Mark 11:1-11 – A Donkey and Palm Sunday

Lectionary Readings for March 28, 2021     Palm/Passion Sunday, Year B

Liturgy of the Palms:
Mark 11:1-11 Jesus’ Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29      v1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

Liturgy of the Passion:
Isaiah 50:4-9a v7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like a stone, determined to do his will.
Psalm 31:9-16      v14-15 But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands.
Philippians 2:5-11       v7-8 When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God...
Matthew 26:14-27:66 The Last Supper / The Passover with the Disciples
Matthew 27:11-54      Jesus’ Trial before Pilate

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“You can’t leave footprints in the sands of time while sitting down.”   ~ Nelson Rockefeller (President Gerald Ford’s Vice President)

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.”  ~ Pope Francis

We can all preach peace through our words and actions shared with others. But sharing God’s love, restoring hope, and helping others requires us to selflessly connect with others – often in ways that stretch us beyond what is comfortable or convenient for us. This stretching is good; it helps us better understand how God reaches out to each of us every day.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me.           God loves me.            God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Last week we hit the midway point of Mark’s Gospel. We’ve spent 11 weeks since January getting here. Our Lectionary readings cram the second half of Mark into today and next Sunday’s resurrection story. In doing so, we miss hearing SO much of the rich and nuanced material that happens during the last week leading up to Jesus’ death – which we observe on “Good Friday” five days from now.

Take a deep breath as I offer you my all-too-brief summary of the volume of details our lectionary skips. You’ll recognize many famous sayings.

In last week’s reading from Chapter 8, Jesus asked the disciples (and us) “But who do you say I am?” (v29) Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus was pleased. Shortly after that memorable exchange, Jesus predicted his death; Peter scolded Jesus for uttering such crazy talk, to which Jesus responded with the famous, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” (v33) Jesus then spoke to the crowds telling them, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.” (v34) We could spend a month in Chapter 8 alone!

Chapter 9 tells the story of Jesus, Peter, James, and John hiking up a mountain and meeting Elijah and Moses in a mystical event we call The Transfiguration because Jesus walked away from that meeting... for lack of a better term, glowing. Moments later, God’s voice boomed from the heavens saying to the disciples, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” (v7) (That’s a nice bookend to what God said to Jesus at His baptism – Mark 1:9-11.) Later on, Jesus healed a demon possessed boy, then settled an internal argument between the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Jesus explained, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (v35) Tuck verse 40 in your heads: Jesus tells the disciples, “Anyone who is not against us is for us.” We should all ponder that nugget of acceptance as we think about our kind-hearted friends who are not church-goers.

In Chapter 10, Jesus discusses marriage and divorce with the Pharisees, then blesses little children saying, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them!” (v14) After a very interesting conversation with a rich, young, devout Jewish man, the disciples ask Jesus, “Who can be saved?” To which Jesus responds, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.” Note that Jesus is specifically talking about salvation, not accomplishing your life goals. Jesus then predicts His death again, and reminds the disciples “Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant... For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others...” (v43-45). Jesus then healed a blind man named Bartimaeus.

Whew!

Through all of those events I’ve just mentioned, Jesus and His disciples have traveled over 150 miles south through baren deserts and steep, rocky mountains to arrive in Jerusalem during the annual Jewish Passover festival.

Jerusalem is packed with as many as 2 million Jews who have traveled from throughout the Roman Empire to celebrate their faith together (according to the ancient Jewish historian Josephus). Imagine the excitement as relatives and friends catch up with each other – celebrating marriages and births and consoling each other’s grief on loved ones they’ve lost. “Benjamin, it’s so good to see you! Ester, I still wear the sash you gave me last year. Sorry to hear about your mom. Your kids have grown so much; I barely recognized them! Please, have dinner with my family tonight!” It’s a joyful time!

Today’s reading omits numerous details that have concerned Christians for the last 2,000 years. After walking 150 miles, why did Jesus decide he needed to ride a young donkey into Jerusalem? Clearly, He wanted to make a statement, but exactly what was that statement. Was the shouting crowd a spontaneous “welcome home” party for the man who had cured so many and spoken such wisdom? OR was it a carefully planned political demonstration intended to mock the authority of the oppressive Roman government? Maybe a bit of both; we’re not exactly sure. But that donkey was no accident.

Today’s crowd greets Jesus with excitement and admiration. In just five short days, an equally excited crowd will scream for Jesus to be executed. Was it the same crowd? Remember, the city is packed with upwards of 2 million people. If only 1% of those people showed up for each event (that’s 20,000 people), you could have totally different faces, interests, and agendas in each crowd.  

Let’s join the celebration, walking into Jerusalem – next to Jesus on a donkey – with open ears, minds, and hearts as we listen for God while reading today’s story.

Read Mark 11:1-11.

One of my favorite ways to approach stories like this is to put myself into each character’s role and ponder how I might have felt or reacted in the moment. Today’s short story gives us several options. I invite you to ask yourselves the same questions I’ve been pondering this week.

For starters, we have Jesus. At this point in His life, He knew that powerful people wanted Him erased from their presence and from people’s minds. Jesus had spent years befriending the weakest and most rejected people of their society while simultaneously offending religious and political leaders. In His day, that combination was a good way to get yourself killed.

His entry into Jerusalem, riding a donkey in the middle of a parade, certainly appears to be a mocking lampoon of the government. Around this time each year, the Roman governor entered Jerusalem riding a battle-trained stallion in the middle of a massive military parade to show people who was in charge – a “peace-keeping” force. Jesus countered that show of strength with an equally public display of modesty – a peaceful presence.

As God in the flesh, would I have been so restrained? Would I have been tempted to unleash the furry of heaven, the righteous vengeance of God, on the army of oppressors? Isn’t that what people expected and wanted? But the Kingdom of God is not built on “might make right.”

Knowing so many people were out to get me, would I have entered Jerusalem at all? Would I have chosen any of a dozen different, safer places to be? Would I have opted to lay low and protect my growing ministry rather than become the focal point for the Poor and Abused Lives Matter (PALM) movement?

I edited this photo of a Civil Rights march as a thought-provoking exercise. But the longer I look at it, the more connected I feel with the purpose, excitement, and tension Jesus and His followers may have felt that day.

Next we have the disciples who obediently did as they were told. When given such unusual instructions, would I have been so obedient? When I pray for God to lead me and I sense a tugging to do or say something, do I trust God enough to follow that tugging, even when it doesn’t make sense? When confronted and challenged by people who don’t understand what I’m doing, will I respond as God leads me – or look for the quickest, safest way out and pray for forgiveness later?

And those local, unnamed characters who asked why the disciples were taking the donkey... When approached by someone saying, “God told me I can use this,” will I respond with, “Well, if you’re working for God, go ahead!” Or will I ask for two forms of ID and a security deposit... or just call the cops? Am I willing to get out of the way so others can do what’s needed?

And last but not least, we have the donkey. I’ve been thinking about this donkey all week. God led Jesus, and Jesus led the donkey. Am I willing to be led? Am I willing to be the humble, nearly insignificant donkey Jesus depends on to carry him into our community? A quiet servant.
Am I willing to be the inglorious deliverer of the Good News? Is that part of what it means to be the humble, meek hands and feet of Jesus?

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Mary Oliver pondered this as well in her verses, The Poet Thinks of 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.

As we end our season of Lent, as we spend the next five days traveling with Jesus to the cross, let us wait on God. And as God leads us, may we step bravely, one dusty hoof in front of the other, forward with hope.

Amen? Amen!