The Donkey Was the Point
Art by Julia Stankova
TL;DR - Christ is the quiet power that brings down empires and outlasts warlords every time and I’ll be teaching all about in my new workshop “The Gospel of John Unbound.” See you there!
I remember when I first heard of Rambo Jesus.
I was in a seminary class called “Queering Christian Theology” which - as a queer woman and someone only just discovering the depth of Christianity - struck me as very weird. So of course I signed up.
We were talking about how the Jesus of the 1st century was a very different guy than 2013 Jesus in a lot of ways. Since this was a class full of queer Bay Area folks with great senses of humor we started joking about modern Jesus.
It only took 32 seconds before someone mentioned our Lord and Savior Rambo Jesus. Here he is:
Billboard seen along I-75 in Georgia in 2011-ish
First of all, how could you read this without hearing Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice in your head?
Or the hilarity of Jesus busting off the cross like the Hulk. Or those crazy muscles and the Hollywood movie vengeance? It’s really funny!
But of course to some people, this IS the Jesus they follow. And in the 15 years since this billboard was first spotted we can see this was a canary in the coal mine. Rambo Jesus and his followers are now bombing little girls at schools halfway across the world and starving the descendents of Christ’s first followers in Gaza.
In our Rambo Jesus culture, Palm Sunday is all about a victorious and triumphant spiritual war lord entering the city of his enemies (read, Iran).
But you only have to read a little scripture (which honestly, do the “Christians” running our country even do?) to see that’s all wrong. First clue? Jesus came to Jerusalem on a donkey.
In a recently war ravaged land with Roman kings vying to consolidate power before the whole thing crumbled into chaos, your animals were a statement.
Did you conquer that city? Better roll up on a massive war horse surrounded by trumpets and soldiers and scare the shit out of anyone who might not like that you won. And as Jesus roamed the country, there had been word going around that he was a new king fit to challenge the Ceasars. Watch out!
So when he finally made it to Jerusalem, the people were expecting some fanfare. They wanted a show of force. They’d been oppressed and struggling for centuries at this point. They wanted the Warrior of Yahweh to come and show those Roman pansy gods what’s what.
But instead, here comes the king on a little donkey.
Jesus definitely could have flexed his power. He commanded life from death and walked on water fer chrissakes.
But he was teaching a new and deeper kind of power. The kind that refuses to enforce and knows that threatening with fear eventually weakens the power structure itself, causing it to crumble and fall.
In the Hindu tradition this is ahimsa; the divine principle of non-violent courage that Ghandi used to liberate India. In Buddhism this is upaya, roughly translated as ‘skillful means’, used to penetrate and open awareness without forcing and destroying.
This donkey was the upaya - the skillful means - of Jesus.
The donkey was the point, the whole commentary, and the complete sermon of Christ on Palm Sunday. And like every great spiritual teacher, Jesus continued to preach this wordless sermon all week.
He removes his robe and dresses in a towel. He kneels in the servant’s position and washes dirty feet. He lets himself get arrested without cause or fight. And, even though he can command the very elements of Earth and the demons of hell, he lets three little nails hold him on a cross. Ok they were probably some big ass nails, but nothing compared to what he could really do.
The crowd wanted the warhorse.
They wanted someone who would fight the empire on the empire's terms and freakin’ win.
Jesus gave them a donkey and changed the world anyway. And, as the wise ones know, we’re not going to get out of our current mess with the same bombs that got us into it. As Audre Lorde reminds us, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the masters’ house.” Jesus knew that and tried to show us a different way out.
And we still have donkeys.
What is a donkey today? Anything humble, rooted, and true that stays close to the ground and is unafraid of being ridiculed. The donkey was the point because the donkey was honest. And honest power, moving quietly toward its purpose without armor or apology, is the only kind that actually lasts.
Is this the kind of spiritual power you’re seeking?
I hope so, and we’ll be diving deep into these teachings and more in my upcoming course, The Gospel of John Unbound.
I’ll see you there and happy Holy Week, the week when power revealed its true nature and liberated us from having to control, oppress, intimdate, or harm each other ever again.
Amen!
MODERN DONKEYS FOR MODERN PEOPLE
Eight live weekly sessions start Wednesday June 3rd. Recorded for later viewing. EARLY BIRD PRICING $185 thru April 15th. REGULAR PRICING $245
Rooted in the Greek text, made real through modern meditation, and woven into real daily practice. No confusing beliefs you have to force yourself to accept. Just powerful tools that help you trust what you already know inside.
No dogma or spiritual bypassing here. The Gospel of John Unbound is about meeting one of the world's most profound spiritual texts with open eyes so the Gospel does what it was always meant to do: set you free.
WHAT’S INCLUDED IN THIS COURSE?
⫸ 2 months intensive learning with in-depth teachings recorded for lifetime access
⫸ 8 two-hour modules covering core teachings, multi-modal learning, Q&A, and direct engagement with peers and facilitator
⫸ 8 guided meditations to actually practice what Jesus taught about healing and power
⫸ A 30-minute mentorship call for individual support with an option to add more for $100/session
⫸ Journaling workbook to go deeper with the teachings of John in your personal writing practice
Learn more about the course here ⤵︎
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