Palm Sunday

It all began that week with a simple man, riding a simple donkey, surrounded by simple men. Those men would later be accused of being nothing more than “uneducated and ordinary men.” (Acts 4:13) It was those kinds of people that this supposed King of the Jews chose as His companions on this first day of the week – the beginning of the week that hell itself broke out on earth.

The simple man, of course, was Jesus. So simple that He would say of Himself, “foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20) That statement, all by itself, reminds us that following this simple man requires some simplicity on our part. It actually is said in response to a bold claim of “I will follow you wherever you go.” Are you sure? Perhaps that is the point – we aren’t talking about a path to health and wealth, riches and glory, living the so-called good life.

He came riding on a donkey. A little one at that. What’s going on here – kings rode great horses, sometimes white ones. Kings worked hard to make sure that people understood issues like power and authority, importance and place. Yet riding on a donkey – the foal of a donkey – would have been viewed as anything but that. Yet this simple man, with a simple approach to life, has continued for centuries to change the world. He makes our complex world yearn for His simplicity.

The simple men around Him had a hard time “getting it.” But, once they did, they preached a simple message that declared “this Jesus, whom you crucified, God has made him both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36) When that simple message is proclaimed, change breaks out in ways that are more than amazing and ultimately beyond human explanation.

As the days of Lent grow shorter, and Palm Sunday approaches only to give way to celebrating resurrection, we ought to rejoice that this simple man from Nazareth would ride into the city of God on a donkey, surrounded by a band of simple men. That He would do that – even the simple men thing – is a reminder to me that I’m welcomed as a part of His ongoing parade that has defeated the power of sin and death. Like those simple men, I am invited to be a part of advancing His kingdom. Like them, I do not always understand what it all means – but that doesn’t mean I cannot be a part.

As we worship the man who came to Jerusalem on our behalf this Sunday, may we celebrate the invitation He offers – even to simple men and women of every race, of every place, of every station in life.