Grand Theft Donkey?
CCCAG Palm Sunday, April 14, 2019
Scripture- Mark 11:1-11
Intro:
Favorite Cars-
{Whiteboard up- poll congregation for their first car/best car brand and then their dream car.}
Now imagine you finally get your dream car. You’re out in the driveway washing and waxing it. You’ve shined the tires and detailed it to perfection. Everything is gleaming and ready to go cruising when a couple of a guys show up. You recognize them from the news- they are part of this new religious movement that has been the talk of the town. You don’t know much about it other that your church leadership and pastors hate it and warned you to stay away from anything having to do with it.
Then these guys come up jumps into the drives seat, picks up the keys, and starts her up. You start to protest, and he simply says, “The Lord needs it.”
A couple of guys you don’t know is about to commit grand theft auto, and take away your dream car.
What is your reaction?
There is something similar going on immediately before Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Let’s read about the first Palm Sunday-
Mark 11:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 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. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
10 “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
11 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.
Prayer
I. What this donkey meant to its owner (Background)
As I was reading about the events of passion week I've always found it interesting that Jesus begins his triumphal entry into Jerusalem I telling his followers to go and commit grand theft donkey. Now being that Jesus is God and the creator of everything that exists he really can't tell them to steal anything because it's all his to begin with so the title of this message is a little bit of tongue in cheek.
So let's put what's going on in a little perspective-
For us in the 21st century a car/truck/van is critical to have. Unless you live in a large city with great public transportation, you really can’t live in our world without a form of automotive transportation. Particularly for us in the rural areas, having a vehicle of some sort is essential for life. Food shopping, doctors’ appointments, and jobs are just 3 quick reasons why it’s so essential to have a car. Even the Amish understand this and call us to give them rides when they have to travel a larger distance.
Go back 100 years ago, no one had a car. They had horses or some type of horse drawn wagon.
In fact, Horses were extremely valuable, particularly to those who settled the western part of our country. Whole governmental organizations were formed to find horse thieves and they were often hanged at the spot they were found. In fact, they would tie the rope around their neck, sit them on the horse they stole, tie the other end of the rope around a tree branch, and slap the horses rear so it would bolt, leaving the guy hanging.
That was the American Wild West, but here in Jerusalem around 30 AD, ownership of horses was very rare and frankly impractical in that area. It was very rocky, very steep, and a desert environment. Even the well-worn paths could cause a horse to break a leg, so most people relied on donkey’s who were sturdier and stronger to serve their masters.
Theft of a donkey was also a bit harder than stealing a horse. Most donkeys were stubborn and willful creatures who didn’t want to obey their master much less some stranger who came along and tried to steal them.
Either way in Roman occupied Jerusalem the penalties for stealing something as valuable an important as a person's mode of transportation we're very stiff. People could be scourged or even in some cases put to death for stealing a person's horse or donkey.
That’s the background, so back to the event we read about in scripture- pretend for a moment you are a 1st century resident of Jerusalem. You're out mowing your lawn or maybe doing a minor repair on your fence and you see a couple of sketchy looking guys, obviously from Galilee looking at your neighbors one and only donkey.
You watch these guys walk up to the donkey, untie it, and start walking away with it.
Being the good neighbor you are, you yell over your fence at them and ask them what they're doing.
“Hey, what do you think you are doing?”
You hear a Galilean accent that says “The Lord needs it and will send it back”
That brings us to our first point this morning, that phrase-
II. The Lord Needs it and will send it back
In the scripture we started out with this morning we saw that the people around the owner of this donkey's house are the ones who questioned the disciples about taking it. In other accounts it's the owner directly questioning the disciples.
Either way think about this for a moment- if this was you would you have the faith to trust the word of some guys who claimed to be followers of God that this was indeed the Lord's will.
This donkey is your one and only means of transportation.
The donkey might help its owner with a plow, or turn a millwheel, or pull a cart in the fields.
Many times, these work animals were also a beloved member of the family much like a dog or a cat would be today.
It could also be that the owner just bought this donkey after working for years to save up the money (2-3 months’ salary), and now he is being asked to give it up.
Ultimately, this story of grand theft donkey is a precursor to that which is about to follow.
Think about this-
This is the beginning of Passion Week- the slow, inexorable walk of Jesus toward the cross.
This is a direct foreshadowing of what God was about to do for us.
So, when you think that maybe God was being a little unreasonable asking to borrow this man’s donkey, consider what God was about to do-
Roman’s 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
God was giving Jesus for us- his most valuable possession to save those in willful rebellion against HIM.
In fact, this donkey filled a vital part of messianic prophecy-
Zech 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This is why they gave Jesus the hero’s parade- the people were very familiar with that scripture and they thought He was an earthly king coming to do earthly things.
They missed the other prophecies that said the Messiah was a suffering servant, beaten and bruised for our sin, and crushed for our rebellion. Jesus took the punishment that we deserved, so that we could become righteous- without spot, blemish in God’s sight.
One of the big ideas of this donkey is this- God will never ask you to give up something more valuable than He has.
Think about that for a moment.
God the Father gave us God the Son. (John 3:16) Match that.
Notice something else here- the disciples promised- “The Lord needs it, and will send it back”
In other words, whatever you are giving up right now for the sake of the Kingdom, God will bring it back
pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
In this case, the man got back not only a donkey, but probably the best trained, best behaved, and strongest donkey in all of Jerusalem.
How do I know that?
Because Jesus can’t touch anything and leave it the same. Jesus brings new life to everything HE touches.
That’s why when people tell me they are Christians, but have no evidence of it in their lives, speech, behavior, or priorities, I have to question if Jesus has touched them, or is currently active in their lives.
A little rabbit trail here. It might not be for the people sitting here this morning, maybe it’s for the podcast. BTW, that is exploded and we are averaging 200-300 listens from all over the world. Just another way your faithful giving affects the world.
One of the advantages of being a bi-vocational pastor is that I get to meet a lot of people right where they are in life. It's very very rare that I will tell them but I'm a pastor because it changes things. It makes things really awkward for a lot of people and that’s not why I am there.
A while back Greg Mandigo and I were in the back of an ambulance transporting a person to another hospital. This guy was complaining about everything very profanely in just about every other word out of his mouth was a curse using God’s name or Jesus’. One of the things I have to do during the transport is sign their computer as the treating paramedic so they can bill at that level. So as Greg hands it over to he says, “Pastor John can I get your signature please?”
Of course, now the look of shock comes up on his face and you can see him thinking what did I just talk about or what did I just say.
Another time I was off the coffee with a friend from work who was having some difficulties at home. He professed to be a Christian and said he and his wife weren’t getting along, and he was trying to be a good husband and a good father to his children. As he was sitting there his wife called and he accidentally clicked the phone on speaker and suddenly the room was filled with some of the worst profanity I've ever heard.
I mean this woman could give lessons Marines on how to cuss.
You could see him frantically stabbing at his phone trying to get the speaker off before just yelling into the phone honey I'm talking to Pastor John right now I'll call you back and hanging up.
He started to profusely apologize and I just stopped him and said “You know if this is the language it's going on in your home then I have to ask is Jesus the Lord of your life.
The Bible says out of the overflow of the heart does the mouth speak. It also says sweet waters and bitter waters cannot flow from the same spring. The short version of that is if Jesus is touching your heart right now as an active part of your life then your heart should reflect his and Jesus doesn't drop any F bombs nor does he use his own name as a curse.
I use these two examples to point out the fact that if Jesus has touched you, everything in your life should reflect that. The manner of your speech reflects who in what you really believe in. I'm not talking about a sudden exclamation after you hit your thumb with a hammer. I’ve had people at the altar think they lost their salvation because they stepped on their kids Legos in the middle of the night and said something indelicate. Obviously, there should be a repentance of that, but what I’m really talking about a pattern of speaking that does not reflect the nature of God or his character.
If Jesus Christ has touched you, and is the LORD of your life then his power should be continually touching you, then your actions and especially your words should reflect HIM.
If God can change a beast as stubborn as a donkey He can also change you.
There is one other application of this scripture for us today.
This man’s obedience to God’s request did something else for him- it opened up the supernatural blessing of God.
III. Obedience to the abnormal is the key to unlock supernatural blessing
Many of you know your bibles very well and I want you just think back to many of the heroes and prophets and leaders in kings of the Old Testament.
Many of them were called upon to do some pretty unique and to our 21st century brains- crazy things weren’t they?
Noah- build a boat capable of ocean travel (something no one had ever seen) for an event no one has ever seen (rain) for a 120 years of no one seeing anything. 120 years. Most of us can’t behave for 120 seconds after leaving this building, yet Noah stayed on mission for over a century.
Moses- walk up to a man named Pharaoh, who thinks he is a God and tell him to free the Hebrew Slaves- which are his source of economic prosperity and power and them leaving will bankrupt his entire nation. Then after they leave, God will lead them to put their back to an ocean while the mightiest army on earth bears down on them. Then open up a path through that ocean for you to walk through.
Joshua- March around that city for 7 days, and the largest walls every created to that point will fall down flat. Not only that, but you have to convince the other 6 million people it’s a good idea.
David- one of the smallest men in Israel fighting the largest man in Philistia
These are just 4 examples, but they all have something in common-
Obedience to the abnormal, some say even the ridiculous is what opens up the miraculous.
People wonder why American church’s aren’t seeing miracles. It’s because we, and I lump myself in with this, we have lost the attribute of radical obedience. WE don’t have faith in God.
It’s probably because our lives are too easy. It’s possibly because we are so distracted by our gizmo’s and technology that the possibility of God’s presence, power, and provision gets pushed to the background and forgotten.
Or maybe- it’s because we are not obedient to His call on our lives- either through the way we represent HIM to the world, or how we obey his calling for our lives.
All of us have a general calling to live faithful to His commands and character. That’s the same regardless of who you are and what church you go to.
Those commands that reveal God can be found in
Our moral code found in the 10 Commandments,
All of that summarized in the the greatest commandment- to Love the Lord Your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love your fellow humans beings as yourselves.
And the call to make disciples of all people.
Those are the commands for all Christians regardless of denomination or affiliation.
But God also has a specific calling is for you, and you alone. It may be a calling that makes no sense to anyone else, but if you take a radical step of trust in God, He will reward that faith and elevate your life in such a way that it will bring HIM great praise and blow the minds of the people in your life.
It’s how you fit within His Kingdom, and what HE has made you to do. It’s your mission in life to seek, find, and pursue that calling until the day you stand before HIM.
Jesus obeyed all the commands, and perfectly fulfilled the mission God gave Him. Let’s remember that this morning as we remember His sacrifice for us by observing communion.
Communion
