Domes - Our Monthly Newsletter
Dunbar UCC
April 1, 2007
Psalm 118:22-29
Matthew 21:1-9
Silly
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Today we saw Jesus riding into Jerusalem on an ass. And I don’t know which one looked more like an ass -- the donkey, or Jesus. Usually a king is riding a war horse, or a chariot. But here’s Jesus -- people shouting King and Lord -- and he’s riding this small animal -- his feet probably barely clearing the ground. He’s dressed in rags and instead of an armed guard accompanying him, he’s got these disciples, mostly illiterate, who still have no idea what’s going on. So -- this is how God makes his grand entrance into Jerusalem?
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Jesus looks like a fool. Riding a stubborn, squat amimal that goes hee-haw! hee-haw! -- and crowds throwing clothing and tree branches in front, yelling “Hosanna! Hosanna!” Which means, “Save us! Save us!” Yeah -- a peasant riding a donkey is going to defeat the Romans! This is so silly -- I’m expecting the Three Stooges to come running out of the crowd any minute, with Larry stepping in a big pile of something the donkey deposited on the road, and Curly going “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk...” and Mo cracking his palm branch over Curly’s head, saying, “Shaaaad Aaaap!” Meanwhile, King Jesus rides on “in majesty,” God’s comedian son. Palm Sunday is such a joke.
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But the joke’s on us, because....
...we think power is the loud rumble from the pipes of a Harley Davidson.
...we think power is a Dirty Harry kind of guy pointing a .357 magnum at some poor loser and saying, “Go ahead, make my day.”
...we think power is the view from the corporate penthouse in Trump Towers.
...we think power is a nuclear arsenal that can destroy this earth a hundred times over.
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No -- the joke’s on us. The real power in this world is a peasant, on an ass, on a dusty road, on the way to his execution.