Donkey One

Luke 19:28-40

One of the most familiar pictures on American TV screens is that of the president of the US walking across the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One, his white topped VH-3D helicopter, for the quick trip out to Andrews Air Force Base to rendezvous with Air Force One, the flying White House. On board Air Force One, the president and his staff travel with all possible security precautions in place. The VC-25A, which shares the airframe of a Boeing 747 but little else, takes off with a quarter of a million pounds of thrust generated by 8 engines, which enable the plane to get airborne quickly when security concerns require it. The plane has a maximum speed of 630 knots-just 130 knots short of the speed of sound-and can travel 6800 miles without refueling. Air Force One also contains multiple electronic and material countermeasures to ward off an aerial attack. It doesn’t have the escape pod or parachutes imagined in the Harrison Ford movie. The jet’s huge slipstream would make those kinds of measures useless.

When Air Force One rolls to a stop on the tarmac at the local airport or airbase, there is no mistaking the famous blue paint scheme, the presidential seal and the distinctive UNITED STATES OF AMERICA lettering on the fuselage. Although the planes have changed, the look is nearly the same as it was when Jacqueline Kennedy had the scheme painted on the original Air Force One in the 1960’s. For five decades the image of an America president emerging from that famous plane has been a fixture in world events.

Today we look at the coming of the King of Kings into Jerusalem. He is not coming in a big jet with a lot of pomp and circumstance, his mode of transport is a mild mannered donkey, if you please Donkey One, instead of Air Force One.

I. There is a purpose for this trip. He came into Jerusalem for a reason. It was not a pleasure trip that day.

Rarely do our presidents take trips just for a quick outing. The planning that goes into a trip by the president is enormously detailed. It starts months in advance if possible. The Secret Service starts working with local law enforcement to get route laid out and security fixed. It takes time to get this set up. The president really can’t just take a day trip on the spur of the moment. He almost always has a real purpose for his trip. We do know that some unannounced trips are made, such as Bush’s trip to Iraq for Thanksgiving in 2003.

Jesus had a purpose for his trip into Jerusalem. He was not going into the city for a summit meeting with the Pharisees. They weren’t going to sit down for a powwow. Jesus was not coming into Jerusalem for a speech or a press conference. He wasn’t going to meet the press. There was no town hall meeting on the agenda.

Jesus came into Jerusalem unannounced but with purpose. Luke 18:31 records Jesus saying I have to go and die as the Scripture says. But, he promised that he would rise. His disciples, his “cabinet” if you please, don’t understand the purpose. He had a reason to go to Jerusalem.

II. Jesus uses an unusual means of royal transport. It carried a far more powerful message.

Emperors in the day would always enter a city with great pomp and circumstance. Elite troops would lead the way. The Emperor would be on a large warhorse or in an iron chariot. People would know that he was coming. And they would definitely know that he was the king. He was the one that they needed to honor if not worship.

Here the King of Kings comes into Jerusalem on a donkey. He does not have an army just a few men who have followed him. The donkey on which he rode was not even full grown. It was just a colt. Here the King of Kings comes in on four spindly legs, not the powerful hooves of a warhorse, or the mighty thrust of the engines of Air Force One.

But, the mode of transport was very important. It carried the strong Messianic claims of Jesus’  ministry. It echoes the message of Zechariah 9:9. Instead of a display of power, this king comes humbly riding on donkey. The religious elite certainly understood what Jesus was doing by arriving in the city this way, unannounced and unauthorized. Rather than joining the cheering supporters, they stage a protest. Eventually they will realize that this would be king’s security detail would be pretty weak, and they would make sure Jesus left the city on their terms, wanting him to stagger, not swagger carrying a symbol of defeat and death.

III. Now is the time to assess the preparation of our hearts for the coming king. His purpose reaches out to us.

We need to prepare not in the old sense of the coming Messiah, but in the eschatological sense of the return of the king. Are you ready to meet the king? This is by far the most important question we have to answer during this Easter season. We are called to be prepared for the coming king. We need to be ready for his return. We have no clue when that will be, but he will return. And when he returns it will be with a purpose. It will be to judge the living and the dead.

How will we welcome the coming king? How are you going to welcome him? Will it be with open arms and joy because he is your Lord and Savior? Or will it be in fear and trembling because eternal damnation waits? The choice is yours.

There’s an old story of how on one of the pope’s visits to America. His motorcade ran into traffic coming from the airport. His limousine got separated from its escort, and the driver got lost. The pope told the driver to pull over. It had been years since he had driven a car, but they were lost anyway so what could it hurt? The pope pulled out onto the expressway and it felt so good to be driving again he forgot about the speedometer. Naturally he got pulled over. The officer came to the window, saw the pope grinning sheepishly. The officer turned on his heel and strode quickly back to the patrol car.

“I don’t know what we oughta do. That car up there belongs to someone big.” “Yeah,” said his partner. “Who is it? The Mayor?” “Bigger.” “Governor.” “Even bigger.”

“The President?” “No, this guy is even bigger than that.” “Who can be bigger than the president?” “I don’t know,” said the first officer, “but he has the pope for a driver.”

The king is coming. He may be quiet, he may be noisy. But, he is coming. He won’t need the pope to drive for him. He is not going to be riding on a donkey colt this time. He won’t even be riding in Air Force One. He will be coming on the clouds. Are you ready for the coming of the king?