Have you ever felt an ass or been called one? No insult to this prominent readership, but I think we share some of this animal’s reputed stubbornness. We sometimes need a little coaxing, are occasionally tricked with the donkey work or dare I say it, notoriously behaving like a silly ass!
The mark of the cross
Yet there is one more property that is far more significant. Almost all donkeys wear a cross mark on their backs, and Christians are likewise signed with the cross on their forehead at baptism, marking the beginning of a journey of faith.
In the holiest week, it is an ass that is at the center as Christ rides into the city on a humble donkey and leads a procession of warriors and loose women in a peasant parade along the route that Pontius Pilate may have taken in an exhibition of power .
Jesus rode into the city in a glorious dispatch of Roman rulers trotting on chargers in shining armor, leading victorious armies followed by humble prisoners, their booty. However, Jesus followed hundreds who longed for better times and hopeful futures.
To carry Jesus
Donkeys are reminders of discipleship and the way we ourselves carry Jesus invisibly. On the days when we feel we carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, we would do well to remember that we also carry Christ to face the pain of the world and give people life.
To be a Christian means to be open to God – and that task is not always easy or pleasant. Sometimes we find ourselves challenging important people or self-interests. And it’s hard. Like crucifixion.
Walking with Christ means that there are not necessarily easy rides. But there is a promise that God will accompany us: through tribulation, trial, pain and death. We know this from personal experience and from the pain of the world when people starve, exploit and kill each other. Most importantly, we now know in the death toll that coronavirus leaves in the wake.
Following Jesus means going to some very dark places. The road to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday led to Golgotha on Good Friday.
Light in the dark
In heralding the birth of Jesus with lights flashing over the whole city, I wrote “the light shines in the darkness”, and now at Easter I remind ourselves again that “the darkness has not overcome it”.
Calvary and COVID-19 are what light is for. Pandemic pain and praetorium are exactly where the light should shine. Audience shout of “Crucify!” is frightening, as is the silence of isolation. It is when we enter this place rather than denying it there that there is an opening for the light of Christ to transform it.
Easter broadcasts Jesus’ resurrection and death-defying death. God is not defeated. In the church, the Paschal candle will proclaim the magnitude of the moment – not just on Easter Sunday, but for a full 50 days until Pentecost.
Our inspiring leader
Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world … let thy light shine, that men may give glory unto thy Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5, 14-16). And for this reason, every baptismal candidate gets a lit candle when these words are said.
My baptismal identity means I follow someone who did not mind getting his hands dirty in deep engagement with the world he loved so much that he came to save it. His words and actions were sometimes playful, sometimes painful, but always transformative.
I think you could rightly call me a silly ass! Maybe you are also a ?? !!
Source: The Nordic Page