I am the Donkey

Introduction

I want to be very mindful of our time today

In just a little while, we’re going to eat lunch and then make our way down to Halloran park and do community outreach through our egg hunt.

And I hope that you plan to stay and help us with that.

So I don’t plan to preach very long this morning..

The triumphal entry

But if you have your bible I want you to turn to Luke 19:29

This is palm Sunday afterall

this Friday we will take time to remember the cross

And next Sunday we will take time, on easter, to celebrate the resurrection..

I hope you’ll bring someone with you to hear the message of Jesus resurrection.

but today I want to look at this story as Luke tells us about Jesus coming into Jerusalem for Passion week.

Luke 19:29–38 ESV

When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ” So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

The Story

Jesus and the disciples are on their way to jerusalem to Celebrate the passover.

Passover

Passover was one of the major holidays in the Jewish calendar

It was Instituted by God himself When he instructed the people to celebrate it yearly and thereby remember when he brought them out of Egypt..

And This was a very significant event..

Liberating

During the original pass over

God was liberating his people from bondage from pharoh..

Sacrifice the lamb

And he instructed the people of Israel to sacrifice a spotless lamb..

and take the blood of that lamb and put it on the door posts and the top beam of the door..

And that night… the angel of death would pass over and take every first born child that was not covered by this blood..

That night

So that night..

The people did what he instructed..

They sacrificed the lamb.. applied the blood..

The angle of death came..

and those that were not covered died..

even the animals..

Free

We know that after this Pharaoh relented.. if just for a little while..

and Israel was freed from the bondage of Egypt..

Pilgrimage

so each year, all that were able would come into the city from all over the country.. and they would take place in the celebration..

And Jesus and the disciples are doing this..

Announcement

But Jesus is not just another pilgrim..

and this is not just another entrance into the city..

this entrance was different..

Because Jesus was not coming simply to celebrate the past shedding of the blood of a lamb..

he wasn’t just coming to celebrate the first passover..

Rather, He was coming to make a new sacrifice..

one of his own flesh and blood..

He was coming to be as John the baptist prophesied in John 1:29

John 1:29 ESV

…the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

because he was as peter declared in 1 Peter 1:19

1 Peter 1:19 ESV

…like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

And the writer of hebrews will later declare that this sacrifice was greater than any that had come before in Hebrews 9:13-14 where he writes..

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, not to offer a lamb..

but to be the lamb..

and because of the blood he would shed..

A new Passover would be instituted..

A new covenant would be struck..

that as Paul writes in romans 10:13..

Romans 10:13 ESV

..everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

And as Jesus said in John 8:36

John 8:36 ESV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

and in John 8:51

John 8:51 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”

And John 11:25-26

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

And John 6:47

John 6:47 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

And john 5:24

John 5:24 ESV

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

JESUS WAS BRINGING A BETTER PASSOVER!!

ONE FOR ALL PEOPLE..

ON THAT LIBERATES US FROM ETERNAL DEATH..

… I guess we can have an altar call now and dismiss..

Jesus was coming to celebrate passover..

But he was coming to be the passover..

Entrance

And so as they gets close to the city..

instruction

Jesus tells the disciples..

Listen

Go into the city..

and their you’ll find a colt..

this is a young donkey that has never been ridden on..

And bring it to me..

If someone asks you what you doing..

tell them..

“The lord needs it..”

I want you to remember that phrase..

Action

So the disciples go..

they find the donkey..

and the owner said..

hey what are you doing..

They say the lord needs it..

and he says ok..

and the bring the donkey to Jesus..

Sits

And then look what happens..

something very significant..

I want you to watch the serious theological implications here..

Tell you neighbor.. pay close attention.. you might miss it..

you ready?

Jesus..

Sits on the donkey..

….wow….

Some of you are completely lost..

thats ok..

Well come back…

……

Ride in

Jesus sits on the donkey..

and he begins to ride into the city..

and as he does..

the people.. not the disciples..

John says in his account the disciples are confused during this moment..

Its not until after everything has happened that they understand it.

but the people..

cut branches..

spread out their cloaks in from of Jesus..

and begin to wave the branches

saying..

Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna..

Blessed is the KING comes in the name of the lord!

Kings entrance..

You see in Jesus day..

This is the way that they would celebrate a king who had returned from war and been victorious..

And though they did not know it..

They too were making a prophetic declaration.

one that John sees written on Jesus thigh in revelations 19:16..

that he is the

Revelation 19:16 ESV

…King of kings and Lord of lords.

they were professing what Paul will later right to the philippians in 2:9-10

Philippians 2:9–10 ESV

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and to timothy in 2 timothy 1:10

2 Timothy 1:10 ESV

and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

they were prophetically singing the same praise Paul would sing in 1 Corinthians 15: 55-57

1 Corinthians 15:55–57 ESV

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

AS JESUS COMES INTO THE CITY..

THE CROWD IS DECLARING HIS KINGSHIP..

THEY ARE PROCLAIMING HIS SOON COMING VICTORY..

AND CELEBRATING THE LIFE THAT WILL COME THROUG HIS SACRIFICE..

Wow.. what a story..

What an event..

The Donkey..

The lord speaks

But as I was thinking about this passage..

The lord stuck something interesting in my spirit..

and honestly a little humbling..

and if taken wrong.. maybe a little offensive to my flesh..

and this is what he said..

and here’s the title of my message..

You are the donkey..

Tell your neighbor that..

You are the donkey

Infatuation with Donkys..

Favorite

now, if you know you me..

You know the donkey is one of my favorite bible animals..

and a argument could be made that its more than an animal..

it’s actually a bible character..

Because the donkey, in almost every story in the bible..

does more than just exist..

He is an active character..

in the story of balaam he actually speaks to the prophet..

So before you write this off to that..

hear me..

Let me prove it to you..

We are the donkey..

The donkey in the bible..

The donkey is a beast of burden..

It Jesus day, the donkey was used to carry a load from one place to another..

or even to pull a small cart..

They would put a blanket on its back..

and then secure a load to it..

Scripture

when we see a donkey in scripture in scripture..

many times it is carrying something..

Genesis 22.. Abraham rode a donkey..

Exodus 4.. moses put his family on the donkey on the way out of egypt..

Numbers 22.. Balaam rode a donkey to bring the prophesy about israel..

Christian Tradition states that Mary rode a donkey into jerusalem carrying the christ child..

And here in our story..

Jesus is riding the donkey into the city..

THE DONKEY IS A CARRIER..

He literally carried Jesus, and all he was, into the city..

Its was the donkey that was bringing Jesus to the poeple..

bringing Jesus to the place where everything would take place..

US..

And we.. just like the donkey..

are carriers of the presence and message of Jesus..

The light of Jesus..

Light

in Matthew 5 Jesus tells the people at the sermon on the mount..

A message on kingdom Living..

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

And In john 8:12

John 8:12 ESV

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

And John in John 1:4

John 1:4 ESV

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

So who is the light?

Jesus said we are the light..

but he said he was the light!

WE ARE THE CARRIER!

Lamp

you see in Jesus day they would use an oil lamp for light..

Imagine..

And you would call the oil lamp a light..

But the lamp is made of different parts..

You have the oil and the fire..

and you have the phyical lamp..

JESUS IS THE FLAME..

HE IS THE OIL..

but we are the carrier..

And we are called to carry the light where we go and shine it in the darkness..

Paul

Pauls said it this way.

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

light the donkey..

we are called to carry Jesus where ever we go..

Unclean..

but heres the crazy thing about this..

Is the donkey is an unclean animal..

Leviticus 11:26 ESV

Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean.

And so.. if you had a first born donkey..

You had to make it clean with a sacrifice..

Exodus 13:13 ESV

Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

…think about this..

Horse

Jesus.. could have told the disciples.. go get a white horse..

Thats the kind of horse an earthly king would have riden into the city..

but he didnt..

He chose an unclean..

little donkey..

And chose to use it..

us

I hope you can see the simbalance..

I dont know about you..

but theres so many times that I ask god..

Why.. Why would you choose me..

im nothing..

im just a sinner..

You had to save by grace..

But you did..

And he did..

And he chose. us..

what a marvel..

And that leaves to my this..

Humble and insignifigant..

finally..

Donkeys, because they are beast of burden..

are considered humble creatures..

They represented humility in Scripture..

They were a sign of the common..

they were many times insignificant.. except this sermon..

Looked down upon..

abused..

and despised..

but still..

Jesus chose the donkey to announce his kingship..

us

Again..

im often purplexed by what the Lord allows he to do..

I feel the words of 2 samuel 7:18

when david said of the promise God puts on him and his house..

2 Samuel 7:18 ESV

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?

Who am I..

Im just a kid from preble county..

grew up in corn feilds..

pastoring an inner city church..

a church that has an international mission..

WE ARE NOTHING..

WE ARE NO ONE..

BUT..

Jesus chose us..

The lord requires you..

You might say..

why does all that matter pastor..

because I want you to understand something..

God doesnt just see you..

he wants you..

he has purpose for you..

Need

Remember what jesus told the disicples to tell the owner of the donkey..

Luke 19:31 ESV

If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’ ”

Can I tell you something today?

The lord has need of you..

he requires you..

No because he cant do it on his own..

but because he wants you to help him in the kingdom..

Go

Upon his assertion..

to his 500 followers..

not preachers..

disicples..

he gave the command..

Matthew 28:18–19 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

in Matthew 5 he says shine your light..

in Matthew 11:4-6

Matthew 11:4–6 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

to the demoniac..

Luke 8:39 ESV

“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

WE ARE CALLED TO GO..

AND, like the donkey.. CARRY THE LIGHT AND PRESSENCE OF JESUS INTO THE WORLD..

will you go?

(Music)

Isaiah.. 6..

In isaiah

Isaiah is caught up to heaven..

and he sees the lord..

its one of my favorite passages..

and we see this same thing play out..

a mere man..

who reconizes he is unclean..

that he is unworthy..

stands before god..

and his thought it..

wow.. im gonna die.

..

But god cleanses him..

he hears the voice of the lord saying..

who will go for me..

god is asking that today..

who will go for me..

who will be willing to be the donkey and carry my presence across the nations..

Isaiah said.. here am I lord.. send me..

what will your anwser be?