As we explored Palm Sunday from the viewpoint of the donkey (Luke 19:28-44), we discovered that in choosing a donkey, Jesus fulfilled Messianic prophecy, for Zech 9:9 tells us, ‘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.’ (Zech 9:9) By choosing a donkey rather than a horse or other animal, Jesus made it plain to all that he was indeed proclaiming himself to be king… but perhaps not the kind of king that was expected.

Zechariah’s prophecy of a righteous and victorious king would have been music to the ears of Jews who had suffered under Roman rule and oppression for over 80 years. Jesus had consistently demonstrated God’s concern for the poor and needy, showing a concern for them which highlighted righteousness as doing what is right (see Matt 11:5). However, Zechariah also spoke of a ‘lowly‘ king. Jesus had taught his disciples that he was gentle and humble in heart (Matt 11:29) and in choosing a donkey, Jesus illustrated his identification with mankind in all its suffering and lowliness (Heb 2:14-15, Heb 4:15, Heb 2:18).

God’s kingdom is not like our idea of a kingdom, where a king rules by authority and might and no consideration for others. The kingdom of God, Jesus taught, belongs to little children, can only be entered by being born again, is a kingdom where the first will be last and the last will be first and the greatest will be those who serve (Mark 1:15, Mark 9:1, Mark 10:15, Luke 6:20, John 3:5-8, Matt 19:16-30). The donkey’s role is to emphasise yet again that this kingdom where Jesus rules is a topsy-turvy one as far as the world is concerned. The people were cheering and celebrating because they thought this triumphal entry into Jerusalem heralded a new king and a new kingdom… and they were right. But the fact that less than a week later Jesus was crucified on a cross tells us that the majority of people did not really grasp at this time the kind of king Jesus was or the kind of kingdom He would introduce.

Paul reminds us that ‘the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength’ (1 Cor 1:25) and that ‘the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’ (1 Cor 1:18)  What better way to communicate this truth than through a simple donkey?

Using the excellent Lost Sheep series of stories, we looked tonight at Palm Sunday from the point of view of the donkey (named Dave in this story) who carried Jesus into Jerusalem.

Dave’s excited about having been the one to be privileged to carry the king into Jerusalem, but is shocked to hear on his grandpa’s return a week later that the king, so acclaimed by crowds as they entered, was not well received thereafter and did not receive a golden crown or a golden throne. Instead, he had to wear a crown of thorns and was sentenced to death by crucifixion.

Our ways are not God’s ways, however, for this cruel death was not the end of the story. Instead, Grandpa told of the resurrection of Jesus and concluded, ‘Long live the King!’

Those of us of a certain age remember a phrase from the ‘Blue Peter’ programme with fondness: ‘Here’s one I prepared earlier!‘ When demonstrating craft or baking activities, rather than being forced to wait for things to stick or cook, presenters produced a version already prepared to show what the finished item should look like. Preparation is immensely important in any task. as the Robert Schuller quote below demonstrates:

Preparation is crucial to every achievement:

Winston Churchill went so far as to say that all his past life had been a preparation for his service as Prime Minister during the Second World War.

If we admire people’s preparation and perseverance for great events, that’s as nothing compared to God’s preparation! All of Jesus’ life was preparation for His death. but the Son of God was actually preparing for this even before He was born! Isaiah’s prophecy about the Suffering Servant (Is 53:1-6) was made 600 years before the birth of Jesus, but even as far back as Gen 3:15, we see God’s promise of a Messianic deliverer. Rev 13:8 speaks of the Lamb ‘slain from the creation of the world.’ God’s preparation for our salvation was definitely long-term. He chose the person (Jesus), the place of His sacrifice (Jerusalem) and the time (when the message would be quickly spread thanks to the Greek and Roman empires), choosing to sweep away our offences like a cloud and our sins like the morning mist. (Is 44:22)

So much God-preparation can be celebrated at Easter, but His preparation continues now, for Jesus has now gone to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3) We can’t possibly contemplate all that God is preparing for those who love Him (1 Cor 2:8-10), but we can rejoice in a God who is quite the best at preparation!

This week I had the privilege of telling the story of Basil The Branch at Goldthorpe Primary School. Basil the Branch is part of the vine… but makes a song and dance about growing grapes, believing that fruitfulness is all about self-effort…

You can watch part of the story by clicking on the link: Basil The Branch

Thankfully, Basil found that what really mattered was focussing on the vine and being part of the vine rather than on deep breaths, wiggling of shoulders and strange noises… Our fruitfulness too depends on our abiding in Jesus; the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control) is grown as the Holy Spirit lives in us.

Our thanks to Goldthorpe Primary School for allowing us to be involved in their assemblies.

We talk about the ‘seven-year itch’ in a marriage, a period when doubt, disillusionment and decay can take hold of us and wreck our happiness. Yet in the Bible, we read of the opposite: seven-year-blessing.

In Deut 15:1-11 we read how debts were to be cancelled in the seventh year, how the Israelites were commanded to cancel loans made to a fellow Israelite and a clean slate was to be offered to other Jews. This may not have made commercial sense, but was a pathway to blessing, for it reflected God’s generous heart. Servants were to be set free in this period. (Deut 15:12-15) Seven, the perfect number, was to signify liberty, mercy and generosity.

The Year of Jubilee (celebrated every fifty years) was a once-in-a-lifetime celebration and cancelling of debts, but this seven-year-cycle was something which vividly illustrated God’s nature to people in a practical and personal way. Hope was held out; kindness and generosity were encouraged as a way of life, not a one-off feature of godly living. Jesus too taught that generosity should be offered to ‘the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind.’ (Luke 14:13) He reminded us that ‘although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.’ (Luke 14:14) How can we reflect God’s kindness and generosity today?

I used to feel that proms were an American rite of passage unsuited to British culture. The idea that sixteen-year-olds needed a huge ball to celebrate leaving school struck me, an introvert who hates dancing, as futile, expensive and unnecessary.

The form of proms may leave us uncomfortable (and the expense can be ridiculous, which is why the ‘Prom Perfect’ scheme pioneered by Alison Sykes of the Salvation Army and the Dearne Area team whereby outfits and accessories donated by people can be hired at a fraction of the cost is a brilliant idea), but the notion of ‘rites of passage’ is crucial to our ongoing development. I still find the terminology of many of these events (‘graduation’ from nursery to school, for example) irritating, but the sentiment of formally acknowledging transition and change is hugely important.

Richard Rohr calls these transitions ‘releasing the loyal soldier’, referring to a Japanese ceremony at the end of the Second World War whereby all soldiers were honourably discharged from the army back into communities to be ‘men, fathers, hushands first and foremost’, rather than soldiers. There will inevitably be ‘rites of passage’ in our lives: the birth of a child acknowledged in a dedication ceremony, the transition of a child to school, baptisms, marriages, funerals and so on. But sometimes the transitions are less welcome: divorce, the painful loss of bereavement, illness. At each significant stage or hurdle of our lives, we need acknowledgment and maybe even some formal ‘event’ to help us to let go and to move forward. We need markers, like the stones collected from the River Jordan to mark God’s miraculous parting of the river to enable the Israelites to enter the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness.

Altars were the Biblical sign of remembrance, of marking God’s significant actions in our everyday lives, and were helpful ways of acknowledging what had happened and choosing to remember God’s intervention in our personal situations.

However we choose to mark these significant milestones in our lives, we need to be moving forward in God, which will, at times, involve a painful letting go of the past in order to embrace all God has for us now. Only as we are prepared to let something ‘die’ will we be able to experience the flourishing of new life and growth.