March 24, 2024
(Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion)
When Jesus and his disciples drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately on entering it, you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone should say to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ reply, ‘The Master has need of it and will send it back here at once.’” Mk_11:1-10
Unlike Jonah, who refused the risk, the challenge of the Lord’s commands, the disciples obediently listened to Jesus’s orders and followed them. And they always turned out exactly as He predicted. The disciples didn’t want to be accused of theft, but Jesus knew what he was doing and anticipated all repercussions. It was all in the big plan, the big scheme of things that they did not yet understand. Shortly thereafter, case in point, Mark describes another order . . .
On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make the preparations for us there.” The disciples then went off, entered the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Mk_14:1-15:47
Now, what were the odds of that they would actually find ONE man carrying a water jar, and not twenty, and not none! And then, what were the odds that the man they decided was the right one was not just going to the store or to the bathroom. THIS is OUR Jesus! And when this Jesus asks us not to sin, or to fast, or to volunteer for some unimaginable task, who are we to question His motives. He wants only the very BEST for us, His children, even when it might not seem reasonable, or might cost a little! Are we willing, beloved (despite the cost of pride or tears or even blood)?
Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge • Painting, 1892
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Whispers to the Wind 