Transforming the Ordinary

The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

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

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”  

                                   -Matthew 21:6-11 

In this passage, I was struck by how our God elevates the ordinary--or even undesirable-- into something holy.  Jesus, our God and King, used a donkey as his mighty stallion. Palm branches were used as flags announcing his glory. Ragged cloaks were used as his red carpet treatment. And even God himself became an ordinary human being… the humble son of a tradesman.

I think that God loves surprising us. He loves showing us what he can do with a few simple ingredients, even when it comes to our relationship with him. All God needs is us to be willing to take the very next step with him and he can transform that step, and those to follow, into something amazing. We don’t need the extraordinary faith to leap—our God only requires the ordinary faith we have--even if that's only enough for a baby step-- and He’ll take it from there.

Even the communion table, which we use to remember the burden Christ took for us and the grace he continuously extends to us, uses simple, ordinary symbols. Wine and bread. The staples of Jesus’ day. Sustenance that even the poorest of people understood. If he had been born into our society, it may have been tap water and canned soup.

However, in Jesus’ hands, ordinary bread becomes a symbol of our Savior’s body being beaten and broken---taking our deserved punishment. He tore up the bread and explained to his disciples that his body would have to endure something similar.

Then, Jesus took an ordinary pitcher of wine and slowly poured it into a cup, explaining that his blood would flow and spill for our sake.

We remember these things so that we could put our hearts in the right place… we can remember that Jesus wasn't just some ordinary man, dying an ordinary criminal’s death. No, God elevated this act to a miracle. This act paid our debt and the extraordinary resurrection to follow reconciled us with God.

Ordinary becomes holy: 

A donkey becomes a King’s steed. 

Bread and wine become symbols of redemption. 

You and I become children of God. 

It truly is amazing.