"Loosed" for the Lord's Purposes

Originally posted March 31, 2007

"...and He said to them, "Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it.' and immediately he will send it here." Mark 11:2-3

I love this passage, especially as I came across it this week approaching Palm Sunday. The "colt" Christ is speaking of in the above passage is the donkey colt that He would be riding as He entered Jerusalem in His "triumphal entry." There are so many lessons to be learned from this pivotal moment. But, I keep coming back to the colt.

I have been carrying a bundle of notecards in my purse for the past few months. Some have scriptures on them, which I'm trying to memorize. Some have Greek words on them, from my (very) Elementary Greek curriculum that I'm slowly working through. One of the notecards that I regularly review has the word, "luo" written on it, in my best attempt at Greek script. The word "luo," as I have memorized, is Greek for "I loose." In the Greek scriptures I have memorized, this hasn't been a word. I haven't used it in any translations or sentences yet, but faithfully I have memorized this word. Luo. Got it.

Today as I read the above passage I "got it" on a little deeper level! The colt had to be "loosed," for "the Lord has need of it." Whoever owned the colt was not told exactly what the Lord would do with it, only that He the Lord needed it. What needed to be "loosed" was so that the Lord might use it for His glory. That particular colt carried our Lord to a chorus of "Hosannas," acknowledging Who He was. It's the same word used in the New Testament to describe when Lazarus needed to be "loosed" from his grave clothes after his resurrection. It's also the word used to describe the woman who was "loosed" from the evil spirits who had plagued her for over eighteen years. In these instances, involved being "loosed from" as well as being "loosed to."

What do I need to "loose" so that the person of Christ might be better displayed in my life? What do I need to be "loosed" - set free- from? The One who calls me, Who will use it for His glory, is the One who will do the enable the "loosing." Praise His name!

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name

of the Lord!'

Blessed is the kingdom of our father David

That comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!"
Mark 11:9-10