Donkeys and Angels
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Mark 11:1-11
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“Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs.” (Mathew 4:11 MSG)
I have often overlooked these few words at the end of Jesus' wilderness story which has caused me to ponder what else I might have missed.
Having committed to wander on this Lenten journey, I ask you this question: when reading about Jesus’ forty-day wilderness experience, do we ever pause to consider what it was like for him outside of Satan’s temptations? I have no concept of what it was like for him. However, I know he was not alone; “angels came...” They came to take care of him on his journey. They did not come to take him out of his journey? If he had been taken out of the journey too early, it would have hindered the necessary soul work to prepare him for his ministry.
There is an interesting parallel between Jesus' initial wilderness journey and the journey he entered three years later when he rode a borrowed donkey into Jerusalem. In both instances, he knew he was stepping into the wilderness. The only difference is he stepped into his forty-day journey in relative obscurity. In contrast, he entered the other journey to the fanfare and celebration of the crowd.
Was he wrestling with his humanness as he entered Jerusalem? Was he beginning to sense being abandoned and alone? We hear Jesus verbalize that struggle in his crucifixion. “Why have you forsaken me!?”
We all have and will experience a wilderness journey. I have heard others describe their journeys as a desert place and, most recently, a hell. I would have to say that all of those descriptions have applied to my own journeys at one time or another.
Along with the sense of abandonment and being alone, other emotions have occupied those journeys, such as brokenness, pain, despair, anger, sadness, depression, anxiety, fear, exhaustion, wonder…peace… Have I missed any? Can you relate?
Two themes emerge as I consider the parallels between the two wilderness experiences. He was not alone in either journey, and both revealed his true character, prior to an expanding ministry.
How does this Palm Sunday ride relate to us? What about the celebration and fanfare? What about the jubilant praising crowds? Does it relate? Yet I wonder.
On this Palm Sunday. Do we come with expectations or wonder?
Might there be those in the crowd who were caught up in the energy? Yet, secretly in their hearts, beginning to question:
“Everything I heard about him, I really thought he would have been riding in on a white stallion. But! He is our king!”
“I thought he would have been more muscular and wearing a uniform.”
“He doesn’t look like he has much authority.”
“He truly is who he says he is!… I think.”
Interestingly, a short time later, after all the fanfare, the crowd's attitude changes abruptly, taking an opposite reaction. When their false expectations of Jesus and what he was going to do for them fell to pieces, they turned on him. Just like Judas.
What about your walk through your wilderness, your desert place, your hell, your short-lived fanfare? Do you come with expectations or wonder? Do you plead to be plucked out of that journey?
I have had my own wilderness walks. Some of them have not been as much walks as much as frantic sprints. However, no amount of frantic sprinting or effort on my part has ever helped. I have learned to stop and reflect on what I know about my previous wilderness walks. The earliest of my wilderness walks were fraught with statements like “Why does he not take me out of this pain?” “Why does he not answer me?” “Why does he not…”
Facing these questions, I come to a level of realization that I am, in some ways, the same as the crowd calling for his crucifixion when my expectations are not met. In some ways, I am influenced by the crowd. Take it from me: in your wilderness journey, your desert journey, and your hell journey, there are no crowds. There is no crowded interstate fast lane to travel on and in this journey.
The perceptions of my past wilderness walks cause me to see the present desert road through a lens that creates not an expectation but an expectancy. An expectancy of God's presence in my wonder. Some might argue that they don’t sense God’s presence in their walks. However, I would challenge them with this thought. God’s presence has everything to do with our ability and willingness to see and hear him. And when we do, we realize he has been present the whole time!
Our house is positioned in such a way I can take in the sunrise every morning. I have come to the place in my journey where, in full expectancy and wonder, I get up early when it’s still dark to watch the sunrise. When I sit quietly in those minutes of dawn and sunrise, no matter the state of my soul, the words from Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) repeat in my heart and head. “…his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning…”
A little science fact to add. The sun/Son never moves. It/He is always there. It is me and my world that rotates in and out of darkness.
“Oh, he even sees me in the dark!
At night, I’m immersed in the light!
It’s a fact: darkness isn’t dark to you;
night and day, darkness and light,
they’re all the same to you.” Psalms 139:12 MSG
Where do you find yourself? In a wilderness journey, between wilderness journeys, just going into or coming out of a wilderness journey? Know these facts:
Jesus’ presence is real.
Just as Jesus entered Jerusalem with fanfare, know He is your biggest fan and is cheering you on.
Through His presence in your journey, little by little, He will reveal your true character. The one he designed specifically for you.
So grab a donkey. Hop on and slowly enter your journey. You never know where your donkey will lead you.
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