Photo 7Have you ever thought about the various players in the events of the first Palm Sunday? Let’s think about all of the options:

  • There was the crowd, throwing their cloaks down before Jesus and waving palm branches in the air declaring,

Hosanna!”

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Blessed is the King of Israel!”

  • There were the disciples, who at the time were a bit clueless. Verse 16 says they didn’t understand what was going on until after the fact. As the saying goes,

Hindsight is always 20/20.”

  • There’s the Pharisees, who were not happy at all with what was taking place. In verse 19 they said,

See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

  • There’s Jesus. He came riding in on a donkey [verse 14].

We may miss the clear message being sent by this action unless we study Biblical history. In that day, only kings road on donkeys. Therefore, by Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey colt, He was declaring Himself king without saying a word. His actions spoke loud and clear. He was telling the world He was God. Since that role is already taken, we can’t choose to be Jesus.

  • There’s the donkey.

A donkey is also known by a less flattering name which most of us would prefer not to be called; however, the donkey was privileged to serve his role.

He carried Jesus into the city.

Let that sink in for a minute. He carried Jesus into a city to a lost and messed up world of people looking for a Savior. Sound familiar to you?

We live in a world full of pain and wickedness. There has never been a time when people needed Jesus more than they do today. Jesus is looking for some donkeys to get the job done.

Are you willing? Would you be a donkey for Jesus? It’s something to think about as we kick off Holy week.