On March 7, 1965
on a Sunday about 600 people marched a distance of 50 miles from Selma Alabama
to Montgomery Alabama demanding their voting rights. The event became the scene
of “America’s Bloody Sunday” Since that time on the anniversary of that
significant March thousands walk on the same path remembering, reflecting and
even reenacting some of the gruesome events of that day. It was all for the
sake of “freedom to vote.” On March 7, 2015 President Obama was among the
thousands of Americans commemorating the 50th anniversary of the civil rights
march on Selma, Alabama. This march and others like them go down the memory
lane of the American public.
On this Sunday worldwide
millions of Christians are remembering, reflecting and even re-enacting a
different kind of March that took place around AD 33 on the road to the ancient
Jerusalem. For some it was a victory march for others it was a threat. This is
called “the Palm Sunday” Palm Sunday is one of the most important days in the
Christian calendar after Christmas and Easter. Palm Sunday is the Sunday before
Easter, and marks the beginning of Holy Week, the week of events leading up to
Jesus' death. In
the simplest of terms, it is an occasion for reflecting on the final week of
Jesus' life. It is a time for Christians to prepare their hearts for the agony
of His Passion and the joy of His Resurrection.
Let’s journey back
in time and join the disciples, the Pharisees and the crowd, to understand what
it was like, and what the expectations of the crowd were like. As we press in
to the crowd we may get a glimpse of the chief architect of that March and its
historical significance. Matthew 21:1-11
The march was so
significant, it was recorded in all the four gospels. Unlike the three other Gospel
writers Matthew saw something of the prophetic significance in that March. Let
me unpack that day’s events. Jesus had been travelling back and forth to Jerusalem
for quite some time teaching, healing and driving out evil spirits. On one of
those trips to Jerusalem, he called two of his disciples and gave them
instructions to bring a donkey along with its colt. Accordingly they went and
brought the donkey along with its colt and spread their coats on them.
A very large crowd
spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and
spread them on the road. Jesus started his march riding on a donkey. The crowds
followed him shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in
the Name of the LORD; Hosanna in the highest.”
There are over 300
prophecies pertaining to the birth, work, death and the resurrection of Jesus
in the OT and all of them have been fulfilled. One of them was found in Zechariah
9:9, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king
comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on
a colt, the foal of a donkey” This was written around 500 BC. When Matthew saw
all this was unfolding right in front of his eyes, he notes in Vs 4, “This took
place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet.”
The way Zachariah
predicted saying “See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey on
a colt, the foal of a donkey sounds rather odd isn’t it? Wasn’t it normal for
kings of those days to ride on a horse? Then why would Zachariah say your king
will ride on a donkey instead of a horse? There could be two reasons why God
chose a donkey, instead of a horse for his future king to ride on. Firstly, A
donkey was seen as a symbol of peace.
I
DONKEY: A SYMBOL OF PEACE:
In the ancient
Middle Eastern world kings and war lords normally rode horses when they went for
war, but when they came in peace they rode donkeys. While the horse was seen as a symbol of war the donkey was
seen a symbol of peace. Here are a few situations donkeys were used to
negotiate and promote peace. David was running away from Saul with his men.
There was a wealthy man named Nabal in that land. David sends a few of his men
to Nabal with a request for food and other supplies. But Nabal acted foolishly,
and sent them back empty handed.
When David heard of that humiliation he wanted to kill Nabal
and all of his men. But Nabal’s wife
Abigail acted shrewdly. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of
wine, five dressed sheep, …loaded them on donkeys to David and appeals mercy
from David to spare her husband’s life. David said to Abigail, “Praise be to
the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to day to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and
for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own
hands.” I Samuel 25:32.
Not only to negotiate peace but on other occasions some
leaders and the judges of Israel rode on donkeys while giving a judgment or
solving a problem (Judges 5:10; 10:4; 12:14). By choosing a donkey as a carrier
for Jesus; God was communicating to the world that he was going to be the
Prince of peace rather than a captain of an army. Zechariah goes on to say how
this king will bring about peace on earth. I will take away the chariots from
Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He
will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and
from the River to the ends of the earth.” Zechariah 9:10
This part of the scripture will be fulfilled when Christ
returns to the earth and establishes his everlasting kingdom where there will
be no wars but only peace and righteousness will reign. Coming back to our story, the crowd was over joyed hoping
that finally the king has come to deliver them from the tyranny of the Roman
Empire and they were soon going to enjoy freedom. Yes Jesus was going to
deliver them but not the way they were expecting; He was going to set them free
but not necessarily from the Romans but from another enemy who is far more
sinister than the Romans and any other tyrant on the earth. This brings us to
the second reason why Jesus rode on a donkey. In the ancient times donkeys were
used to carry burdens.
II. DONKEY: A BURDEN CARRIER
In the ancient times, donkeys were known as the “beast of
the burden.” We see them used to carry wood, grain and other household
items. Gen 22:3, “Abraham rose early in
the morning and saddled his donkey.” Gen 42:26, “then they loaded their donkeys
with their grain.” Sometimes donkeys were used to carry people. Exodus 4:20 “And
Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on donkeys, and he returned to
the land of Egypt; and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.”
Not only in ancient times even now especially in the Middle
East we see donkeys used to carry heavy loads. By using a donkey as his carrier
which is known as the beast of the burden Jesus was conveying to the crowds
that were harassed by the oppression of the Romans and the religious leaders,
from now own I am going to carry all your burdens. You cast all of them onto me
because I care for you. He was communicating a message that he was a different
king unlike the other kings who levied huge taxes on common people. He was
going to be a different leader unlike the religious leaders who loaded people
with guilt through their legalism. Above all Jesus was saying that he came to
carry the heavy burden of sin. Isaiah 53:6, “We all, like
sheep, have gone astray, each
of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
When Jesus, rode on a donkey on the ancient streets of
Jerusalem many did not recognize Jesus’ true intentions and symbolism of a
donkey. But those who had the eyes to see like Matthew and others rejoiced over
this fulfillment of the scripture. Jesus’ ride on a donkey brought hope and
comfort to the believing, but for those who were only concerned about their
power and control it made them uncomfortable to such an extent they began to
plot and wait for a chance to kill him. We will learn all about their plot, and
how Christ was crucified, buried and resurrected in the events that will be unfolded
in the Holy Week.
Palm Sunday is not all about the donkey but it is about the
One who rode on a donkey. What can we
take away from this Palm Sunday? Two
things; Jesus is the prince of peace. He is the only one who can truly bring
peace to the problems of this world. If you let Him he can walk right into your
troubling situation, whatever it may be and bring peace. Secondly, he has come
to carry the burden of the sin of the whole world. If you let him, he can lift your
burden of sin too, so that you can be free to worship him and enjoy the abundance
not only in this life but also in the life to come. Amen
