Monday Devotional: March 18, 2024

Bible Reading: Mark 11:4-7 (CEB)

⁴ They went away and found a colt tied near a door, outside in the street. As they were untying it, ⁵ some of the bystanders said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ They told them what Jesus had said, and they allowed them to take it. ⁷ Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.

“The Lord has need of it.” We’ve looked already at the subtle suggestions of divinity implied in those words. What is profoundly ironic is that such a divine/royal title “Lord” emerges in regard to the acquisition of what is essentially a second-rate mode of transportation. The vehicle for ushering “the Lord” into Jerusalem, the city of outrageous hopes and outlandish expectations, is not a handsome steed or warhorse but a colt.

The narrative serves to reinforce what the Gospel of Mark as a whole has conveyed: Jesus does not seek conventional power, status, wealth, or popularity. Rather, his ministry unfolds through service in self-giving ways, eventually to the point of death. A story relegating Jesus to colt status rather than steed status is difficult for us who prefer our leaders to follow escalating trajectories. We are schooled in upward not downward mobility. At this point in his ministry, Jesus should be honored with the very best things that life can offer; he has certainly earned them.

And refused them. If Jesus is to be feted as he approaches the holy city, then it will be in the humblest way; if he is triumphantly praised as “Lord,” then those expectantly offering the accolade will want to begin now to cope with their disappointment.

Jesus arrives on the scene disinclined to greatness but very much inclined for goodness. Having eschewed the limelight, he is ready to proceed unencumbered with the work at hand: facing his accusers in the same spirit of love and self-surrender with which he has carried out his ministry and for which those same accusers will demand his life.

Prayer

Merciful God, when greatness calls loudly to us from so many quarters, help us to hear the whispered summons to goodness as so follow Jesus on the way that leads to life. Amen.

By Paul L. Escamilla, The Upper Room Disciplines 2015, page 98.

Lenten Bible Study

The Third Day: Living the Resurrection
By Tom Berlin with Mike A. Miller

Session 3: Thomas
Bible Reading: John 20:24-31

ZOOM Session

Monday, March 18, 2024, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
For Zoom Link, send email to [email protected]

IN PERSON Session

Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Conference Room, McGee Building