{"id":3126,"date":"2009-04-05T14:21:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-05T18:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=3126"},"modified":"2020-12-21T14:22:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:22:45","slug":"untying-donkeys-sermon-talkback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/untying-donkeys-sermon-talkback\/","title":{"rendered":"Untying Donkeys Sermon Talkback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Sermon Talkback<\/strong>\u2014April 5, 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark 11:1-11\u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/untying-donkeys\/\">Untying Donkeys<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, churches had the challenge to celebrate the impressive joy (Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem) mixed with the impressive foreboding and gloom (Holy Week). Jesus\u2019 identity as the Messiah has been secretly proclaimed as well as announced in the open with the announcement of the nature of the kingdom. It is clear that the disciples still do not understand Jesus\u2019 ministry as late as 10:35-40, as the sons of Zebedee ask about positions of power in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This passage, Mark 11:1-11 is a fulcrum upon which the gospel of Mark pivots. Highlighting Jesus\u2019 identity and relationship to the coming kingdom of God and \u201cour ancestor David\u201d (11:10), Mark points back to the beginning of the gospel, where Jesus is heralded as God\u2019s Son, the \u201cLord\u201d (1:11; 1:13), and forward, to Jesus\u2019 death, where Jesus\u2019 sonship is again announced (15:39) and the reality of his lordship takes the shape of a Roman cross. In this sense, the story contains both flashbacks and foreshadowing of what to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Finding the Colt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark narrates Jesus asking two of his disciples to find a specific colt in the village, because \u201cthe Lord needs it (11:3). The title of \u201cLord\u201d is ambiguous, as it is used in the gospel to refer to either Jesus or God. The ambiguity may be intentional, of course, as Mark portrays Jesus as one who does the will of God (3:35; 14:36). Jesus needs the colt to enter Jerusalem, and from Mark\u2019s perspective, God \u201cneeds\u201d the colt to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah (9:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of the significance of this passage, especially at this fulcrum in the gospel narrative between Jesus\u2019 ministry and his passion, lies in proving the truthfulness of Jesus\u2019 words. If the disciples cannot trust the truth of his teaching, then his ministry and their discipleship will be ineffective. When Jesus tells two disciples to find a specific colt, they discover it exactly as he told them. If Jesus\u2019 words come true in small ways, so they will also come true in larger ways (14:28 and 16:7). Jesus can be trusted in the long term (i.e., concerning the signs of the last days) because his words have proven true in the short term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is more important than the truth of Jesus\u2019 words is the parallels between Zechariah\u2019s prophecy and Jesus\u2019 words and actions. While Mark doesn\u2019t explicitly quote Zechariah 9:9, he shows the fulfillment of this promise of God through his narrative. Jerusalem does shout at the reception of Jesus, who enters triumphantly, being heralded as king. At the same time, Jesus enters humbly on a colt. This paradox fits into Mark\u2019s context, as Jesus has told his followers that \u201cwhoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant\u201d (10:43).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Question to Ponder<\/strong>: In what ways have you participated in humble acts of discipleship such as untying donkeys for the Lord and for each other?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sermon Talkback\u2014April 5, 2009 Mark 11:1-11\u2014Untying Donkeys Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday Today, churches had the challenge to celebrate the impressive joy (Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem) mixed with the impressive<span class=\"more-button\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/untying-donkeys-sermon-talkback\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Untying Donkeys Sermon Talkback<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-3126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermon-talkbacks","tag-mark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3127,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions\/3127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}