Give Up Your Donkey, Your Cloak and Your Expectation (Matthew 21:1-11)

"If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them..." (Mt 21:3).

• "Discipleship means following the man on the donkey all the way." Donald English, United Methodist minister.

1. What “donkey” (possession, privacy, time, comfort) is God asking you to release for His use (Mt 21:1-2)? Why is this difficult?
• How dare God demand this of you (Mt 21:3; Dt 10:14; Ps 24:1; 50:10-12; Jer 10:23; 1 Cor 6:19-20)?
• Do you acknowledge Jesus’ authority over your “donkeys”?
2. Do you resist Jesus’ way of gentleness and humility (Zec 9:9; Mt 21:4-5, 6-7; 11:29), preferring a more aggressive or forceful solution?
• Where are you using the world’s methods (force, manipulation, coercion, guilt-tripping, shaming, status) to do what you want?
• How are you imitating Jesus who “made himself nothing” (Phil 2:5-8)?
• How does meditating on the humility of the Triumphal Entry reshape your approach to a conflict you are currently facing?
3. What does it look like to lay your "cloak" (Exo 22:26-27; security, reputation, comfort) at Jesus’ feet (Mt 21:8-9; Rom 12:1)?
4. What did this crowd who hailed him as the Messiah (Mt 21:9, 11) do just a week later (Mt 27:22-23; Mk 15:13-14; Lk 23:21; Jn 19:6, 15)? Why (Isa 53:3, 7)?
• When Jesus doesn’t meet your expectations (fix a situation on your timeline, allows suffering, asks you to forgive), how do you respond? Are you tempted to turn on Him when He doesn’t act like the “king” you envisioned?
• What false expectations of Jesus do I need to repent of?

* How can you embrace the “donkey” approach—humility and service—in a situation where you are currently frustrated or angry?

* How can I offer sacrificial, public honor to Jesus, even if it makes me vulnerable?