation into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday was a donkey. And this is the reason: a donkey was a lowly animal of peace. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem riding a donkey was a sign of humility. It also recalls a verse from the book of Zechariah in the Old Testament, Zechariah 9:9: which reads, “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.”
The donkey was the preferred vehicle for the true king. So, Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem upon a donkey was a bold political statement – everyone knew that him riding a donkey was no accident. It was his claim as a servant king – riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to celebrate Passover. He rode into Jerusalem from the East side, from the Mount of Olives.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was not the only one that day. There was another. This was a much grander entry of the Pontius Pilate, the appointed Roman governor of Jerusalem. Pilate’s vehicle of choice was not the humble donkey, but a horse, and he rode into Jerusalem accompanied by his Roman army. Pilate’s procession into Jerusalem was anything but humble. Pilate likely had little interest in observing Passover.
Rather, Pilate entered Jerusalem during Passover to instill a healthy dose of fear and intimidation to Jewish citizenry. Pilate did not want an enthusiastic Passover celebration to stir possible insurrection against the Roman Empire, which was likely, given that Passover observed God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery.
Pilate’s procession had all the glitz and pageantry befitting a Roman official. His procession was the Escalade, Jesus rode in on that ’71 Pontiac.
I love the honesty of Jesus. As a spiritual master, Jesus understood that there was no need for external, empty symbols of power. He did not need a horse; he did not need an army. He did not need any of the empty symbols of power and intimidation used by the Roman Empire. He just needed a donkey. And the donkey, the preferred form of transportation for a king in the line of David, was plenty.
The lesson here is obvious: the power of God’s spirit is the greatest power in the universe. Our conquest of each other, the conquest for wealth, all amount to very little in the end. Although he was powerful, few remember Pilate. For years, my father drove a 1983 Buick. He literally had several hundred thousand miles on this car. At some point the car became so old that the struts which supported the trunk of the car when you opened it wore out. That was not a problem for my dad – he found a 2x4 which he could prop under the trunk to keep it open when necessary.
Over time, the car really began to show its age. This would later become problematic for my father when he would drive his car to work. My father is a heart surgeon. One day after finishing a round of surgery, he walked out of the hospital to his car which was parked in the “Physician Parking Only” section. A tow truck was towing his car out of the parking lot when my father ran to the tow truck, trying to stop them from towing his car away.
The tow truck driver explained to my father that only physicians could park where his car was. My father explained that despite his car’s appearance, he was a physician, albeit one attached to a dilapidated, yet humble, vehicle. The tow truck driver released the car and apologized for the misunderstanding.
Why drive a beat-up old Buick if you could afford something newer? Why ride a donkey if a horse exudes more power gets you there faster? I think the answer is humility. I think the answer is about not needing external validation. Humility, friends, is the answer to most, if not all, our problems. Ride on, ride on, ride on in majesty. AMEN.