After telling this story, Jesus went on toward Jerusalem, walking ahead of his disciples. As he came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead. “Go into that village over there,” he told them. “As you enter it, you will see a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ just say, ‘The Lord needs it.’”
So they went and found the colt, just as Jesus had said. And sure enough, as they were untying it, the owners asked them, “Why are you untying that colt?”
And the disciples simply replied, “The Lord needs it.” So they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments over it for him to ride on.
Luke 19:28-35 (NLT)
This
may seem an unusual passage for talking about prayer, but hopefully I can
uncover some new truths in a passage I am sure you have heard many times
before.
In
the passage, Jesus directs two of the disciples to go and fetch the colt for
his ride into Jerusalem. This is not an unusual request by Jesus – he often
asked the disciples to undertake strange tasks for him (e.g. casting fishing nets on a different side of the boat, feeding 5000 people with a packed lunch, etc.), and in verse 32 we
see the disciples obeying this instruction. They go to the village, untie the
colt and answer the owners as directed.
This immediate and obedient response from the
disciples is a little out of character. Looking at just two other examples of
Jesus’ requests to the disciples, you can see what I mean.
In
Luke 5:4-5, we see Jesus instruct the disciples to throw their nets to the
other side to catch fish, but Simon Peter’s response is “we worked hard all last
night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again”
– not exactly enthusiastic! It almost appears as if Simon Peter is just humouring
Jesus at this point, not obeying out of faith.
Then
in Luke 9:13, Jesus has just instructed the disciples to feed the 5000 men, not including women and children.
What is their response? “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,”
they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this
whole crowd?” Again, a mix of sarcasm and not much obedience!
I’m
sure you can think of more times where Jesus gave instructions and the
disciples were less than enthusiastic, or times where they missed the point of
Jesus’ ministry.
In
this passage, there is no record of what the two disciples said to Jesus after
receiving their instructions. We are not even told which 2 disciples he sent,
and therefore are unable to think of a possible response based on our knowledge
of their personalities based on other passages. All that we have is simple
obedience. Given the honest recording of the other incidents, maybe this time
they really did just get on with it instead of talking back. After all, by this
point, they had spent 3 years with Jesus. Their faith would have grown, as seen
by this obedience.
But
what about us?
How
do we react to Jesus’ instructions?
How
do we receive his instructions?
Are
we like the disciples in this passage, or the other times?
As
Christians, we are to follow Christ’s directions just as much as the disciples
did. When we pray, when we read our Bibles, when we attend church services, we
should be coming with hearts open to hearing God’s directions. And once we hear
them, we should step out in faith like the disciples.
But
this wasn’t an immediate faith and belief the disciples had. It was developed
over time. We too must develop our faith by spending time with God. We can do this through our prayers, Bible reading, and
sharing in fellowship with other Christians.
Pray,
and step out in faith, like the disciples this Easter. And if you don't yet have that faith, spend more time with him and ask for your faith to be increased.
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