Entry to Jerusalem in Triumph - Luke 19: 28-40

After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’ ” So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” They said, “The Lord needs it.” Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

Commentary

Today's gospel is the story of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. We have all heard it many times. How Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt with all the people singing and waving palm fronds and laying down their clothes before him. It is an exciting moment. But I want to look this morning at a character about whom we know practically nothing. No name, no occupation, only that he is the owner of the colt that Jesus has decided to borrow. What about him? Well since we know so little we are going to have to make some plausible assumptions. We know that Jesus and the disciples are approaching the city of Jerusalem. They are approaching the village of Bethphage which is set back just a little from the main road they are on. At Jesus' instruction two of the disciples go over to the village and find as they enter the village a colt tied. They untie the colt, and the owners, who are apparently present right there, ask them what they are doing. They reply that the Lord hath need of him, and the owner apparently lets them go on their way based solely on that claim. We know that by this time in his ministry, Jesus was known throughout the country. Everyone had heard of his miracles, and everyone was aware of his planned movements. So, it is not unreasonable to assume that the owners of the colt KNEW that Jesus was in the area and would be traveling past their village on his way into Jerusalem. We also know from the story of Peter's denials, that the disciples were identifiable to the local population because they spoke with a Nazarene accent. So, it is not too much of a stretch to assume that when the disciples said, “the Lord has need of him”, the owners made the connections and concluded that the disciples were talking about Jesus. But Still? Even if we make the assumption that the owners knew this was a request from Jesus. It is equally probable that they had never met him. They could guess that the colt was going to used as a beast of burden and would end up carrying Jesus to the temple. While that was not a very long way away, it was not just down the street either. No assurance had been given that the colt, a valuable animal, would be returned. Nor had any discussion about how or when ensued. Finally, the disciples had ignored any social niceties such as ASKING to use the animal. I can imagine my response being, “I don't care who needs him, you're taking that animal over my dead body!” But that is not what happened. Instead, as far as we know a peaceful transfer happened based on no more than the simple statement, “the Lord has need of him”. Does the credit for this go to Jesus, the disciples, or the owners? And how do we manage to bring this degree of generosity into our own lives? We know that Jesus performed more than one healing upon someone not even in his presence. But in those cases, it was in response to someone else's profession of faith. We also know that Jesus asks of us a level of faith that goes beyond personal experience. He tells us “Blessed are they that believe without having seen.” Putting the two together, it would seem that Jesus can heal us of our selfishness, without having to be in our presence, but he still asks for our belief. I conclude that the owners of the colt had heard all about Jesus and his miracles. They had already decided in their hearts that he was the Messiah. So when the strange Nazarenes showed up with their rude action, the owners were already prepared for it and their response was immediate. Bless the Lord and take the colt. Let us be prepared to answer the Lord with similar generosity the next time an opportunity is placed before us.

AMEN