The Humility of Jesus our Savior*

The Humility of Jesus our Savior*
In pursuit of the truth – www.cinopsbegone.com – Sunday, April 10, 2011

Jesus entered the Holy City seated on a donkey. He recalled the prophecy of Zechariah that was well known to his people: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! … Lo, your king comes to you; … humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech 9:9).

•Horses symbolized military power, as the armored tank does today.
•The true king of Israel would not come on a horse.

•He would not join in the struggle of world powers.
•He had no desire to seize power for himself.

•He would ride on a donkey the symbol of peace.
•The animal useless for military purposes, the animal of the poor.

•The borrowed donkey is both the symbol of earthly impotence and the fulfillment of the prophetic promise… But what, then, is Jesus’ Kingdom?
•The borrowed donkey is an expression of earthly impotence, but, at the same time, the expression of perfect confidence in the power of God, which is represented in Jesus.

•He did not set up a kingdom of his own alongside the Kingdom of God.
•He was content to bear witness to God’s Kingdom.

•His nothing was his all.
•He did not stand for earthly power, but for truth, justice, love – for God.

•The Kingdom of God has a precarious existence in this world.
•But it is the only by reason of this Kingdom that the world becomes a fit place to live, a human place.

•It is not revolutionaries who make the world a human place – not even the best intentioned of them; all they have to contribute is blood and shambles.
•What makes it possible for us to live in the world are goodness, truth, faithfulness, and the certainty that God himself is all of these.

•What makes it possible for us to live is the faith that God is like Jesus Christ, that Jesus is God; that he, the man on the borrowed donkey, is the true King, the true and ultimate power in the world.
•Today’s feast challenges us to lead lives dedicated to this power – to the King. Thy Kingdom come!

George H. Kubeck

*This is from the classic book by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “CO-WORKERS OF THE TRUTH” Meditations for Every Day of the Year. Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1992