Read Textual Sermon from Jentezen Franklin
“Can Jesus Use Me?”
I want to talk to you for a few moments. I feel like the Lord has really dealt with my heart about this, and I’m giving the title in the form of a question: “Can Jesus Use Me?” That’s what I want you to ask yourself: Can Jesus use me?
And in Matthew 21:
“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, “The Lord has need of them,” and immediately he will send them.’ … ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey…’” The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down branches and spread them on the road. The multitudes who went before them cried out, saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Can Jesus use me? Everybody say that: Can Jesus use me?
This third verse is what I really want to center in on. I could have read this story in all four Gospels because it’s so important. All four writers included this story and used that phrase. One of them made it different and said, “The Lord has need of him,” but the point is clear. What’s interesting about this text is that nowhere else in all the Bible does God ever have a need. The Scripture said, “The Lord has need of him.” Jesus told them to tell anyone who tried to stop them from taking that animal and bringing it for His purpose, “You tell them, The Lord has need of that. I need that.”
You can’t find in the Bible where God has a need. He said in Acts 17 that He’s not worshiped with man’s hands—“as though He needed anything.” God doesn’t need anything. He’s self-sufficient. And yet this text said, “God needs something.” This is the only place in the Bible where God said, “I need something outside of Myself.” You need water. You need food. You need stuff to survive. God says, “I don’t need anything.” God even said in Acts 17, “I don’t need your worship.” We think we come to church because God needs our worship. God does not need your worship—you need to worship. You need the house of God. You need to lift your hands in gratitude and praise the Lord. God is not the one who needs the worship—you need to worship, because you’re going to worship something and you’re going to worship somebody, and you need to worship God.
In Psalm 50 He said, “If I were hungry, would you feed Me?” That’s the famous verse where He says, “I own the cattle on a thousand hills. What are you going to do for Me? What are you going to give Me? You don’t have anything I need.” But in this unusual text Jesus said, “I need that donkey.”
Notice He didn’t say, “I need a white stallion. I need a beautiful show horse, a Tennessee Walker, or a Clydesdale with powerful muscles.” He didn’t need any of that. In one of the most critical moments of Jesus’ earthly ministry—He would use that animal to go into Jerusalem the last week of His life and die on the cross for you and for me—He said, “I don’t need a stallion. I need that donkey. I need it. I can’t take salvation to the world unless I can use something I can ride on.”
A donkey is a beast of burden—a burden-bearer. If you’ve ever been overseas on the mission field—in places like Haiti or parts of South America—you’ll see a lot of donkeys. Sometimes you’ll see them so covered in a load, big bags on the side so massive that the animal is low to the ground; you can hardly see anything but its head and tail because it’s carrying such a load. If a donkey is anything, it’s a burden-bearer.
The church was not built by stallions. The church was built by people who would take on a burden. Great families are not built by show horses. Somebody’s got to carry a burden—for the house of God, for the finances of the house of God, for the worship. Somebody’s got to carry a burden of prayer. Somebody’s got to carry a burden of praise. Somebody’s got to start carrying a burden to win the lost again, because we are in a critical time and people are lost and deceived. They don’t know Jesus. They’ve heard the story, but they don’t know Jesus, and somebody’s got to carry a burden of bringing Jesus to a lost and dying world. Somebody’s got to get it.
I want to give you some lessons from this story that I pray will become real to you, because when I look at this donkey, I see the kinds of people Jesus can use. The kinds of people Jesus will choose and use are found in this story. I’m going to give you five—maybe six, if I have time—quick things that this story teaches us: lessons from the donkey that qualify you to be used by God.
1) The Burden and the Blessing
The greatest blessings come from the greatest burdens you bear. Jesus Christ was the greatest blessing. Understand this: the burden that animal bore was the blessing that he carried. In this generation, all we care about is the blessing, the blessing, the blessing—“I want the blessed life.” Somebody needs to write a book about the burdened life, because the greatest blessings in life always come out of the heaviest burdens you have to carry. You cannot separate the blessings from the burdens. If you get a burden, then the blessings will come.
Notice that the weight of Jesus on that animal—that was the burden—and yet the burden was the blessing God would use. When you understand that the burden of Jesus Christ is where the blessing comes from, it changes everything. It is a burden to carry Jesus, to live for Jesus, to have convictions, to stand for what is right. It’s a burden—but out of that burden comes the greatest blessing. Many of you are dealing with burdens in your family and in your home. Be encouraged: the greater the burden, the greater the blessing, and you’re not qualified to be used of God until you understand that.
I’ve never seen a pretty donkey. Napoleon, Alexander the Great—those portraits show stallions rearing to project power. But here comes the King of kings. He doesn’t need anything to make Him look powerful. He doesn’t need your talent, your good looks, your great singing ability, or my preaching ability to look good. He can use anybody who will get up under a burden. If you don’t have a burden, I don’t care how talented you are—God can’t use you. Carry the burden of carrying Jesus, and the blessing will come. You can’t have one without the other.
“For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” — Matthew 11:30, KJV
“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities… and with His stripes we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:4–5, KJV
2) Jesus Calls the Unqualified
This messed me up. One Gospel notes the donkey had never been ridden. You’ll read right over that. It means it was unqualified—untrained. If God is going to use you, you don’t have to know everything. You don’t need a theology degree. First, get under the burden of carrying Jesus Christ. If you’ll carry Jesus into the workplace, they don’t care about Greek and Hebrew—they want to know they can feel the difference when you walk in under the burden: I care about you. I love you. I can pray for you. The One riding me is real.
Jesus uses and calls the unqualified. You say, “I don’t understand everything.” You don’t have to understand everything to do great things for God. When I started preaching, I didn’t know a lot. It was pitiful—but I carried a burden. The King was on my back. I didn’t know how I would do it; I just knew I had to. I made a fool of myself sometimes—maybe still do—but I’m glad God doesn’t just use stallions. If you go down the road with Him, He’ll qualify you, train you, teach you, mentor you, raise you. People won’t give you the glory—they’ll give the One you’re carrying the glory.
“Neither is [God] worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing; seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” — Acts 17:25, KJV
3) Endurance Over Speed (He Carries the Heavy Load)
You have to carry Jesus, but Jesus will do the heavy lifting. “Surely, He hath borne our griefs… the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53). Young people say, “It’s too hard to live for God.” Not if you really live for Him. “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11). Grace will lighten shame and guilt; grace will lift the load of past failure.
Donkeys are built for endurance, not speed. Ecclesiastes says, “The race is not to the swift.” This is not a flash-in-the-pan race; it’s a finish-line faith. I’ve made up my mind: I’m going to make it to the finish line. This is endurance. Don’t lose your joy, peace, and fire. Keep going.
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong…” — Ecclesiastes 9:11, KJV
4) Carry the Burden—But He Gets the Glory; Get Untied
You carry the burden, but Jesus gets the praise. It would have been easy for that donkey, walking on coats with “Hosanna!” ringing out, to think, “They’re impressed with me!” No—it’s not about the donkey. He gets the glory, the honor, the praise. As Corrie ten Boom said, “I was just the donkey that carried Jesus to the multitudes.” Give Him the glory for every victory and success.
And hear this: Jesus can’t use you until you get untied. “You’ll find a colt tied… loose it.” When you’re tied to something, the scenery never changes—tied to addiction, guilt, shame, alcohol, immorality. You can try to get away, but you can’t, because you’re tied. When Jesus unties you and gets in you, He’ll take you places you’ve never been. You’ll see a whole new world and life. You’ll realize, God really can use me. If you’ll get loose and let Him lead you, He’ll change the road you’re walking on. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Now go back to my title and say it: Can Jesus use me? Yes—He can use you if you’ll let Him do for you what He did with that lowly animal. He will use you.
Quoted Scriptures (KJV, max 5)
- Matthew 21:2–3,5 (excerpt)
- Acts 17:25
- Isaiah 53:4–5
- Matthew 11:28, 30 (excerpt)
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 (excerpt)
Questions this sermon answers
- What does it mean that “the Lord has need” of something, and how does that apply to me?
- Why does God use burden-bearers rather than “stallions” or showy gifts?
- How can unqualified people still be called and used powerfully by Jesus?
- In what ways does Jesus carry the heavy load while I carry Him?
- Why is endurance (not speed) essential for a lasting walk with God?
- How do I give Jesus the glory while carrying the burden?
- What does it look like to be “untied” so Christ can truly use me?
