Jesus, Kids, A Donkey And The Other Palm Sunday Volunteers Series

What an amazing day it was when the Jewish Passover began that year. The year Jesus voluntarily rode a donkey into Jerusalem at the beginning of the week.

The great celebration of Passover every year marked the commemoration of the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery from the Egyptians during the days of Moses.

But that year was quite different. That Palm Sunday saw the swelling of a large crowd entering Jerusalem. That was normal. But what was not normal was that the crowd gathered on the Mount of Olives.

Jesus was in the midst of the crowd. He was exalted and lifted up. He was riding on the back of a donkey above the crowd so all could see His entry.

The people began to cut palm branches off the trees and began waving them in the air and took their cloaks and threw them on the road making a type of carpet for the entry of the King of Kings. It became a royal road for the entrance of the Son of God.

The people began to worship Him. They sang: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel.”

On that Palm Sunday there were several volunteers that assisted Jesus in fulfilling His role and mission of going to the cross for you and me.

Each of the volunteers tell us something about the greatest volunteer; Jesus Christ.

Transition: Who are the volunteers on Palm Sunday and what do they teach us about Jesus and following Him?

I. The Donkey

vs. 1-4- “When they approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, God into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.”

Explanation:

At the center of this dramatic scene stood an unlikely candidate to platform, lift up, and exalt Jesus. It was a simply donkey.

The donkey is a simple animal. Mic Jagger calls him “a beast of burden.” People often use that animal as a derogatory term for people they consider stubborn, unlearned, or downright mean.

Yet, God chose the donkey to elevate Jesus. It the center of this magnificent drama was a lowly donkey exalting Jesus for all the world to see.

Matthew 21 tells us how the donkey got this amazing opportunity. In verse 1 we see that ahead of this event, Jesus sent two of his disciples into the village of Bethphage.

Then in verse 2 we read what Jesus said to them. He said: “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her, untie them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them and immediately he will send them. This took lace to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet; SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, BEHOLD YOUR KIND IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVAN ON A COLT. THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’

If you will notice, the entry on a donkey had a purpose. It was planned prior to the event by God Himself. God not only had the donkey’s stationed in the precise place and at the right time it was needed. But He even had Zechariah see it and prophecy of it 500 years prior to the event.

This morning, I want you to consider this donkey and the role that he played, to communicate the decision that Jesus made at the beginning of the Passover week that became the Passion week to us as believers; where we are reminded of the decision Jesus made that Sunday morning to go to the cross for you and me.

What was Jesus saying about His decision to die through his mode of transportation into Jerusalem as he got on the road that he would travel that week whose ultimate destination was a cross.

Jesus used the donkey he was declaring several things:

a) What we all can do for Him

The donkey is a simple farm animal. Yet, a tradition is told about this donkey. The tradition tells us that this donkey was owned by a simple farmer from Bethphage who owned the donkey and it was small to work so it was simply tied to a tree to get it out of the way.

Yet, when the disciples arrived what the farmer found to be useless actually was a valuable and needed by Jesus.

Today, it is interesting that all donkeys have a cross on their back. Whether they are dark or light colored, if you look closely they all have a cross on their back which is a visual reminder that God “marked” them from the beginning to remind us of this donkey who would carry Jesus into Jerusalem to take Him into the city where He would fulfill His purpose of redeeming mankind.