1 When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”
Final plans were drawn up, the die was being cast. “Ground zero,” that is, the crucifixion, was five days away. Bethphage was the staging area for what has been called “the Triumphal Entry.” A small, non-descript community near the more well-known Bethany, the home town of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, it was situated two miles from Jerusalem (John 11:18) on the Mount of Olives.
Advanced planning was evident. Jesus sent two of His followers to retrieve a donkey and its colt, in preparation for His formal presentation in Jerusalem as King of the Jews. The expected response of the owner or anyone suspicious of the disciples taking two animals that clearly did not belong to them, would be met with the simple, and apparently pre-arranged code phrase, “The Lord has need of them.” That would provide immediate permission and free passage back with the animals to Jesus.
Having just healed the two beggars at Jericho of their physical blindness, the Lord was heading into Jerusalem to heal the spiritual blindness of the Jewish nation. While the blind men received their sight, tragically, the nation as a whole would reject Christ, and thus their opportunity for spiritual vision.
All four of the gospel accounts include this story in detail. Here we find Jesus soliciting a borrowed animal to ride on in what should be His glorious presentation as king. The Lord and Creator of all things possessed little while on this earth, humbling Himself as nothing more than a servant. While great men rode fine horses, He chose a common form of transport used by peasant folk. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). It speaks clearly of His meekness.
One personal lesson we might learn from this: what Christ directs us to do, He will provide for us to accomplish. The disciples would be successful in their mission to bring the animals back, so long as they followed the Lord’s instruction in what to say. So, we too, in accomplishing the Lord’s desires in our lives, must follow the Lord’s instruction at every step, humble as it might be.
Lord, Your ways at times seem insignificant to the human eye. Help me to walk faithfully in Your Word and in Your way.
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