Matthew 21 - 8.21.24

Scripture

..‘The Lord has need of them,’.. (Matthew 21:3) 

Observation

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem riding on a young donkey which we celebrate as Palm Sunday today, is recorded in all the four gospels. It is very interesting that only Matthew has recorded an additional bit of detail which is missing in the other three gospels. All the four gospel writers record that Jesus rode on a young donkey also known as a colt. Only Matthew records that Jesus asked his disciples to go and find a mother-donkey which was tied along with her colt. “Loose them, and bring them to me”. If anyone asks the disciples about what they were doing, they were instructed to answer “the Lord has need of them”. I remember hearing a Pastor in India narrate his personal experience regarding this story, when I was in high school, which greatly influenced me. This Pastor was intrigued that the Lord asked for the old mother-donkey to be brought along with the colt. He asked the Lord why He needed the mother-donkey. It didn’t make any sense. Jesus only needed the colt on which He would ultimately ride. Why did the Lord ask for the mother-donkey to be brought along as well? As he pressed in prayer, he felt the Lord impressing the following answer on his heart. “It is not your business to know what I needed the mother-donkey for. Just know that just as I had a purpose for the young donkey, I had a purpose for the mother-donkey!”

Application

The Lord needs you. Whichever season of life you are in, the Lord has a purpose for you. He has called you according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). You are not meant to drift aimlessly through life, but to accomplish His plan for you, a plan that was conceived even before you were in your mother’s womb (Jer 1:1). All the days ordained for you were written in His book, before you were born (Psalms 139:16). When I heard this story I was a young teenager similar to the young colt, ready to change the world! Now, with one kid having left for college and the other one leaving for college in a year, my husband and I are getting ready for an empty-nest, and I can relate better to the mother-donkey! I am grateful to know that the Lord has a purpose for me in this season of my life as well as the future seasons of my life as I pass from middle-age to old-age, just as He had a purpose for me in my youth. 

Prayer

Father, I want to thank you because you need me. Thank you for knowing me. Thank you because you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:13-14). Lead me into the good works you have prepared for me to do (Eph 2:10). Please fulfil the purpose for which you created me, as I can do nothing without you (John 15:5). Let your will be done in my life as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). Help me to be obedient to your commandments and live a life that is pleasing in your sight. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight (Psalms 19:14). Make my life a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to you (Romans 12:1). In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George