Obedience
“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.’
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: ‘Say to Daughter Zion, See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them.” (Matthew 21:1-6)
Holy Week starts off on a high point. Jesus rides into Jerusalem to the sound of joyful praise. On a colt of a donkey, which his disciples have obediently gone ahead to fetch for Him.
Sometimes we become too familiar with these stories. We read the Palm Sunday scriptures year after year, and begin to pass over details that are worth pondering in greater depth. Like what the disciples’ obedience could have cost them. We read the story knowing that the donkeys are willingly given to them. But the disciples had no such assurance in the moment. For all they knew, they could have been accused of stealing two donkeys. Which under Mosaic Law would have led to the punishment of repaying the owner in double (Exodus 22:4). Where would the disciples have come up with the money to buy two donkeys?
And regardless of the possible consequences, it’s an uncomfortable task. We are taught from childhood not to take things that don’t belong to us. Yet, the disciples obey Jesus’s instructions. Based on their previous experience, they have reached the point where they trust His ways to be good. Even when they don’t make sense or they go against cultural norms.
Here, at the beginning of a long and terrible week for Jesus, a few of His disciples do the very thing God has been asking humanity to do ever since the Garden of Eden.
Trust Him.
