Borrowed: Jesus Style
Palm Sunday March 28, 2021
Mark 11:1–10 When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’” They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, some of the bystanders said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the cold?” They told them what Jesus had said; and they allowed them to take it. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it; and he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and other spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. Then those who went ahead and those followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Philippians 2: 5–11
Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
*****
It has been a privilege to travel with groups to Israel a couple times in the past decade. Few places in the world have made a more lasting impression. On this Palm Sunday, my mind goes to the setting for this passage. I recall my first visit to the Mount of Olives which overlooks the Kidron Valley and from there, up a short distance, to the Old City of Jerusalem. During my first visit, the group I was with planned to walk into the city on a road that dated back 3000 years. It was the road that Jesus traveled as he entered Jerusalem on that day we now call Palm Sunday.
As we stood at the top of the hill looking down the route, on the left was the largest Jewish cemetery in the world. It was established in the long-held belief that the Messiah would appear on the Mount of Olives. Not far off the route into the city, at the bottom of the hill is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus was betrayed by Judas. All of these locations are just a short distance from the path Jesus took as he entered the city on Palm Sunday.
As we got off the bus for the beginning of our trek from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem, a couple of local men approached us. “Would you like to borrow a donkey to ride down the hill?” they asked. “Perhaps you would sit upon one and we can take your picture.” These were not simply kind offers by generous new friends. This was the way these men make their living.
None of us took them up on the offer, particularly when we heard it was $50 to sit on the donkey for a picture and $150 to “borrow” the donkey. These concessionaires could demand such prices because of the location. We turned down their invitation. It was enough to know we were on the same road Jesus’ traveled so long ago.
The people behind us, however, were seriously pious Christians. They were speedily peeling Israeli shekels from their money pouches for the privilege of riding those donkeys down the hill. But I could not help but think if they really wanted an authentic biblical replay, then no money should have changed hands.
The Bible tells us the donkey was borrowed. Jesus sent two disciples ahead of him on his way to Jerusalem saying “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.’”
The act of the disciples borrowing a donkey catches my attention. All those people that day — standing looking toward the city– see Jesus as the one long-promised to be the King who would bring them a better life — different from the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire. They cheer on Jesus as he goes down the path toward Jerusalem: “Hosanna! (literally “save us”) Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”
But he comes on a borrowed donkey. Now what kind of king is this?
If you have been around the Christian story awhile, you have heard how borrowing dots key parts of Jesus’ life. Jesus was born in a borrowed stable and laid in a borrowed manger. As he traveled with his disciples, he borrowed beds on which to rest. He ate his final meal in a borrowed room. He was crucified on a borrowed cross. And when he died, somebody placed his body in a borrowed tomb.[1]
Jesus was a borrower. He did not grasp or grab what did not belong to him, but shared freely what was given to him. Instead, “Jesus did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself.” (Philippians 2:6) Jesus did not hold up his power and position as God. He never forced himself upon anybody. Instead, He gave himself away completely for the benefit of others.
Have you ever considered how remarkable this is? Jesus did not own very much — just the clothes on his body and the sandals on his feet. After he was arrested and condemned, the soldiers tossed dice to see who would take his clothing.
He commanded those who followed him to travel life lightly. Jesus instructed his disciples: “When you go out to proclaim the good news, take no money, no knapsack, no extra shoes, not even a walking stick. Take only a word of peace, borrow the bed given to you, and proclaim that God’s kingdom has come very close.”[1] (Mark 6:7–10, Matthew 10:5–15) At its core, this Good News Jesus came to bring does not need a lot of possessions to be shared.
Life is very different for us. We have garages, closets and basements holding items we use occasionally at best. When we move, we hire semi-trucks to transport our possessions to the next residence. When we die, the heirs order the rolloff (dumpster) to toss away volumes of items they deem worthless or unwanted.
In America we live in an economy sustained by consumption. Experts tell us for recovery from the pandemic to proceed and reach the most impacted levels of our society, we need to spend. The thinking on a very basic level is that through buying more things, we help others. This way of Jesus, of borrowing items would be economically disastrous today.
A dozen years ago I joined in Palm Sunday mass at a monastery in southern France during a sabbatical leave. The Community of St. Jean sits on the edge of the village of St. Jodard where there was little economic activity. In the two weeks I was there, the two stores and one restaurant were rarely open, but the local pub seemed to attract a small crowd each day about 4pm.
Meanwhile at the monastery, it is always quiet — except for the bell that rings to tell the brothers when it was time to get up, go to class, Mass or when to eat.
At the monastery, meals are eaten in silence. There was an art I learned in how to say, without saying it, “Please pass the bread” or “Yes, I would like another serving of lentils.” The community of brothers live simply. They wear a brown cassock each day and have little need for consuming and possessing things. The guest master described why he kept no possessions other than the clothes on his back. “If your closet is empty, there is more room for God.”
From everything we know about Jesus, he owned little. What Jesus did possess though, was of infinite value. He possessed a deep knowledge of the scriptures. And that is how he knew the prophets expected the true ruler of God’s people to be completely humble.
Jesus possessed a profound sensitivity to the world’s deepest needs. He paid attention to the hurts of poor and rich alike. But his greatest possession was a love for every single person and a willingness to give his all for this world. In the words of the reading from Philippians: Jesus emptied himself.
And this is the kind of God that we glimpse in the man who borrows a donkey.
As author Raymond Brown puts it in his book “Death of the Messiah: Jesus “manifests a God whose very being is not acquisitive, but self-giving… [that] the ultimate power is the power to renounce power.”[2]
This week the Christian church throughout the world recalls how Jesus gives himself to the world. On this noteworthy day, he rides a borrowed donkey into the center of the city that will reject him. A person with few possessions, he empties himself of all that he possesses. It is all for the benefit of saving the world.
[1] Mark 6:7–10, Matthew 10:5–15
[2] Raymond Brown, Death of the Messiah (New York: Doubleday and Sons, 1994) 27.
