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.’”
(Luke 19:29-31)
I grew up in the Pentecostal church, and I have heard the colt sermons numerous times. In all forms, shapes and sizes. From the preachers who froth at the mouth, to the quiet whispering preachers, to the staccato speaking preachers to the laptop and project preachers. What is not different from all these preachers is the content of their sermons on the colt featured in Zechariah 9, Matthew 21, Mark 11 and Luke 19. The baseline of these sermons is that you as the Christian are the colt who needs to be untied because the Master needs you. And it does not matter who tries to stop your untying, the word of the Master is enough to get you lose. The Master needs you untied so that He can ride on you into Jerusalem aka the purpose He ahs for your life.
This past weekend as I reflected on the Holy Week beginning with Palm Sunday and ending up with Resurrection Sunday, my mind for some reason lingered on the colt. And I felt sad. Then I felt angry. Then I had so many questions.
- Why is Jesus the Nazarene coming off as a bully here?
- Why would he go about picking other people’s colts, just because he could?
- Why could he not pay for the colt?
- Is “the Master needs it” code for something?
Still lingering a while with the colt. . .
