Matthew 21
1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, 2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them,and bring them unto me. 3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.
4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,
5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.
6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, 7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. 8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
This particular matter differ from many of the other things we know about His life on earth. All four Gospels relate this particular story.
Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem and was close to Bethphage. Here Jesus sent these two disciples to fetch the donkey. Jesus related to them in detail what they will find and what they had to do.
When the people asked them why they loosened the donkeys they replied just as Jesus had instructed them and the owners allowed them. (Luke 19:29-34)
Humanly we could even say that what they did was stealing to just go and take the donkeys. But the Lord gave them very specific instructions what they will find, who they will encounter and how they should respond.
Our human way of reasoning will lead us into the bush and rob us of many blessings. We must not allow our human reasoning to come between when God gives us a specific instruction.
It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t use the mother but the already grown foal. We would expect Jesus to rather use the mother that’s more tame and experienced, while the colt is still wild and inexperienced.
Jesus also needed both. When the people asked them what they were doing and why they were loosening the donkeys, they replied as Jesus instructed them, “the Lord has need of them”.
Maybe you have great plans and dreams for your children. How will you respond when Jesus needs them?
A young person came to me saying that the Lord has called him into God’s work. I told him to share it with his parents. He came back and said that his father objected, “who will look after us when we are old”. He listened to his parents in stead of God’s call and unfortunately his end was terrible.
Parents, don’t stand in the way of the Lord when God calls your child. You might insist that your child follow a career and earn money but be terribly disappointed when everything is lost in the end because of you.
The mother of the colt didn’t object but allowed her child to be used by the Lord. In the end she was blessed too as they entered Jerusalem and the people put their clothes and palm branches in the road in honour of the Lord.
They were honoured so much that the pharisees were very envious even proclaiming that the whole world were following after Him.
“Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”
Have you ever experienced this that the King of kings is coming to you?
God is everywhere. But He made the special arrangement to come to you personally. What is your response?
Blessed is such a person to whom God is coming personally. Jesus must be greater than anything else in your life. Do you have the same response as these people to worship before Him when He comes to you?
Usually Jesus worked in private and didn’t make a huge thing about the people He healed. But here He allowed the people to praise Him, much to the envy of the scribes and pharisees.
This was four days before He was tried and crucified, because the pharisees got so upset that they planned His arrest and death. The pharisees were the religious people of the day. They stuck strictly to the law. The multitudes praised Him and cried out but not the pharisees. They influenced others, had Him arrested, crucified and killed and the Jewish nation is suffering because of it to this day.
Jesus came in the Name of the Lord. We cannot just ignore someone coming in the Name of the Lord. If we do we bring a curse upon ourselves.
The people recognised Him who came in the Name of the Lord and rejoiced.
So too you need to rejoice at the one coming in the Name of the Lord.
No one had ridden this foal but when the Lord touched it, it became completely calm. So too with you when the Lord touches you who were wild He makes you to become as a lamb.