Jesus had asked His disciples to perform various odd tasks. Before Jesus fed the five thousand, He told His disciples to seat the multitude “in groups of about fifty each”
(Luke 9:14). I can imagine Peter asking, “Why fifty?”
At Jacob’s well, Jesus sent the disciples into the Samaritan village to buy groceries (John 4:8). Did Peter complain? “Lord, Samaritans live there…”
At Galilee, after the fishing nets had been washed and readied for the next day (Luke 5:2), Jesus told Peter to “put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Although it seemed an odd request, Peter had the right response… “if you say so” (Luke 5:5).
Of all the odd requests, this one was the oddest. “Borrow a burro.” “When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and told them, ‘Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away” ’ ” (Mark 11:1-3).
Can you imagine the disciple’s response? “Really?”
“So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, and some of those standing there said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go” (Mark 11:4-6).
Riding the unbroken donkey, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to throngs of Passover pilgrims shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Save us now! Save us now!”
Later, maybe much later, they remembered what they had been taught in synagogue school… Zechariah’s prophecy. “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).
“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).
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