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"...riding on a donkey"

Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion

March 24, 2024

At the Procession with Palms

When the great crowd that had come to the feast heard
that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took palm branches and went out to meet him, and cried out:
   “Hosanna!
   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
       the king of Israel.”
Jesus found an ass and sat upon it, as is written:
   Fear no more, O daughter Zion;
   see, your king comes, seated upon an ass’s colt.
His disciples did not understand this at first,
but when Jesus had been glorified
they remembered that these things were written about him
and that they had done this for him.

We don't find much humour in the gospels, in spite of the preeminent role humour plays in life. True, there is satire. In good prophetic form Jeshua used satire on various occasions to ridicule the stance of pharisees and scribes et al. As I skimmed through these readings to get a start, the idea popped up that this whole exercise of riding a donkey into the city was intended as satire, a deliberate send-up of the establishment.

Pilate has lately come up from the coast to enter Jerusalem by the western gate. Riding a fine black horse, closely surrounded by a mounted bodyguard and followed by a troup of cavalry, their lances making for a thick forest behind the banners of the leading rank. Finally rank after rank of soldiers in heavy armour. A mighty show of power to intimidate those despicable Jews.

The streets are eerily empty; people are sneaking a peak through drawn curtains. Priests, looking down from the temple court high above the street, watch Pilate's cavalcade enter the Antonia fortress. We can imagine the Governor getting his riding boots off, changing his heavy uniform for a comfortable toga, and lying back on a couch with a glass of wine to await the arrival of his wife.

About the same time through the eastern gate comes Jesus, welcomed by a wildly enthusiastic crowd, surrounded by a motley group of disciples and followers, and riding on a donkey. It's a nice touch, the donkey. Scholars tell us it was a sign the king came in peace. The dags in the local pub likely saw it for what it was, a parody of the Romans, with a shot at the temple mob thrown in for good measure, for their fancy dress and superior attitudes.

Dangerous! Very dangerous, to make fun of the authorities in such a public way, but Jeshua must have remembered Zechariah's poetic flourish, with the donkey, and thought it was too good an opportunity to pass by. He made the arrangements for the donkey and left the disciples to work out the rest. In following weeks, with time to kill, they would go over the events of those days and find a connection with Zechariah's words. Humble, the prophet had said, and that tied in with everything Jeshua had taught them about leadership. That bit about the leader taking last place, for example, that had tipped their world upside down.

While this display of 'kingly power' was dangerous it had no practical effect. His fate had already been settled. They had reports of the crowds going out to see this Lazarus he'd called out of the tomb, and had determined to put an end to his circus once and for all. Let him carry on with his ridiculous comedy acts; it didn't matter. But to the people it did matter.

Once through the gate, buoyed by the intoxicating adulation of the crowd, he went up to the temple where the sight of money changers plying their trade in the very forecourt of God's House made him very angry. In the one act of violence ever recorded of him, he threw them out. That he was not arrested on the spot probably shows the authorities felt their position was not as safe as they'd like it to be. A riot in the temple would bring out those newly arrived soldiers in a flash. No winners when the Romans barged in, trampling all things sacred to the Jews.

*****

We can of course treat the whole of passion week including this episode as unmitigated tragedy, but perhaps that would not do justice to Jeshua's thoughts. Don't be afraid of people who can kill the body, he had said, because they can't kill the 'soul', the self - the Life that is your self. This whole week could be seen primarily as a challenge to our short-sighted view of life and death. The world talks about 'death' as the end of everything, and sees resurrection as an incredible and unverifiable outrageous bit of nonsense. Pure myth, they say.

But Jeshua is saying that 'death' is the imposter, a bogeyman behind a mask that terrifies. For Jesus death does not exist. It is the moment of transition from this dimension of Life to another, where you see the Father as he is, as John will write decades later. (1 Jn 3:2) Paul teaches that while this body as we know it will die and decompose, we simply have no idea what we'll be like in the future, but it will be 'glorious'.

*****

What to take from this grand display of the procession of palms for our personal well-being in following Jeshua? What stands out for me is the boldness shown by this peaceful king. He has taken a serious step from verbal jousting to public parody and a vigorous confrontation . His following might be small and lacking substance but at least they are enthusiastic and honest.

Throwing caution to the winds, Jeshua goes for broke, bringing the fight right up to the temple gate. 'Boldness' or confidence in speech is an important word in the NT. Sometimes it is merely to speak 'openly' or 'plainly'; at other times it is the key element that convinces an audience (see Acts 4:13). This boldness is badly needed today when truth is a political football to be kicked over the boundary line with impunity. What a state we've come to when they have to make a law against telling lies in election campaigns!

The Christian's mission is to be speaking and doing the truth in love.

Faciens veritatem in caritate.

*****

Putting aside all the above, it could be that Jeshua intended simply to show that he came in peace, for his kingdom is not of this world. The common beast of burden, the donkey, is a suitable mount for a lowly servant.

In the second reading of the mass, Paul calls on us to have this in mind: "His state was divine, yet Christ Jesus did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are, and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross. On this account God has exalted him..." (Phil 2:6-8 JB)

The rulers of the world intimidate their subjects by force and by fear; Jeshua would be just a servant. He identified with the condition experienced by all the people - discrimination, even victimisation and a cruel death.

As individuals and as a group Paul sets this as the standard to live by. It is important to recognise our reciprocal responsibility for our humility. If some of us parade our qualities, others will follow suit. If the group as a whole shows off its superiority over others we are all caught up in the charade.

Enda once recalled for us the time when Catholic kids, walking home after school on one side of the street, slung insults at the State School kids on the other side: "Protty Dogs" we called them. I daresay we were not the only ones who considered ourselves superior; Reformation duelling was alive and well in our childhood some four centuries on.

The point is that any idea of being better than others, 'superior', is totally alien to the thinking of Jeshua. Pope Francis stepped gingerly into his new role with a request that people pray for him. Then he chose to avoid the papal palace and live in the guest house where people could come and see him.

What to do with ostentatious cathedrals and churches is a pressing problem, but first the local Church from the bottom right to the top has to put off the attitude of superiority, get off its high horse, and walk with the people of the town. Walk with, suffer with, be victimised, used, manipulated and ignored, but always witnessing to the truth with love.

That's enough.