Lent Day Thirty-Two

Day Thirty-Two-The Palm Sunday Donkey

When my Dad was growing up, during the depression his parents would send him to his Uncles farm for the summer.  Times were hard and the family didn’t have much, but at least on the farm three meals a day were possible and probable. Dad always told us kids that he loved these summers on Uncle Harold’s farm in Illinois, except for one thing: “The Donkey”!

Uncle Harold had a donkey that didn’t like people and if the donkey had a chance it would bite, so Uncle Harold’s advice to Dad was: “Don, stay away from the donkey”!  Well Dad took this advice, but I think the summer brought a few opportunities for Dad and the biting donkey to interact.

Unlike the donkey on Uncle Harold’s farm in Illinois, the donkey that Jesus rode on Palm Sunday was much different. Many people ask: “Why would Jesus ride a donkey, when he as a king should have ridden the most magnificent horse”?  The answer is that a horse was ridden in battle in these times, and the donkey was a sign of peace.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he rode in not as a general to attack and wage battle, but rather he rode in as the"Prince of Peace": “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Luke 19:38)

Brothers and Sisters, my prayer for you this day is that you approach this day as a person that is not afraid of the donkey, or the one that rides it into Jerusalem. As we yell “Hosanna!” let us understand what it means?  Hosanna is Hebrew for “Save, we pray”! Let us approach the rider of the donkey this Palm Sunday and always in the faith and the knowledge that our prayers are heard, and through the death and resurrection of Jesus the donkey rider, we are saved.

Hosanna,

Pastor Tim.

Day Thirty-Two Scriptures

Luke 19:37, 38

John 14:27

Romans 12:18