Show Notes
“A dumb ass spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.” That’s 2 Peter 2:15 from the Revised Standard Version (also KJV and ASV). For some reason, it speaks to me. Of course, Peter was initially speaking of Balaam and his ass (his donkey).
On October 3, 2024, as I sat in my office stressing over a sermon, my wife stuck her head in the door and said, “I was praying for you, and I heard Jesus say, ‘Remind Peter of Balaam’s ass.’ Does that mean anything to you?” And I said, “Oh yeah! I think that’s the most encouraging thing I could hear right now.”
John 12:12-13, The next day [after Mary sacrificed a fortune by breaking the alabaster flask of perfumed oil over the feet of Jesus as he dined with Lazarus], the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Historians point out that at this same time, the Roman Governor Pontus Pilate, would have also been entering Jerusalem from the other side — entering on a war horse.
John 12:14-16a, “And Jesus found a young donkey [a young ass (RSV)] and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt [an ass’s colt]!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first...”
I’m sure they thought, “A young ass — half an ass? Jesus, this is half-assed.”
John 12:16, “His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”
John quotes Zechariah 9, expecting his listeners to know the context.
Zechariah 9:9 (RSV), “...Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.”
Then Zechariah goes on to prophecy the most fascinating things about Greece. It’s weird because Greece wasn’t a big deal in Zechariah’s time, but by Jesus’ day, “the Greeks” had become the evil empire. In 175 B.C., the Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanies, attempted to eradicate Judaism, sacked Jerusalem, pillaged the temple, and erected an altar to Zeus in the holy place.
In Zechariah 9:16, Zechariah writes, “On that day the Lord their God will save them as the flock of his people.” [“Them” is “the sons of Zion (the Jews)” AND “the sons of Greece.”]
John 12:19-20, John continues, “So the Pharisees said to one another... ‘The world has gone after him.’ Now among those at the feast were some Greeks...” John then makes a big deal out of these Greeks who want to know Jesus. Then writes, “And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come...’”
John is saying that all this stuff in Zechariah is happening in that moment. Read Zechariah and you’ll be constantly reminded of the Revelation (all of it). And from chapter nine to the end, you’ll be reminded of the next seven days in the Gospels (passion week). And strangest of all, it all seems to happen on one day: “That day.”
I’m convinced that John believes that when Jesus hung on the tree in the garden on the sixth day of the week, lifted His head, and cried “it is finished,” as He delivered up His spirit... it really was finished; creation was finished, we were finished, and eternity invaded time, whether we believe it or not, whether we’re awake or still asleep. And so, all of us are truly One for “One has died for all” that all would die for One and for all, and wake from the illusion that each of us is our own creator. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,” writes Paul, “for you all are One in Christ Jesus.” And The Word of God did all of this by riding into Jerusalem on a little dumb ass.
The Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
It was a problem for them. Would it be a problem for you? It was a problem for them because the
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