Donkeys, Kings and Outcasts.

I’ve been thinking this week about donkeys and kings. It’s strangely appropriate as the Christians in our region prepare to mark the annual festival of Holy Week, which culminates in the Easter weekend.

Making the news headlines this week: a political campaign group called ‘Led By Donkeys’ which in a very public ‘sting’ exposed senior Conservative MPs who were asking for around £10,000 a day in consultancy fees, to further the interests of a (fake) foreign company.

King Charles is in Germany this week, where as Head of State he received military honours and a state banquet.

Meanwhile, the political rhetoric continues to flood in like a tidal wave around the sensitive topic of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. The Minister for Immigration said the government would "not elevate the wellbeing of illegal migrants above the British people".

Our king is the son of a migrant. Prince Philip was forced to flee his homeland at the age of 18 months following a military uprising against his uncle. He was hidden inside an orange crate and smuggled off the island of Corfu.

Donkeys and kings and outcasts.

It made me think about another, more significant migrant king, Jesus Christ. He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey 2000 years ago. That is remembered in the Christian festival of Palm Sunday, this weekend. He arrived to public acclaim, but less than a week later his supporters vanished, leaving him to face a kangaroo court. The public can be fickle. Then local ruler Pontius Pilate famously washed his hands of him, and handed him over for execution.

I encourage you to stop and think carefully about the ancient, historical account of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The bible says that Jesus was radically counter-cultural. He chose the path of suffering, of giving-away himself.

Christians recognise Jesus by his biblical title “king of kings” yet Jesus said he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark’s gospel chapter 10).

When I think about leaders, kings, and their relationship to the most vulnerable of society, I think of the example of Jesus Christ. It is the ultimate example of service to others, not self-service. That is why Jesus is the only one qualified to the claim of saviour.

May God bless you as we enter Holy Week.