Countdown to the ResurrectionPart 4

Countdown to the Resurrection

Part 4

“The Donkey: Remembering the First Palm Sunday”

Luke 19:28-35

THE SCENARIO:

We have unfolding here a beautiful picture of what the ministry of Jesus is all about.

As the story begins, Jesus is on His way to the cross.

En route, he will enter Jerusalem where a vast crowd gathered for the Passover Feast will throw palm leaves on the ground saying,

“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Ironically, that same crowd will turn on Him just a few days later and call for His crucifixion.

Now, just prior to entering Jerusalem, Jesus sends His disciples to a certain house where they are told they will find a young donkey outside.

This little donkey has no idea that the part he is about to play in Jesus’ life was foretold in the writings of the great O.T. Prophets centuries before.

Zech. 9:9 “Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triumph, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious,yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—riding on a donkey’s colt.”

It is this donkey and what scripture reveals about him that I want us to focus on today, for he is a picture of you and me and God’s gracious dealings with us.

FIRST, we see that Jesus knew that the donkey existed—“You will find a certain donkey.”

SECOND, the Lord knew where he could be found—“in the village opposite you.”

THIRD, He knew the condition he would be found in—“tied up.”

FOURTH, He knew his past—“no man has ever sat on him.”

And FINALLY, He knew about the donkey’s owners, and how they would protest his being taken away.

APPLICATION:

Everything we see here surrounding the account of this donkey is true of us as well.

First,

As with the donkey, the Lord knew that you were there, that you EXISTED.

How the devil lies to us before we personally know the Lord.

He tells us we are alone—alone in the universe, unloved; uncared about, that we are the products of a cold, apathetic, impersonal evolutionary process.

We are insignificant fragments passing through an accidental world toward a frightening state of nothingness when we die.

There is no God, he suggests, no hereafter, no ultimate meaning to life.

Yet that’s all a lie.

There is a God Who knows all about us, and a Savior Who loves us, even before we ever know Him.

He KNOWS you are there.

Think about it! “You will find a donkey in that town, at that house.”

If Jesus knew all about a lowly donkey in another town, He knows about YOU.

We see this amazing characteristic of Jesus elsewhere in scripture.

When Jesus met a man named Nathanael for the first time, He said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

“I knew you were there before you ever knew that I knew you were there.”

King David wrote about this awesome characteristic of God:

Ps. 139:1-4 “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. 2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. 3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. 4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.”

So as with the donkey, Jesus knew and knows you exist.

Second,

As with the donkey, the Lord knew where you could be found.

“In the village opposite you,” He told the disciples, “you will find him.”

The Lord knew where to find you, too.

Think back to where you were in life when He saved you.

Whether you were an “up and outer” or a “down and outer,” He stepped into your darkness, sin, and pain and offered His hand of salvation.

And I want to say to anyone listening that might not know Him:

If you’re lost in a bar, He knows where you are.

If you’re hiding in a drug-induced stupor, He still knows where to find you.

If you think you can successfully run from Him, you’re wrong.

The Prophet Jonah bought a one-way ticket on a boat to the far side of nowhere, yet God prepared a great whale to swallow him and bring him back home.

If you’re struggling, and hurting, and desperate, and feel utterly alone, you are not—He knows where you are.

Again, David wrote, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! “If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—12but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.” (Ps. 139:8-12)

He knows where you are!

And next,

Like the donkey, He knew the condition you were in.

Jesus said, “You will find the donkey “tied up.”

And God knew that we were “tied up” in our sin.

Not one of us is free before knowing Jesus.

The Bible says, Eph.2:2-5 “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.”

Spiritually dead, living in sin, obeying the devil, subject to God’s wrath—in other words, TIED UP!

But, just as Jesus sent some disciples with the command to “untie” the donkey, the Lord sent someone to us who shared the gospel and we were “untied” when we turned to Christ!

The Bible says, “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.”

Now, the owner came out protesting the donkey being untied.

So does the devil protest when we are “untied” by the Lord and removed from his cruel hands.

But Jesus had a word for the owner, and He has the same word for the devil when we are “untied.”

“As they were loosing the donkey, the owners of it said to them, “Why are you loosing the donkey?”

34 And they said, “The Lord has need of him.”

Catch that! He wasn’t just set free to go and do whatever he wanted.

He was set free because “The Lord had need of Him.”

Not only was he set free, but he was set free for a purpose!

And look what happened.

We are told, “Then they brought him to Jesus. And they threw their own clothes on the donkey, and they set Jesus on him.”

This colt that had never been sat on, who had been tied up, who was owned by uncaring masters that didn’t want him free, is now experiencing the joy of the Lord of the universe has taken the reins of His life.

But it gets even better:

“As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road…and the whole crowd…began joyfully praising God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen…”

They began to cry out:

“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

This formerly bound up donkey with a meaningless life is experiencing the ultimate now—the Lord Jesus is praised, honored, and glorified as he obediently carries Him into the city.