The Word This Week
Mark 11:1…
Things are moving swiftly now. Jesus has an eternal purpose in mind, and He will not deviate from that purpose. He is on a mission to fulfill all the Old Testament has declared.
That He would ride into Jerusalem on the colt, the foal of a donkey was a given. It had been declared 500 years earlier in Zechariah 9:9.
The question might be, how would He ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey if He didn’t own one – and none of His disciples did either? Would this be an insurmountable problem?
Not for Jesus. Nothing is too hard for God. In His commitment to fulfilling all the Old Testament scriptures have declared He sent two of His disciples to get one for Him to ride. Jesus prophesies exactly what will happen.
I can imagine the two unnamed disciples being fairly nervous about this assignment. Would they be able to find this donkey – and what if they did? Who would just let them walk away with their donkey – which would have been a prized possession?
But of course they found things exactly as Jesus said they would. There was the donkey they were to set loose, just as Jesus said. But the next part was the hard part – to untie the donkey and begin to walk away with it. But again, exactly what Jesus said would happen happened exactly as Jesus said. The owners of the donkey were willing to allow them to walk away with it – upon hearing the Lord had need of it.
We wonder what must have been going through the minds of the owners of this donkey. Will we see this donkey again? Is it gone for good? Why does the Lord – whom they must have known to be Jesus – need a donkey?
Of course, we know the answers to all these questions. In this way, we have God’s perspective – knowing the end from the beginning. If you have ever wondered how God’s sovereignty works with man’s free will, here is a classic example. We take all that happens here for granted because we know what happened. It is a story told so often in the Church we have it memorized. We look back on it knowing and appreciating all that happened in order to allow Jesus to ride into Jerusalem and be received as the king of the Jews on Palm Sunday.
But for the two disciples sent on this incredibly important mission by Jesus, they had no such assurance, other than to take what Jesus said by faith, and to do what He told them to do. For these two unnamed disciples, Palm Sunday probably first meant sweaty palms.
Pastor Bill
Things are moving swiftly now. Jesus has an eternal purpose in mind, and He will not deviate from that purpose. He is on a mission to fulfill all the Old Testament has declared.
That He would ride into Jerusalem on the colt, the foal of a donkey was a given. It had been declared 500 years earlier in Zechariah 9:9.
The question might be, how would He ride into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey if He didn’t own one – and none of His disciples did either? Would this be an insurmountable problem?
Not for Jesus. Nothing is too hard for God. In His commitment to fulfilling all the Old Testament scriptures have declared He sent two of His disciples to get one for Him to ride. Jesus prophesies exactly what will happen.
I can imagine the two unnamed disciples being fairly nervous about this assignment. Would they be able to find this donkey – and what if they did? Who would just let them walk away with their donkey – which would have been a prized possession?
But of course they found things exactly as Jesus said they would. There was the donkey they were to set loose, just as Jesus said. But the next part was the hard part – to untie the donkey and begin to walk away with it. But again, exactly what Jesus said would happen happened exactly as Jesus said. The owners of the donkey were willing to allow them to walk away with it – upon hearing the Lord had need of it.
We wonder what must have been going through the minds of the owners of this donkey. Will we see this donkey again? Is it gone for good? Why does the Lord – whom they must have known to be Jesus – need a donkey?
Of course, we know the answers to all these questions. In this way, we have God’s perspective – knowing the end from the beginning. If you have ever wondered how God’s sovereignty works with man’s free will, here is a classic example. We take all that happens here for granted because we know what happened. It is a story told so often in the Church we have it memorized. We look back on it knowing and appreciating all that happened in order to allow Jesus to ride into Jerusalem and be received as the king of the Jews on Palm Sunday.
But for the two disciples sent on this incredibly important mission by Jesus, they had no such assurance, other than to take what Jesus said by faith, and to do what He told them to do. For these two unnamed disciples, Palm Sunday probably first meant sweaty palms.
Pastor Bill