It is the week that Christians around the globe note and celebrate the “triumphal” entry into Jerusalem.
[Matthew 21:9 NASB95] 9 .…. “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!”
Recently in reading the Gospels a few phrases and things about the descriptions of this event struck me.
Here is the complete account from Mark 11: (It is also found in Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-40 and John 12:12-19)
[Mark 11:1-11 NASB95] As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 2 and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied [there,] on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it [here.] 3 “If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4 They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. 5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had told [them,] and they gave them permission. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. 8 And many spread their coats in the road, and others [spread] leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; 10 Blessed [is] the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!” 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem [and came] into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.
It begins here with a directive from the Lord for two of his disciples to retrieve His ride, going into the village, to find a colt that has never been ridden.
Mark and Luke, for some reason, don’t record this “colt” is not a highly prized steed but the foal of a donkey. John, whose gospel often gives us information others left out, does record that information and that it was a fulfillment of prophecy (Zechariah 9:9) as does Matthew mentioning the donkey and prophecy.
[John 12:14-16 NASB95] 14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15 “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.” 16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
The disciples are told to untie the donkey, and if asked what they are doing to simply say “the Lord has need of it”. This phrase stood out to me. All the accounts but John’s record it.
Sure enough, the disciples, whom Matthew says went and did just as the Lord had instructed them found things and responses just as He said they would. Mark indicates they went away and found things just as Jesus told them. They found the colt tied, and they were asked in our terms -“Hey what are you doing?” – and they responded just as He told them to “the Lord has need of it”. And, just as Jesus had indicated would happen, the immediate response was the release of the colt to them for His purpose. The Mark account says they were questioned by “bystanders” who gave them permission. The Luke account calls them owners, but does not record the specific verbal response.
Had Jesus prearranged this loan? Some would say that is probably so. I tend to think not. Jesus would ride in on a borrowed donkey arranged by the intent and purpose of God from way back in Zecharia’s day. He would celebrate the passover in a borrowed room. He would be buried and resurrected from a borrowed or donated tomb. He knew the plans and provision of His father. When He sends the disciples He knows the will of the Father and exactly what they will find, what they will encounter, and what the responses would be.
This should give us great encouragement as His disciples to move forward on whatever He speaks to us to do, and to say what He instructs us to say. He, and the Father, are not making up things as He goes. He has a purpose and a plan, often very detailed and revealed to us, His disciples, as in this case. But, sometimes the revelation of plan is not quite so clear. Have confidence at His word and instruction either way!
I also love this phrase “the Lord has need of it”. They had to think, “Hey it’s going to look like we are horse/donkey thieves!” And, His cool preparation for them is just this phrase. Can you trust what He gives you to say in situations you find yourself in at His direction? Yes! Yes you can!
I also love that the bystanders/owners evidently understood the import or authority of that phrase, and without question gave what they had that He needed. There was no “wait just a minute, Why?” , “When is it coming back” ,”Oh, you don’t want that one, he ain’t even broke yet” , or “Wait… if it’s for the LORD, let me give you this stallion over here, He’ will look much better and be more comfortable in a Cadillac.” May we like this one, comprehend what He is requiring and yield to giving/loaning it to, and in, His purpose. May we understand He has all the resources of creation and eternity at His hand and is asking, not because He has true “need”, but is looking to give us opportunity to serve Him in His present purpose. He could have entered Jerusalem in a Blackhawk helicopter, but God had other plans and people in place for His purpose.
I think it notable that Jesus, and the Father’s, plan was for this entry into Jerusalem to be on this animal. This wasn’t Jesus’ first trip to Jerusalem, but it was perhaps His most important. Because, for the first time He would allow the crowds to treat Him as, and call Him, Messiah and King. And, it would be, and was in these passages, obvious to the Jewish leaders at the time.
But, He would not enter as the conquering King ,or as a Roman General, of that day, seated on a glorious bejeweled saddle and wearing a victor’s crown on a valiant steed with His victorious armies ordered in formation behind Him. He would enter on a humble foal of a donkey. This as yet unridden animal would not have been groomed and cut and prepared for parade. He had no glorious gate or saddle fit for His back. He was a sign of humility, and could have been seen as laughable. It probably was by some. I wonder what Simon, who had been a Zealot subversive, thought. Anything but triumphal as an entry. That is somewhat of a misnomer. But the donkey and His humility represented much more.
It is interesting that Jesus called for an “unbroken” colt, with no fear of mounting and taming him. And that He would enter upon the back of a notoriously stubborn and hard to rule animal heretofore untrained. This ride would show His Lordship over all creation, riding a previously unbroken animal. It would also speak how His humility would provide and lead to exaltation, and establish His Lordship over a stubborn people, and their unbroken will. His triumph would not exhibit violent conquest, but submission gained by love, the authority of God, and the coming of a kingdom rule to establish peace that is ever increasing. Too much illustration and symbolism regarding Israel, and for us, here to go into. Let the Spirit lead you into excavating that.
The next segments of this passage in Mark speaks of them fashioning his saddle of their coats (outer garments). And, of people laying those garments down in the road before Him, along with other vegetation and the palm waving which was customary for honoring victors
Coats, outer garments, were highly valuable in those days. As they were not just robes of covering and raiment, but they were how you were kept warm at night sleeping. People did not undress for sleep but wrapped themselves in these garments. The scriptures in Exodus and Proverbs (and I think elsewhere) speak of holding a man’s garment as surety/security against a loan you were making to Him, and that you had to return it to him by sunset so he would not be naked and cold. The point is these garments expressed laying down something of great value to you to honor a great King, General or Conqueror. They speak of you being humbled before Him, and His being exalted and honored by you, in this kind of sacrificial act.
Jesus sat on these coats, and rode over these coats, as He entered on a humble beast. But, in this way, people were giving Him honor and praise and recognizing His worthiness as one coming from God. Are we willing to lay down that which we value and may well need ourselves, and be stripped before the King in humility, and give Him praise for who He is and for, but not just for, what He has done.
They were giving praise from Psalm 118:
[Psalm 118:26 NASB95] 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
Here is more of the prophetic context –
[Psalm 118:20-26 NASB95] 20 This is the gate of the LORD; The righteous will enter through it. 21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me, And You have become my salvation. 22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner [stone.] 23 This is the LORD’S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
The last observation of Mark is that Jesus entered Jerusalem [and came] into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany. It would be interesting to know what was in the mind and thoughts of the Lord Jesus after such an eventful and prophetic day. I found the phrase and after looking around at everything, …..He left for Bethany very interesting. Particularly in the light of the next day. Jesus took it all in, and I am not sure, even as crowds proclaimed Him as Messiah, that He was impressed and pleased with what He saw. He looked and left… for the friends, and comforts of them, in Bethany.
The next day we read of the cursing of the fig tree, and the cleansing of the temple of moneylenders, and confronting the Pharisees with parables so pointed, and understood by them, that they sought to seize Him.
Sometimes in His purpose we can experience a foretaste of glory. And, that can sometimes be followed by a time of discouragement and challenge at how things may seem. Let us be discerning of His purpose in all that is happening around us, and what He has called us to be and to do, understanding He is working His purpose/His good pleasure out through us as His own. Keep in mind “The Lord Has Need of It.”
[Philippians 2:13-16 NASB95] 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.