I used to misinterpret the story that I’m about to tell you. It’s a well-known story about Zhuangzi, the great philosopher. I discovered that I was not the only one who misunderstood its profound meaning. In fact, many scholars interpret it the way I did. Here’s the story, and see what you get out of it.
Zhuangzi once encountered financial hardship. His family didn’t have enough food, so he called on a rich man and asked to borrow some rice.
The rich man smiled and said, “I’ll be getting some money soon from my rental properties, and when it arrives, I’ll lend you three hundred gold coins. Will that be okay?”
That’s a significant amount of money, equivalent to three million dollars. But Zhuangzi didn’t like that answer at all. He frowned and said, “Let me tell you a story.”
“Yesterday, as I was walking here, I heard a little voice calling me. I looked around and saw a fish flopping in a tiny puddle on the side of the road. I asked the fish, ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’
The fish gasped and said, ‘I’m from the huge eastern ocean, but now I’m stuck here! Can you please give me just a small cup of water so I can stay alive?’
I told the fish, ‘Sure! I’m planning to travel south soon to visit some kings. I’ll change the course of a huge river and send all the water you could ever need right to you. How does that sound?’
The fish glared at me and said, ‘Are you joking?! I don’t need a big river someday—I need water now! When you return, come find me at the dried fish market.’” (End of the story.)
Without context, I am sure you would interpret the way most people do. Zhuangzi urgently needed some food, but the rich man said he would give him three million dollars after he collected his rent. In response, Zhuangzi tells a fable to mock the rich man.
He said a fish was stuck in a puddle and asked Zhuangzi for a cup of water to fill the puddle. Zhuangzi said he would redirect an entire river to him later. The fish didn’t believe it would be alive until then.
Naturally, you would think the story teaches us to provide for urgent needs rather than promise something big in the future. However, if you know the context, it is about the tyranny of urgency. Our urgent needs can ensave us, making us shortsighted, focusing only on the immediate needs. We want God to help us now, and we don’t care about what God has in store for us in the future.
You might argue, “Duh! If I am dying of hunger, who cares about eternal life?” However, the story does not discount our urgent needs. It’s about how we become enslaved by urgency and lose the bigger picture. Many people are so preoccupied with their immediate needs that they don’t care about the offer of a holiday at the sea, as C.S. Lewis put it.
Urgency can rob us of happiness, joy, and blessedness. The truth is, after this bowl of rice, Zhuangzi would have to worry about the next meal. After this cup of water, the fish would cry for the next cup. They would forever be caught up in a cycle of urgency and never consider future possibilities.
Then, what’s more important than meeting dire needs? Understanding the tyranny of urgency will help us understand the joy of Paulm Sunday and learn a profound lesson of rejoicing in hardship.
I used to feel Palm Sunday was an oxymoron. It’s a day to celebrate victory, followed by a dark and dreary week of passion, suffering, and crucifixion. Why should anyone celebrate victory knowing what follows it? Palm Sunday is also known as Passion Sunday, but the scripture tells us about Jesus’s triumphant entry to Jerusalem. Where was the triumph if he were about to be crucified?
He was facing the most shameful death of a criminal. Whether we call it Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday, the truth is that Jesus entered Jerusalem like a victorious king, cheered by a crowd of disciples and followers. Why did Jesus do that?
Later, I discovered the profound meaning of Palm Sunday. Jesus wants us to rejoice even in dark times and never surrender to the tyranny of urgency. He doesn’t want us to obsess over a bowl of rice or a cup of water like Zhuangzi and the fish. The disciples knew Jesus was about to be killed. But Jesus didn’t want them to march into Jerusalem like a funeral procession.
So, Jesus prepared a donkey to make his entrance to Jerusalem celebratory, fulfilling the prophecy of Prophet Zachariah (Zac 9:9). Palm Sunday challenges our resilience against urgency. Can you rejoice in the hardship of life?
For example, this week, the entire world experienced hardship, shaken by the tariffs and trade wars. Anxiety was high worldwide. Many people glued their faces to the TV or cellphone, wondering what would come next. Others worried about their stocks, 401K, or IRA, seeing them take a nosedive.
However, through Palm Sunday, Jesus teaches us to turn every moment into joy, not foolishly or pretentiously, of course. Jesus taught us in his eighth Beatitude that we must rejoice despite hardship. Otherwise, hardship can make us shortsighted and fail to count our blessings. Jesus says,
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Mt 5:11–12).
Notice that he commands us to rejoice and be glad. Can you rejoice when you are being persecuted?
Jesus demonstrated this on Palm Sunday and taught his disciples to rejoice and be glad. Jesus wants us to be Prodigal Disciples, expressing extravagant love, joy, and peace. Bible teaches us to rejoice at every moment and every situation. Paul said,
“Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice.” (Php 4:4).
Paul wrote this in prison, wearing chains on his feet and waiting for execution. Paul used to be an angry man, but Jesus turned him into a Prodigal Disciple. He was able to rejoice even in prison and taught others to rejoice always.
Two weeks ago, we talked about God as the Prodigal Father who showed his extravagant grace to humanity, not even sparing his only Son to die for us. Last week, I discussed the Prodigal Daughter, exemplified by Mary’s extravagant devotion to Jesus Christ.
In today’s scripture lesson, we discover Jesus expects us to become Prodigal Disciples, extravagantly expressing our love for Christ and people even in difficult times. Jesus teaches us to live by the non-anxious presence in this anxious world.
So, let’s learn how to become Prodigal Disciples exuding extravagant love, grace, and jubilance in this anxious and broken world. Let’s begin!
Today is Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday, and the Sixth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is from the Gospel according to Luke 19:28-40. [Listen to the Word of the Lord!]
28 After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.
29 When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”
32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying,
“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Lk 19:28–40).
[Blessed are those who delight in God’s Word. Thanks be to God!]
Right before this passage, Jesus told his disciples the real reason for his coming to Jerusalem. He did not come to Jerusalem to reign as king but to depart on the cross. It was not a crowning ceremony but a farewell celebration. Jesus had told them many times about his departure. Using the Parable of the Talents, Jesus metaphorically described his reason for leaving.
So he said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return.” (Lk 19:12).
Jesus used the Parable of the Talents to illustrate that he was departing to receive royal power and then returning to reign his kingdom. Even though he told the disciples that he would be crucified, he wanted them to celebrate his departure instead of mourning his impending tragedy.
This is profound wisdom. Jesus wants you to rejoice despite knowing the darkest moment is at hand. It maintains emotional health. Jesus didn’t ask them to rejoice pretenciously but by focusing on the bright future. We have seen horror movies about some man or woman who lost their loved ones, abandoned their lives to grief, never recovered, and became nasty people. Palm Sunday is a cure for that.
Imagine that Jesus did not prepare his disciples for what was to come in the future. They would have gone insane. Their savior, who had picked their lives up from despair to hope, suddenly died tragically. I believe a least a few of them would have lost their minds and are suffering from PTSD.
Christians are generally emotionally healthier because Jesus has given us what to hope for. Otherwise, we will be like the fish in the puddle, bragging about the good old days, begging for temporary relief, and losing hope for the future. The tyranny of urgency could enslave us!
The Pharisees wanted to suppress the joy, asking Jesus to silence his followers. But, Jesus said,
“I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” (Lk 19:40).
What does it mean? His entry to Jerusalem was triumphant because of what he was about to accomplish for humanity, fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies. That means, for the first time, Jesus revealed his divine identity in public.
If humans see God and don’t worship, nature will protest. This verse highlights Jesus’s supreme worthiness in receiving praise and worship as the Son of God and the Messiah.
It suggests that the truth of Jesus’ identity and the significance of His entry into Jerusalem cannot be suppressed, even if human beings were to try to silence it.
It may also allude to the judgment that would come upon Jerusalem for rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. If the people were to remain silent and not acknowledge Him, the very stones of the city would bear witness against them.
As Jesus mentioned about the magnificent temple stones, “Not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down.” (Mt 24:2). The stones shouted out because the Pharisees were silent.
Jesus warned those who reject or suppress the truth of who He is. If we don’t rejoice at the presence of Jesus, nature will protest, and the environment will cry. This also implies that humans and nature are one—not just “no man is an island,” but all is one.
Can you rejoice? Living in this fallen world, we all carry traumas and wounds that make us somber and humorless. You must find a way to heal those wounds and restore the jubilance to become prodigal disciples. Jesus provides that healing with his word and the hope he brings us.
When Jesus was suffering on the cross, he asked God to forgive the people who crucified him, saying,
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34).
He did not say we are innocent but ignorant. Ignorant about what? Those people did not recognize him because they wanted him to meet their urgency. They wanted the instant gratification of a revolution. Like the fish in the story, they focused on immediate relief rather than eternal liberation.
How could they focus on eternity when they had a dire need? It’s a good question, and it is very human to ask that question. But when you find the answer, you rise to a higher level of consciousness.
Jesus urged us to stay awake. We must be intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually awake, improving our IQ, EQ, and SQ. How? Jesus has shown us five practical ways to raise our intellectual, emotional, and spiritual awakening: worship, Bible Study, prayer, fasting, and serving.
Speaking of fasting, this week is the last week of Lent, and so it’s the last week of fasting. If you haven’t done it yet, Holy Week is the best occasion to observe with fasting.
I used to think fasting was torture, but it actually uplifts my spirit and joy when I practice it. Scientists have discovered that, after a few days of fasting, people enter into a state of euphoria—extreme joy.
Joy is the litmus test of spiritual health. That’s why Paul told us to rejoice and give thanks always—not just sometimes, but always. If he could rejoice with the chain on his feet and jumpsuit on his body, pending execution, I am sure we could rejoice in any condition.
If Jesus could rejoice knowingly entering the city waiting to kill him, what excuse do we have for not rejoicing? You might say because Jesus was divine. But Paul had proven it practical.
What’s the alternative? If Paul had spent his prison life whining and weeping, he would not have written the New Testament for us to read.
Jesus expects you to be prodigal disciples like the disciples on Palm Sunday, exuding extravagant love, grace, and joy. Let us do everything to attain and maintain our jubilant and triumphant spirit because that’s how we live life to the fullest. It’s not an option because there’s no better alternative. So, rejoice always!
That’s it for today. Until we meet again, keep your light shining brighter and broader, harvesting profound felicity, freedom, and fruitfulness.
Amen!
Bye now!
