Donkeys, Tyres, Singing Stones and Tears

In Albanian the word for ‘donkey ‘ is  ‘Gomar’  which is very close to the word for tyre ‘Gomë’.  A foreign missionary was preaching for his first time in Albania about Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem but he made a mistake and said Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a tyre instead of on a donkey.  His main point was all about the significance of the tyre. He couldn’t understand why everyone was laughing all the way through what was a very serious sermon.

Donkeys are not what we expect a king or messiah to use; why not a large horse or even a carriage? A donkey is a small poor animal, we used to see them in Albanian villages pulling carts but not pulling kings.

As Jesus enters the city crowds are singing and shouting and people start laying their cloaks down on the road for Jesus’ donkey to walk on. In the other gospel stories people cut down branches from the trees and waved them in celebration

And yet in all the celebrations, not everyone is happy. The Pharisees (the baddies of the story) are anxious and want the crowds to stop cheering.  Jesus humours them, ‘If the crowds stopped cheering – the stones on the floor would start ‘

Stones are very stone like – they usually don’t make much noise,  so it seems a strange thing to say. Jesus’ point was that his entry into Jerusalem was so significant to humans and the whole of creation that the very rocks of the earth join the celebration

As we journey with Jesus in our preparation for Easter and arrive in Jerusalem with him, we need to ask ourselves some difficult questions:

• Are we only with Jesus because we hope that he will fulfil and give us our dreams and desires?
• Are we ready to sing aloud songs of praise and worship but only while Jesus seems to be doing what we want?
• What are our motives for following Jesus in the first place?
• Are we ready, not only to lay our cloaks on the floor in front of him when we are with crowds of other believers, but when we are with people who disagree with us, challenge us and oppose us. Are we ready to follow Jesus into controversy, trial and death?

The story continues with Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Often we think of tears as a sign of weakness but Jesus’ tears are at the core of the Christian gospel. This was not a moment of weakness, but something much deeper.

Jesus weeping over Jerusalem can teach us how we should pray about our town, city or the area in which we live and even for our country. It must always start with the desire that God’s peace might transform where we live.  Our prayer should also be a desire that the eyes of our friends and neighbours are opened to the presence of Jesus in his people and in his church.

I was talking about this story with my old church in Albania a few years ago. We brought in a load of daily newspapers and cut out the stories that we believed made Jesus weep. Then with the collage of pictures and articles stuck around the walls of the church we prayed for our town and country.

What would Jesus weep over in Torquay if he were to visit our town and church today?  It’s a good question to ask yourself next time you flick through the Herald Express or watch the local news. It’s a good question to ask as we journey through this Easter Week

Graham