The Lord Needs It – Palm Sunday (Luke 19: 28-40)

I don’t know what would be stranger. On one hand, being one of the disciples that Jesus sends into town to prepare for his final entrance into Jerusalem, and he asks for them to bring back a colt that had never been ridden. Then, if anyone were to ask what I was doing, to have to reply by simply saying, “Because the Lord needs it.” On the other hand, I could have been the owner of the colt. A villager just going about my daily business when I see a couple of strangers untying my colt. Then, when I ask them what they are doing, all they say is, “The Lord needs it.” And that’s supposed to make it okay? That’s supposed to answer my question? From either perspective this is a strange start to a significant event, which is Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’s journey on the road to Jerusalem is the geographic path that makes up the narrative of the gospel. It is a much-anticipated event, and it gets off to a strange, unexpected start.

There is purpose behind this though. Jesus needs this young colt for a specific reason, because he is intentionally engaging in some theatrics here. By asking for this young animal to ride on, Jesus is enacting the fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy from the book of Zechariah, where it says, “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Simultaneously, this is also subverting the expectations of the people who are expecting the entry into Jerusalem to be something grand and imposing, something reminiscent of the parades held for conquering rulers or military leaders of Rome. The people of Israel have been waiting for their messiah and now that he is here, they are expecting to see their king and conquering hero enter the city like kings and conquerors do. And Jesus says sure, I’ll do that, but I’m going to do it my way.

This is a description of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem from the First Nations indigenous translation of the New Testament. It is a translation used by Native American and First Nations communities in the United States and Canada. From time to time, within the Biblical text, this translation inserts some of its own narration to add clarity to the action taking place in the Biblical stories. About Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem, it says, “He did not fit the powerful image of a conquering ruler, for he was not riding a warhorse. Instead, he rode a small, humble donkey colt. No mighty warriors rode next to him. No dignitaries came out to meet him. It was mostly the common people who welcomed him that day.” So, here we have a very specific image of Jesus’s triumphant moment. There are of course also people laying there coats out across the road as Jesus enters. In the other gospels the people wave palm branches. The people praise his entrance and call him their king. They let their voices be heard. Though it may not have been what people were expecting, they certainly have hope for what this event means.

Expectations like that are a funny thing, though. They can shape the way we experience the world. We can even begin to feel as if we need things to meet our expectations for us to be satisfied with our lives. Expectations also come from many different places. They can come from personal experiences, things we’ve been taught by our parents or teachers, how we understand cultural and societal norms. It all shapes our expectations, which in turn shapes our view of the world and the stories we tell.

Speaking of the stories we tell, if you will allow me to indulge my nerdy side for a moment. I remember a night several years ago, and I was sitting in a crowded movie theater waiting to watch the newest Star Wars movie (newest at that time, anyway). Those of us who packed the theater that night had a lot of expectations for what we were about to experience. Most of them having to do with the hero of the Star Wars franchise, Luke Skywalker. This movie was going to be his first major appearance in about 35 years, the character’s triumphant return to the screen. There were a lot of expectations over this event, because over those preceding 35 years fans of the character had been imagining what Luke’s return to action would be like. Most likely with an action figure in hand, fans played out all kinds of exciting, epic adventures. On top of that, the preceding film in the series had ended with a brief cliff-hanger appearance by Luke, as he is offered his famous lightsaber and asked to join the fight to save the galaxy. So, for two years fans anticipated what would happen when Luke grabbed his weapon.

Early on, the next film picks up that scene right where it left off, with our hero staring at his lightsaber. After what felt like an eternity he finally reaches out and takes the lightsaber. The theater was buzzing with anticipation and expectation about what would happen next. Surely, he would ignite the blade and leap into action. But that isn’t what happened. Instead, after 35 years of built-up expectations, Luke Skywalker picks up his lightsaber and defiantly tosses it over his shoulder and walks away. Personally, I laughed at this moment, because I thought it was funny and an interesting choice, but not everyone in the theater laughed. The rest of the movie continued to subvert the expectation of Luke Skywalker as a triumphant hero and savior of the galaxy and instead explored his conflicted feelings about his past mistakes, his legacy and people’s expectations of him, and his role in the new reality. In the end, he saves the day without ever actually picking up that lightsaber, without ever using his weapon. I really enjoyed it, but when I got online to see the reaction afterwards, I saw that a lot of people didn’t like it. In fact, many people were very upset with the choices the movie made. Most of the loudest voices disliked it because it did not meet their expectations of what and who their hero should be.

The movie was telling a story that was unexpected, and perhaps, did not conform to some fan’s expected vision of what a powerful hero or a savior figure might look like. And even though it is just a fictional character in a movie, we should recognize that how we view our heroes, whether they are fictional characters or real people, says something about how we see the world. For some, to be the hero of the story means to be able to overpower your rivals and overcome threats through superior strength and skill. That is why so many people look up to the so-called “strong man” type of leaders. These are figures, usually men, who believe that strength and virtue come from having power over people. So, they project an image to the world of being the biggest and the strongest and the most successful, even if that is just a performance, a fictional character, no more real than Luke Skywalker.

Some of this was probably going on with the people in Jerusalem that day. They lived in a city that had been conquered and was under the control of a foreign government. The stories they had passed down to them were shaped by a history that involved war and invaders and slavery. From what they had heard about this Jesus character, he was capable of miraculous things. If he was going to deliver them from the control of Rome surely it would be because he was more powerful than they were. That may have been what some people needed to believe. Then, here comes this man riding on a donkey colt. Jesus is staging a story for the people of Jerusalem. His entry into Jerusalem is a bit of street theater, meant to project an image to people. The image of a king. However, he does not charge into town on horse, swinging a sword, or anything like that. Instead, he subverts expectations by riding in on a donkey colt, undercutting the powerful symbols normally associated with a king. He enters in a humble power, not a dominating power, like a conqueror. Still, as the gospels tell us, many people recognize the magnitude of this moment. They cheer and sing praises to the long-expected king “who comes in the name of the Lord.”

The disciples still call Jesus ‘King,’ as in the ruler of the Kingdom of God. Again, this shows us that the disciples view of power and kingship is still evolving. It implies that they have an expectation that the Realm of God will operate by the same logic as the world of Rome. The pharisees in attendance that day also see the world this way. So, when they overhear these cheers, they begin to fear that the Romans would not like hearing the people call someone a king. They expect that the Romans will be angered and threatened by someone else having this kind of power. They would surely respond with a show of force to subdue the Israelites. So, the pharisees tell Jesus to get his people to quiet down.  Jesus, however, does not see himself as that kind of a king. He does not need that kind of power. In fact, he tells the pharisees that even if the people stopped shouting, the rocks would just pick up the praise. This is quite a departure from other times in the gospels when Jesus has stopped his disciples from announcing him in that way. Think back a couple months to the story of the Transfiguration, when three disciples saw Jesus shining in a white light and standing between Moses and Elijah. On that occasion, Jesus told the disciples not to say anything about it when they went back down the hill. But now, Jesus knows that the time has come for the world to see him. The time has come when the people will begin to see the world in a new way, and their expectations of what is possible will evolve.

So, would it feel stranger to be the disciples sent out to get a donkey for Jesus or to be the owner of the donkey, begin told that the Lord needs my animal? Well, I think it’s quite possible that that villager was expecting someone to come and get that donkey colt that day. Aside from that, though, I do think it would be stranger to be the disciples asked to go find the donkey, simply because it would make no sense that Jesus would need this animal. Jesus needs what now? We’re going to Jerusalem with our king riding on what animal? Don’t you think we need something a little more imposing to show the authorities we mean business? Well, no. The Lord doesn’t need that. Jesus does not come to Jerusalem to show the authorities that he is strong enough to have power over other people. He comes to Jerusalem to give a message of hope to those without power. He comes to show them that the people can find power in him, and they can build the Kingdom of God without weapons or war horses.

So, we come together on Palm Sunday to celebrate because the Lord needs it. Not because the Lord needs us to hail the conquering hero, but because the Lord needs our hopeful praise. The cheers that day were heard by disciples and pharisees and governors and everyone in between. The Lord needs to hear our hopeful, joyful praise so that it might lift the spirits of those in need. So, if you need Jesus right now, then that is more reason to praise Jesus this morning. Wave your palms, because Jesus comes to save and to serve all people, but especially those who need it most. We praise the king who enters on a donkey, just as it was foretold in ancient prophecy, because it shows us that this king is the son of a faithful God, who is always with us. That is where we should put our expectations and our hope. Not in any empire, be it Roman, Galactic, or otherwise. In the end, it was and is, the power the powerful did not expect that will deliver us to the world that is to come. Amen.