Mark 11:1-6

Mark 11:1-6  As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just 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 doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”  They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.  As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”  They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 

"The Lord needs it" are the words that jump out at me in this passage.  The Lord needs a colt upon which to ride the last two miles into Jerusalem.  Doesn't sound too logical.  Why now, why a colt?  Why didn't He ride on a colt through the many towns He visited earlier?  The reason He needed a colt at that precise moment in time was to fulfill the scriptures, for a colt was biblically considered the beast of burden for the Messiah.  His ride into Jerusalem on a colt was an assertion that He is the Messiah.  He rode into Jerusalem on a colt because that was where the Temple of God was, a place of supreme holiness, a place from which the Messiah's rule would take place.  And because He was fulfilling prophecy, all of Jesus' actions that day were an affront to the priests, especially to the High Priest.  Jesus was challenging their priestly authority, their right to represent God's authority here on Earth.  The High priest and the chief priest would have to take action against this Jesus from that day forth.

A colt was needed; he was the necessary emblem of authority.  He was an indispensable element in ushering in the Messiah's rule.  We Christians are also an indispensable element in ushering in the Messiah's rule.  We bring the Messiah to people's lives by being witnesses for him.  By bringing Christ to them through our lives, we are challenging the status quo: the way people normally live, the way they think.  We are challenging the rule of the flesh.  We are saying through our lives that there is another authority much greater than ours, and that authority must be preeminent in everyone's life.  We are spiritual catalysts, dynamos.  We help people accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord.  Just as Ananias told Paul on the road to Damascus, our commission is to bring Christ to the world.  Then he said: ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.  You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.'  (Acts 22:14-15)  Today, we are the colt untied.  Today we are the beast of burden, known as servants of the Most High.  Today we have a mission: to allow the Holy Spirit to establish the temple of God in every individual where the Messiah can rule.  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  (2 Corinthians 6:16)  Praise God!  Daily, we are given this wonderful privilege to take Jesus to the world, to present his goodness and mercy to the people.  Therefore, today let us once more allow the Holy Spirit to untie our lives and to lead us to where He desires us to serve and to share the Good News that Christ is coming to this town, to your house.