The Triumphal Entry
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Mark 11:1-11
Mark 11:1-11
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
It’s been a while since we’ve been in Mark’s gospel. Last time out we we’re in chapter 10 looking at the story of the healing of Blind Bartimaeus in Jericho.
Jesus has been en route to Jerusalem for some time now and now He begins his final journey into the city. Mark’s gospel only mentions one visit to Jerusalem - this doesn’t mean Mark thought there was only one, but rather that he wanted to give this final visit more emphasis.
This marks a big turning point in Jesus’s ministry - up until now he has been keeping a low profile, but now he is ready to openly reveal who He is.
Familiarity - this is another one of those passages that we are all extremely familiar with. And because of that we can actually end up missing out on some of the depth of the passage, because we assume we know it. But there’s so much more to this passage than meets the eye.
TRIUMPHAL ENTRY
Jesus and His followers are approaching Jerusalem from the East, coming down from the mount of olives, which rises up around 200ft above Jerusalem.
Already before David’s time the Mount of Olives had been a place of worship (2 Sam 15:32). At the fall of Jerusalem in 586 b.c. Ezekiel had a vision of the glory of the Lord departing from Jerusalem and settling on the Mount of Olives (Ezek 11:23). According to Zech 14:4 the Mount of Olives would be the site of final judgment, and the rabbis and Josephus (Ant. 20.169) associated it with the coming of the Messiah.
Jesus acquires a colt of a donkey to ride into Jerusalem on - it was important that this colt had never been ridden on before.
We know this passage as the triumphal entry. A triumphal entry in the Roman era took place when a General or Emperor would arrive back in Rome with great fanfare, parading the spoils of battle first, then the prisoners, then his troops and then finally the great man would arrive in a chariot drawn by horses. To Roman eyes, Jesus’s entry into jerusalem was a strange sort of triumphal entry! A man arriving unannounced and riding on the back of a donkey?
Not the sort of entry you expect of a king - at least not in a worldly sense. Jesus’s ministry always confounds worldly expectations.
Prosperity teachers falsly teach that Jesus was a wealthy man with properties all over the holy land. But His earthly ministry was meek and humble - not marked by flambouyance and big spending. Even the donkey he rides into Jerusalem on wasn’t his own. We have just cause to question Christian ministers whose ministries are marked by all the things that Jesus shunned - extravagance, over the top spending, flashy cars and big mansions.
Those who knew the scriptures knew exactly what was happening.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
Those who knew the scriptures knew exactly who Jesus was claiming to be!
Road to Emmaus
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
It’s the scriptures that tells us who Christ is - not our experiences, not popular opinion but the scriptures. And scripture interprets scripture. Jesus knew He was fulfilling Zechariah 9 when he rode the donkey into Jerusalem - He knew He was fulfilling Genesis 49!
Those who know their Bibles are those who understand the times.
Martyn Lloyd Jones ~ Those who know their BIBLE should not be surprised at the state of the world as it is.
THE CROWD
The crowd which was with Jesus had actually followed Him on the road from Jericho. Many of them had likely witnessed the miracle healing of Bartimaeus - they were ecstatic!
The power of a testimony. The power that one life changed by Jesus can have.
They believed Jesus was the promised Messiah. Their words tell us that maybe they didn’t fully understand what kind of Kingdom He came to bring - but they were worshipping him as king. Laying down their garments on the road before him. Why would that show that they believed he was their king?
13 Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”
Jesus is King - Whether we believe it or not, He is the King of all the world, now. And when He returns to consummate His Kingdom there will be no doubt in anyones mind about this anymore. He rode a donkey into Jerusalem - but when He returns He won’t be riding a colt anymore:
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
We have a choice now to acknowledge Him as King now - on that day there will be no more atheists, no more agnostics, no more hopeful skeptics.
The crowd are shouting their praises to Jesus - and luke records the scribes and pharisees got upset:
39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Dead religion will always despise true, undignified worship of Christ. Just like Michal was ashamed of David when he danced before the Lord, so the pharisees were ashamed of the disciples. Christianity is not stoicism - It’s a religion of joy, Christians are a rejoicing people.
The people cry out Hosanna, Hosanna! I never knew what this meant to be honest - I remember the song from when we were kids in church though. Well - it’s actually a hebrew word - Hoshiyanna - Which means, Save us now, please. It’s from Psalm 118, which is really interesting - it was a Psalm of ascent, which meant the people sang it as they headed up to Jerusalem for Passover. And actually it was the final song of ascent, it was the last song they would sing before arriving into the city.
25 אָנָּ֣א יְ֭הוָה הֹושִׁ֘יעָ֥ה נָּ֑א אָֽנָּ֥א יְ֝הוָ֗ה הַצְלִ֘יחָ֥ה נָּֽא׃
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
Though the crowd probably were singing the song as a song of praise, like we might say Hallelujah! They were actually saying - save us now please, Yahweh! It’s interesting again that this Psalm was directed at Jesus, and the Divine name is used.
When we read more of Psalm 118 - written 1000 years before Christ we’re amazed to see more prophetic overtones coming through:
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
We’ve got Christ the gate of righteousness.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Christ the stone which was rejected becoming the cornerstone. Jesus literally quotes this about himself in the next chapter!
Christ the light of the world.
2 The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
Christ the festal (passover) sacrifice for our sins.
ENTRANCE INTO THE TEMPLE
The passage ends with a bit of an anticlimax. Jesus arrives at the temple, has a look around and departs. There is no welcoming party there to greet him, no scribes, pharisees or priests there awaiting his arrival. He comes alone and departs without anyone noticing.
Jesus knows what it is to be lonely, under appreciated, abandoned. We can find comfort in Him when we go through similar things.
1 “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.
We get the sense that he isn’t particularly impressed with what he’s seen. The newly finished temple, built by herod was a source of pride for the Jews. It was a stunning piece of architecture rising up high above the rest of the city - a real feat of architectural prowess. But Jesus isn’t there to visit as a sight seer. He is visiting the place that was supposed to be His home on earth, the very place where He was supposed to be adored and worshipped - and instead He found a people who ignored Him and worshipped the temple instead.
“The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” - William Booth
The danger of Christless Christianity. It might look great on the outside, flashy, successful - but is Christ the focus of it’s worship? Is His Gospel proclaimed?
The danger of idolising ministry and ministry acheivements, legacy. We might actually miss Jesus in the scramble to build something great. Let’s not go through life contenting ourselves building worldly legacies that won’t last - building empires, even if it’s in Christ’s name. Woe to us if He should visit all of our acheivements and worldly success and be as unimpressed as He was with the temple! The temple that the Jews were so proud of would literally be razed to the ground in just 40 years, gone. Let’s not give our lives for anything less than Christ!
Pray