Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
Mark 11:1-3
This has always been a strange passage to me. Jesus instructs his disciples to steal a colt. He instructs them to go into the village, find the colt, steal it, then bring it to Him. At this point in the disciples’ journey with Jesus, they have been sent out to heal the sick, deliver demons, multiply finances, and share the word of God with power! They had been doing amazing things for the Lord! Yet, this day, they were instructed to go into the village, commit theft, and come back.
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.
Mark 11:4-6
The disciples were given a task. A task that was not spectacular by any means, even a task that seemed foolish – they were to be thieves! Jesus didn’t explain the significance, Jesus did not share with them the reason, purpose, or explain the significance; Jesus simply told them to do something and they did it.
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 10“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Mark 11:7-10
The disciples were obedient to a silly and normal task, but the end result was to fulfill a prophesy they believe was written over 500 years before it even happened.
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Zechariah 9:9
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
What seemed like a simple, small, and kind of useless instruction from Jesus turned out to be a fulfilling of a prophetic word, further proving Jesus Christ as the Messiah! Jesus did not explain to the disciples why he wanted them to do what he wanted them to do. He simply told them to do it, and the disciples obeyed without knowing the grand plan. Our obedience to the Lord is not found in understanding. It is found in our faith, believing without seeing, and in this case, without understanding.
As volunteers of the LifeSpring family, thank you for being obedient to the still small voice of God. As He guides you, as He directs you – you may not know the grand scheme, strategy, purpose, and significance – but your obedience plays a role in the big picture God has in store for the LifeSpring family, and for the world.