Day 89: God Doesn’t Need Gps

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

The fact that Jesus begins His descent toward that very first Easter from the Mount of Olives is hugely significant. It rises dramatically, less than a mile away, and directly east of Jerusalem. It’s the same historic hill where our Savior later prophesied that He would return a second time (Acts 1:10–11), which the ancient prophet Zechariah had prophesied about in detail centuries before:

On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. The Mount of Olives will be split in half from east to west, forming a huge valley, so that half the mountain will move to the north and half to the south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for the valley of the mountains will extend to Azal. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come and all the holy ones with him. (Zech. 14:4–5)

It’s also hugely significant that Jesus humbly chose to ride an untrained colt instead of an impressive warhorse down that olive-tree dotted hillside. Because it’s a dead giveaway that He’s not the kind of military-minded king most Jews were hoping for, who would defeat their human oppressors and return Israel to its former geo-political glory. Plus, it fulfills another Old Testament 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. (Zech. 9:9)

Although the disciples were pretty much clueless as to the redemptive drama that was about to unfold (despite having been told what was going to happen three times already by Jesus Himself!), every single detail of that pre-Easter passion parade unfolded exactly according to God’s plan. And I shouldn’t be poking fun at Jesus’ first-century posse, because I’m a slow spiritual learner, too! It’s taken me a really long time to learn to trust God when I can’t see around the corner of my circumstances. Or when what I can see doesn’t make sense to me. Yet the further I stumble along on this walk of faith toward deeper intimacy with Him, the more convinced I am that God is the only perfect and eternal cartographer.

• The crowd’s shouts of “Hosanna” when Jesus entered Jerusalem literally meant, “Save, I pray!” and are loosely translated, “Lord, save us!” Unfortunately, they were asking to be saved from their political/financial/social oppression and not from the eternally damning consequences of their sin. How and when have you begged God to save you from the wrong thing?
• When you can’t see what’s ahead, how do you usually try to strategize or forecast?
• How are you like the disciples in this story when it comes to your expectation of Jesus?