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Title

Donkey Sunday

Palm Sunday

Matthew 21:1-11

March 20, 2005

Rev. Dave R. Garwick

Today we remember the time that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  The big theological question that bothers me in this one:  So, what's with the donkey?  The key to everything is in the answer to that question:  What's with the donkey?  They tell us to call the Palm Sunday.  I say that it ought to be names Donkey Sunday.  The palms are cool - but it's all in the donkey.  The palms are just one of the two things that the people used to cheer Him in with.  They also laid their cloaks down on the ground, but we don't call this "cloak Sunday."  If I didn't know better, I'd think that Palm Sunday was just another thing cooked up by the Florists Association to get all the churches in the world to buy palm branches that we only get to use for five minutes a year.

Of course, if it were "Donkey Sunday" I suppose it could wind up being a lot more expensive having to replace the carpet every year.  But still I say it's all about the donkey.  I'm not kidding here.

Think about it.  Why did Jesus all of a sudden need a donkey?  Have you EVER heard of Him needing to ride a donkey before?  The last time the Bible says anything about Him riding a donkey was when Mary and Joseph were making their way to Bethlehem, so that doesn't really count.

And of course He doesn't just NEED a donkey - He sends two of His disciples ahead of Him into Jerusalem, by themselves, where they are afraid that He's going to get lynched - in fact, the authorities had just put out the word for everyone to keep a lookout for Him and Jesus had already told His apostles that this is EXACTLY what was going to happen.  And not only that, these two poor guys are supposed to just stroll on in, find TWO donkeys (that belong to somebody else!), untie them and just kind of walk off with them.  Can you imagine these guys asking each other, "So why NOW does He need a donkey:  Up to now we've walked everywhere - up and down the length of Israel umpteen times.  But NOW he needs a donkey?"

And like I said, not just A donkey.  TWO donkeys.  And not just any two donkeys.  No, a mommy donkey and a teenage donkey.  Imagine these two guys thinking, "Anything else?!  Why not a horse, while you're at it?  TWO horses!  No, let's not stop there;  two hoses for you, a camel for Peter, and one donkey for each one of us!"

But seriously, WHY?  Nobody had said anything about a tickertape parade.  And really, if there WAS going to be some big deal, why NOT a horse - a big, white stallion war horse if this is really going to be a big show?

This is why.  I would like you to open your pew Bibles for just a moment.  There's just one tiny little thing I want you to notice:  just eleven little words in Chapter 21, verse 4 - "This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet..."  That's it.  That's all there is - just eleven little words:  "This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet."  The key word here folks is "fulfill".

Then Matthew quotes what the prophet Zechariah foretold.  "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"  You see, five hundred years earlier, after Jerusalem had been leveled, and the people had been t taken off to seventy years of exile in Iraq (called Babylon back then), and then had been liberated to return back home, this prophet was looking at a people who had lost their spirit, their will to live and God gave Zechariah a peek into the future to encourage the people - of a time to come when a descendent of King Davis himself was going to ride into Jerusalem and set them free and give them a future.  But He would not ride in on a mighty war horse:  What they were to watch for was their king coming to them, "...gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

THAT is why the donkey today.  THAT is why Jesus sent those two disciples into Jerusalem to fetch for Him,"a donkey tied there, with her colt by her."  This was to fulfill what God had long ago promised through the prophet.

The donkey is the key to it all and the people got the message.  THAT is why they were getting all excited and waving the palm branches and screaming "Hosanna to the Son of David!"  They knew their Bible and they remembered the promise of who this would be and what He was going to do, when they saw coming to town, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey, the One who had just brought a dead man back to life.  When they saw this, they knew the signal?  Jesus was God fulfilling His promise.

God has made promises to us as well.  He has promised that no matter how badly you think you have messed up in life, He will not condemn you who repent and trust in Jesus to pay your debts.  He has promised that those who cling to Jesus will not perish at the end of this brief existence but will live eternally in joy with the Jesus they cling to.  He promised that in the meantime, He will not give you more than you can bear if you trust in Him.  He has promised that for those who love Him, He can work good through even the worst trials of your life.

Donkey Sunday is our celebration of the Good News that God keeps His promises and fulfills them in the One who comes to us, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey...and now even in the bread and wine of Holy Communion.

AMEN.  May it be so.