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Different roles of serving Jesus (Mk 11:1-10; Jn 12:12-18)
This passage is also found in Matthew and Luke (Matt 21:1-9 and Luke 19:29-40).
“And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage (伯法其) and Bethany (伯大尼), at the mount of Olives.” (v1) Jesus was about to enter Jerusalem to deliver himself to his enemies, as he predicted in Mark 10:33-34. He fearlessly entered Jerusalem to face persecution. Are you willing to take courage to step forward and face the danger for the sake of the Lord?
Before he entered the city, he came to Bethphage and Bethany, two small towns, and then went up the mount of Olives. The mount of Olives was where Jesus was taken up to heaven. Acts 1:9-12 recorded: “while they (the disciples) beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight...then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.” This mount was different from the mount where Jesus declared the Great Commission to the 11 disciples, since that mountain was located in Galilee: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.” (Matt 28:16).
Bethany was a town where Jesus visited quite often. That was the hometown of a family of Jesus’ three friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus: “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.” (John 11:1) Mark 11:11-12 says, “And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry.” Here it tells us that after Jesus has entered Jerusalem that day, he returned to Bethany in the evening. It was probable that he stayed overnight in their home. According to Luke 21:37, Jesus and his disciples always rested on the mount of Olives during his final days in Jerusalem: "And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives."
According to John 12:1-3, before Jesus entered Jerusalem on the first day of the final week, he came to Bethany. An event took place in this town: “Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.” Later in John 12:12-13 says, “On the next day much people that were come to the feast (the Passover feast), when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, ‘Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ ” We can see that the next day after Jesus finished eating in the supper, he went up the mount of Olives and then entered Jerusalem. The Passover day was the day of his execution.
In the above two incidents—Jesus eating in the supper and riding a colt to enter Jerusalem, those who surrounded Jesus played different roles of serving him. Let us see what roles they played and have some reflection on that.
(Martha)
Martha “served” while Jesus was at supper with others. (John 12:2) She was Lazarus’ sister. Some days ago, Jesus called Lazarus to come out of the tomb where he had been dead and buried for four days already. (John 11:17, 39-44) When Lazarus was still inside the tomb, Martha confessed before Jesus that she believed her brother would rise again in the resurrection at the last day of the world: “Jesus saith unto her, ‘Thy brother shall rise again.’ Martha saith unto him, ‘I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ ” (John 11:23-24) She also believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God: “Jesus said unto her, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?’ She saith unto him, ‘Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.’ ” (John 11:25-27)
Martha was a woman who loved to keep herself busy with housework. Luke 10:38-42 had such account: “Now it came to pass, as they went, that he (Jesus) entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving (伺候的事多，心裡忙亂), and came to him, and said, ‘Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.’ ” She complained to Jesus about her sister leaving her alone to serve while Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet to hear his sermon. She wanted Jesus to command her sister to help her. But Jesus responded to her, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
Now in Mark 12:2, Martha served again in Jesus’ supper. But this time she had no more complaint but served Jesus and the other guests with joy. She is the kind of person who loves to keep herself busy. She enjoys serving others. The church needs a lot of such servants of the Lord.
(Mary)
While Martha enjoyed busy working, Mary enjoyed sitting quietly to listen to Jesus’ preaching attentively. However, she was not sitting all the time doing nothing. She was waiting for the right time to do the right thing. In fact, she paid full attention to Jesus’ words in his sermon and had already put in her heart the message about his sacrifice. She waited for a special moment to use her expensive ointment of spikenard to anoint Jesus’ feet. Now in the supper, she took “a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.” (John 12:3) The ointment cost not only 300 pence (John 12:5) but her entire savings! She did something that even the wealthy was unwilling to do.
While people around were wondering why she wasted such expensive stuff simply to anoint Jesus’ feet, Jesus explained her minor act for her sake, “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.” (John 12:7) She used a very unique way to serve her Lord in preparation for his burial, and Jesus was very pleased with her act. Why? Because she cherished the Lord more valuable than her expensive ointment. She gladly offered the thing that she loved most. That’s the best thing she could ever offer. She wanted to show to Jesus how valuable he meant to her! What else could break her heart more grievously other than the departure of her Lord? In this critical moment, as she offered her best to the Lord, she felt very satisfied. What made her most satisfactory was that Jesus understood the meaning of her expression and was well pleased with her sacrifice.
It’s fine for us to sit quietly to hear the preacher’s sermon every Sunday. However, while we are sitting and digesting the spiritual food on the Lord’s day, we should think of doing something to pay back to our Lord for His sacrifice. At the appropriate time, we should stand up and serve the Lord.
(Lazarus)
How about Lazarus? He just sat at the table by Jesus’ side in the supper. Nothing was mentioned about his doing anything. However, his quiet sitting had much greater impact on the multitude than his two sisters! Why? He had just personally experienced God’s power of resurrection. John 12:9 said that “much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.” Hence, his mere presence was already a great testimony to demonstrate God’s mighty power. John 12:11 also told us that “by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.” He himself was surely a live witness for the Lord.
Not only that concerning the influence of Lazarus. John 12:12-13 further says, “On the next day much people that were come to the feast (the Passover), when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, ‘Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ ” And then John 12:17-18 says, “The people therefore that was with him (Jesus) when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record (作見證). For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. (眾人因聽見耶穌行了這神蹟，就去迎接他)” Hence, many people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast. As they heard of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, they took branches of palm trees in their hands and came out of the city to welcome the king of Israel who made the dead alive.
Just look around and watch some live witnesses in Christian circle, such as the crippled brother like Nick Vujicic, who was born without four limbs. He only has two small feet, one of which has two toes. Yet he is able to handle a lot of things like a normal person. There are also live witnesses of those brothers and sisters who have recovered from fatal diseases. All they need to do to serve the Lord is to tell people how great the Lord’s power of healing is.
(the 12 disciples)
The disciples were Jesus’ constant followers. They were always ready for the instructions of their master. As Jesus made himself ready to enter Jerusalem for the last time, he needed a small colt to ride on. “He sendeth forth two of his disciples, 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. 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.’ ” (v1-3) Jesus gave them some hints to get a colt. They went into the village and searched everywhere. Finally, they “found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.” (v4) “And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.” (v7) Some disciples then led the colt down the mount toward Jerusalem while others opened the way for them.
As followers of Jesus, we should always stand by for the instructions of our Lord. Whatever He commands us to do, we should follow strictly and finish our tasks according to His instructions.
(the crowd)
“And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees, and strowed them in the way (鋪在路上). And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, ‘Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.’ ” (v8-10) While Jesus was riding the colt down from the mount of Olives, many people began to join them and sang the “Hosanna” song as loud as they could in the procession. At this moment, they all thought that Jesus was going to enthrone himself as the king of Israel in Jerusalem. He was granted the highest honour that he had ever received since the beginning of his preaching and healing in the land of Israel.
Choir singing is certainly a kind of church service that is pleasing to our Lord. However, in many of the churches with hundreds of church attendees, those who serve in the choir are so few. God has given many of us beautiful voices, but few of us are willing to spend a little time to join the choir. That’s just a waste of our good voices that we can use to offer beautiful songs to praise our mighty King. We should make the best use of our voice, with a bit more training and practice, to sing harmoniously the beautiful songs of “Hosanna”!
(the master of the colt)
In Mark, nothing was mentioned about the colt’s master. It only mentioned several persons standing beside the colt. The two disciples “found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, ‘What do ye, loosing the colt?’ ” After the two disciples told them it was Jesus who sent them to bring the colt because “the Lord hath need of him”, “they let them go” (那些人就任憑他們牽去了). (v3-6) Were these few persons the servants of the colt’s master? Since the colt was “tied by the door”, it should belong to the master of a house. Luke 19:33 disclosed to us who the master of the colt was: “And as they (the disciples) were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, ‘Why loose ye the colt?’ ” So, the few persons that were mentioned in Mark 11:5 were actually the owners of the colt. On hearing that it was Jesus who needed to use their colt, they did as requested by the disciples without hesitation and let the disciples take the colt.
We have to learn the manner of the colt’s masters in serving the Lord. Whatever the Lord requires us to do or offer, we should immediately respond without hesitation.
(the colt)
Did the colt serve too? Of course! In fact, the colt was the most special one that served Jesus in the above two incidents. The colt is what I appreciate most! It was a young colt distinguished from the grown-up ass. Mark 11:2 says that the colt was “whereon never man sat”, and it was the one Jesus charged the disciples to bring him to ride on. It seemed like the colt was born to bear the great mission of taking Jesus from the mount of Olives to Jerusalem. We might tend to ask why Jesus did not enter Jerusalem by a horse. That way, he looked more like an honourable king. Even if not, he should have at least ridden on an ass rather than a young colt. A glorious king like him riding a colt looked pretty weird and embarrassing. Why did he choose a colt on purpose?
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The colt was too young to be ridden or used by anyone yet. It was especially set apart for the Lord to carry out this sacred mission.
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The fact that Jesus rode on a colt to enter Jerusalem was a prophesy of the prophet Zachariah: “And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.’ ” (John 12:14-15) This prophesy is quoted from Zach 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” [‘foal’的意思就是駒，尤指一歲以下的馬、驢、騾。]
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Riding on a colt is a vivid expression of Jesus’ full humility, as described in Zach 9:9 above: “lowly, and riding upon an ass”. Even though he was magnified by his followers along the way as the king of Israel, he came to Jerusalem for “salvation” and thus for his passion only.
As for the colt, it had never been used by anyone since its body was too light to bear any heavy stuff. Perhaps it could barely take a person like Jesus. It was not as useful as a horse or an ass. Nobody deemed it to carry any great value, at least at its young age. However, in this specific moment, it’s just made ready for the remarkable service of taking Jesus from the mount of Olives to Jerusalem. Its main purpose was to take Jesus to the desired destination—the capital of Israel. Everyone along the way only honoured Jesus; they would not honour the colt at all. And that’s what we ought to learn from the colt!
When we serve the Lord, we only desire to see that our Lord Jesus be honoured and magnified, not ourselves. In other words, we should serve our Lord with absolute humility, not for any honour or praise from people. The Lord loves to use such humble servants like the colt. Phil 1:20 reminds us: “With all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”
(Conclusion)
As the above two incidents displayed, different people had different roles to play. They complemented each other and paved way for Jesus to enter Jerusalem. Each of us possesses something that can be used by the Lord. Everything that we do is to glorify our Savior. He is always our Savior, not only in the past but also at present and in future as well, as said by Paul in II Cor 1:10, “Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.” (他曾救我們脫離那極大的死亡，現在仍要救我們，並且我們指望他將來還要救我們。)