Jesus lived in the land of Israel, a fine example of the perfect man,

Romans were the rulers, the Jews wanted them gone,

To take back control, to be stable and strong.

They looked for a Messiah, so God would set them free,

But all they could imagine was a messiah military.

To crush all the Romans, and drive them out,

Show all those foreigners what God’s all about,

Kill them, crush them, fight them in the streets,

This was the Jesus they thought they’d would meet.

Hail, the conquering hero, or so they thought,

They’d welcome the King on his white war horse.

Well Jesus came calling on Jerusalem town,

But riding on a donkey, he looked a right clown,

He wasn’t very warlike, for he was the Prince of Peace,

He came riding on a donkey, so the Romans said, awwwww, isn’t he sweet!

But he wasn’t meek and mild when he cleared the temple,

Drove out the money changers from the house of prayer,

So the people thought, this man’s gone mental,

He supposed to fight the Romans, drive out the pagans,

So we’re not quite sure that he’s a friend of our nation.

We want a messiah to take back control,

Be sovereign over borders and rule the world,

We want Israel to be great again and, Jesus to be King,

So why did he do that Donkey thing?

We’re not so sure that he’ll do what we want,

So we’ll stick a crown of thorns on his bonce,

We’ll take him to Pilate and say this man wants to be King,

He’s friend of Caesars, so crucify him.

We’ll take him to a cross and nail him once for all,

Then we’ll put him in a tomb, ‘cause he wouldn’t play ball.

We make the messiahs, we make them or break them,

Cause we want to take control and be a sovereign nation!

If you don’t do what we want, then we’ll nail you to a cross,

‘Cause enemies of the people are no great loss,

So they took our Jesus, who was so full of love,

And they put in a tomb, but now he’s reigning from above,

‘Cause God raised him up and rolled back the stone,

Just as he breaks down walls, so he rose from the dead in salvation’s cause.

Now Jesus calls us, and he wants to be free,

So change your thinking, and come and follow me.

Leave behind your plans for fighting and war,

Change war horses to donkeys, for blessed are the poor,

If you want to rule the world, then become the slaves of all,

Start building bridges and tearing down the walls,

So leave for your plans for world domination,

And join in the world-wide heavenly nation.

If you want a messiah who will set you free,

Change all your thinking, and come and follow me!

Revd. Mark Welch, 2018.