Our Leader Rides a Donkey

When they came to arrest Jesus, there was an immediate reaction. Peter pulled out his sword (reading from John 18). He cut off someone’s ear – actually the servant of the high priest – I doubt the high priest was impressed.
Right at that point all chaos could have broken loose, a pitched battle for life or death. Isn’t that how it starts? Action, then reaction, tit for tat, then on for young and old!
Instead, Jesus nipped it in the bud. “Put away your sword, Peter”. He even restored the man’s ear, according to Luke’s account.
A few days beforehand Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a war horse. He came to Jerusalem to bring peace, not war. .Jerusalem means ‘city of peace’. He came with a motley bunch of disciples, not a trained army. He came without security guards. He came simply to the acclamations of the ordinary people. “Hosanna in the highest”.
Palm Sunday is a symbol of peace, a telling reminder of the nature of Jesus ministry and work. How far has the world strayed from this today! How much has the world become addicted to war, to power games, to collusion and corruption. How easily do people resort to violence, whether from false teaching or frustration!
Our core values as a church community flow out of Palm Sunday and the Easter events which follow. We are a people committed to peace and reconciliation, truth and integrity, community and hospitality, grace and goodness, sacrifice and hope. These are core aspects of Christian identity which we are to embrace and live out before a watching and waiting world. They are not easy or soft, but ask of us all we have.
Our leader rides a donkey. Even the donkey was borrowed. He is a man of simplicity and peace. He is a man for the ordinary citizen, the broken, the lost, the oppressed.
Let us model our lives on Jesus. For in him is true life. In him we know that power is not about political influence but humble service. Let us help one another to know what it means to walk with Jesus today, to ride those donkeys of peace, following the path of our leader.