The most sobering moment in Lonesome Dove is the fate of former Texas Ranger Jake Spoon. From respected lawmen … to horse thief: How the mighty fall. As he is about to be hanged for being a horse thief, he tells his former friends and former fellow lawmen, he’d "rather be hung by my friends than by a bunch o' ... strangers."
That's one of the saddest things I've ever heard.
Horse thieving. In the Old West, a perpetrator could be legally shot if caught in the act, and those that were captured faced the hangman. People sometimes try to update the reference by suggesting it's like someone stealing a car. I grant you that the sense of violation would be the same. But to steal a horse in the Old West usually meant stranding someone out in the wild with a very real chance they would die.
So, not the same.
In the mildest sense, a horse thief has deprived a person or family of something they use to produce and maintain their livelihood. Might as well just steal their money. But it was worse than stealing money, really. It was also stealing future money, stealing whatever resources that horse could have helped provide over time.
And that brings us to this week’s scripture from Luke. We celebrate that "triumphal entry" as Palm Sunday. Before the entry into Jerusalem, and before all those palms lined the road, there was the matter of the colt. Jesus directed two of his disciples to take a colt from a nearby village. In fulfillment of prophecy, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of that colt. But what about the acquisition of the colt? Did Jesus tell his disciples to steal the colt? And is that what they, in fact, did?
Were they horse thieves for Jesus?
To most believers, this sounds ludicrous. But there are many outside the faith who take the passage at face value. And because of their influence, it is worth our time to investigate a bit. How do we answer the charge unless we give some thought to it?
The most significant defense here is that no one ever charged Jesus or his disciples with theft. Plus, they were caught in the act. If the colt’s owner thought he was being burgled, why not raise an alarm? It’s more likely the use of the colt—similar to the “upper room” later used by Jesus and crew for the Passover meal—was prearranged. Jesus was well known in the area. After all, He had recently raised one of their neighbors from the dead.
Perhaps the biggest danger, here, is that some think it’s a license to steal. They point to this passage as justification for "securing" whatever is needed by those who serve God. They imagine a sort of "eminent domain" for Christians; proof they can take whatever from whomever because “it will help the cause.”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Stealing is not just criminal; it's a sin. "Thou shalt not steal" is one of the original Ten Commandments, and it still applies. For believers, how we accomplish God’s work is just as important as the end result.
A horse thief is still a horse thief.
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PHOTO:
http://russellcushman.blogspot.com/2012/11/texas-ranger-badges-and-those-that-want.html?m=1
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You can make whatever kind of entry you want when you join us Friday mornings at Lectionary Breakfast. It doesn't have to be "triumphal." We meet at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom** for what I keep calling "an hour like no other." Stop in some Friday morning and find out what I mean by that.
Enjoy the week!
Steve
Luke 19:28-40
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