It’s Palm Sunday and here at our House Church we were just discussing Jesus / Yeshua’s choice of a donkey for his vehicle on the first Palm Sunday.
Okay yes, he was fulfilling a prophecy and there are many layers of esoteric meaning there, but why didn’t he ride in on a beautiful, noble horse? Why a work-animal, a funny-looking donkey?
Horses in Jesus’ time were like tanks today. They were used by military and marauders and very few ordinary people owned a horse. Horse hooves coming into town often meant burning and destruction of the village. Wealthy aristocrats sometimes rode horses too back then, but not that often. They usually rode in litters, were carried in chairs, and some had coaches of a sort.
Donkeys were the vehicle of choice for the everyday person and were the equivalent of today’s pick-up trucks. I once heard a sermon on Palm Sunday where the minister said a small donkey might have been seen as a VW Beetle Bug “Peace-Mobile”. Â I like that image, too.
Whether a VW bug or pick-up truck, Jesus chose his vehicle to show he was an ordinary person, not a militant, not an invader, not a wealthy aristocrat. He didn’t arrive on a mighty steed like a tank rolling in. He fulfilled a prophecy from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and he also showed the people he was an everyday man, he was one of us. At the very end of the book of Revelation (which is also the end of the Bible and explains the end of days) Jesus rides in on a white horse — Carrying a sword. Those end-time symbolisms are very different. He came the first time as a peacemaker and will return to kick butt and take names.
For other esoteric and alternative interpretations of Easter week, please visit our Easter Cycle page. 11 Esoteric Days in Spring, The Kristian Easter Cycle Events
I love the image of Jesus driving a VW bug! heheh
I would add another thought to the above discussion.
It seems to me there is merit in the idea that this entry on donkey-back stands in deliberate contrast to the entry procession of the Roman authority which took place at the opposite gate, and on horseback.
This point may be alluded to with the images of war horses, death, and crushing defeat (all of which would be implied) mentioned above.
However, by riding a donkey, Jesus was emphasising peace. And this would have stood in very apparent contrast to the Roman entry at the opposite gate, granting a stark contrast between the two systems of organizing our lives.
The implied question presented to those observing this contrast may be to consider which kingdom do they serve? Rome and their gods of war, and the world? Or peace, and the God of Love, and a transformed world?
And the same questions applies to us, some 2,000 years later.
I believe Marcus Borg is one of those who periodically speaks to this point.