Listen

After Jesus said this, he continued on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.

As Jesus came to Bethphage and Bethany on the Mount of Olives, he gave two disciples a task. He said, “Go into the village over there. When you enter it, you will find tied up there a colt that no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say, ‘Its master needs it.’” Those who had been sent found it exactly as he had said.

Luke 19:28-32

Think

Have you ever been told to do something and when you asked why, your parent or teacher said, “Because I said so.”? That doesn’t feel like the best reason to do something, but it usually means you should do it anyway. In the life of Jesus, he very rarely told his disciples to do something “because I said so.” He usually gave them an explanation of why they should do as he instructed them.

But in today’s passage, Jesus tells two of his disciples to get a colt and bring it to him. He tells his friends that if anyone asks why they are doing that, they should say, “Because Jesus needs it.” Jesus asks his disciples to do something even though they don’t know why. They don’t yet know the purpose, but Jesus hasn’t led them astray so far, so he invites the disciples to trust him and do as he says.

What might Christ be asking you to do right now that you don’t fully understand?

Courtney Jones Willis

Pray

Dear God, thank you for teaching me how to live even when that path might seem a little bit unclear.

Help me to believe you when you’re asking me to do something I don’t quite understand.

Amen.

Go

Near the cross! I’ll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever;
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross
Be my glory ever,
Till my ransomed soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Fanny Crosby in “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross” (1869)