Luke 19: The Lord Needs You, Set Free to Serve Him

Introduction

On Sunday, October 11, 2026, at the Centre Évangélique Parole de Vie, the church's pastor, introduced as "the shepherd of the church," brings a message on a simple theme: "The Lord needs you." All year long, he reminds the congregation, the church has been speaking about "revelation and dominion." And without vision, a people has no brakes: "It's as if you had climbed into a car with no brakes."

To fulfill his vision, God needs you. The pastor opens his Bible to John 8:36, then reads the account of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in Luke 19:28-38, along with the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-10. At the heart of the story is a tied-up colt, which two disciples come to untie with one single answer: "The Lord needs it."

The message follows this colt step by step: God's vision, the freedom the Son gives, the prophecy being fulfilled, the disciples who are sent, the chains that hold people back, and finally the colt entering Jerusalem carrying Jesus.

Outline of the Message

1. The Vision Comes From God, and He Needs You to Fulfill It

"A people without vision is a people without brakes": where there is no vision, there is damage.
The vision does not belong to a man. "If someone tells you it's my vision, don't believe him," unless he is talking about his own business. In the church, the vision comes from God. "If someone tells you it's my church, no, the church belongs to its head, who is Jesus Christ." We are only here to serve the Lord.
If God gives a church a vision, he wants it fulfilled "through you and me." John 3:16 shows it: if God gave his Son, it is because there were people on the earth. "If the world were empty, what would be the point?"
The vision says where we are going, and the direction says what we must do to get there. The two go together. For a church, "you can have programs, but that isn't enough. There has to be the vision."

2. If the Son Sets You Free, You Will Be Free Indeed

John 8:36: "If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." No one in this world is able to set you free. "We are only channels that God uses to bring about deliverance," and this deliverance comes through the word of God, not through our own words. Anyone who says "I'm the one who set you free" is lying.
So the question is: why are we not free? Lazarus had spent four days in the tomb, but when Jesus spoke his name, death could not hold him.
"Someone who has been set free doesn't need to be pushed to come to church." When the Lord says a word to him, he obeys.
Israel lived more than 400 years in slavery in Egypt, serving Pharaoh. It was not Moses who freed them, it was God: Moses was only a channel. And once they were free, the people no longer served Pharaoh. In the same way, once God has set you free, you no longer serve Satan.
"When you serve God in the church, you are not serving a pastor. You are not serving a man of God, you are serving the one who set you free." Every man is fallible, the pastor reminds us: let us trust God.

3. A Specific Prophecy Being Fulfilled

Zechariah 9:9-10 announced, centuries before Jesus was born: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! [...] Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The pastor picks out three words: righteousness, victory and humility.
Zion, he explains, points to the new Jerusalem spoken of in the letter to the Hebrews, whereas Sinai evokes Moses and the law. The sons and daughters of God are concerned: they will inherit the kingdom.
"When a prophecy comes from God, it will end up being fulfilled." Habakkuk says it: even if it delays, it will surely come to pass. Isaiah had announced the birth of Jesus from a virgin and his death (Isaiah 53), and those words were fulfilled.
But there are conditions: you have to stay in God's will. "If a fish leaves the water, will it live?" You too, if you leave God's environment, you cannot expect the prophecy to be fulfilled. That is why David wanted to dwell in God's presence to the end of his days.

4. Disciples Set Free in Order to Set Others Free

Jesus sends two of his disciples. "A disciple who is fully trained will be like his teacher": hence the importance of training disciples. And a disciple must be someone who has already been set free.
"How is the Lord going to send you to free others, when you yourself are not yet free?" Not free from sexual desires, lying, pride, anger: how can you go and deliver those who are caught in them?
Moses believed he had to free Israel while he was in Egypt, and he killed a man. It was not the time. He had to be broken in his encounter with God at the burning bush, broken in the pride and the strength he had learned in Pharaoh's palace.
We have a mission: "Make disciples of all nations." It begins in our families. But the pastor challenges us: "You come to church, you are holy. But at home, they call you by another name." How can we free others if we are not free ourselves?

5. "Untie It and Bring It" to Jesus

Jesus' word is precise: a village opposite, a tied colt, on which no man has ever sat. "When God speaks, he doesn't grope around."
"Untie it and bring it." But to whom? "Today, in our churches, people want to untie others to bring them to the pastors. No, bring them to Jesus Christ. Let's not be pastor fanatics. Let's be disciples of Jesus Christ."
"The Lord needs it." Jesus said his disciples would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. You have to start with Jerusalem, your family, but go further: God wants all people to be saved. Jesus is the visionary, but he needed Peter, he needed Paul, and he needs you.
Why a colt and not a horse? The horse evokes conquest and battle. The colt is a simple, humble and docile animal. The pastor recalls Balaam's donkey: Balaam, to whom a king offered rewards to curse Israel, did not see the angel blocking the road, but his donkey did. He prays: "If anyone wants to come and curse you, may you meet that angel on the road." What God has blessed is blessed.
What keeps you from coming to church, from praying, from meditating on the Word? On social media, made-up stories get millions of views, while God's message is neglected. "There is a time for everything. Let us redeem the time, for the days are evil."
The disciples found everything exactly as Jesus had described it. "God has never lied. The day God lies, he will cease to be God." The father of lies is the devil, since the garden of Eden. God had promised Abraham a child, and Abraham had him.

6. Who Tied You Up? When God's Time Strikes

The colt had owners who were watching it. "I'm asking you: who tied you up?" There are people who do not want you to move forward, but God wants your happiness: "Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life."
The colt's owners had forgotten one thing: it was God's time. "When God's time strikes, even Satan cannot hold you back." When that time struck, Pharaoh could no longer hold Israel. There is the time of men, chronos, and the time of God, kairos. God is the master of times and circumstances.
The disciples forced nothing, they did not shout. There are many tied-up colts in the church, whom we no longer see: we need to go and visit them. For the one who has fallen, there must be repentance, which happens inside when you confess your sins, and conversion, which can be seen on the outside.
The pastor opens a parenthesis: in Christian circles, some people fear Satan more than God. He tells the story of a church where people talked only about sorcerers. "Today, in our churches, we exalt Satan more than God." Yet "Satan is only a creature. But God is the creator."
God has given us the power to walk over all the power of the enemy. But someone who lives in lies, quarrels and disputes cannot drive out Satan: Satan does not drive out Satan. "Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil": people want to resist without being subject to God.
Before the paralyzed man, Peter said: "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have, that I give you." We have Jesus Christ, and "greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." War will be made against us, but we will not be defeated, and "a curse without cause has no effect."
The owners did not refuse to release the colt. So let us evangelize: "It's not us who are going to convert these people. It's the word." Have you ever spoken about the Lord to that man you find wicked? Ananias also hesitated before Paul, the persecutor of the church.

7. Carried by Jesus, From Humiliation to Acclamation

The disciples throw their cloaks on the colt. This colt, tied up for so long, lived within limits. "Maybe you are going through times of limits in your life, but you serve a God who is unlimited." Financial limits, families where no one rises, and a limited prayer life: "One minute of prayer, and you start falling asleep."
The pastor suggests an experiment: before going to sleep, what did you watch? War movies, social media? Many people have dreams in which they are being chased. "Before sleeping, did you really take the time to pray?"
When we win souls, it is for the Lord, not for the pastor. Jesus was going up to Jerusalem for his crucifixion, and he had to be carried by that colt. "If you want God's promises to be fulfilled in your life, let yourself be that colt on which Jesus rode."
While the crowd was acclaiming Jesus, it forgot that the colt had been tied up. "People will forget that you were bound." The first will be last and the last will be first: "This humiliation will turn into acclamation."
No one can bind the word of God. Paul was chained like a criminal, but the Word was not chained. Joseph was thrown into prison, but God's promise was fulfilled. Lazarus was buried, but "this sickness is not to death." The widow of Zarephath had only a little flour and oil left, but when she received Elijah, she never ran out, and her son was raised from the dead. "You have received the one who is greater than Elijah. His name is Jesus Christ."
You may be bound by lies, by things done in secret, by worries and anxieties. Instead of worrying, make your needs known to God, and his peace will guard your heart. "We have to rise up. The hour of liberation has struck." The pastor invites us to pray: "Lord, you need me. I accept that you use me as you used that colt." He expresses his faith that the promises will be fulfilled before the end of the year, then calls those who feel bound to raise a hand so that he can pray for them.

Key Takeaways

The vision comes from God, the church belongs to Jesus Christ, and God wants to fulfill his vision through you.
Deliverance comes only from the Son: people are only channels. Whoever has been set free serves the one who set him free, not a man.
You cannot free others while staying bound yourself: a disciple must be set free before being sent.
We untie people to bring them to Jesus, not to the pastors.
When God's time strikes, nothing holds back the one he calls, and humiliation can become acclamation.

Personal Application

What is binding you today and keeping you from praying, from meditating on the Word or from coming to church?
Do you serve God out of obedience to the one who set you free, or because someone pushes you?
At home, are you the same person you are at church?
Who around you has drifted away from the church and may be waiting for a visit?
What do you watch before going to sleep, and what place does prayer have in your evenings?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "the Lord needs it" mean in Luke 19?

Jesus sends two disciples to untie a colt and gives them a single answer to give to the animal's owners: "The Lord needs it." For the preacher, this word is addressed to you as well: God has a vision for the nations, and he wants to fulfill it through you and me. But you must be freed from whatever binds you in order to serve him.

Why did Jesus enter Jerusalem on a colt?

It was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9: "Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey." The preacher points out that the horse evokes conquest and battle, whereas the colt is a simple, humble and docile animal.

How can you be free to serve God according to John 8:36?

"If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." The preacher reminds us that deliverance comes only from God: people are only channels. Someone who has been set free does not need to be pushed to come to church or to obey: he serves the one who set him free. And whoever has fallen must go through repentance and conversion.