"Kiss of Judas"
Henn, Ulrich
Henn, Ulrich
March 29, 2015
Zechariah had prophesied that the Messiah would ride into
Jerusalem on a donkey.
Our modern Western notion of a donkey is not a flattering one.
We think of a donkey as a stupid animal.
G.K. Chesterton popularized this notion in a poem.
In it he has the donkey reflect on its ugliness and say to itself:
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devils walking parody
On all four-footed things.
Fools! For I also had my hour,
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears
And palms before my feet.
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears
And palms before my feet.
And so the donkey says in effect: "You modern people may
ridicule and mock me,
But of all the animals on earth, I was the chosen To carry on my
back the savior of the world."
People in biblical times honored the donkey.
The donkey was an animal of peace as opposed to the horse, which
was an animal of war, carrying soldiers into battle.
Jesus' act of riding into Jerusalem on an animal of peace says
that an important part of the Messiah's mission would not be to rally people to
their cause and drive the Romans out of Palestine into the sea.
Jesus wasn't going to be a warrior-king, to sit on a throne and be
served by conquered Romans.
Instead, he came to kneel on the floor and wash the feet of his
subjects.
Jesus didn't to do battle against other people.
He wasn't riding on a horse.
He has come to rally them behind him and do battle against
poverty, hunger, hatred, and all forms
of injustice.
Jesus hasn't come to condemn people.
He has come to forgive them.
Jesus hasn't come to destroy people's dreams.
He has come to fulfill them in the most wonderful way imaginable.
It is this Jesus whom we greet today.Scripture readings
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