Kedo Peseyie
Just in case you are wondering, the sequence in the title of this article is not in order of importance. As long as you keep the King in the first place, you are free to swap the donkey and “I” in any way you want to. But today being Palm Sunday, let’s give the donkey its due place, because in this article I want to talk about the misunderstood King, an underrated donkey, and I who misunderstood.
The story of Palm Sunday is one Bible story I clearly remember from my Sunday school years. It is still vivid because of the leaves and branches they made us carry inside the church trying to re-enact the scene of Jesus being welcomed into Jerusalem. I also clearly remember the song by Carmen which quite succinctly recounts the story of Palm Sunday (see box).
The praise and celebration is there but if we read the Bible carefully, we cannot help but notice that there is something fishy and sinister happening even as they welcome this man on the donkey into their town. After a few hours there was going to be a reversal and this cheering crowd would turn against him and demand his crucifixion. What went wrong?
The misunderstood King
The story of Palm Sunday gives us an interesting insight into the motives of the so-called followers of Christ. Of course there is the insight into prophecy, the theologising over the donkey too, and so forth. But first let’s look at the man riding on a donkey through the eyes of those who were standing on the streets of Jerusalem.
These men and women on the streets are Jewish. For almost 600 years, they have been living under foreign domination. It has been 600 long years without a Jewish king ruling over them since the Babylonians conquered them and took them captive to Babylon (today we refer to it as the Babylonian exile). Now they are back to their own homeland but still without a king. For many centuries they have believed in the prophecy that a king (the Messiah) would come and deliver them from this bondage, and set the oppressed people free. But most Jewish believers never gave a serious thought about what this freedom and deliverance would really look like. 600 years of political, social and economic domination by foreign powers had narrowed their understanding of deliverance and freedom. Now they could only understand it as freedom from the Roman rule. That’s why the people on the streets of Jerusalem that day thought that Jesus was coming as a political and revolutionary leader to overthrow the Roman Empire, restore the nation of Israel and rule over it as king. Jesus did say that he had a kingdom and that his kingdom was not of this world. But the people could not fully understand Jesus’ words. Maybe they thought that he was simply talking in a true politician fashion (excuse that comment).
The Hosannas were not for Jesus the meek, but it was for the hoped for political messiah. The flowers and clothes cast on the ground were not for Jesus the saviour of souls, but for the hoped for saviour of the Jews from the Roman occupation. The palm leaves were waved not for the victory of the cross, but for the victory of the Jewish people over Caesar. When they found out that Jesus was not really talking about a free Jewish political state, they decided that they have had enough of this man. “Hand him over to the Romans”, they said, “His blood will be upon us and our children”. What a treacherous declaration that was. But Jesus in his great mercy chose to overlook the actual meaning of that treacherous declaration and allowed his blood to come upon them and their children, covering their sins and turning this curse into a blessing. Ah, what a Saviour! What a Lord!
Nagas today still fantasise and theologise over the possibilities of finding a parallel to the Naga struggle for independence in these stories from the Bible. They talk about the exodus from Egypt, about how Jesus may have had hidden political agendas to overthrow an Empire. But in doing so, aren’t we playing the part of the misinformed common Jewish national on the streets of Jerusalem that fateful day? This reminds me of the words of William Shakespeare speaking through his character Iago, “We lay down our coats and pay homage to ourselves. In following him, we follow but ourselves.”
Another incident that contributed to this great reversal of the crowd against Jesus was the incident at the Temple. After the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus heads straight for the Temple and starts driving out those who were buying and selling. They were making a big profit by selling the animals to be offered for sacrifices, and also selling the meat which was earlier offered up for sacrifices. He also claimed that the Temple could be destroyed and rebuilt in three days. The Temple was the centre of all Jewish life. This was a blasphemy too great for them to swallow.
Jesus was not just a king, he is The King. But things have not changed much today. He is still the misunderstood King. Many are still standing in the streets with those crying “Hosannas” and laying the palm leaves. I certainly won’t want to be among the crowd and be seen as a person who missed the whole point. I’d rather prefer to sit with the lowly Samaritan woman to whom Jesus revealed the whole truth about himself, even if it means that I would be unknown to the world. To know the truth and to live by that truth—I won’t trade that for anything.
The donkey
The fact the Jesus chose a donkey to ride into Jerusalem is not to be overlooked, nor is it to be over emphasised. Some people go to the extent of over-theologising and over-spiritualising the donkey and even bring out four sermon teaching points from the four legs of the donkey. That’s going too far. But there are few truths about the donkey that makes a lot of sense when we see it in the light of Jesus’ life and ministry. We begin to feel with more conviction that Jesus’ choice of a donkey was deliberate and to prove a point, and not just to fulfil the prophecy given in Zechariah 9:9 that he would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey. We also realise that we have underrated this donkey all along. Consider these facts about the donkey:
1. Donkeys were never used for status, but for service. (most Christian leaders today would prefer a horse which in those days were reserved for kings and great men).
2. They were not used in battles, but used to carry burdens. (Christ carried our burdens on the Cross)
3. The donkey was borrowed (and so was almost everything else Jesus had in this world). He owned all things but possessed nothing. But we posses so many things and own nothing. He had nothing but enjoyed everything. We have everything but enjoy nothing. What a difference!
The choice of a donkey was just a small detail but it was a perfect choice. Is there anything to learn from this lowly burden bearer, this service oriented creature? Aren’t you glad that Jesus prefers such creatures? I am. Because it gives me hope. If a donkey can, I can!
