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Evangelistic and Bible teaching

Ministries of Bruce AND GENEVA Collins

 

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Question:

When the following meditation was published on the internet, this question was asked:

The thought you have portrayed is very good but I wonder how far we can use the explanation of the donkey in the way that you have.

 

Mark 11

2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.

4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

 

Have you noticed how this little colt, pictures the unsaved person? The colt or donkey is unclean by nature. So are we. The colt was tied on the outside of a door. That is the position of a sinner who is tied by sin outside of the blessing of God. Notice that the door was in a place where two ways met. We would call that a crossroads. That is the place where we have the opportunity to meet and serve the Lord. The chorus we sing with the children goes like this:

 

I met Jesus at the crossroads

Where the two ways meet.

Satan, too was standing there

And he said, “Come this way,

Lots and lots of pleasure

I will give to you today.”

But I said “No. There’s Jesus here,

See what He offers me.

Down here my sins forgiven,

Up there a home in heaven.

Praise God! That’s the way for me.”

Why should we respond to the Lord and travel the narrow way to heaven by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ when Satan offers so much on the broad way to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14)? One reason is that heaven with the Lord will be a much better place for eternity than eternal conscious punishment with unbelievers. But I am impressed with the fact that the Lord wanted to loose this colt because the Lord had need of him. Does the Lord really need anyone? He said that He could raise up children to Abraham using stones (Luke 3:8). He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10). He said that he could call twelve legions of angels to help Him (Matthew 26:53). He created the universe. Does He need us?

He says that he needed the little colt. I think that through this event He is telling us that He needs us as well. Just think of it, the God of heaven wants us to trust His Son so that He can use us. That makes each of us who are saved special in some way. The colt was used on one day that will never be forgotten during the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. If you are unsaved today and the Lord is tugging at your heart, encouraging you to trust Him, perhaps you should think about the fact that the Lord would like to loose you from your sins so that He can use you in some special way. Wouldn’t that be great? For those of us who are truly the Lord‘s redeemed people, let us not miss the opportunity or opportunities that will surely be ours to be used of the Lord.


Answer:

Dear brother,
Your inquiry is a fair question. One thing I enjoy about the Bible is the many levels at which it speaks to us. I let the new testament explain the old, I let the simple explain the difficult, I let the epistles be the background of Biblical interpretation, I always study in the context of the verse, the book and the Bible, I always allow John 3:16 to be my topic sentence.

The story about the donkey has an interpretation and an application. The interpretation proved that Jesus was the coming King as the old testament prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 was being fulfilled. The application is what I have given. When we get an application, we have to ask if the truths of the application are consistent with the overall teaching of the Bible. That is, would we need the application to teach these thing?. If these truths are not found elsewhere, I reject the application. And of course in the case of the donkey, all of the symbolism is explained by other Scripture:

The donkey is unclean, the sinner is unclean by nature (1 Corinthians 6:11)
The door is the Lord (John 10:9)
The crossroads is explained in Matthew 7:13-14
That sin ties is explained in Romans 1-3.
That the Lord saves and thus looses us to use us is the theme of Romans 6
(we become the servants or bond slaves of righteousness or of Christ).

Any application that is consistent with the teaching of specific new testament Scripture and with the overall theme of the Bible, I will accept.  I think applications illustrate Biblical truths and help us to remember those truths. They also give us confidence in the inspiration of Scripture  when we see how the Holy Spirit has put the Bible together so harmoniously and how the different levels of understanding fit together so beautifully.

I hope this helps,
Yours by the Grace of God,
Bruce Collins

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