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Were one or
two animals brought to Jesus?
Matthew 21:2-7 and Mark 11:2-7;
Luke 19:30
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Donkey and colt (Matthew
21:2-7) - "Go into the village opposite you,
and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with her;
untie them, and bring them to Me. 3“And if anyone says
something to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and
immediately he will send them.” 4Now this took place
that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
5“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold your King is coming to you,
gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of
burden.’” 6And the disciples went and did just as Jesus had
directed them, 7and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid
on them their garments, on which He sat."
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A colt (Mark
11:2-7) - "Go into the village
opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied
there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here.
3"And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you
doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will
send it back here." 4And they went away and found a colt
tied at the door outside in the street; and they *untied it. 5And
some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying
the colt?" 6And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them,
and they gave them permission. 7And they *brought the colt to
Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it."
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A colt (Luke
19:30) - "Go into the village opposite
you, in which as you enter you will find a colt tied, on which no one yet
has ever sat; untie it, and bring it here."
There is no contradiction.
Matthew 21:2-7 tells us that
there was both a donkey and a colt. Mark and Luke focus on the
colt only and mention that no one had ever sat upon it. Mark and Luke
are focusing on this detail while Matthew focuses on the prophetic
fulfillment (Matthew 21:4-5).
Logically, if there are two animals, then there is also, at least, one
animal. To say there was one does not mean there weren't two.
This is not a verbal game. It is an issue of logic.
Remember, the writers of the gospels wrote for a purpose.
It was not to recount a chronologically precise account in
minute details. It was to convey the validity of Christ.
The fact that Mark and Luke mention one colt does not mean there
is a contradiction anymore than saying that Frank and Joe came
to my house last night but today I tell a friend about what Joe
said last night and don't mention Frank.
Zechariah 9:9
is the scripture that Matthew refers to. It says, "Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; he is just and endowed with salvation, humble, and
mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." We can
see that Matthew is simply including both animals as was prophesied in
Zechariah.
Why would both be needed if Jesus only rode one into
Jerusalem? The simple answer is that the colt was young
and still attached to the mother, and vice versa. They
would travel together as a mother and offspring naturally would
among many animal species.
Finally, the disciples did not steal the colt.
Matthew states that the person who owned the animals would send
them after the disciples stated that "The Lord has need of
them." This means it was a voluntary action of the
owners of the animals. Certainly, Jesus would not advocate
stealing.
Return to
Bible Difficulties - Matthew to
Mark
Return to or Bible Difficulties -
Luke to Acts
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