From the Passover tents on the hillside, crowds are pouring into the highway leading to the city.  The whole countryside is astir.  This year more than any other, excitement and expectancy fill the air.  The disciples, who feared to go with Jesus to Jerusalem, and who had warned him against the dangers there, were elated and expectant.  Never before had they felt so prominent; never had their Master stood so high.

As they came to the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples for a young ass on which never man sat.  They were to bring him out, and on him Jesus would ride into the city.  As it was whispered abroad that they had gone for the donkey, the news spread through the crowd that the King would ride today.  It was all adding up now.

Zechariah had spoken of a time “When the Lord will become King over all the earth.”  “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives.”  This is the place.  “Low, your King comes to you—humble and riding on an ass.”

The disciples remembered before they left on this trip that he had said, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything written of the Son of Man will be fulfilled.”

Across the valley in Jerusalem there was similar excitement.  The pilgrim strangers have caught the enthusiasm from the Galileans.  Everybody is talking—the road is lined for the royal procession, the way is being carpeted with garments, palms are waving in the spring air.  Tumult and shouting can be heard along the way, audible in Jerusalem long before the crowd comes into sight.  “Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the son of David.  Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

For the eye there was the pageantry of splendor; for the ear there were shouts and songs proclaiming the King.  For discerning minds there was something to rejoice over and cry about; something to produce smiles and tears; something to strengthen faith and doubt, hope and despair, lights and shadows.  There were characters whose names are synonymous with the events of the day.  But for the thoughtful reader there is a little remembered deed, and an incident which takes on the form of greatness.

To illustrate the character of his kingdom, Jesus would ride not on a spirited horse like the kings of the earth, but on a donkey, meek and low.  His advent amid the Hosannas of his people would be with tears, not brandishing swords, for he would weep over Jerusalem.  His terminus would be a temple and not a palace.  Therefore, he had to organize his parade so that he came as God intended.  Many people played important roles in the pageantry of the day, but look if you will at a man whose name is not recorded but whose role, lifted from the maze of events with thoughtful imagination, can be one of the most inspiring thoughts of this Palm Sunday.

          “Go into the village and find an ass tied, whereupon never man sat; Lose him and bring him to me.  And if any man say to you, why do ye this?  Say, the Lord hath need of him and he will send him back.”

          We remember the words of Jesus, the role of the donkey, and the two men who went for the donkey.  But haven’t we forgotten the “Donor of the Donkey?”  We have heard sermons about the Cyrenian who bore the cross, about the thieves who were nailed there with Christ, about Joseph who gave his tomb and Nicodemas who helped prepare the body.  We have heard sermons about the women coming to the tomb and the role of followers in the days after the resurrection.  But when did you ever hear a sermon about the donor of the donkey?  Here is one of the unsung heroes of the cross whose gift and contribution was an essential in the triumphal entry.  This man didn’t have much, didn’t give much, but what he had he gave.  This puts stature in a man, marks him for greatness, and makes life meaningful.

          Let us take a look at some of the things Jesus suggested; see how they speak to the need of the Church and of Jesus Christ in the world today.  First, Jesus said in substance, “Go tell this man I have need of his donkey.”  Who would ever imagine that with all of the crowd, the welcome preparation, and a throng of people ready to move at his bidding, this unknown man or men with a donkey would be needed by Jesus to make his triumphal entry into the Holy City?  

          It reminds us to reminisce and behold that the triumph of Jesus many times depended upon a small gift, a talent, or the support of an unknown person or thing.  How could he have fed the multitude without a little boy and his loaves and fishes?  How he needed encouragement of a woman’s anointing his feet!  How could he have opened men’s eyes to the stewardship of possessions without the gift of the widow’s mites?  How could he have found the way to the upper room without a man with a jug of water?  And let us not forget those “certain other women who ministered unto him.”

          There were nameless saints who “have no memorial, who are perished as though they had not been, and are become as though they had not been born.”  But who can forget their role on the stage in the ministry of Jesus.  Many play on the stage of life where they are seen and their labors are evaluated.  What could they have done without somebody to pull the rope for the curtain to open or to close.  This man with a donkey pulled back the curtain for the drama of the triumphal entry.

The triumphal entry of Christ into this Church or that Church, or your Church, may await something you haven’t been willing to give, which is so little and yet so big.  It is like a cog in a great wheel, a pin that holds the great machine together, or like

“for want of the nail, the shoe was lost; for want of the shoe, the horse

 was lost; for want of the horse, the rider was lost; for want of the 

rider, the battle was lost.”

          The climax of the earthly ministry of our Lord, the completion of the plot, the mission to Calvary, all needed the donation of a donkey, a man doing and giving what Christ wanted.  The donor of the donkey knew not the role he was playing by playing his role.

          Secondly, Jesus said, “Tell the man I have need of the donkey.”  Now we’ve been talking about the need Christ had of the donkey, but he was also saying in this request that he had a priority.  These were sovereign words, and assert God’s right to what he wants from us.  When he wanted the boat of the disciples, he stepped in and said, “Let us go to the other side of the lake,” and they set out.  When he came to the tree where Zacchaeus was he said, “Come down, I must abide at thy house.”  God enters triumphantly in many areas of life because he calls us to recognize our stewardship.  To deny it is to reject a priority of God.  “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.”

          The tragedy that befell Jerusalem was due to its denial of the priority of God.  When Christ needs us, or what we have, and we refuse we are bucking a law that he eventually will destroy us.  Jesus says, “I have need of your time, your talents, your money.”  Some hear the call and respond, some simply say by their actions, “Sorry I am busy.”  What is the final result?  Well, we may stem the rise of the kingship of our Lord for a moment, but eventually, someday, we shall see that the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

          Thirdly, Jesus says, “Tell the man I have need of the donkey and will return him quickly.”  What we give to the Lord comes back, some a hundredfold.  It is as bread cast upon the waters which returns after many days.  Nobody ever gives to Jesus without getting something back—not the same thing maybe, not the profit of money, maybe not what’s expected, but something good.”  Jesus said, “Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father or mother, children or land shall receive a hundredfold inheritance in life eternal.

          I can imagine the donor of the donkey in the years following cherishing the possession of this donkey which Christ had used.  What greater blessing could there come to his life as the years wore on than to know that he was the possessor of the donkey on which the Master rode into the holy city.  

          There is a legend that Zacchaeus used to go back and take care of the tree into which he had climbed that day Jesus came to see him.  The legend says that Zacchaeus said, “It was from here I first saw the Master’s face.”  The donor of the donkey might have said, “It was on this donkey I first saw the face I shall never forget.”  

          It may be in the talent or the time, the dollar or the deed, the worship or the work we offer to Christ that he will make his triumphal entry and we too will say, “It was here I really saw the Master face to face.”  I once heard somebody say of a certain lady, “I like her and so I did something for her.”  Isn’t it often the other way around.  I did something for her and so I like her.

          In the fourth place, Jesus said, “I have need of the donkey on which man never sat.”  The most challenging phrase in the words of Jesus on that Palm Sunday, in connection with the ride, may have been “I have need of the donkey on which man never sat.”  The normal reaction of many Christians would have been, “This donkey has never been ridden.  He has no experience.”  Take that over into the realm of human life and how many times people have refused responsibilities because they said “I have never done that before” or “I am willing, but I have never had any experience.”

          The work of the kingdom and the Church would one day come to an end if everyone turned down everything except that in which he was well versed.  Jesus is always challenging men who have never preached to preach, who have never taught to teach, who have never had a place of responsibility to assume one, who have never given a tithe to begin tithing, who have never known the depth of prayer to begin a prayer life.  

          The kingdom needs fresh enthusiasm from those who haven’t yet buckled under the hard knocks and stumbling blocks of pessimism.  Christ has many singing his praises today who have never sung in a choir before, thousands who today are teaching in their Sunday Schools who never taught before, and so we might go on.

          The Church needs the lift, the inspiration, the added strength of some who have never carried the body of Christ into the city, in to the home, in to the life where he seeks to ride in triumph.  How much are you willing to give?  How much priority, how much dedication to the cause of Christ?  On that Palm Sunday morning many spread their garments in the way.  Carried on the tide of enthusiasm, they didn’t pause to see whether the risk of their garments were necessary.  They didn’t wonder if they could show some respect at a cheaper price.  They manifested a self-forgetfulness which is essential to discipleship.  The important thing was not the garments, but the spirit; the loyalty which they were showing.

          We must guard against a discipleship marked by bookkeeping prudence that sets a minimum as enough instead of a maximum which I can offer.  This is a day of triumphal entry.  Our hearts become the city.  How will we receive him.  There can be no haggling over what he demands.  Love doesn’t haggle.  No trifling gift, no escape from the demands can express love and gratitude.  If a man is truly in love with a girl, he does not give her a ring of plated copper or an imitation. 

          For his triumphal entry, Jesus has need of something only we can give.  He needs our personalities as instruments of truth…our hands to lift the burdens of life…our feet to run his errands…our lips to speak his words…our gifts to undergird his work…our influence to persuade others.

          He asks not for waving palms to herald his coming, but a priority that walks beside him.  He asks not for garments to walk on, but gifts to work with.  He asks not for a pitcher of water to lead a man to a guest chamber, but a proclamation of the word to lead souls to God.  He asks not for a donkey to prove his kingship but discipleship that has accepted it.  Christ came to Jerusalem and the people, and Jerusalem and the people had to choose what they would do with him.  So do we.