THE LORD HATH NEED OF HIM
Luke 19:31
Morning Meditation 4/22/2014
Verse 31 “And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.”
Jesus had needs. This time it was a lowly colt that Zechariah 9:9 might be fulfilled: “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.” Jesus prepared his disciples with an answer to the owners when they asked, “Why loose ye the colt?” Jesus told them to say, “Because the Lord hath need of him.” Here we have the eternal Word, who spoke worlds into existence instantly, with a need. There is a sense in which God is self existent and has need of nothing and no one. He is complete in Himself and can get along with any of us. But God has chosen to create and make Himself available to His creatures. He does not cease to be God in doing this but His humiliation in the incarnation does position Him to have needs. In order to fulfill the prophecy that He inspired Zechariah to make, He must ask for the loan of a colt. He had need of Him. I ask myself the question. Does the Lord need me? Does He need us? What are His needs that can be fulfilled by our faith and obedience?
He has NEED OF OUR FAITH that we might please Him. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:5-6). God is not someone created in the imagination. There is a lot of difference between what we imagine and reality. God is Reality. He is not someone the human race created to satisfy an inner need. When speaking of the reality of God, Tozer says, “I mean that which has existence apart from any idea that any mind may have of it, and which would exist if there were no mind anywhere to entertain a thought of it. That which is real has being in itself. It does not depend upon the observer for it validity.” Jesus says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Jesus declared this of God and we either believe it or we don’t. “He that cometh unto God must believe that he is. . .” God has need of our faith. He made man in His image. This means that man as he was originally made was to be the visible image of the invisible God. This image had nothing to do with form. Spirit has no particular form. But God wanted man to know what He was like. And if by faith God lived in that man in a voluntary faith relationship, then when man saw man he would see what God is like. Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God. He is actually called the “express image” (Heb. 1:3). Jesus as a man was everything God created man to be. Jesus had absolute faith in the invisible God so that when He spoke, He was speaking what God was speaking, and when He acted He was acting like God was acting. “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). Jesus was able to live in two worlds at the same time. He lived in a visible world of time and space and He lived in the world of spiritual reality that is only penetrated by faith. Jesus knew by faith what was happening in the unseen world and by faith brought it into the seen world. Faith honors God. He exists. He has done and is doing what His Word says. He needs people who believe Him apart from the proof the world needs (sight and experience).
God needs our love so that we can minister to Him as Mary did: “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” (John 12:3). This was adoring worship. It was expensive. Judas complained because he said this ointment could be sold and given to the poor. Of course we are told that Judas was not interested in the poor but in the money. He was treasurer and was a thief. But what he thought was a waste Jesus said was not a waste. But Jesus said, “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always” (John 12:7-8). “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matt. 22:36-38).
There is an interesting verse in Acts 13:2: “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” What does “They ministered to the Lord” mean? The word “ministered” translates “leitourgeo.” This word means, “to serve at one’s own cost.” This word is used to describe the work of the priests and Levites who were busied with the sacred rites in the tabernacle or the temple. This same word is used in Heb. 10:11 where the priests are described as ministering and offering sacrifices unto the Lord. We can minister to the Lord in love offering the sacrifices of praise (Heb. 13:15). He has need of this.
The Lord has need of our bodies in which He is free to operate in this time of world evangelism. We are operating today under the Great Commission. Paul said, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). Soul winning and missions takes place under the statement “And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God.” Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1). We must present our bodies for Him to operate through in this world. He has need of us. We need to ask ourselves, “Have we presented our bodies a living sacrifice.” If this were automatic and came with the experience of salvation then all Paul would have to do would be to tell us how to be saved. But after we are saved, service is a choice at each step. Church attendance, separation from the world, tithing, going out as a missionary, becoming a pastor, singing in the choir and all the other things that go with serving the Lord is a choice. God will not force anyone to do anything. Sometimes the consequence of not doing the Lord’s will make us wish we had, but God did not make us do it. And He will not. We are volunteers. Jesus said to the twelve, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” No one had to follow. In John chapter six the Scripture says, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him” (John 6:66). The Lord has need of our bodies. When you present your body a living sacrifice, you no longer have the right to use your body the way you want. That involves the places you go, the way you dress, the language you use and the way you spend your time. It is no longer yours. You have given it to Him. Paul asks, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
The Lord sent the disciples after a colt on whose back He would ride into Jerusalem. Jesus told them, “And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.” He also needs each of us. We need to give ourselves totally to Him for His use so that at the Judgment Seat He will say, “. . . Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matt. 25:21).
May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
