March 20: A Momentary Triumph
♫ Music:
Day 27 - Monday, March 20
Title: A MOMENTARY TRIUMPH
Scripture: John 12:12–19
The next day, the great crowd who had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, and went to meet him with palm branches in their hands, shouting, “God save him! ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’, God bless the king of Israel!”
For Jesus had found a young ass and was seated upon it, just as the scripture foretold—‘Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt’.
(The disciples did not realize the significance of what was happening at the time, but when Jesus was glorified, then they recollected that these things had been written about him and that they had carried them out for him.)
The people who had been with him, when he had summoned Lazarus from the grave and raised him from the dead, were continually talking about him. This accounts for the crowd who went out to meet him, for they had heard that he had given this sign. Seeing all this, the Pharisees remarked to one another, “You see?—There’s nothing one can do! The whole world is running after him.”
Poetry & Poet:
“The Donkey”
by G.K. Chesterton
When fishes flew and forests walked
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood
Then surely I was born.
With monstrous head and sickening cry
And ears like errant wings,
The devil’s walking parody
On all four-footed things.
The tattered outlaw of the earth,
Of ancient crooked will;
Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,
I keep my secret still.
Fools! For I also had my hour;
One far fierce hour and sweet:
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.
A MOMENTARY TRIUMPH
Scruffy and Match lived in a field between the village church and the school. I passed this field every day on my way to school, and every day I would call them by name to scratch their noses. Both donkeys were owned by the vicar and his family and were disheveled animals with pronounced front teeth that rested over their bottom lips. I remember thinking that they were a sorry replacement for a horse––who would want a Scruffy or a Match when they could have a pony? ––a devil’s walking parody.
In today’s reading we are confronted with the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem through the eyes of different participants. What a confusing and mixed-up scene! Jesus remains central; the crowds, disciples and Pharisees are our reporters, and we see and hear the scene through their eyes and ears. The crowds celebrating and welcoming Jesus, the disciples realizing retrospectively the significance of the incongruous scene, and the Pharisees throwing up their hands in resignation “There’s nothing we can do! The whole world is running after him.”
In the center of the action, the steadiness of Jesus carried on the colt is majestic, in contrast to the chaotic exuberant crowd. The purposeful journey to the cross is in progress; God is steady and sure in working through his plans for salvation. Through the confusion of the crowd, the colt carries his master through the East Gate and into Jerusalem––one far fierce hour and sweet such composure from one so humble, so lowly, so dumb, so misunderstood. Take a look at today’s artwork. When I think of a Home Depot parking lot, this is not the image that springs to my mind, and yet here is beauty––corrected vision––one far fierce hour and sweet. All around us in this fallen chaotic world, beauty peeks through. God uses the least expected places, people, and situations to accomplish the steadiness of his Kingdom building plans.
The Kingdom of God has a way of correcting our misapprehensions. The humble are lifted up, the foolish are made wise, and beauty is seen through the eyes of the beholder––the maker of heaven and earth who made all things beautiful and recreates beauty from ashes. Using the lens of this corrected vision, the donkey is more majestic than a stallion, bringing his King Jesus to redeem his people to himself. Through this corrected vision sinners are brought into a relationship with God. Through this corrected vision chaos is rightly ordered.
Scruffy and Match, led by the vicar, plodded toward our third-grade class down the nave of the church and we all began to giggle. Even as seven-year-olds, we knew that donkeys didn’t belong inside a church building. At eye level, walking past the field each day, all we saw were the buck teeth and shaggy fur. However, encouraged by the vicar, we stood on the pews of the church and our vision was corrected. Their bodies told a story––a beautiful story, that same steady story the crowds and disciples and Pharisees were witnesses to all those many years ago. We saw the markings of the cross run down their backs and across their shoulders! How majestic! How beautiful!
Prayer:
Lord, give us the corrected vision to see the world as you see it. May we not construct poor substitutes for actual beauty and majesty. Give us the desire to live out that hosanna-calling life by looking to the cross and beyond it to eternal life with you.
Amen.
Sian Draycott
Administrative Assistant
Biola University Student Health Center
Adjunct Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab
About the Translation of the Bible for the 2023 Lent Project:
J.B. Phillips New Testament Translation of the Bible
J.B. Phillips (1906-1982) was well-known within the Church of England for his commitment to making the message of truth relevant to today's world. Phillips' translation of the New Testament brings home the full force of the original message. The New Testament in Modern English was originally written for the benefit of Phillips' youth group; it was later published more widely in response to popular demand. The language is up-to-date and forceful, involving the reader in the dramatic events and powerful teaching of the New Testament. It brings home the message of Good News as it was first heard two thousand years ago.
https://www.biblegateway.com/
About the Artwork:
Palm Sunday, Home Depot Parking Lot
Gary Bergel
Digital color photograph
From the CIVA exhibition entitled Again and Again
About the Artist:
Gary Bergel is a mixed media visual artist who incorporates digital and film photography, color transparencies, found objects, collage and assemblage, and installation in his work. Bergel is multidisciplinary and uniquely cross-trained in biology and natural science, as well as in visual art and media. His studio experience includes film and digital photography, mixed media, installation, printmaking, oil and acrylic painting, and ceramics. His professional experience includes gallery direction, writing and Web posting, public affairs research, international travel, humanitarian relief and community development work with Native Americans, in Haiti, West Africa, and the Middle East.
https://www.garybergel.com/
About the Music: “Gospel John” from the album Chameleon
Lyrics: Instrumental
About the Composer/Performer:
Walter Maynard Ferguson (1928–2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served as stepping stones for up-and-coming talent, as well as his versatility on several instruments, and his ability to play in a high register. In 1953, Ferguson left Kenton and spent the next three years as principal trumpet for Paramount Pictures. He appeared on forty-six film soundtracks, including The Ten Commandments. In 1956, he joined the Birdland Dream Band, a fourteen-piece big band formed to play at the Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. Although the name "Birdland Dream Band" was short-lived, this band became the core of Ferguson's performing band for the next nine years. As big bands declined in popularity and economic viability in the 1960s, Ferguson's band performed less and less frequently. The Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz Studies at Rowan University was created in 2000, the same year Rowan bestowed Ferguson with an honorary doctorate degree. The Institute supports the Rowan Jazz Program in training young jazz musicians. The Sherman Jazz Museum in Sherman, Texas, opened in 2010 and houses the extensive memorabilia of Ferguson's estate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maynard_Ferguson
About the Poetry and Poet:
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer, poet, philosopher, dramatist, journalist, orator, lay theologian, biographer, and literary/art critic. Chesterton was one of the dominating figures of the London literary scene in the early twentieth century and today is well-known for his fictional mystery series about Father Brown, a Catholic priest and amateur detective. He was also respected for his reasoned apologetics and concern over social issues and questions about religion and morality. Even those who disagreed with him recognized the wide appeal of his works such as Orthodoxy and The Everlasting Man. Chesterton routinely referred to himself as an "orthodox" Christian. But he came to identify his theological positions more and more with Catholicism and eventually converted to Catholicism from High Church Anglicanism. He frequently got into lively discussions with anyone who would debate him, including his friend and noted Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._K._Chesterton
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/g-k-chesterton
About Devotion Author:
Sian Draycott
Administrative Assistant
Biola University Student Health Center
Adjunct Professor
Torrey Honors College
Biola University
Sian Draycott grew up in Wales and graduated from Oxford University with an M.A. in theology and from the Open University (UK) with an M.A. in classical studies. She is a Ph.D. student at Talbot School of Theology. Sian enjoys her work as an administrative sssistant at the Biola University Student Health Center and loves to discuss Great Books with students as an adjunct professor in the Torrey Honors College.