Remembering the Story:

A Devotional Guide for Holy Week--2013

Sunday:  Palm Sunday Procession; The Lord Needs It

Sing:    All glory, laud and honor, to thee, Redeemer, King,

            to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. 

Thou art the King of Israel, thou David’s royal Son,

who in the Lord’s name comest, the King and Blessed One.

“All Glory, Laud, and Honor”—words by Theodulph of Orleans; trans. By John Mason Neale.  Hymn No. 280 in The United Methodist Hymnal.

Read:  Luke 19:29-40

Reflect on the Biblical Story:

Just as Jesus had predicted, the owners of the colt found it a strange that two strangers would approach their animal and begin to untie it.  These two disciples must have stuck out in the crowd that was starting to grow as pilgrims made their annual journey to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.  Clearly, they were not local citizens.  Their accent must have betrayed their Galilean origins.  They might have looked a bit hesitant as they approached the colt—like adolescents skipping school, halfway expecting to get caught.

The owners asked, “Why are you untying the colt?”  The Lord needs it,” the two disciples replied.  They spoke the words that the Lord given them—but I wonder how they said them.  Did the disciples hesitate, hem and haw?  Did the words roll off their tongues easily?  Did they speak quickly, hoping to get away before things escalated?  Did they speak confidently, knowing that the Lord had figured out all the details ahead of time?

The miracle is that the owners of the colt let the disciples proceed, with no further questions asked.  No background checks were conducted on the disciples or on the Lord that they followed.  No security deposit required.  No bargaining over price or whether the animal would be returned.  No further questions about why the Lord needed it.  “The Lord needs it.”  That was enough.

The colt was a lowly animal; yet that lowly animal gave Jesus the vantage point from which he would view the final leg of his journey to Jerusalem.  What an unusual sight it must have been:  crowds cheering, preparing the way for this unusual procession by throwing their cloaks on the ground.  Could this man be the One?  Blessed be the One who comes in the name of the Lord.  If they only knew that the One they were praising was One who had “no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:59).  Little did they realize that this One who needed to borrow a lowly colt for this last part of his journey also needs us, as lowly as we are, to tend to mundane details of life so that the business of the Kingdom may proceed. 

“Why are you untying the colt?”  “The Lord needs it.”  And that is reason enough.

Reflect on Your Story:

1.      Picture yourself as one of the two disciples sent by Jesus to untie the colt.  How would you feel about following Jesus’ orders, and offering the response that Jesus told you to give?  If you were the colt’s owner, how would you have responded to the disciple’s explanation?

2.      Remember a time in your life when God asked you to do something that you didn’t want to do.  How was God’s request made to you—directly or through messengers?  How did you determine that the request was from God?  How did you respond?

3.      Does the Lord need something today that you have to offer?  What questions do you ask?  What conditions do you place on your willingness to provide what the Lord needs? 

Pray:    Lord Jesus Christ:  Your call to discipleship may involve mundane tasks as well as major sacrifices, but both are required for your kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.  Grant us the grace to say yes to your needs, both big and small.  Amen.