Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – John 10-12
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Mark 11:2-3
Jesus: Go to that village over there. As soon as you get into the town, you’ll see a young colt tied that nobody has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it back to Me. If anybody stops you and asks what you’re doing, just say, “The Lord needs it, and He will send it back right after He’s done.”
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
What do you think would happen today if the disciples did the same thing they did as they approached Bethphage and Bethany? I suppose it would partly depend on where it happened. In some places they might find themselves staring down the barrel of a shotgun or rifle. They might find a guard dog chewing on their leg when they tried to untie the colt. They might discover police cars surrounding them and thrown into the back of a paddy wagon on their way to jail.
I’m not sure there are nearly as many trusting souls today as there were in Jesus day. Maybe there are, and I’m sure Jesus would pick out the right person for His disciples to visit to make the prophecies come true just as they are written, but can you imagine if you were one of those disciples? Let’s put the story into a modern setting.
You are following Jesus and listening to His words. He is on His way to the capital city to finish His task on earth. As you approach Washington, He says, “Go to Georgetown and you’ll see a red convertible parked on the street. Hop in and drive it away. If anyone asks what you’re doing, just tell them I need it and you’ll bring it back when I’m through with it. I want to ride that convertible into the city.”
So you walk into Georgetown and there among the brownstones you see a red Corvette convertible that happens to have the keys in it. Bingo. You jump into the drivers seat and start the engine. Then the owner steps out of the Starbucks on the corner. “Hey, what are you doing? That’s my car.”
“It’s okay. Jesus wants it. I’ll bring it back when He’s through with it.”
Feel good about those directions from Jesus? Are you ready to go pick up that car and drive it away? Are you excited about going into town and just taking off with someone’s property that you don’t know? Takes some faith to do what Jesus wants us to do sometimes. We don’t always stay in our comfort zone when we walk in the path Jesus tells us to go, but we will have some exciting times.
We don’t know the details of who Jesus talked to or how He arranged for the colt. Maybe the colt belonged to a friend. Maybe another of His disciples went ahead of the group and arranged for the colt to be tied in the village so that when Jesus and His entourage came it would be there. Maybe Jesus just knew it would be there and that the owners had heard of His exploits and would be willing to give up the animal for His use.
Scripture doesn’t tell us any more than a few simple facts that Jesus told His disciples to go to the village, find the colt, and bring it back. He gave them a simple message for the owner or any others who might question their actions and apparently things happened just as Jesus predicted. The next thing we know is that Jesus rode that colt into the city and that’s the extent of our knowledge of the event.
Sometimes it would be nice to know more of the details, but we can surmise that the disciples who went to carry out Jesus directions did so with the confidence that it would happen just like He said it would. Or maybe not. Maybe Jesus sent a couple of His disciples that still had some doubts about who He was and what He could do. Maybe He sent a couple of His disciples to see that He had abilities that could not be explained by ordinary means. That He really was the Son of God.
We don’t know how all of the events and actions surrounding this little colt transpired. We don’t know how much trouble these disciples had getting an unbroken colt back to Jesus. It’s not always easy to lead a colt that has never been ridden. They sometimes don’t want to be led anywhere. We don’t know if it decided to stay where it was or whether it followed meekly or whether they pulled and dragged and pleaded with the animal to get it from the owner’s house to the crowd where Jesus waited. We do know Jesus was about to ride an unridden colt into a city crowded with people. Now that is really brave. No one rides and unbroken colt into a crowd! Someone is about to get hurt.
What does all this mean for us? Jesus will sometimes give us some crazy sounding tasks to do for Him. They may sound ridiculous to us and almost impossible to carry out. But Jesus makes a way. I’m not sure those disciples knew they could make it happen when they went into the village, but Jesus did. And when He gives us a task to do, He make it possible for us to complete it. No matter how hard it may seem, He make the impossible possible.
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