"The Mighty, Majestic, Triumphant…. Donkey?", April 10, 2022

The Mighty, Majestic, Triumphant…. Donkey?

By Rev Jamie Green Klopotoski
Based on Matthew 21:1-11
April 10, 2022
First Baptist Church, Gloucester, MA

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I think that one of the most overlooked characters in the Palm Sunday story is the donkey. It must have been shocking to see Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, because a donkey was certainly not the animal of choice for triumphant processions. No one rode a donkey around to impress others. Kings, heroes, had majestic, noble horses, not lazy, stubborn donkeys. Think about it… none of the great ‘wild west’ TV heroes ever rode a donkey. John Wayne wouldn’t be caught dead on a donkey. The Lone Ranger rode in on a fiery horse with the speed of light. Zorro’s most heroic pose consists of him rearing up on his horse with his sword raised high. Game of Thrones’ Lyanna Stark rode into the Winterfell courtyard on a powerful white horse. And Hercules doesn't just ride a horse to save Mount Olympus from Hades, he rides in on a mighty winged horse, Pegasus. The only hero I can think of who had a donkey was the big green ogre Shrek, from Dreamwork’s 2001 animated movie, who only reluctantly has a donkey as a side-kick. Oh, and of course there’s Dominick the Italian Christmas Donkey who carried gifts for Santa “because the reindeer could not climb the hills of Italy.” But even those two examples represent donkeys as silly; no real powerful hero or king would ever ride in on a donkey.

Especially in the Ancient World, horses and donkeys carried with them a lot of symbolism tied to class distinctions. Horses represented strength, beauty, wealth, and war, which is why heroes and kings used them for their mighty triumphal entrances. Horses were the animals of aristocrats and warriors, seen ridden by the cavalry or pulling majestic chariots. Donkeys, on the other hand, were economical to keep, requiring little in the way of food and water, and they were sure-footed on steep and rocky terrain, all of which made them good work animals, so these beasts of burden became associated with the poverty-stricken lower class manual laborers and slaves, and unfortunately came to represent qualities such as laziness, stupidity, and stubbornness.

Jesus’ humble entry into Jerusalem on a donkey stood in direct contrast to what was happening on that very same day on the other side of town. Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, was holding his own royal procession into Jerusalem, grasping the reigns of a mighty warhorse to show the power that he held over the people. Pilate’s procession embodied the power, opulence, economic disparity, and violence of the empire that ruled the world. Jesus’ procession embodied the humility, equality, and nonviolence of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was accompanied by widows and outcasts, the blind and the crippled, and the poor and the despised. Pilate was accompanied by hundreds of armed Roman troops, weapons blazing, armor shining. Jesus brought peace, while Pilate brought a sword. Pilate represented the kingdom of the man, Jesus represented the kingdom of God. Pilate rode a horse, Jesus rode a donkey. 

It defied all expectations to have Jesus ride in on a donkey. For generations, stories were told of a messiah who would come to save Israel from her enemies, a rich and powerful king, a dignified, strong, and mighty warrior, a savior, grasping a gleaming sword and riding in on a tall white warhorse with a large army of fearsome soldiers to violently defeat the Roman empire and set up a new kingdom on earth. What they got was a baby born to a poor, unmarried young girl in a stable amidst cows and sheep; a carpenter who preached peace and nonviolence and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey waving an olive branch, surrounded by his ragged band of followers. It was the exact opposite of everyone’s expectations. 

Jesus didn’t come as a warrior, ready to spill blood and overthrow the Roman oppressors. He came as a reconciler, a man of peace.

A warrior says: “I believe so much in my cause that I’m willing to kill you for it!”

But a reconciler says: “I believe so much in my cause that I’m willing to die for it!”

Jesus defied all expectations. He did everything he wasn’t “supposed” to do: he touched the unclean, dined with sinners, and washed the feet of his disciples. Instead of touting the power of Israel’s most sophisticated weapons, Jesus preached of peaceful shepherds and beating swords into plowshares. He said crazy things like the mighty would be cast down from their thrones and the lowly would be lifted up, blessed are the poor, peace is the way, love your enemies, forgive seventy times seven times, feed the hungry, be the last in order to be the first. Jesus was subversive. And we know how the story ends. In just a few short days, Jesus will be executed by the establishment who found his subversiveness too great a threat. 

It was threatening for the rich men in power to hear people proclaiming Jesus to be king. During that donkey-led procession, the followers of Jesus shouted loudly, for everyone to hear, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” This was dangerous language. It was inflammatory. It was treason. The entire spectacle from riding a donkey, to spreading the cloaks and palms on the road like a red carpet for the king, was an act of sedition.

Because if Jesus got his way, and the Kingdom of Man became the Kingdom of God, then those rich powerful men would have to give up their riches, their status, their brutal ambitions, and of course they wouldn’t stand for that. Pitting people against each other guaranteed war be the status quo. War made them rich and powerful. Economic disparity ensured they stayed at the top. Jesus threatened their whole way of being by introducing the peace, love, and equality of the Kingdom of God. 

Though it’s two thousand years later, humanity still has this same struggle….  Are we to live in the Kingdom of Man or the Kingdom of God?

If we live in the Kingdom of Man, then humanity is tribal, meaning we only defend and advance our own tribe, group, nation, ethnicity, state, religion, ideology, or agenda. But if we live in the Kingdom of God, then humanity is universal, meaning we defend and advance all ethnicities, all religions, all people at all times in all places without condition. 

If we live in the Kingdom of Man, then our motto is “an eye for an eye”, meaning we return evil with evil, respond to violence with violence, seek retaliation and kill our enemies. But if we live in the Kingdom of God, we return evil with good, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, love and pray for our enemies, seek transformation and healing for our enemies. 

If we live in the Kingdom of Man, a few at the top have all the power, all the money, and all the opportunities. If we live in the Kingdom of God, we share, and all people have the opportunity to live a meaningful, plentiful, rewarding life. 

Every Sunday, we pray to God… “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” It’s time we start living that way. We are called to be disciples, standing for what Jesus stands for – welcoming the stranger, healing the sick, making people whole again – even the people we don’t like, even the ones who scare us or hurt us. Jesus on a donkey reminds us that we are to live in a different kind of world, the Kingdom of God on earth. 

Can we defy the Kingdom of Man and work towards bringing about the Kingdom of God here on Earth? That’s what Palm Sunday is all about, subverting the ways of man and supporting the ways of the God. Riding in on a donkey. 

Whenever we serve a noble and unpopular cause with selfless devotion,

holding to the ideals of truth and justice, we ride in on a donkey. 

Whenever we seek to uplift the fallen, to comfort the brokenhearted,

to strengthen and encourage the weak and hopeless, we ride in on a donkey. 

Whenever we work bravely and persistently in the face of abuse and criticism

to establish more equitable relations in the world, we ride in on a donkey. 

Whenever we rebuke our pride, arrogance, and selfishness, and refuse to participate in the domination and abuse of others, we ride in on a donkey. 

Whenever we sacrifice our lives on behalf of what we believe in the service of love for all humanity, we ride in on a donkey. 

May God’s kingdom come, may God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. May we ride on, ride on, in majesty…on a Mighty, Majestic, Triumphant…. Donkey. Amen.