Today is Palm Sunday, the commemoration of Jesus’ royal entry into Jerusalem on a colt. Through this, we enter Holy Week, in the last days of Jesus’ life. Today I would like to meditate on something that goes unnoticed in the Gospels, the colt, which is the symbol of the salvation brought to us by Jesus.

The Gospel says: “he sent two of the disciples, saying, “Go into the village opposite, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat; untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this, ‘The Lord has need of it.”

The first image is the tied colt. The colt means each of us. We are tied by many things today, our comforts, pleasures, jobs, social media, video games, television serials, etc. Jesus came to free us from the slavery of sin because he needs us.

The second image is a colt that no one has ever yet sat. This not only means that the colt is young but also that it is not tamed. Sometimes even our life is not disciplined, but if we let the Lord take possession of our life, it will be transformed because He is the creator of all things. He has power and dominion and mastery over all of it. So, are we ready to leave our life for Jesus?

The third image. As Jesus said, the disciples go out and find the colt tied. In the biblical language, to untie means to forgive. Jesus wants the colt to be untethered, but the disciples are the ones who untether the colt for Jesus. Similarly, it is God who wants to forgive us. But it is the priests who give forgiveness. When Jesus gives them, the authority says: “whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16: 19)

The fourth picture is the most interesting: as the disciples untie, the owners of the colt ask them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ “The owners?” How can a colt have multiple owners? This colt represents each of us.

There were then many masters of this colt, before that, the Saviour had need of him. But as soon as He began to be the master, there ceased to be any other. For no one can serve God and mammon. (Matt. 6:24.) When we are the servants of wickedness, we are subject to many vices and passions, but the Lord has need of the colt because He would have us loosed from the chain of our sins.

Indeed, Christ came to free us from our slavery and make us bearers and instruments of Him. Therefore the Lord needs each of us, especially the young.

Who is Christ today? Christ himself said: “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40). So we ask for God’s grace that we may be His bearers and true instruments in the His hands, serving our brothers.

May God bless you!