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It starts with a simple question.

Not a thunderclap. Not a lightning strike. Not a miracle or a sermon.

Just a quiet instruction.

“Go into the village. You’ll find a donkey tied up. Untie it and bring it to me.”

That’s how Palm Sunday begins.

And if you didn’t know the rest of the story — the cheering crowds, the palm branches, the cross, and the empty tomb — you might miss the weight of that moment. But from this one quiet act — the untying of a donkey — the final chapter of Jesus’ earthly life begins to unfold.

This will lead us to an important question: Is that your donkey?

The Peace We Long For

The streets of Jerusalem were electric. The Passover crowd was enormous. Roman soldiers watched with suspicion. Religious leaders whispered, plotted, strategized. Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead, and the news had gone viral in the ancient world.

The people were hopeful. Their hearts raced with dreams of liberation. Here was a man with power over death. Surely, this was the one who would finally overthrow their oppressors and bring peace — at last.

But Jesus didn’t come to crush Rome.
He came to crush sin.

He didn’t ride a warhorse.
He borrowed a donkey.

Because the kind of peace Jesus brings doesn’t start by changing our circumstances. It starts by changing us.

We want relief. We want the stress to stop. We want someone to fix the problems around us. But Jesus comes riding in — not to rearrange our lives on the outside, but to redeem them from the inside out.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27)

His peace doesn’t depend on whether everything goes right. It’s the kind of peace that can exist even when things go wrong.

Because Jesus knows something we forget:
Even if your circumstances change and bring relief, they can always change again in a flash.

But if your heart is changed — if your soul is rooted in grace and wrapped in hope — then peace becomes a steady stream. Not a fragile condition.

Jesus Rides In — For You

On that donkey, Jesus rode into Jerusalem knowing full well what was coming. The cheers would turn to jeers. The palms would become thorns. The crowd that cried “Hosanna” would shout “Crucify.”

Still, he rode.

Not to claim a throne of gold, but to carry a cross of wood.

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:18)

This is meekness — not weakness. Meekness is strength, held back for the sake of love. Jesus rode on, not with force, but with faithfulness. Not for vengeance, but for reconciliation.

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Jesus' conquest isn't about domination. It's about redemption.
He turns “us vs. them” into “we.”
He turns guilt into grace.
He turns death into life.

And he did it for you.

Now He Calls You to Ride, Too

Jesus doesn’t just ride in for you. He calls you to ride with him.

And this is where the question returns:
Is that your donkey?

Because Jesus still asks for what he needs — and what he needs is what you’ve been given. He has entrusted you with gifts, callings, talents, resources, and presence. None of it is random. All of it is part of the story he’s still writing.

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” (Romans 12:6)

So what is your donkey?

  • Maybe it’s administration — helping things run with wisdom and care.
  • Maybe it’s teaching — shaping hearts and minds in God’s Word.
  • Maybe it’s generosity — providing support with quiet faithfulness.
  • Maybe it’s craftsmanship — building what blesses.
  • Maybe it’s encouragement — speaking life into the weary.
  • Maybe it’s mercy — sitting with those who suffer.
  • Maybe it’s prayer — interceding behind the scenes with powerful love.

And if you’re older?

You’re not done.

If you have breath, you have purpose. You can mentor. Write. Pray. Call.
You carry stories that need to be heard. You carry grace that needs to be seen.

You Don’t Have to Know the Ending

You don’t have to know how it all turns out. You don’t have to be in control. You just have to untie what’s been entrusted to you — and ride in, for the sake of love.

Jesus rode a borrowed donkey into Holy Week.

He rode in for you.

And now, he invites you to ride with him — for the sake of the world.

So…

Is that your donkey?

Will you offer it?

Will you ride?