Talking About Donkeys
The traditional Gospel reading for the first Sunday in Advent is from Matthew 21:1-11: The Triumphal Entry. We usually think of the Triumphal Entry as the beginning of Holy Week, however, the Lectionary also places it at the beginning of the Church year.
I was listening to a commentary on this passage and I was struck with an interesting thought. Let me try and set it up for you. Jesus sends two disciples into a village telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them.’ “
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021&version=EHV>
How does that play out? A couple of unfamiliar faces trying to appropriate your neighbor’s pets? The Lord needs them? What Lord, exactly? Are the disciples here capable of explaining Psalm 50:
I do not need to take a bull from your barn
or goats from your pens,
because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+50&version=EHV>
Seems like that should at least necessitate a call to the gendarmes ?
The commentator said that the Greek could be translated as “Their Lord needs them.” Alrighty then, the owner needs them, I’m satisfied, I’ve done my due diligence. I’ll go about my business, but I still will take down your license plate number…
Matthew adds, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.[a]”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2021&version=EHV>
The Lord has a plan from the beginning to the Last Day, even to all eternity. A donkey and her colt; their Lord needs them. That is my interesting thought starting to take shape: to be useful for the needs of my Lord. Should the following be our Advent prayer?
Lord, make me a useful donkey! Let me carry the Christ to the gathering crowd. Or if it is your need, let me follow as a colt. Thy will be done.
Trust the Promises
Steve Skiver
And while we are talking about donkeys, I will tell you a favorite biblical joke of my mom’s:
Who is the most elastic person in the Bible?
Moses. He tied his ass to a tree and walked forty miles!
That joke only works in the King James!
Sometimes I wonder how I acquired my sense of humor…