“The People Who the Lord Needs”

“When they were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.” (Mark 11:1-3)

We have a new beginning in a new year, 2020. We nominated or elected the new leadership teams in each church. Some of them have already served the roles for several years, and they are willing to serve them continually. Some of them are newly nominated or elected for the positions. I appreciate them for their services and contributions. Praise to the Lord!

At Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we see that Jesus chose what he needs. When they were approaching Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been rid-den; untie it and bring it.” And then Jesus gives them additions, “If anyone says to you, ‘why are you doing this?’ just say this, ‘Lord needs it.” I wonder if the owner of the colt might know who Jesus is. How could he give his colt with just hearing, ‘Lord needs it”?

We may guess there are implications. At first, “Lord needs it” implies authority, which one could not resist. The owner of the colt must be a humble and obedient person to the Lord. The other implication we may guess is whatever the Lord needs our Lord Jesus may take for his ministry. Like this, today, the Lord seeks the people who he needs for his ministry. They might be our leaders in the church, and also they might be those who serve humbly without being named.

With gratitude for them, I think what do people pursue in their lives? Some people say they seek the glory and wealth of the world with power and authority. Many people might agree that they want to have the authority and the power of the world. In other words, most would be the master ra-ther than being the servants. We find that even the disciples of Jesus also pursued the authority and the power of the world. They might assume that Jesus would be the king in the world, especially in Rome at that time. The Jewish suffered under the colony of Rome at that period, and they might wait for the Messiah to liberate them from oppression, exploitation and poverty. Finally, when they saw Jesus’ authority over the Jewish leaders, and his feeding people, they might expect that Jesus

One day, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” The sons of Zebedee are John and James, who were much-closed disciples to Jesus. Jesus used to bring them closer to his ministry than others. They who knew Jesus’ special care toward them, re-quested Jesus. So, Jesus asked them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” and they said, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left in your glo-ry”(Mark10:35-37). What did they expect of Jesus? What does “In your glory,” mean? They perhaps thought that they would have the positions which rule the authority and the power over the people when Jesus becomes the king of the world. However, they did not know what the “in your glory” really means. Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.” The other disciples heard that they requested Jesus to re-serve their positions, and got angry with John and James. And then, Jesus said to them that Gentile would be the rulers it over people, but it is not so among you. Jesus added that “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be the slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-45).

We are following Jesus as his disciples today. If among us whoever pursues to become great in the world, Jesus might say to us, “whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.” Please remember, if our Lord needs it for his ministry, he uses even a colt. I wish we would be the people who our Lord seeks, and who our Lord needs. I hope that we all would be humbly walking with God like the colt and like the owner of the colt.

Blessings,

Pastor Jenny

 

Posted in From The Pastors