Gospels In Harmony  – The Burden of the Elect

Mat 21:1-11, Mar 11:1-11, Luk 19:28-44, Joh 11:54 –12:11

[Study Aired April 13, 2021]

Mar 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,

Mar 11:2a And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, Mat 21:2 and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me, Mar 11:2b whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.

Mar 11:3 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.

Mar 11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.

Luk 19:33 And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?

Luk 19:34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.

Mar 11:6b even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.

Mat 21:4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Mat 21:5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Mat 21:6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

Luk 19:35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.

Joh 12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

Joh 12:13 a Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him,

Mat 21:8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

Luk 19:37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

Mat 21:9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

Mar 11:10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.

Mat 21:10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

Mat 21:11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

Joh 12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

Joh 12:17 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record.

Joh 12:18 For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.

Joh 12:19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him.

Luk 19:39 And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

Luk 19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Luk 19:41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,

Luk 19:42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

Luk 19:43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,

Luk 19:44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

Mar 11:11 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.

This week’s study will focus on the first part of this story of Christ sending his disciples to fetch the ass and her colt. As it says in Matthew 21:4, all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. We will look at that prophecy and Lord willing determine the spiritual significance of this prophecy. Here is the prophecy.

Zec 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.

The first things we will review are “ass” and “colt”. Here are the definitions.

H2543

חמר חמור-:Original

– Transliteration: Chamowr

– Phonetic: kham-ore’

– Definition:

(he) ass

– Origin: from H2560

– TWOT entry: 685a

– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

– Strong’s: From H2560; a male ass (from its dun red): – (he) ass.

Total KJV Occurrences: 96

H5895

Original: עיר

– Transliteration: `ayir

– Phonetic: ah’-yeer

– Definition:

he-ass, male ass

– Origin: from H5782 in the sense of raising (ie bearing a burden)

– TWOT entry: 1616a

– Part(s) of speech: Noun Masculine

– Strong’s: From H5782 in the sense of raising (that is bearing a burden); properly a young ass (as just broken to a load); hence an ass colt: – (ass) colt foal young ass.

Total KJV Occurrences: 8

From the definition we see that Christ is riding on a burden-carrying male animal just broken to a load. Also we see “ass” has something to do with “red”. Who is this “ass” representing?

Gen 49:8-15 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.

Here is an excerpt from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia about Issachar.

Issachar is´a-kar (ישׂשׂכר, yissā‛se’khār; Septuagint, Swete Ἰσσαχάρ, Issachár; Tischendorf, Issáchar, so also in the New Testament, Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek):

(1) The 9th son of Jacob, the 5th borne to him by Leah (Gen 30:17 f).

The Name

His birth is in this passage connected with the strange story of Reuben and his mandrakes, and the name given him is apparently conceived as derived from ‘ı̄sh sākhār, “a hired workman.” There is a play upon the name in this sense in Gen 49:15 , “He bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under taskwork.”

Several things caught my attention. Issachar is the 9th son of Jacob, representing judgment, and the 5th son of Leah, representing grace through faith. Also, being the son of Leah, he was born of the first wife of Jacob, representing the church of Babylon.

The red symbol comes into play confirming the “ass” represents men. Being made from the dust of the earth we are referred to as Adam, which means earthy – red according to Hitchcock.

If we put this all together, we can see the ass represents the elect of God coming out of Babylon carrying the burden of Christ. Here is the prophecy once again.

Zec 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.

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