“THE LORD HATH NEED OF THEM”
I desire to refer to this incident of the Lord riding into Jerusalem, in connection with the way that it is presented in these three gospels. It is referred to in John’s gospel also, where it is said that the Lord, when He had found the ass, sat thereon, chap 12: 14. We do not get great detail in that gospel, nor do we get the commission of the two disciples to bring the ass; but the incident is mentioned. It is one of the few incidents that are mentioned in all four gospels, so that evidently a special importance attaches to it; but in the first three gospels we find that the Lord indicates that He had need of the colt. The Lord had need of them in Matthew, and the Lord had need of it in Mark and Luke, and one would desire to impress upon every believer (for there is no doubt that the colt is a picture of the believer) that the Lord has need of every one of His own in connection with the testimony in this world.
One would like to convey the sense that the Lord has need of each one of us, in view of a definite purpose, that we should be wholly at His disposal in connection with the testimony of His Name in some particular aspect in this world from which He has been cast out. The Lord was about to ride into Jerusalem with the full knowledge that He would be crucified; the position was well known to the Lord; He had often spoken of it to His disciples, and if we as in the world become increasingly conscious of the rejection of Christ, as Scripture says, “cast away as worthless” by men (1 Pet 2: 7), we may rest assured that the position is well known to the Lord. He has known about it, and taken account of it from the very outset. The Lord has need of me! In the spiritual history of each one of us it was the other way round first—we had need of the Lord, but there comes a moment when the Lord would impress upon us that He has need of us.
In Matthew’s gospel, what is in view, in connection with the Lord having need of His people, is the truth of the assembly (the church of God), for Matthew’s gospel presents that; it is the gospel that supports the apostle Paul’s ministry in connection with the truth of the assembly, and it is a great thing to get the sense that the Lord has need of us in a living way, in connection with that which He calls “my assembly”, chap 16: 18. “On this rock”, He said to Peter, “I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”. That is to say, the Lord has, down here, in the presence of the concentrated forces of evil and opposition to the truth, that which He speaks of as “my assembly”, that which will prove invulnerable. What a privilege, that every one of us may have a living part in that! The Lord looks down with peculiar and affectionate interest on that which He regards as “my assembly”, as a result of the work of God, that which He supports and trusts to stand invulnerable by His grace, against every attack on the truth. For this, at least two are needed, and that is why, in Matthew’s gospel, you get an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. It contemplates at least two moving together in oneness of mind and oneness of interest.
A feature of these days in which we live is that the Lord has set His people together, though we reach the position through being exercised individually to withdraw from iniquity, and follow righteousness, faith, love, and peace. We do it “with those that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim 2: 22), and the individual exercise as to withdrawing from what is contrary to God is the way the Lord has used to set His people, as thus exercised, together. But what is to govern them as set together? Surely, the light of the assembly. If saints disregard the light of the assembly, they are not following righteousness. Nothing can regulate the saints of God as moving together in the light of the assembly. While in no wise arrogating anything to ourselves, it is the privilege of the saints of God as set, and moving, together to come into the light of the assembly. In spite of all that has come in, the assembly is still here, and hades’ gates cannot prevail against it; and the Lord has need of you and me, and each one who hears His voice, in order that the truth of the assembly may be maintained in a living way.
With that in view, the Lord introduces teaching in Matthew, for we need teaching. You will remember that in chapter 5 it says that the Lord Jesus went up into a mountain and sat down and His disciples came to Him, and He opened His mouth and taught them, vv 1, 2. That is to say, the Lord is on high. He withdrew Himself from the plain and went up into a mountain, as if to show He would not be within the reach of those who were unexercised; but that every exercised soul should reach Him. A certain amount of exercise was called for, if they were to receive the teaching He was ready to give, and the teaching had in view the formation of material for the assembly, so that we need, individually, to come under the Lord’s teaching, under His subduing influence, if we are to fit effectively into the assembly.
“Having opened his mouth, he taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit” (vv 2, 3), a remarkable thing with which to start His teaching, as if He would indicate, at the outset, that if we are to be suitable representatives of Him, and to have a part in the assembly, we must be prepared to accept that the assembly is formed of men who are of a different kind of spirit from that which marks us naturally; so the teaching necessitates we should have to do with the Lord. All He said and set before them really proceeded from what He was Himself. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, etc. I cannot go into all the detail of this valuable section (Matt 5: 7); I would commend it to each one individually. If we would be formed so as to fit effectively into the assembly here, we must come under the teaching and subduing influence of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
You will find the Lord indicates a completely different line of things. He says, “Ye have heard that it has been said ... But I say unto you”, Matt 5: 43, 44. We must be prepared to let our own thoughts go, to disregard the thoughts of men in the world, and to be formed by that which the Lord has to say to us. What comes into evidence here is that there are two, “an ass tied, and a colt with it”, and the Lord has need of both, suggesting old and young believers together, and that both are needed in the assembly. The old are needed with their experience of God, and the young with freshness of life. It is inconceivable that this ass should despise the colt. It is inconceivable that this colt would be insubject to the ass. They were moving together, and the Lord had need of them both.
How good it is to see old and young saints together in a company, rejoicing together that the Lord has need of them all; so that there should be with the old a care for the young, and with the young a respect for the old, the subjection to the old which Scripture enforces, for if these things are not in evidence it will seriously affect the testimony here for God. All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh to thee, meek, and mounted upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”. If the King is meek, how essential it is that all of us should be meek! The One who is supreme, who was unique in His dignity, bore this character of meekness, and He intends that that character should be impressed upon His own as in the assembly. In chapter 11 the Lord invites them to “Come to me ... and learn from me; for I am meek and lowly in heart”, vv 28, 29.
A meek person is one who does not assert his own rights, and that shows that he knows and trusts God, and is leaving his rights with God. It was seen in the Lord pre-eminently. He says, “Come to me”, and “learn from me”. If there is any assertion of our own wills, or our own rights, in that measure the light as to God is beclouded. The assertion of one man’s will or rights against another’s in the assembly is a sad blot upon the company.
So the apostle, in writing to the Corinthians (who were far from answering to God’s mind as an assembly of God) says, “I myself Paul, entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of the Christ”, 2 Cor 10: 1. I myself, Paul, entreat you by it—as if to remind them that the meekness and gentleness of Christ was not an abstract idea, but had been exemplified before them in a living man like Paul. If God is to be seen in the assembly, if the enemy is to be powerless to introduce anything of man there, it is essential that we should be formed after Christ.
Paul in his first epistle says he sends Timotheus, “who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ”, 1 Cor 4: 17. Timotheus answers to the foal of the ass. Paul had laboured in the assemblies, but he had a brother, one formed after himself, and he could send him to Corinth to emphasise that particular feature—his ways “as they are in Christ”—in order that they might be reproduced in Corinth.
I pass on to Mark’s gospel, and there, what is in view is the ministry, the service, and hence the Lord claims a colt: “ye will find a colt tied”. “They departed, and found a colt bound to the door”. Here it is a colt, suggesting especially those who are young, for the Lord would put in a claim to us while we are young, though I do not want to exclude anyone who is older. If anyone has grown older without responding to the Lord’s claims, by all means let him answer to them now, but it is a colt here, suggesting that the Lord desires to secure us while we are young.
This colt was one “upon which no child of man has ever sat”, and it was tied, suggesting very touchingly what is true of many of our young brothers and sisters. In the mercy of God they have been “tied”, held available for the Lord—but perhaps they have never yet recognised, definitely and absolutely that the Lord has need of them in regard of His testimony here. We cannot remain all our days in a neutral position. If we do not recognise the Lord’s rights to have us absolutely, we are in danger of being claimed by that which is opposed to Christ, and so He would put in His claim early. “The Lord has need of it”.
The question may be raised as to what is in view. “And if any one say to you, Why do ye this? say, The Lord has need of it; and straightway he sends it hither. And they departed, and found a colt bound to the door without at the crossway, and they loose him. And they said to them as Jesus had commanded ... And they let them do it. And they led the colt to Jesus”. The colt does nothing but move in such a way that Christ is brought into evidence; he is entirely at the command of the Lord. What a support for the testimony that would be! How essential that there should be this living support of the testimony! The gospel must indeed be preached, but let the preaching be supported, let the power of the preaching be seen in that we are marked by that which is different from what would characterise us naturally.
If we refer to Philippians, we see that we must be concerned as to this all through our lives. From Rome the apostle tells them that they have had “fellowship with the gospel, from the first day until now”, chap 1: 5. Here we have an evangelical company in real sympathy with the gospel. “Because to you has been given, as regards Christ, not only the believing on him but the suffering for him also” (chap 1: 29, 30)—it was not simply a matter of preaching with the Philippians. They were wholly committed to the name of the Lord Jesus, and prepared to suffer, if needs be, for His Name. In writing to them, the apostle shows how much he himself was developed on the line indicated in this colt. He had been a man active in service, and faithful to the Lord in it above all others, but at the end of his days we find him shut up in prison, and certain brethren outside thinking to add tribulation to his bonds: “Some indeed also for envy and strife ... preach the Christ” (chap 1: 15), preaching a popular gospel of which Paul would not approve.
How does Paul take it? Is he repining because he is cut off from active service? He shows what was the secret of his life—“according to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but in all boldness, as always, now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether by life or by death” (chap 1: 20)—he shows that it had been his motive all the way through, that Christ should be magnified in his body, that his movements should be such as would bring Christ into evidence. What a support for the gospel that one who, in his young days, was known as an insolent overbearing man and a persecutor, should be moving in all kinds of circumstances and in such a way that Christ came into evidence. Who could deny the reality and power of a gospel that could transform such a man so that Christ was magnified in all his movements?
That is what is in view in this colt. “And they led the colt to Jesus, and cast their clothes upon it, and he sat on it; and many strewed their clothes on the way, and others cut down branches from the trees and went on strewing them on the way. And those going on before and those following cried out, Hosanna! blessed be he that comes in the Lord’s name”, vv 7-9. All that would appear great in Men’s eyes was cast down in order that Christ alone should move in triumph before them. Paul says, he was a “Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee”, etc. He goes over all the garments he had worn at one time and says, “what things were gain to me these I counted, on account of Christ, loss”, Phil 3: 5-7. So you can see how he cast his garments down. He laid aside everything that would have lent distinction to himself, in order that Christ alone should come into evidence. “But if also I am poured out as a libation on the sacrifice and ministration of your faith, I rejoice, and rejoice in common with you all” (Phil 2: 17), as if to say, ‘If it is needful that I should go the whole length of being poured out in death as an offering, I am content’. In that way he was brought into complete correspondence to Christ as one who was wholly yielded up to God, in spite of what it involved for himself. You see him, not repining that he could no longer serve publicly, but showing that the motive power of his life and service had been that Christ should be brought into evidence, and he would close his days in the glad acceptance of the will of God for him, because, in that spirit, Christ was expressed.
I pass on to Luke’s gospel. The account in Luke leads up to that which is priestly in character. Luke’s gospel always has what is priestly in view, and so we find, following on this incident in Luke, that the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice. On the other hand, we find the Lord beholding the city and weeping over it. Priestly movements Godward are in evidence and priestly sympathies in regard of the actual condition of things down here.
In regard of priestly movements Godward, the colt was needed by the Lord and was brought to Him. Have we the power to have part in priestly movements for the pleasure of God, in the presence of that which does not outwardly suggest the triumph of what is of God? The secret is whether we are with Christ. They brought the colt to Jesus. If we come to the Lord, we shall be in the secret of what God has secured in Christ, though we shall be greatly affected by the increasing evil and corruption around. Here was nothing outwardly to suggest any great power or triumph. There was no outward accompaniment of power, the atmosphere around was murderous, and Jesus Himself was about to be crucified, and yet in these conditions, “all the multitude of the disciples began, rejoicing, to praise God with a loud voice for all the works of power which they had seen, saying, Blessed the King that comes in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest”. It suggests an appreciation of Christ at the present time. In view of the conditions around, it is only as we are near the Lord that we can be maintained, and thus have part in priestly service Godward.
This gospel presents the Lord as, “The Christ of God”, chap 9: 20. You remember when He was brought as a child into the temple at Jerusalem, Simeon was there, and it had been revealed to him, by the Spirit, that he should not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. It says, “he [Simeon] came in the Spirit into the temple; and as the parents brought in the child Jesus ... he received him into his arms, and blessed God” (chap 2: 27, 28); but what was it that he took up in his arms? On the one hand it was the Christ of God, and on the other hand it was a Babe, in all the outward circumstances of littleness and weakness, brought up by parents who were so poor that they could not offer the normal sacrifice the law demanded, but had to bring two turtle doves, or two young pigeons.
The Lord was there in circumstances of littleness and weakness, but Simeon was there in the Spirit. Was he affected by the outward conditions of littleness and weakness and poverty? No; being a man in the Spirit, and in the apprehension of the Christ of God, he saw how, in Him, God would secure for His pleasure all that His heart had purposed from eternity.
What are outward conditions if we are in the light of the One who has gone up far above all heavens that He might fill all things; and the One in whom the holy and blessed purposes of a God of infinite love and wisdom are secured, and which are about to be brought in? What matters it if the conditions outwardly are those of extreme weakness and littleness and poverty? If we are marked by the features of the Spirit, as was Simeon, we shall find our souls will be preserved in the light of all that God has secured in Christ, the Christ of God. Think of God in His own blessedness and greatness conceiving thoughts of love which only the divine mind could conceive, and only divine wisdom and power could bring to pass, and how all these thoughts involved the necessity of the Lord Jesus Christ coming into Manhood. He is the Christ of God, the One whom God has anointed for the bringing in of all His pleasure, and those who are in the Spirit appreciate the Christ of God; so if there is nothing but dishonour here, we can look up to where Christ is.
It is our privilege, as having to do with the Lord, as brought to Him, and as giving place to the Spirit, to have part in the response down here in praising God for all the blessedness that is set before us in Christ—praising God in the midst of a scene of darkness and barrenness and departure from Him. On the other hand, there are priestly feelings and sympathies. He wept over the city. The city of Jerusalem was that with which God had outwardly connected His Name, but its condition was such as made the Lord Jesus weep. How much are we marked by these priestly feelings that feel the condition of all that which professes the name of Christ? It is a complete denial of the truth of God, as it was in the days of the Lord. He beheld the city and wept over it. If we, like this colt, have been brought to Jesus, we shall not be carried away by what men think, but shall regard things in relation to Christ.
The truth as to Christ is increasingly being given up, so that ultimately there will be no place for Him at all, and it says, “And as he drew near, seeing the city, he wept over it”. You may be sure that those feelings of sorrow, in regard of that which God had carefully tended for so many years, were grateful to the heart of God; so will our sorrows be. One feels how small one is, but the Lord would develop in us spiritual sorrows that would take account of the actual condition of that which is so entirely heartless as to God.
The Lord is looking for us to be entirely apart from this world, and all that is connected with it. He has interests that are enough to engage the time and attention of every one of His people. He has interests in the assembly, and in the testimony of the gospel, not simply in word but in life, in order that what is priestly and for the pleasure of God may not lapse, but may be sustained even though the world around, and its religion, are fast sinking into absolute death and barrenness. We shall be secured for the Lord as we are brought to Him. These things are not gained by reading, or hearing addresses. It is of the utmost importance that each one of us should cultivate personal nearness to the Lord. Whatever difficulties you may have, they will be effectually solved, little by little, as you cultivate nearness to the Lord. The Lord is tender and gracious and He will delight to encourage you more and more.
Place and date not given
From a pamphlet of four gospel preachings
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