Mark 11:1-11 - Give away your Donkey

Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples;

 

and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.

 

And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.

 

So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.

 

But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”

 

And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go.

 

Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.

 

And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

  

Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’

 

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

 

And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.

Give away your donkey
photo by Flickr user, The Donkey sanctuary, used under the creative commons license
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The disciples might have thought it strange to do what Jesus told them to do. Without asking, to just take a donkey that is not your own and then when confronted with your action to reply, "God needs this,"- well, that might seem a bit odd to do. And yet the disciples had seen many things when they were with Jesus so they reasoned that they should just obey Him.  As it turns out, it went exactly as Jesus said it would.

God will make sure His will is done and when that will is thwarted by human free will, He knows how to work around it.  It was His will that Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a colt and He knew just who to send the disciples to and He knew how the colt owner would react and He knew the proper response to give to the owner, whose heart must have been open to the Lord.  The owner of the colt did not balk at giving his possessions away. If the Lord has of it then the Lord can have it.

O Lord, let me have the heart to trust you and may my heart be like the owner of the colt who, without opposition, gave his donkey for the Lord's work.  All that I have is yours so I give it freely. Amen.