Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen.
[00:00:02] Church. You may be seated.
[00:00:13] Well, I hope you got a palm branch.
[00:00:16] These are fun. Yes. I see Steve's hanging. Holding his up back there.
[00:00:22] These are much neater than the ones when I grew up in church. We didn't have these cool things.
[00:00:28] They were a little different. They're fun if you're a kid and you can, like, poke people with them, like the person in front of you.
[00:00:34] At least that's what I heard anyway. Not that I would know.
[00:00:39] I've been told about that. But anyway, yeah, Palm Sunday is great. And that's. Today is really special because it is Palm Sunday. Getting to celebrate this beginning of Passion Week or Holy Week.
[00:00:55] So much of the Bible of the Gospels is devoted to this final week of Jesus life. It's so monumental, and everything starts on Palm Sunday. It's so significant, and it's so exciting.
[00:01:10] And that's where we're going to be today. We're also finishing our series on being a good manager. So we've done four messages so far talking about managing the things God gives us, whether it's money or time or resources, whatever those things might be.
[00:01:28] Today we're on the fifth of those, and it ties in very neatly, actually, to the passage. So it's kind of exciting to see that.
[00:01:38] Before we get into the text, though, just to kind of warm up our minds to this, I just want to put out a question, something to think about, a little reflective question as we get into the text today.
[00:01:50] The question is, has a family member or a friend ever come to you and asked to borrow something with very little explanation other than that it was really needed?
[00:02:03] And I'm not talking about borrowing some brown sugar, okay? You know, something you don't care about or a few dollars. I'm talking about something substantial.
[00:02:14] Maybe it's your car.
[00:02:16] Maybe it was a large sum of money or something.
[00:02:20] I don't know if you've ever had that experience.
[00:02:23] I think most of us, if we're honest, would be hesitant to just hand it over, even if it was a family member or a friend.
[00:02:32] At the very least, we would want more details about what was going on and why it was needed.
[00:02:40] And the point is this. We're not naturally trusting when it comes to our stuff, even with our time. If someone asks me to do something to help out with something, I'm very unlikely to just say yes. I probably want to get more information about it.
[00:03:00] I just don't trust naturally. And we don't trust naturally with our things.
[00:03:06] And as we've seen throughout this entire series.
[00:03:09] Trusting God in is vital to being a good manager. There's kind of been an undercurrent here in all of these messages where trust is kind of a theme.
[00:03:20] Here are some of the things we've seen over these last few weeks. When we don't trust God, we don't use what God has given us, and we tend to bury it in the ground. When we don't trust God, when we don't trust God, we make excuses for why we can't obey God and serve others.
[00:03:41] That's like what we saw with the feeding of the five thousand.
[00:03:44] And the disciples were kind of thinking of reasons why they couldn't do what they needed to do because they didn't trust Jesus.
[00:03:54] Another reason we don't trust God, or another result of not trusting God, rather, is that we become greedy and we want to just hold on to what we have. We're not willing to let go of things.
[00:04:08] And yet we saw last week another part of this, that when we don't trust God, we actually can become ineffective at doing what the Lord has given us authority to do. Trust has a lot to do with being good managers. In today's message, we're going to learn that if we don't trust God, we might miss out on being a part of God's plan and purpose.
[00:04:33] So if you have your Bible or your apps, you can turn to Luke chapter 19. This is where we're going to be today. Luke chapter 19. I don't have any slides, so you'll just have to follow along in the text and pay good attention, I guess. Not that you never pay good attention. I know you all do. Luke Chapter 19 is where we're going to be.
[00:04:54] And we're going to start in verse 28. This is going to be our main message. There are going to be some references to some of the other gospels because there are things in this account that we want to draw on there. But Luke chapter 19 is where we're going to be. And we're going to think today about a manager's responsibility, a manager's responsibility and trusting God with no questions asked.
[00:05:22] Luke chapter 19 starts in verse 28.
[00:05:27] Before we get to that, a little context here for you. So last week there was this story about the disciples not being able to cast out a demon. You probably remember that if you were here, right? And it ended with Jesus giving a prediction of what was going to happen next.
[00:05:45] And he told his disciples this. This is from Matthew's gospel. Now, Matthew 17, 22, 23. This is what Jesus said, or this is what it says, rather. And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.
[00:06:08] And they were deeply grieved. That's where that message left off here in Luke 19. It's now a few months later. It could even be several weeks later. We're not quite sure of the time, but it is. It's in close proximity to that. And now all those things that Jesus had talked about, about suffering, about dying, about being raised again, now they're very close at hand.
[00:06:35] If this was Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem, as we're celebrating today, Good Friday is just a few days away. That's when Jesus was crucified. So it gives you a sense of the time that's going on here between his entry into Jerusalem and what's about to transpire next.
[00:06:55] And that's where we're focusing on today. So verses 28 to 30. Let me read this for you. This is from Luke, chapter 19, verses 28 to 30. It says this.
[00:07:05] After he had said these things, he was going on ahead.
[00:07:10] Going up to Jerusalem, by the way. Just a quick note. Fun fact, if you will. The Bible always talks about going up to Jerusalem. The reason for that is because Jerusalem is on a bit of a mountain. Okay? Relatively speaking. So whenever the Bible talks about going to Jerusalem, they're literally talking about going up.
[00:07:31] Not like how you and I tend to think of latitudes. Like if I'm in Chicago, I said, I went up to Milwaukee or I went down to Springfield. They're not talking about it that way. They're referring literally to the landscape there. So it says that he was going up to Jerusalem.
[00:07:48] Verse 29, it says, when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, near the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples saying, go into the village ahead of you. There, as you enter, you will find a colt tied on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. Here.
[00:08:13] So he's sending the disciples now on a certain mission.
[00:08:17] And we can break down some of the important facts here. First of all, where were they going? He mentions two villages, Bethphage and Bethany. They were to actually go to Bethphage. I think Bethphage was not very well known.
[00:08:31] So I think Luke includes Bethany, so that we kind of have an idea of where this was.
[00:08:37] And Matthew's account tells us that they went to Bethphage. So it's this little kind of unknown town.
[00:08:44] And that's where he's going to send the disciples to go get this animal, this colt.
[00:08:52] And it says he sent two of the disciples. It doesn't say who they were. I looked this up. None of the gospels identify who they were. Actually, I found that kind of interesting.
[00:09:02] I can only imagine that it just might. Must not have been that important to include their names. The event itself is important, don't get me wrong.
[00:09:12] But the significance is in that it's not in the privilege of who was sent. So it could have been any two of them.
[00:09:21] We can only guess at who they were and what were they sent to find. It says they were sent to find a cult. Now, most of you probably when you think of a cult, you're thinking of a horse or a right? But a colt is also a young male donkey.
[00:09:35] So that's what they're going to find here. Donkeys aren't that big. Jesus is sending them to find the baby.
[00:09:44] Now how are they going to find it when they go there?
[00:09:47] Well, Jesus, let's say, see this. Jesus didn't say, okay, just go find some cult for me somewhere.
[00:09:56] Just go somewhere in the village and just get something. And he didn't say this. He didn't say, just go over there and see if you can just find something for me to ride.
[00:10:05] He didn't leave it up to the disciples to pick something of their own choosing. That would of course, been disastrous because they would have argued the whole time. You could imagine those two, if he sent them there and said, hey, just go get me something, they probably would have been arguing about it before they ever even got there.
[00:10:21] So Jesus gave them explicit instructions about what he was looking for, because Jesus had a specific one in mind that he knew was there and he provided the details they would need to locate it. And I think you'll find this interesting that he gave them a description of the animal.
[00:10:42] He didn't tell them the name of the person who had it or the specific location. He could have done that. He could have said, okay, go ask for so and so in this town. He's on this street at this address and he'll have this donkey for you.
[00:10:58] Instead he gives us details, he gave the disciples details about the animal itself. And the first one is of course, that it is a colt. So they're looking for a young male donkey. Okay, how many colts could there be though?
[00:11:13] Well, the other part of the donkey of this is that it would be with its mother. In Matthew's Gospel Matthew tells us that they were to go get the colt and the mother, the mare. Okay? Now, this colt was a baby donkey. He probably wouldn't have just gone willingly unless the mother was there. Sometimes we see pictures of Jesus entering Jerusalem and he's just riding on a single donkey. But actually he was probably riding on the colt and. And the mother was probably right beside him. The colt would have been easier to handle if the mother was there. You can look that up in Matthew, chapter 21, verse 2. Jesus sent the disciples and said, bring them both here. But he was only going to ride the colt. Just for clarity there.
[00:11:59] He said, go into the village immediately. You'll find a donkey and there a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. And that's the other small detail we see here. The colt would be tied up.
[00:12:12] It wasn't going to be wandering around.
[00:12:14] It wasn't going to be harnessed to something.
[00:12:17] It wasn't going to be in use when they found it.
[00:12:21] So they know it's a young male donkey. They know it's going to be with its mother. They know that it's going to be tied up when they find it. And here's the fourth thing Jesus mentions. He says that no one has yet ridden on it.
[00:12:38] Now, I don't know how the disciples could discern that. I have no idea how that works.
[00:12:44] I don't know anything about that sort of thing.
[00:12:46] They probably had to ask somebody, I suppose. Or maybe they see the mayor and the colt and then they ask the owners, but has this donkey ever been written? Maybe that's how they knew.
[00:12:58] But that was the fourth important point. They would be able to know that this was the donkey. This was not just a happenstance kind of occurrence. It was very specific.
[00:13:09] And you also notice Jesus didn't offer any sort of explanation to the disciples about how he knew it was there. And as far as we know, the disciples didn't even ask him how he knew it was there. Obviously, as the Son of God, he was omniscient and he knew exactly where it was. He knew how they would find it, and he knew all of its unique characteristics.
[00:13:30] So the disciples just had to trust Jesus on this.
[00:13:34] Now, of course, they weren't just going there to find it and see it. They were going there to untie it and bring it back to Jesus. Think about this for a moment. This is basically what Jesus is telling them. Listen, I want you to go into this strange town.
[00:13:52] I want you to go find this special donkey, and I want you to Just bring it back to me.
[00:13:58] And under any other circumstances, doing something like. Something. Something like this would probably be considered stealing.
[00:14:05] I'm sure that the disciples were probably a little nervous about this. They might have felt uneasy or uncomfortable. Could you imagine if somebody came to you and said, listen, I want you to go next door to your neighbor's house and take his lawn furniture and bring it over here?
[00:14:24] Just go do that. Right?
[00:14:27] I think there would be some uneasiness in that, maybe some fear.
[00:14:32] Jesus was actually sensitive to that.
[00:14:35] Jesus knew that there could be some questions, and so he provided some guidance to them if they were asked about it.
[00:14:44] So verse 31 continues. Jesus says, if anyone asks you, why are you untying it? You shall say, the Lord has need of it.
[00:14:55] So those who were sent went away. They found it just as he had told them.
[00:15:00] As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, why are you untying it?
[00:15:07] They said, the Lord has need of.
[00:15:12] Seems like such a simple statement.
[00:15:14] Just go tell him the Lord has need of it, and that'll take care of the whole thing.
[00:15:19] Of course, it was reasonable to assume that someone might ask the disciples what they were doing.
[00:15:24] You know, in a small town like that, if a couple of strangers just showed up and just started untying a young donkey and its mother, someone was going to notice and someone was going to have questions. And so this phrase that the disciples were to say was to be their point of authority, so they could take it. Just tell them, the Lord has need of it.
[00:15:48] Jesus, by saying that, was exerting his authority as its owner, and he was giving the disciples the authority to take it.
[00:15:58] And just to kind of maybe put this in context, think about it like this. Let's suppose King Herod. King Herod was ruling Judea at that time, right? Let's suppose King Herod sends a couple of his soldiers into this town, and the soldiers show up and they tell the owner, the king has need of it.
[00:16:18] Nobody's going to argue with them, right? They're going to say, oh, yep, yep, yep, please take it, right? And they would have released it immediately because as King Herod had a lot of authority and his soldiers had authority when they acted on his behalf, Jesus has a lot more authority than King Herod, and he is the Lord himself. And when he calls on someone like this to give up what he has, his words carry weight.
[00:16:48] And that's the big difference here.
[00:16:52] King Herod, if he said he needed the donkey and he proceeded to take it, he'd actually be stealing something that wasn't his. But Jesus is God.
[00:17:03] Jesus is the creator, Jesus is the ruler. Jesus is the owner of everything. He has a right claim on all things big and small. And on the basis of his authority as the Lord, he could take that donkey. In a sense, that donkey was just on loan to its owners, but it was always at the disposal of the one to whom it ultimately belonged.
[00:17:30] So when the disciples said, the Lord has need of it, it meant that Jesus was coming for what was rightfully his all along.
[00:17:41] At the same time, the phrase is interesting.
[00:17:47] The Lord has need of it. Jesus didn't say that he wanted the donkey. He didn't say that it would be useful to him. He didn't say that it would be helpful.
[00:17:58] He didn't send the disciples to barter with the owners or negotiate with them. Instead, Jesus said that he had need of it.
[00:18:07] When someone has a need, it's something they can't do without.
[00:18:12] There are things that we need in order to live.
[00:18:16] We need food, we need water, we need clothing, we need shelter.
[00:18:21] Among the different things that we need. Jesus didn't say, this is going to be good for me. This is something I want. He said, this is something I, I need.
[00:18:35] And this is very significant because throughout the whole Bible, we get a good sense of God's desire, we get a sense of God's emotions, we get a sense of God's will.
[00:18:46] But we never see anything expressing God's need.
[00:18:51] And just to contrast this for you, let me read a few verses here.
[00:18:55] These are from different places in the Bible speaking about God. And what you're going to hear here are, are these emotions of God, God's desire, what God wants.
[00:19:06] But you're not going to hear it express God's need. Genesis 6, verses 5 and 6. Genesis 6, 5, 6. It says this. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
[00:19:23] The Lord was sorry or sorrowful that he had made man on the earth. And he was grieved in his heart.
[00:19:33] In Deuteronomy, chapter 30, verse 19, right before the Israelites get ready to enter the promised land, Moses is expressing God's heart to the people before they go in to take possession of the land. This is what he says. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. For so choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. He's pleading with the people to do God's will. Isaiah, chapter 30, verse 18, it says, Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore he waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice.
[00:20:16] How blessed are all those who long for him.
[00:20:21] Ezekiel 18:32. This is God speaking. He says, for I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God, therefore repent and live.
[00:20:34] And elsewhere in Ezekiel he says, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways.
[00:20:45] In Hosea 6, 6, God says, for I delight in mercy rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. In Matthew's Gospel, just a little bit a few days after he enters Jerusalem, this is what Jesus declared. In Matthew, chapter 23, verse 37, he says, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her.
[00:21:08] How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
[00:21:21] 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 16 to 18, it says, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing in everything. Give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
[00:21:37] Second Timothy, chapter two, verse four, it says, God desires all men to be slave, saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. And second Peter, chapter three, verse nine, it says, the Lord is not slow about his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. This is just a very short list of verses that express God's heart, His longing, and his desire.
[00:22:10] God wants people to repent of their sin and turn to him in faith.
[00:22:15] He wants us to rejoice always.
[00:22:19] He desires for us to pray without ceasing.
[00:22:23] He wants us to give thanks in all circumstances.
[00:22:27] But he doesn't need it.
[00:22:31] Whether we repent or not, whether we rejoice or not, whether we pray or not, if God is no less who he is because of it. And yet, as Jesus prepared to enter Jerusalem, we see him express not just something he wanted, but something he needed.
[00:22:53] He didn't say, I really desire that colt. He said, I have need of it.
[00:23:03] So why did Jesus need that donkey? And it's interesting when we think about this, of all the things that please God, of all the things that he desires, one might think that if there was something he needed, wouldn't it be pretty great? And yet it's just this little baby donkey, of all the things, that's what he needs.
[00:23:26] Why is that?
[00:23:28] Well, well, I came up with just a couple of reasons here.
[00:23:32] Number one, it was to demonstrate his humanity and his humility.
[00:23:38] Remember, as the Lord, he had a rightful claim to the cult. We've established that already.
[00:23:45] But you know, in fact, as the all powerful God, he didn't need to send a couple of disciples to go get it.
[00:23:53] He could have just met made one.
[00:23:55] He could have just said, you know what, I need a cult to enter Jerusalem, so let there be a colt.
[00:24:02] And there it is.
[00:24:04] Doesn't have to send the disciples on this little task. They don't have to have any uncomfortable conversations about why they're untying somebody else's animal. None of that would have to happen.
[00:24:14] He could have just made one, problem solved.
[00:24:18] But why stop there?
[00:24:20] I mean, he could have created a magnificent war horse, right? I mean, that's how kings enter, right? On top of a nice horse and it's got all the banners on it and everything, right?
[00:24:34] And that is something he could have done. But even more than that, he could have made a tank, he could have made a Humvee, he could have made a whole convoy, right? And that would have been magnificent. Could you imagine him riding into Jerusalem, sitting on top of a tank and all these Humvees going in there?
[00:24:53] That would have made a real statement, right?
[00:24:57] But as a man, not as God, not as the Lord, but as a man, Jesus chose not to use his creative power and instead he exercised real human dependence.
[00:25:13] And this need showed that something was lacking and it gives us a glimpse into his humanity.
[00:25:20] And it also demonstrates his humility because he needed something that someone else had. And relatively speaking, it wasn't something enormous.
[00:25:30] Jesus didn't say he needed a whole city, he didn't need a whole army. It was just a little donkey that nobody had ever ridden.
[00:25:39] And on the donkey he would be at ground level.
[00:25:42] He would be very accessible to all the people.
[00:25:46] If Jesus came in here on a colt down here, his legs would probably be dragging on the ground because that's how small it was.
[00:25:56] You would be right at eye level with him if you were there.
[00:26:00] In fact, you might even be a little above him. If he's sitting on that colt and you're standing, that's a lot different than sitting atop a tank in a convoy.
[00:26:11] So why did Jesus need the donkey? Because this donkey demonstrates his humanity. It demonstrates his humility.
[00:26:20] There's a second reason, and that was to fulfill Scripture.
[00:26:26] Jesus didn't need the donkey because it would just be a convenient way for him to get into Jerusalem. Jesus walked everywhere.
[00:26:33] In fact, this is the only place I could find in scripture where, where it meant in the gospels, where it mentions him riding on any animal.
[00:26:44] And he'd entered Jerusalem other times, by the way, but this time he's entering on a donkey.
[00:26:52] And the reason he needed this now was because of a prophecy that had been given hundreds of years earlier in the book of Zechariah. In Zechariah, chapter 9, verse 9, Zechariah, chapter 9th, verse 9.
[00:27:05] This is the key point of this right here. It says this. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph. O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation. Humble.
[00:27:22] And here it is mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. It's very, very specific.
[00:27:33] The prophecy didn't say the Messiah is going to just enter Jerusalem.
[00:27:39] It didn't say, well, he's going to enter Jerusalem on some kind of animal.
[00:27:43] It specifies not even just a donkey, but a colt.
[00:27:49] Jesus knew what God's word had said about him, and he was determined to do what God had said. He never deviated from God's plan, ever, not even when it came to small details. He always focused on what God wanted. And God's will was that he should enter Jerusalem on this little baby donkey.
[00:28:11] So he sent his disciples to get this colt so that he could fulfill scripture.
[00:28:19] Now, of course, Jesus had authority to take, take the donkey. We've established that and now we know why he needed it. What about the owners themselves though?
[00:28:29] This is kind of an interesting dynamic when you think about the position it put them in. Well, verse 35 here it says that the disciples brought the donkey to Jesus so we could ascertain that the owners must have consented. Mark's gospel, though, actually gives us some more details there. In Mark, chapter 11, verses 5 and 6, it says this. Some of the bystanders were saying to the disciples, what are you doing untying the colt.
[00:28:56] They spoke to him just as Jesus had told them, the Lord has need of it. And they gave them permission just like that.
[00:29:04] All they had to do is say the Lord has need of it. And they said, okay, here you go.
[00:29:10] The owners, without hesitation, without further questions, immediately allowed the disciples to take the donkey and the colt with them. And it was a tremendous demonstration of trust.
[00:29:24] I want you to think about this. Maybe we can ponder maybe a bit of a modern day kind of example Here, let's suppose I'll pick on a couple. I'll pick on Chuck because he's my friend, and Brent because he's also my friend.
[00:29:40] Jesus sends Chuck and Brent to the Honda dealer down the street and he tells them, listen, there's this blue Honda Accord there.
[00:29:51] It's brand new, just got unloaded from the truck.
[00:29:55] No one has ever driven this car. And the keys are in the ignition. I want you to go get it and bring it back here.
[00:30:03] And Chuck and Brent are like, oh, yeah, no problem. Right?
[00:30:07] And they're thinking, I don't know, I would think there would be some nervousness.
[00:30:12] But what about the owner of the dealership?
[00:30:15] He's just going to say, oh, okay, just a couple of strange guys out there taking this car. No problem at all. No, he's going to be out there in a moment. He's going to say, what are you guys doing?
[00:30:24] And Chuck and Brent say, oh, the Lord has need of it. And he says, oh, well, why didn't you say, of course, let me open the door for you?
[00:30:34] But that's what this was like. Basically, the disciples are being sent to take something that belongs to someone else. And if they're asked, just say, the Lord has need of it.
[00:30:44] And the owners just say, okay.
[00:30:49] I wonder how people today would respond to a request like this.
[00:30:56] Yeah, the owners in the story really didn't hold back. They don't seem to express any doubt. But I wonder how many of us would probably have a lot of questions before letting go of something that belongs to us. In fact, even something small.
[00:31:09] And I have to confess, here I was thinking about something.
[00:31:13] It was kind of a point of conviction.
[00:31:15] When I see someone in an intersection asking for money, I'm filled with all kinds of questions.
[00:31:21] Do they really need it?
[00:31:23] How's it going to be used?
[00:31:25] And I become filled with all kinds of doubts, and I'm hesitant to even part with a few cents because of it.
[00:31:33] I mean, that's a lot less than even a donkey.
[00:31:37] And the same thing is true when I hear charities asking for donate anytime anybody asks for money, Right?
[00:31:43] How are they actually going to use it?
[00:31:46] What are they actually going to do with it?
[00:31:48] Is it really going to make a difference?
[00:31:52] There's a lot of distrust that I have in scenarios like that.
[00:31:58] I mean, how would any of us respond? I think that this type of thinking crosses our minds sometimes when it comes to what we give to the church too.
[00:32:06] You know, we might wonder, how is the church actually spending the money we donate? I mean, yeah, we got a little financial statement, but is it really making a difference? Difference?
[00:32:16] Or how about this? We might question whether putting in our time to do something is really going to make much of a difference.
[00:32:23] You know, do I really need to put in this effort? Is it really going to do something meaningful?
[00:32:31] We might even invest our energy into some ministry, but question whether it's really accomplishing something. I think some of you have been in situations like that, right? You. You ever pour your heart into somebody, ministered to somebody, tried to help somebody, prayed for somebody, taught the Bible to somebody, and they just flatline. And you start to think, is this worth it?
[00:32:52] Is it really making a difference? Is this what God really wants me to do with my time?
[00:32:57] Yeah.
[00:32:59] When we have doubts and questions like that, we hesitate in wanting to give to what God wants.
[00:33:06] It takes faith to trust, like the owners of the donkey and to just hold nothing back and just give it because the Lord needs it.
[00:33:17] And yet we see that great things actually happen when we trust God. And this is so interesting to me in this passage. So we pick up again in verse 35. I'll read 35. 40. Luke 19:35, 40.
[00:33:31] So it says they, the disciples brought it, the colt, to Jesus.
[00:33:37] And they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it as he was going. They were spreading their coats on the road. Kind of like what you see around here, right? They were spreading their coats down on the road.
[00:33:49] As soon as he was approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen.
[00:34:01] And they were shouting, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
[00:34:11] Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, teacher, rebuke your disciples.
[00:34:17] But Jesus answered, I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out.
[00:34:27] In a small but important way, the owners of the donkey became a part of what God was doing on that first Palm Sunday. Here's some observations. Number one, it enabled Jesus to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah.
[00:34:43] Remember the prophecy we just read? It said he had to enter Jerusalem and. And he had to enter it on a colt.
[00:34:52] So when the owners gave the donkey to Jesus, they became part of fulfilling that prophecy. That's why Jesus needed it. He couldn't substitute something else. When the prophecy specifically mentioned that he would be mounted on a donkey. So the owners of the donkey made it possible for that to happen.
[00:35:17] Number two, it resulted in praise to God, Jesus could fulfill prophecy. It also resulted in Praise to God.
[00:35:26] It says that as they were nearing, as they were approaching, the whole crowd began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice. And they were shouting out this song, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.
[00:35:40] All of Jerusalem was stirred up and excited when Jesus entered the city.
[00:35:46] And I think they too were thinking about Zachariah's prophecy.
[00:35:51] They're thinking, behold, your king is coming to you. Those words were etched in their mind. And how would they know when that king arrived?
[00:36:01] Because he would enter Jerusalem on a donkey.
[00:36:05] Jesus, if he had not entered on a donkey, if he had just walked in there, I don't think they would have made that connection.
[00:36:10] It's the fact that he was riding on that colt, which is exactly what the prophecy said. That's how they knew it was him. And so they shouted out, blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, truthfully, they didn't really understand what kind of king Jesus was, and they didn't understand his purpose in coming to earth.
[00:36:30] That's very evident because in a few days, most of these people will be crying out for him to be crucified.
[00:36:36] But it didn't diminish the fact that Jesus is king. Nothing could stop this praise either. Jesus said that even if the people were to become silent, the stones themselves would cry out. That would be something to see.
[00:36:49] That would be remarkable.
[00:36:51] Here's the third thing we learned from this, that because the owners didn't hold anything back, it set in motion the events that led up to the crucifixion and resurrection. It set in motion the events that led up to the crucifixion and resurrection. So here, in the midst of the crowd of people who were praising God, it says that there were some of the Pharisees, and they weren't there to praise Jesus.
[00:37:14] They hated Jesus. And all they could think about was how to get rid of him. And this had been in their minds for a long time. They had been plotting for a while, and they were just looking for an opportunity. Opportunity and looking for an excuse to get rid of him. And then this happened. Jesus rides into Jerusalem. All the people are praising him. They're claiming that he's the fulfillment of Zachariah's prophecy.
[00:37:40] And the Pharisees have just had too much. The religious leaders have had too much. And from this point forward, they begin to openly challenge Jesus. If you keep reading in Luke's Gospel, if you go back and read in Matthew Mark, there might even be a heading in your Bible. It will say, almost immediately after that, the authority of Jesus is questioned. It happens immediately. They begin to challenge him.
[00:38:04] And finally, it culminated in his crucifixion on Good Friday and then the resurrection on Easter Sunday.
[00:38:12] The owners of the donkey couldn't see that far ahead.
[00:38:16] They had no idea any of that was going to happen.
[00:38:18] All they did was act in faith. They simply responded by faith and didn't hold back when Jesus said, the Lord has need of it. And when they did, even though they're unnamed in this passage, they became written into God's history and they became participants in his great plan of redemption.
[00:38:42] It's remarkable to think about what can happen when a person acts in faith like that.
[00:38:51] So I have a few. So what's for you?
[00:38:54] Number one.
[00:38:56] Faith grows best when nothing is off limits. Faith grows best when nothing is off limits. Nothing forces us to trust God more than when we're afraid to give something that we really want to hold on to.
[00:39:11] And this applies to things like money.
[00:39:13] We want to hold onto it, right?
[00:39:16] But we have to trust God when we give it up. It applies to our time, it applies to our jobs, it applies to our talents, it applies to our energy, it applies to our children, it applies to our family. It even applies to our very lives.
[00:39:36] But when we willingly let go of those things and give them to the Lord, it gives us an opportunity to trust him in ways we never imagined possible.
[00:39:49] And here's what we discover when we do that.
[00:39:53] He cares more about those things than we do.
[00:39:57] He cares more about our financial situation than we do. We're worried about that situation sometimes, right? He cares more than us.
[00:40:04] Maybe you're concerned about your kids.
[00:40:07] He cares more about your kids than even you do.
[00:40:13] Their job situation, whatever is going on there, he cares about that far more than we do.
[00:40:22] Not only does he care more about those things, he takes better care of them than we do.
[00:40:29] That donkey went back to the owner better than it was given to Jesus. It didn't have a scratch on Him.
[00:40:37] One thing was wrong, and the owners got something great in return.
[00:40:44] So if our faith grows best when we don't hold anything back, why shouldn't we trust Him?
[00:40:54] Faith grows best when nothing's off limits. Number two, giving with no questions asked. Giving with no questions asked allows us to experience God's blessing. When we give with no questions asked, it allows us to experience God's blessing. It's easy to hold on to things because there's no risk involved in It.
[00:41:13] But there's also no reward or blessing in that either.
[00:41:18] If the owners of the donkey, if they had said no when Jesus said he needed it, Jesus would have got it from someone else.
[00:41:26] Or as we said, he could have just made one. Right.
[00:41:30] But he sent his disciples to this specific town to get this specific colt. This particular donkey was hand picked by the Lord. All the other donkeys in the world didn't get chosen that day. Just that one.
[00:41:48] Just that one.
[00:41:50] And now think about this. For the rest of their lives, those owners could tell all their friends and neighbors that that was the donkey the Lord used when he rode into Jerusalem as king.
[00:42:04] That donkey became famous. I bet in Bethphage everybody came around. That's the donkey Jesus Road.
[00:42:11] It may have become part of their family legacy. Maybe it was a story that got passed down from generations and generations. Yeah, my great grandfather is the one who gave that donkey to Jesus. And that's the one. He rode into Jerusalem that day.
[00:42:26] In a sense, we could say the owners of the donkey got bragging rights because the donkey was ridden by Jesus. The donkey wasn't anything special by itself, but it became special because it's the one that Jesus rode that fulfilled prophecy.
[00:42:42] When we give up something and hand it to the Lord, even something that's relatively small, even if it's something that seems unimportant, suddenly it becomes something so much greater.
[00:42:56] An ordinary baby donkey that no one paid any attention to, suddenly became very, very important.
[00:43:06] Here's the third. So what? When we're responsible managers, we become part of God's greater plan and work.
[00:43:16] If Jesus hadn't rode in on a donkey, the people wouldn't have connected it to the prophecy in Zechariah.
[00:43:23] If the people didn't connect it to the prophecy in Zechariah, they probably wouldn't have been praising him as king and all of those things that came from it. There might not have been any opposition to him.
[00:43:36] Maybe the Pharisees, maybe the religious leaders would have backed off even a little bit. We don't know what would have happened.
[00:43:43] But we do know this, that because he rode in on the donkey, the people did make that connection. They knew exactly what that meant.
[00:43:51] The owners couldn't see what would happen when they willingly gave that up because Jesus needed it. And they couldn't see how Jesus entry into Jerusalem on a donkey would lead to opposition, that it would result in his crucifixion.
[00:44:06] But unknowingly, they became part of what God was doing during that first holy week.
[00:44:12] The prophecy in Zacharias talks about this.
[00:44:16] It mentions that this Messiah would enter as king. It mentions that he would enter Jerusalem on a donkey. It also says this. It says that he, meaning the Messiah, is righteous and having salvation. Zechariah wasn't talking about salvation from the Roman Empire, and he wasn't talking about salvation from the misery of living under King Herod. It was something far more terrible. He was talking about salvation from the oppression and misery of sin. And the only way for that salvation to occur when was as Jesus went to the cross.
[00:44:51] Jesus had to go to the cross. There had to be that opposition. That opposition happened because he entered Jerusalem as king riding on a donkey that some owners decided to give to him.
[00:45:04] Through his death and resurrection, Jesus would bring salvation to the world, including us. This is what Paul writes In Romans, chapter 4, verses 24 to 20.
[00:45:14] It says this. For our sake. He was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.
[00:45:22] He had to die in order to pay the penalty for our sin. He had to be raised again so that we could be right with God.
[00:45:31] Those things had to take place. You and I could not be saved if Jesus didn't die. If he didn't raise again, we could not be saved. That had to happen.
[00:45:43] This event on Palm Sunday is what set all of those things in motion.
[00:45:49] When the owners let Jesus take the donkey, they became a part of all that.
[00:45:54] And when we're responsible managers, when we trust God the way they did, we too can become part of what God is doing.
[00:46:05] In the 1970s, my uncle.
[00:46:09] My uncle was working. He was working in Milwaukee for an engineering firm, and he invited a co worker to a home Bible study.
[00:46:17] His co worker brought his wife, and the two of them started following Jesus.
[00:46:23] As they grew in their faith, they eventually heard God's call to become missionaries.
[00:46:28] And in time, that's exactly what they did.
[00:46:31] And they started serving as missionaries. And they became so invested in their mission field that they actually began translating the Bible into the native language of the people that they were serving.
[00:46:46] And now because of that, countless souls have heard the gospel in their own language because of that.
[00:46:53] My uncle couldn't foresee all of that.
[00:46:56] He just gave the invitation and they just showed up.
[00:47:01] He has since gone to be with the Lord, but he will meet people in God's kingdom who are there because of that invitation, people he's never met.
[00:47:10] I believe in the same way, we'll get to meet the owners of this donkey one day that we will be there because they were part of God's salvation plan because they respond when Jesus said the Lord has need of it.
[00:47:26] You know, we have no idea what our small acts of faith might produce.
[00:47:31] We have no idea what can happen when we give something to Jesus and what might come from that.
[00:47:39] Here's the fourth and final thought. It's really just for reflection. I'll be brief here and wrap it up.
[00:47:46] What would it be like if we trusted God with the mindset that the Lord has need of it? What would it be like if we trusted God with the mindset that the Lord has need of it? And here's just some ways we can think about this. What if we viewed our families and children that way?
[00:48:06] The Lord has need of it. What if we saw our money that way?
[00:48:11] The Lord has need of it.
[00:48:14] What would our jobs look like if we, if we did that?
[00:48:17] The Lord has need of it.
[00:48:21] How would our church look if we said the Lord has need of it? What blessings are we missing out on because we're hesitating or holding onto something that we should be giving to God?
[00:48:35] How could God use us in his future world salvation plan if we let him have the donkey that we're holding onto today?
[00:48:46] If Jesus came to us today and said that we had something he needed, would we give it to him or would we hold it back and question, how will we respond when the Lord has need of it?
[00:49:02] Let's pray.
[00:49:05] Gracious Father in heaven, we're so thankful that you came as our king. You entered victoriously and you came to save us from all our sins there.
[00:49:16] And God, we're amazed when we think about how a small act like giving a donkey could result in so many things that by not holding anything back, it enabled you to fulfill prophecy, to fulfill the salvation plan that was there from the beginning of time, that through that you were sent to the cross, died, and then rose again so that we could be saved.
[00:49:42] Just because some owners didn't hold back when you said you had need of it.
[00:49:50] God, it's amazing to think that so many good things can come when we don't hold anything back and when we trust without question.
[00:50:02] God help us to be good and responsible managers, to realize that you have entrusted these things to us, just like those owners were entrusted with the donkey, that at the time when you need it, when you call on us, we may respond in faith. And so, God, we thank and praise you for this and we ask, Lord, that you receive all the honor and glory as we enter this Holy Week.
[00:50:26] May our hearts be aligned with you and what you've done for us in Jesus name, amen.
[00:50:32] And we're going to finish up with a special song. The kids have a special song. They're.
