Riding into Jerusalem

Isaiah 50:4-9a; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 11:1-11

Our gospel lesson for today begins with the vignette about how Jesus got the colt he was going to ride upon as he entered into the city of Jerusalem. I am certain that Jesus was aware of the prophesy in the book of Zechariah concerning how the Messiah would enter the city. The words were, no doubt, familiar to anyone who was looking for the coming of the Christ: "Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion! Shout for joy, you people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you! He comes triumphant and victorious, but humble and riding on a donkey--on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

In fact, the Old Testament tells us that the traditional way by which a king of Israel was welcomed into Jerusalem was to place him upon a donkey which had never been ridden before. A long precession would then lead up the Kidron Valley. The people of the city would go out to meet the new king, waving palm branches they had cut from trees along the way. As the donkey with its rider approached, the people would lay their coats on the road to soften the journey of their king and to honor him. They would shout "Hosanna!" which literally means "Save Us!" The procession would then turn into the city, entering at the Golden Gate just below the Temple Mount. The new king would then go to the Temple and after that he would be crowned and assume his seat in the Palace upon the throne of David.

This is, indeed, how Solomon entered the city of Jerusalem to be accepted as king. And this is how the kings of Israel were welcomed by the people after that. So, Jesus' need for a donkey which had never been ridden was obviously something that he had been thinking about for quite a while. Indeed, it was a necessary part of his entry into the city of Jerusalem, not only to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah, but also to meet the expectations of those who were looking for a King.

So, Jesus told his disciples to go and get a donkey for him. And he told them exactly where to go in order to find it and even what to tell those who owned the donkey. In effect, we are led to believe that Jesus had supernatural knowledge of where that donkey was.

I love that word, "supernatural," don't you? The word, "supernatural," sort of lights up my imagination. I mean, what do we consider to be supernatural? Well, of course, God is supernatural, and walking on water is supernatural, and angels are supernatural, right? But, what about other things? A person who has never heard of or seen a television set might think it was supernatural if you plunked him down in front of one and turned it on. Or, anyone who has never seen or heard of a jet airplane, and I imagine there are still a few such people left in the world, might think it was supernatural if he suddenly saw one fly by at twice the speed of sound.

What I am getting at is that what we consider as being supernatural may not be as supernatural as we think. Indeed, perhaps it isn't really supernatural, at all, for God to speak to us, and give us the answers we need to our problems. Instead of being supernatural, maybe it is natural for God to do this. Maybe our problem is that we are tuned in to God so irregularly that we simply miss the messages he gives to us. If, indeed, we listened regularly, if we heard him speaking to us in our heart, if we tuned in a little more regularly through prayer, bible study, worship, Sunday School, and fellowship, we might not think it supernatural at all, but, rather, natural for God to speak to us.

"Supernatural" is really a relative term. If what we thought was supernatural started to take place every day, we wouldn't think of it as supernatural, anymore. Rather, we would call it natural. We would begin to expect it. And if it didn't happen, we would begin to wonder why not.

Or, perhaps we could look at it another way. Isn't it just possible that creation, and therefore the universe, itself, is actually supernatural? Maybe more than we think that goes on around us is supernatural. And we have the gall, we have the spiritual insensitivity to take the supernatural for granted and call it natural?

Miracles happen. We call them miracles because we can't give a complete, rational explanation for how they take place. And, yet, I would maintain that there are many things that happen in our lives that have rational explanations that should, yet, be called miracles.

Several days ago I went to a hospital and saw a newborn baby. Now, many people wouldn't call that a miracle. They say, "So what? Babies get born every day. What's so miraculous about that?" And the other night, when there wasn't a cloud up in the sky, I looked up and saw what looked like a million stars. Again, many people wouldn't call that a miracle. They say, "So what? What's so miraculous about that?"

Isn't it a shame that so many people have lost a sense of the mysterious and of the miraculous? And, yet, when you think about it, even the act of breathing, the beat of one's heart, the functioning of the mind, and life, itself: Aren't they all miracles of God? Our being here together, the fellowship, the creativity, the excitement and love that we share, our support of this church: Are these not all miracles, as well?

Jesus told his disciples where to find that donkey and they quickly obeyed him and went to get it. Perhaps by that time they had learned to expect Jesus to be able to do that sort of thing. By that time they probably considered it pretty natural for Jesus to be able to tell them where to find something. And, so, they went as they were told, they found the donkey, they explained to the owners why they were taking it, simply saying, "The Lord has need of it."

"The Lord has need of it." Aren't those beautiful words? I would assume that the persons who owned that donkey felt quite honored when they heard that the Lord had need of it.

They had probably grown quite used to that little donkey. As far as they were concerned, it was just another noisy donkey. And there were millions of noisy donkeys in Israel. Little did they know, little had they suspected that the Lord had a use for something as common as that.

I wonder how many of us realize how important some of our material possessions, or some of our talents, are to the Lord. And, yet, if we would just listen to the voice of Jesus coming to us through scripture, through prayer, or through one of his disciples, we might be surprised.

Today, being Palm Sunday, we might take the palm tree as an example. The palm tree is one of the most common trees in the tropics of the world. In fact, some people who visit the tropics are surprised to see all the palm trees. In some places there are nothing but palm trees. When my brother came back from Guam he described it as one of the most boring places in the world: nothing but palm trees! He never wanted to go back again.

And, yet, it is said that there are at least 800 uses for the palm tree. It is used for everything from shelter to oil, from clothing to fish line. Surprising? Perhaps. But, nevertheless, it reminds us that as common as we may feel we are, or as unimportant as we may feel some of our own talents or gifts may be, God has a use for us.

Today is Palm Sunday. The story goes on that Jesus took the donkey, got on it, and rode into Jerusalem. As the people heard that he was coming, they waved the traditional palm branches, laid their coats at his feet, and shouted, "Hosanna."

One of the miracles of this story is that by the power of God's Spirit we are allowed to be among those who experienced Jesus, not only on this day, but in the week to come, as well. We shout our "Hosannas" today. Our hearts are filled with joy.

But we need to remember that those same people also cried, "Crucify him!" just a few days later. And we need to remember that those same people stood at his cross and dared him to call down heaven's angels to assist him. And, yet, it was those people, and us, who Jesus came to save.

So, let the miracle happen! By the grace of God let us join those throngs as the drama unfolds. We are a part of it. And we meet again, for the next amazing episode, on Thursday night in the Upper Room! Amen.