I’m back in South Korea after a 2-week visit to Ivory Coast. During my stay, I was moved by an encounter that inspired me to attend church every Sunday. I had a specific church in mind—Saemoonan Church—because I’ve been familiar with it since childhood. Every year, members from its medical mission team would travel to Ivory Coast, and I would join their work as a translator. I also appreciate that it’s the first church in South Korea, founded by Horace Grant Underwood—the American missionary who not only established the church but also founded Yonsei University, where I studied.
All that aside, when it came to choosing a church, I needed to be sure it wasn’t some weird institution that might try to brainwash me—something I’ve always been wary of in organized religion. I also know I’m not great with overly close, cozy environments, so a church with too much of a tight ‘family vibe’ might be a bit much for me. Not that megachurches are flawless, but Saemoonan Church’s history and my connection to it give me a certain peace of mind. I imagine God shaking His head at my stubborn, paranoid way of thinking. I don’t have the wisdom to distinguish a good church, so this is how I’m making the decision, at least for now. It shouldn’t be that bad.
John 12:12-19
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
In the passage, Jesus is welcomed by the crowds in Jerusalem, waving palm branches and cheering for him. It was a political gesture, reminiscent of the Maccabean victory over past invaders. They longed for Jesus to become a political Messiah—one who would defeat Rome and restore the kingdom of Israel. But instead of choosing a grand war horse, Jesus chose a humble young donkey. In doing so, he fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah, showing that he is a king of peace who rules not through power, but through humility.
From a worldly perspective, Jesus’ choice can seem a bit inefficient, even foolish. If he had the power to raise the dead, it’s tempting to think it would have been quicker and more effective to seize political authority and establish God’s kingdom by force through Christian rule. But the Bible frames this very path as a temptation from Satan and history shows how easy it is to fall into it. After Christianity was legalized in 313 AD, the medieval Church came to hold great power. Paradoxically, that was also when it began to decay. As faith became entangled with power, love and mercy were often replaced by exclusion, fear, and judgment. The attempt to dominate the world through force ultimately distorted the very essence of the Gospel.
The reason Jesus rejected the path of a political Messiah is clear. The moment one subdues others through political power, people are divided into allies and enemies, and hatred and anger toward the enemy become justified. This is not the way of God, who came to save all people. What must truly be defeated is not the Roman army, but the power of sin and fear that has taken hold of the human heart—and the only force that can overcome this is the love of the cross.
An example of these Christian values lived out in the public sphere is Nelson Mandela. After enduring 27 years of unjust imprisonment and becoming president, he invited the guards who had watched over him to sit in the VIP seats at his inauguration, beginning his presidency not with revenge, but with hospitality. Through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), he chose the “slow and painful path” of connecting the confessions of perpetrators with the forgiveness of victims, ultimately helping South Africa be reborn as a “rainbow nation.” This is what it looks like to follow the path of Jesus, who came riding on a humble donkey. Orthodox faith is not about subduing the world through ideology or power, but about giving rightful glory to God through the love of the cross.
The first sermon I heard at Saemoonan Church was about God’s humility and love. It was about Jesus coming to us not as a political Messiah riding a grand horse, but as the humble Messiah riding a little donkey. After the service, I sat in the sanctuary with my dad and we talked about the sermon. He isn’t a Christian, but he came because I asked him to. I was surprised to hear him say that the pastor’s sermon was impressive. Whenever he had occasionally attended church before, he had never really said anything about God. But today, he said, “God is truly remarkable,” and as someone who values humility himself, he seemed genuinely happy to see in this Christian God a humility that resonate with his own values.
I was just as moved by the message as my dad. The image of Jesus Christ riding on that fragile little donkey, instead of a grand horse, lingered in my mind. Whether the story is historically true or not, it beautifully illustrates what humility looks like. The fact that Jesus did not come as a heroic political messiah is deeply humbling—we all want to be superior, to be victorious, to be successful, but that is not what he embodies. For those who attend church regularly, this may be something they hear every Sunday, nothing particularly new, but for people like us—for me, returning to church after twelve years, and for my dad, who isn’t Christian—this message feels almost shocking, especially in a world where everyone is constantly striving to be bigger, go higher, and achieve more. Seeing Jesus, in the midst of all this folly, coming to us on that humble little donkey left me in tears.
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