After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. As He approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it.’” Luke 19:28-31
“By this time Jesus was extremely well known. Everyone coming to Jerusalem for Passover had heard of Him, and for a time, the popular mood was favorable toward Him. “The Lord needs it” was all the disciples had to say, and the colt’s owners gladly turned their animal over to them.
Jesus had walked all the way from Galilee, so this switch to riding a colt the last mile into Jerusalem was a deliberate gesture, filled with meaning for the Jews. The specification that this be a colt that has never been ridden is significant in light of the ancient rule that only animals that had not be used for ordinary purposes were appropriate for sacred purposes…
The two disciples did as they were told, and found the colt exactly as they were told. As Jesus had warned them, they were indeed asked by the owners why they were taking the colt. Donkeys and colts were valuable; what the disciples did amounted to coming along and taking someone’s car. But they said what Jesus told them to say…
The disciples then threw their cloaks over the colt, making a seat for Jesus. With this act of entering Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt, Jesus was fulfilling prophecy and affirming His messianic royalty [cf. Zechariah 9:9]. He came in royal fashion, not as a warring king on a horse or in a chariot, but as a gentle and peaceable king on a donkey’s colt.”
Grant Osborne in Luke (LABC; Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 1998) 440-41.
This morning I fly to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and head to Sioux Falls Seminary for a few days. I cannot say enough good things about their president, Greg Henson, who is a dear friend, and the Kairos Project, that enables students to remain wherever they live to study and pursue a degree rather than uproot to go to seminary.
Tomorrow I’ve been invited to preach at Oak Hills Baptist Church as part of their “Following Jesus” series. My talk is called, “Will we be open-handed and generous with money and possessions?” from Luke 19:28-40; 21:1-4. Today’s Scripture contains the first point of my message.
Jesus supplies what His disciples need to honor Him for who He is! Let’s focus on the unridden state of the colt. As Osborne rightly notes, “only animals that had not be used for ordinary purposes were appropriate for sacred purposes.” Think of it as saving something for a special occasion. Have you ever done that?
The statement “The Lord needs it” does not so much imply that we serve a deficient God who depends on us to supply. He Himself is the Lord and owner of all we possess. Thus, it suggests than each of us as stewards must release what the Lord has supplied for Him to be glorified. Whatever you have saved up, release it to Jesus. The Lord needs it!