Last year, our church had a very special visitor – the future King of England. In fact we had two of them (both the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William, and his son, Prince George). Yes, it’s true, they really did visit – they came for an Easter service.
And as you can imagine, there was fanfare and formality and the regular congregation members even had to get a ticket for it. That’s right we had to get a ticket, albeit a free one, to go to church (apparently it was for security purposes). All of this occurred in and around the regular preaching of God’s living and active Word – the Bible.
A few years before that my city (Sydney, Australia) had another very special visitor – the President of the United States of America. Although he didn’t come to my church there was also fanfare and formality, roads were blocked off and apparently there were important meetings going on that you couldn’t get into even with a ticket.
But could imagine the scene (at least on social media) if either the Prince or the President had arrived on a push bike?
Rather than the usual convoy of cars and royal minders, imagine if the Prince rode to the church on a borrowed bike, unclipped his helmet and walked inside. Or imagine if the President, absent the black limousines and security attaches, came into the city on a children’s scooter that wasn’t working properly.
Would you laugh? Would you retweet the photos? Would you lose respect?
Jesus, the Lord of all, the King of Kings, the saviour of the world, did just that. Not with a bike as I don’t think they were invented back then, but he made what my Bible (the English Standard Version) has called a “Triumphal Entry” on a borrowed donkey.
Not a great war horse, or a chariot. Not even a trained donkey. Not even his own.
And do you know what the disciples did? Laughed along? Became embarrassed? Pleaded with Jesus to show a bit more power?
Nope. The disciples, and what can only be described as a rent-a-crowd, cheered, rejoiced and praised God in a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen.
Would you have rejoiced greatly? Would you have shouted for joy?
I don’t know about you, but sadly I would have been snickering and chuckling. To my shame I would probably have added a LOL to my social media photos, and perhaps I would have tried to start a new Twitter hashtag – #MessiahMishaps, #EpicScriptureFail or even #DonkeyDelivery.
So why did he do it?
One reason is to fulfil scripture as it had been predicted (to everyone’s surprise) in Zechariah 9:9.
But Jesus wasn’t just about ticking boxes or leaving clues for others to find out that he really was the Messiah. He wanted to show us that His Kingdom would not resemble earthly kingdoms and their fading riches and temporary displays of power. It was to show us what God is really like.
The power of the gospel does not come from the power of its followers. Jesus came to show how humility would triumph over pride, mercy over justice, and life over death. Jesus did not come with a sword, nor did he allow his followers to fight for him. He came to serve, not to be served, and ultimately he came to die.
And he did so in a way that would make it clear it was all part of God’s plan, because no human plan would ever incorporate such a ridiculous and foolish ‘triumphal entry’:
As 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 says:
“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world … so that no human being might boast in the presence of God”
How do you feel about your Lord and Saviour arriving on a donkey? Proud? Joyful? Delighted? Rebuked? All of the above?
However you feel, whatever reaction you have to the King of Kings riding in on a donkey, be thankful that he did.
