Time is PreciousDevotion in Motion
Monday Memorial
Mark 11:4-7
“So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?” And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it , and (Jesus) sat on it.”
Notice, the two disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to go and find an untamed colt or donkey, and He Jesus was faithful to work out the details and open the doors. That’s a good lesson for us. You see When a woman discovers she’s pregnant her next thought is to calculate the due date. Yet statistics say only 30% of babies are actually born on the predicted day. Due-date setting is not an exact science.
In fact, doctors give themselves a two week margin of error. Yet when it came to His Son, God was very precise in predicting the due date. He left the Israelites and us a memorial, something to go back and to remember. And he expected both them and us to do just that. In the OT He pinpointed the exact day Messiah would appear to the nation Israel. Understand, Israel was pregnant with promise.
The OT predicted the coming of a king – but not just any king – a king who would rule the world forever and ever. The coronation of every Hebrew king was done by the anointing of oil. A ram’s horn of olive oil was poured over his head. This is why the promised deliverer was called “the anointed one,” or in Hebrew, “Messiah.” God repeated this promise to Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel – but to Daniel, God pinpointed the due date.( Five hundred years before Jesus was born) God told the Prophet Daniel of a period of 483 years. Daniel 9:25 says, “From the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince” – there would be a period of 483 years, or 173,880 days.
History tells us that a Persian king, Artaxerxes, issued the decree to rebuild Jerusalem on March 14, 445 BC… Calculate 173,880 days later, and you come to the date of April 6, 32 AD. This was the day we’re reading about in Mark 11… The pregnancy period for humans is nine months – but those of you who are moms, tell me if I’m wrong, for a pregnant lady those nine months seem like a lifetime!
Just be glad you’re not a rhinoceros. An expectant rhino stays pregnant 15 months. Or an elephant? If you were an Asian elephant you’d carry your baby for two years. You wouldn’t just need a baby book to collect your memories and mementos – you’d need a trunk! But Israel was pregnant with promise for 483 years. And God determined the due date to the very day.
There’s a road that leads from the top of the Mount of Olives – down its steep slope – it crosses the Valley – and goes through the gates onto the Temple Mount. On that Sunday before Passover this road was lined with throngs of people. From all over Israel, the masses had flocked to Jerusalem for the Passover. One historian estimates that the city’s population swelled to 2½ million during the feast. And there is no doubt that many of those people came to greet Jesus.
For months, Jesus had been the talk of the town. People had seen His miracles. Especially the recent resurrection of Lazarus. He’d been dead for four days. Rigor-mortis had set in – yet He was alive. I believe they were there because all the people had heard of the miracles at the hand of Jesus but now they could see firsthand for themselves the very witness of his power and diety. But 7 days later they seem to forget not unlike us. We have seen and felt many times how the Lord has worked in our lives and then when something we can’t control comes upon us we quickly forget. We need to remember that the Lord has everything under control.
The crowds lined the road that day to cheer Jesus as the Messiah. Verse 7, “Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it (a makeshift saddle), and (Jesus) sat on it.” Notice the burro’s compliance. Mules are known for their stubbornness, not submissiveness. But this unbroken, untamed donkey melts under the Master. He is completely docile and compliant… I know people who are more like a burro than this donkey. Jesus wants to climb aboard our lives, yet we buck, and kick, and resist. it’s about time we become like this donkey, and let the Lord lead!
“And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.” Here’s a Jewish equivalent of rolling out the red carpet. It’s a royal welcome. In ancient times, when a victorious general returned from battle, people lined the streets to welcome and honor him. He would lead a procession of his defeated foes, and victorious soldiers. Now here comes Jesus…And guess who’s with Him… Bartimaeus–who was once blind, Lazarus-who was once dead, a man born lame now walking, a forgiven prostitute… All trophies of His grace! What a colossal moment! The road that started in heaven, and ran through Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth, Capernaum, Samaria tops the hill and enters the stretch run to Jerusalem. And here is Jesus riding on an untamed Donkey who was untamed and compliant.
1: The Lord expects us to know the word, for in it we find comfort, direction and promise.
2:The Lord expects us to let him take the reins of our lives and lead. We are to stop being burros and let the Lord in our lives.
3: The Lord expects us to love the Lord God with all our hearts, minds and souls and also to love others. Here the untamed burro not only allowed himself to be led by Jesus but notice he is now taking him out into the city.
4: Just like the Lord gave us the exact date of his return and entry into Jerusalem, he told his disciples on the mount of olives, he is coming back again.
Let the Lord into your life today so that you will be ready for the Lord instead of some Burros who wants to go his own way.
Victor Tafoya
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