Whose is it?

Luke 19:33-34 (ESV) And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” And they said, “The Lord has need of it.”

As Jesus neared Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he sent two of his disciples into a village on the Mount of Olives to get a colt donkey on which no one had yet ridden. This beast is mentioned in all four gospels, so he is pretty significant. Interestingly, Jesus told the disciples what to say if anyone asked what they were doing. In Luke’s account, it is the colt’s owners who stop them and ask them. I would ask, too, wouldn’t you? An animal was a major possession in those days, on the order of a new car in our world. A normal person would not just stand by and let a stranger drive away in their new car without trying to find out what was happening.

Interestingly, the Greek word Luke uses for owner is kurious. This is also the word for Lord in the very next sentence. One could translate the verses: “Its owners said to them ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ And they said, ‘Its owner needs it.’” That is like a thief starting off with your car. You beat on the window and say, “What are you doing? This is my car?” The thief replies, “Not anymore!” You or I would be on the phone to the police in a heartbeat in the situation, but we hear no complaint from this colt’s owners. Although that little donkey was a significant source of wealth for its former owners, they understood someone else truly owned everything they had.

Our society has developed an illusion that we can own land. In reality, all a property owner has is a piece of paper that legally claims she possesses the land. Yet, war, natural disaster, or death can make that paper meaningless. Ultimately everything we think we own is like that. It has all been entrusted to us by God. One of the greatest tests of our character is our attitude toward our possessions. Do we view ourselves as the ultimate owners of our possessions or do we acknowledge the one who owns us? If the real owner – our Lord – needs anything we have, are we willing to give it back to him?