The Lord Needs It

1.      As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His Disciples,

2.      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.”

3.      “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

Mark 11:1-3

The Unusual Revelation

The Uncommon Request

The Ultimate Return

The Unusual Revelation

Each of the Gospel Evangelist records this significant event of Jesus entering into Jerusalem. They each reference the donkey on which Jesus sat and point to the fact that this was more than our Lord casually entering into Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. This was far from an ordinary event. The Lord was doing something truly unusual in nature.

Unusual is an interesting word to indicate something that rarely happens. From a prophetic perspective our Lord was initiating the actions necessary to announce His arrival to a nation that was desperately in need of their King. Hundreds of years prior to the Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, Zechariah the prophet wrote about the occasion in his prophecy. Zechariah 9:9, Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The process started with Jesus sending two Disciples into the village and announcing to the owners that “the Lord needs it.”

It was an unusual request politically because many in Israel had grown accustomed to the Roman occupation. The high priest and religious leaders had settled for a puppet government rather than a king because that gave them authority to run the religious affairs. For Jesus to announce His Kingship meant a serious threat to their lucrative enterprise. Jesus just did not fit into their plans, and His parade from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem was more than they could take. Some even demanded that Jesus put an end to their chants of “Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.” But Jesus responded, if these should hold their peace, then the rocks would cry out. See Luke 19:40. There was no political power that could stop this move of God. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy and taking on His rightful role as King of the Jews. This made His triumphal entrance into Jerusalem politically unusual.

This trek into Jerusalem was unusual publicly. Many of the miracles Jesus did, He asked the recipients to be quiet and not tell anyone. For about a year, Jesus spent much of His ministry in the wilderness of Peran because of threats by the Jewish leaders. Now, Jesus was boldly entering into Jerusalem as King of the Jews. The appearance of Jesus was more than that of a Miracle Worker, more than a Teacher of God’s Word, more than One Who healed the sick and raised the dead. Jesus was making it public that He was God’s Anointed Ruler. For that reason, the donkey played a key role in this event. But this donkey did not belong to Jesus even though it was created by Him. Here this passage reveals something about Jesus that was so unusual. God in the Flesh is saying, “The Lord needs it.”

The Uncommon Request

It is not uncommon for us to let God know how much we need Him. We need Him for life and provisions. We need God for strength and hope. We need God for everything, for without Him, we could do nothing and we would be nothing. That is not the request of this passage. Here it states that the “Lord needs it.”

Why would God need anything? All this time, Jesus had supplied the needs, the prayers, the petitions of thousands of people. There was absolutely nothing lacking in His Power. There was nothing that He could not do and yet Jesus needed something. He needed a donkey in order to fulfill the Words of Scripture. This was an uncommon request.

The two Disciples were given the specifics of where to find the donkey along with the background history that the colt had never been ridden by anyone. “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?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

Believe it or not, this verse serves as a reminder that God needs something from us that is useful to His Kingdom. As we take a closer look at the passage we see several things that reveal why The Lord Needs something from us. First, there comes a time when every creature must reveal not only Who created them, but also why they were created. Second, to be used for God’s Service is the greatest service. Lastly, Life will always have you tied up until God unties you for His Glory.

Make no mistake about it, God knows everything about you to the greatest detail. You are not a mistake. You are not a misfortune. Nor is your life a failure as others may try to portray you to be. You were created by God and you were created for His purpose. It is amazing how much Jesus reveals about this donkey. He knew where it was. He knew how old it was. He even knew who had possession of the donkey and had planted something in their hearts about the events of the day. What is most amazing is that Jesus picked this donkey of all the donkeys in and around Jerusalem. The fact that so much was revealed about the donkey should give you comfort in knowing that God knows you better than you know yourself. Circumstances may be blinding your eyes but faith does not depend on what you see, but rather what you believe. God will use what He has created.

The other interesting point is that the donkey was “not in service.” Like many, we choose to take the adventure route in life and pray God will bless our endeavors. Unless we enter God’s service nothing else in life will satisfy. Entering into God’s Service is the greatest quest in life. If there is one thing that I have learned about God it is this: God does not delight in being your last option. Most of us confuse God’s Service with going on a foreign mission or publicly proclaiming God’s Word to the masses. While that is certainly the call for some it is not the call for all. The Apostle Paul helps us with defining God’s Service. Colossians 3:17, whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. If you are a plumber, do it for God’s Glory. Or if you are a bus driver – do it for Jesus. That is the way to find joy in service.

The final lesson that I found is that the donkey needed to be untied. While this goes along with entering into God’s Service, there is one other piece to this. The only way to remain free is to allow Jesus to steer the reins of your life. Notice please, the donkey was untied first but then it remained under the direction of Jesus Christ. In case some of you are anti-Church leadership, please note that it was Jesus’ Disciples that untied the donkey and not Jesus personally. Be subject to leadership especially if they are acting under the direction of Christ.

The Ultimate Return

Life is more than a series of “giddy-ups.” Most of our prayers are devoted to trying to get God to make our “giddy-ups” work. We have this tremendous desire to see life payoff for us. We want to reap what is sown and so on. What if I told you that life was not so much about rewards as it is about “returns.” Rather than trying to “make a go of things” why not place everything into God’s Hands and watch the return.

Thus far, we have only referenced Jesus Disciples untying the donkey. We have not focused our attention on why Jesus needed the donkey. Of course, Jesus could have walked into Jerusalem and proclaimed Himself as King. Jesus could have ridden on a cloud into Jerusalem the same way He entered back into Heaven when His work was completed. Jesus chose none of those methods because that was not the proclamation of Scripture. Every thing Jesus did was by the Book (God’s Word). So, as Jesus rode into Jerusalem riding an untamed colt, we can literally say it was a fulfillment of God’s Word. This brought inspiration and hope to thousands who had gathered in Jerusalem for the great Passover festival. That donkey was not the center of attention, but it was certainly a critical part of the program. Jesus was not going to leave that service without providing a return.

The Scripture is silent as to how the donkey was returned, but we know that the colt was returned to its owners.  Jesus said so, “If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’” We don’t know when the donkey got back home, but we know that donkey was blessed. It had carried the Greatest Treasure of all times. Nothing could change that. It is my belief that the owners were blessed as a result of that service given. I close by telling you that the Lord needs you. No matter how small the gift or the time of service, your life and usefulness is great in the Eyes of God.

The Lord Needs It.