Tag Archives: donkey

MARK’S GOSPEL…HOLLOW PRAISE – 26

Bible Study,

Mark 11:7-10 NIV

“When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!””

‭

What do we make of this episode in Jesus’ life? Was He excited because it was yet another prophecy coming true? Was it a deliberate act to fulfil prophecy as though He were following a script? What did He think, and feel about the people’s response? Was He happy or skeptical?

Let’s follow the process. 

First, Jesus sent His disciples to fetch the donkey as though it were pre-planned. The donkey was where He said it would be. The bystanders responded as He said they would, asking the question He said they would ask. 

It was as though Jesus were following the scene He saw happening in His mind. How uncanny! History in advance!

“Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! 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.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬ ‭

And so, the people rejoiced as the Word predicted! Why did they rejoice? What was their expectation? Let’s look at their words. 

“Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Clearly, the common people thought that this was Yahweh’s moment. Finally, at last, their longings, their hopes and dreams were about to be fulfilled. How they relished the anticipation that their hated oppressors would be supernaturally driven from their land! After all, hadn’t Jesus insisted that He was the Son of God, their longed-for Messiah?Hadn’t He demonstrated His power over disease, demons, and even death? They were convinced that He could get rid of the Romans as well. This was their moment of triumph. Freedom at last!

They sang and danced with abandon because they were fully convinced that miracles were about to happen. They celebrated Jesus as their Deliverer, the Son of David. Their long-awaited king! 

But wait! Why was He moving towards the temple? Why not Pilate’s palace…to give Pilate and his cronies their marching orders and to set up His government over  His own people?

Jesus deliberately turned towards the temple, the seat of His Father’s government. Rome was not the real problem. Rome was an intrusion, an interim plan to prepare the hearts of His people for the real thing…not an external force controlling the people but a new ruler on the throne of their hearts. 

As much as Jesus taught and showed them that the real enemy was inside their own hearts, the less they understood that their captor was sin, not Rome. Yes, He had come to deliver them, but not in the way they expected. 

In His debate with His enemies, He could not have expressed His intention more clearly…

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Everything He told them fell on deaf ears. 

So, He followed the script with accuracy because it had to be. He was neither surprised nor alarmed at the unfolding events. He was a purposeful player in God’s story. 

The hollow praise of His people turned to bitter disappointment, and murderous cries as they turned on Him, only a few days later, condemned Him to death, and joined their religious leaders in forcing the hand of Pilate!

Then, just when they thought that they had rid themselves of this imposter, He reappeared… from the tomb, of all things, to do what He said He had come to do!

“This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him…“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” …Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭23‬-‭24‬, ‭36‬, ‭38‬ ‭NIV‬‬

No, Jesus was not fooled by the people’s hollow praise. This was all part of the divine blueprint. Step by step as it unfolded, He  carefully followed the script, from “Hosanna” to “Crucify”, from glory to Golgotha, from death to life. With the process came the real deliverance, not from Rome but from eternal death for those who believe in Him. 

MOLLY AND ME – CINDERELLA’S COACH IN REVERSE

Christian Life, ,

As children, we loved fairy stories that captured our imagination. A pumpkin turned into a golden coach and mice transformed into prancing horses! Cinderella, adorned in a beautiful ball gown and wearing glass slippers, the girl from the ashes dancing with the Prince! What could be more magical than that!

Well, for Molly and me, it’s quite the opposite. When we haven’t walked for a few days, for her the territory is brand new and everything on our route must be re-examined in minute detail.

The result is that I am transformed into a donkey and she becomes the wagon the donkey pulls. Progress up the hill is slow because the “wagon’s wheels” refuse to turn any faster than the exploring and inquisitive nose will allow. If I don’t pull her at times, our trip around the block would take all day!

So much for fairy tales!

How much like Molly we are when God gives us clear instructions to do or not to do according to His Word. We still insist on sniffing out other possibilities and looking for ways to do what we we choose to do without getting into too much trouble.

Take the young couple who knows it’s wrong to fornicate before marriage. “It’s okay,” they say, “because, after all, we are going to get married.” But that’s not what God said. “Marriage first, then union.” Then they wonder why things go horribly wrong.

Why are we like wagons that have to be pulled before we move? We are so much like Jonah. God said, “Go to Ninevah,” so he went to Tarshish. God had to pull him hard before he went in the right direction.

God is looking for people like Abraham or David who do what they are told to do without having to be pulled like a wagon.

There are no fairy tales with magical happy endings in God’s scheme of things,only loving obedience to a faithful and glorious Father who has done so much for us. All we can is to love Him in return by doing His will – gladly and spontaneously.

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – WHO IS REALLY RESPONSIBLE?

Bible Study, ,

WHO IS REALLY RESPONSIBLE

“But Jesus shot back, ‘You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?’ When He put it that way, His critics were left looking quite silly and red-faced. The congregation was delighted and cheered Him on.” Luke 13:15-17.

Could the synagogue ruler have answered Jesus, ‘But my animals are not under the law of God like we are’? From his perspective he could have been right but Jesus never viewed life from the human perspective. That’s the difference between Him and us. Our logic is human. Jesus always thought God’s thoughts. The very essence of our new life in Christ is to learn to think God’s thoughts instead of our own.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 (NIV).

So what was Jesus’ perspective on this woman’s condition? Satan! He was the culprit. But, lest we assume that we are automatically Satan’s victims, we need to understand the way he works. Neither God nor Satan has any power over the gift God gave us – the freedom to make our own choices. We choose according to what we believe. God calls us to respond to truth while Satan works through deception.

In this woman’s case, somewhere in her life something happened that gave Satan his opportunity to sow lies in her mind. She believed his lies and emotional pain followed, which blocked out the truth of God’s love and caused her body to become as twisted as her mind.

Satan’s lies are always directed at discrediting ourselves, other people and, eventually, God, resulting in feelings of fear, anger, rejection, insecurity, unforgiveness, bitterness and worthlessness which are the ideal breeding ground for demonic harassment. The devil’s ensnarement comes in the form of mental, emotional and physical bondage from which there is no escape except by diagnosing the lie and replacing it with the truth which, said Jesus, is the key to freedom.

People in this condition desperately long for someone to rescue them. There is not a person in the world who can do this except Jesus. He came from the Father to bring both grace and truth to His world. Only He can set captives free; no psychiatrist, psychologist nor counsellor can reveal the truth to the heart of the sufferer. No medication can cure the mind of the lies which hold people prisoner to mental and physical ‘illness’.

How tragic that our medical scientists, in their human ‘wisdom’, have chosen to bypass, ignore, and reject the only person who has the power to set people free, Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace. Every malady has a ‘diagnosis’ and is so categorised that its real cause is masked by the name of some or other disorder. We are satisfied as long as we have a ‘diagnosis’ even if there is no ‘cure’. Our conditions are ‘managed’ while Jesus came to set captives free.

His anger was aroused by this heartless ‘religious’ man who saw more value in his animals than in a woman whom Jesus deliberately called ‘a daughter of Abraham’. She had as much right to freedom as the animals whom he faithfully led to water, even on the Sabbath, because she was a member of God’s covenant people. Freedom from the shackles of emotional pain is the inheritance of believers in Jesus. Have you come to Him to set you free?