Mark 11_1_11 Trumphant Entry Palm Sunday Notes

On March 30, AD 33, four days before the Jewish Passover, Jesus directed his disciples to go to a village to find a donkey and a colt, in fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah 9:9. Jesus mounted the colt and rode it into Jerusalem as the people waved palm branches and laid down their coats for him, shouting, “Bless the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” To the faithful Jew, this scene brought to mind the occasion when Solomon rode a donkey into Jerusalem to be proclaimed the king of the Jews (1 Kings 1:33–46). This event was the official entry of Jesus the Messiah into Jerusalem. This also was the day when Passover lambs were selected, and Jesus was presenting himself as the Passover Lamb.

***** Just as David’s son Solomon had ridden a donkey at his presentation as king to the cheering crowds of Jerusalem just a little over a millennium earlier (1 Kings 1:33–46), so Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey to claim publicly that he was the greater Son of David, who would sit on David’s throne. Until the time of Solomon (960 bc), horses were not used in Palestine. From that time on, the horse was ridden by warriors; the ass was used by those who were traveling peaceably.

***** Something else also happened on that day. It was the day when the lambs were selected to be slain at Passover. In his triumphal entry, Jesus was presenting himself as the Passover Lamb. He looked around the temple and there was no other Lamb worthy to fulfill the will of God.

Learning Objectives

After this section, you should be able to:

•Contrast the expectations of Zechariah and the Pharisees about the coming Messiah

•Describe how the triumphal entry was a claim for royal authority

Introduction

Yet another area where Jesus’ authority or claims of authority got Him into trouble was the way in which He entered into Jerusalem claiming to be a Messianic figure. Both the way He did this and what the expectations were come into confrontation in this scene.

The Triumphal Entry

And we’re looking at a passage that actually is depicted in all four Gospels, but we’re going to look at the version in Luke 19, starting in verse 28, where we see Jesus going up to Jerusalem. And then it says, “Now when he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, telling them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied there that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say, “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent ahead found it exactly as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying that colt?’ They replied, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt, and had Jesus get on it. As he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. As he approached the road leading down from the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen. ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ But some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if they keep silent, the very stones will cry out!’ ”

Zechariah’s Expectations

So here we see Jesus entering the city on the back of a colt. A couple of the Gospels, Matthew and John, tell us the background here, and that is that the expectation was from Zech 9:9 that the king or the messianic figure of the nation would ride the back of a colt—actually, the back of a donkey. It was a way of picturing a humble Messiah as opposed to the powerful Messiah that we read about in the Psalms of Solomon earlier. This is not a military deliverer, but this is someone who enters the city humbly but nonetheless comes to the city claiming to have the authority of coming in the name of the Lord.

The Pharisees’ Expectations

Well, the Pharisees don’t accept this picture of messiahship and this picture of Jesus, and they want Jesus to stop His disciples from making these utterances about coming in the name of the Lord—a passage, by the way, which comes from Psa 118. In doing that, Jesus responds with basically saying if He doesn’t do that, the stones will cry out.

Now, another important piece of background that helps you to understand this passage is that whenever creation is said to speak or be a witness to something in the Hebrew Scriptures, it’s something we’re really supposed to pay attention to. And that’s what’s happening here. Jesus is saying, “Look, if my disciples didn’t say it, the creation would cry out about it.” An example of this is how, when Cain killed Abel, Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

And so we see these pictures of where creation, or inanimate parts of the creation, cry out and speak in a way in which they normally would not. And that is said to underlie the testimony of what is going on.

Jesus’ Claim to Be King

In this text, Jesus enters the city, claiming authority over the kingdom and claiming to be a king but a king of a different sort, a humble king. Everything about His entry is in contrast to the way, say, Pilate would enter in the city. When Pilate came in the city, he would come with a huge throng of authority wrapped around him, and he would show up with an army to come into the city. He would expect the city officials to greet him and lead him in, almost as if he was coming in on a red carpet. Jesus merely rides in all by Himself on a colt. He has His disciples around Him, but there’s no throng, there’s no army.

And so this event has been called—I think, appropriately—by some, an “atriumphal entry,” even though the traditional name is the “triumphal entry.” An “atriumphal entry” is better because of the humble way in which He comes into the city to picture the nature of His messianic authority and the way it’s going to be executed. He’s going to suffer as a Messiah rather than simply use the strong power of Messiah in order to accomplish God’s will. This is a surprise to the leadership. They don’t accept who Jesus is as He comes, and so they ask Him to stop His disciples. He refuses because He has a different kind of authority that’s going to be exercised over the kingdom.

Summary

Nonetheless, the claim to be king is something that the leadership is upset about, and the nature of this entry is another thing that got Jesus into trouble because His claim to be a different kind of Messiah was something they weren’t comfortable with

TRIUMPHAL ENTRY Term used for the entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem on the Sunday prior to His crucifixion. Due to the fact that palm branches were placed before Him, this day is often called “Palm Sunday.” The event is recorded in Matt. 21:1–9; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:28–38; John 12:12–15. All accounts agree in substance with each adding certain detail. Whether by prearrangement or by divine foreknowledge, the disciples found a colt in Beth-phage as Jesus had described. (Matthew ties the account closely to Zechariah’s prophesy [9:9], mentioning the colt and its mother.) ??????? It is possible that Christ rode the donkey for the more difficult part of the journey, transferring to the colt upon actually entering Jerusalem.??????? There a large crowd applauded Him, spreading the road with their garments and with branches. They acknowledged Him as the son of David.

The triumphal entry is of vital significance in understanding the messianic mission of Jesus. Prior to this moment, Jesus had refused to allow any public acknowledgement of His being the Messiah. By conducting His ministry outside Jerusalem, He had avoided further intensification of conflict with the Jewish religious leaders. Now, however, the time was at hand. The opponents of Jesus understood the strong messianic implications of the manner of His entry into Jerusalem. The riding upon the colt, the garments and palm branches in the road, and the shouts of the multitude—all of these pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. When He was urged to quiet the people, Jesus replied, “If they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40 HCSB).

Ironically, though the triumphal entry was a public acceptance of Jesus being the Messiah and presented a direct challenge to His enemies, it must have been a disappointment to many of His followers. Christ did not enter Jerusalem upon a warhorse of conquest but upon a colt representing humility. As a result, the religious leaders demanded His crucifixion, while the multitudes ultimately turned away with indifference.

I wonder what the people expected Jesus to do as He entered the temple? Were they disappointed that Jesus didn’t sit down and declare Himself King of Israel but looked around and left? 11:11. The ancient workday began at sunrise; the “evening” offering in the temple was what we call afternoon (about 3 p.m.). “Late” may mean not “dark” but rather that the daily activity in the temple had begun to subside.

Why did they spread their clothes on the colt and the road? Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king!” 2 Kings 9:13. No real saddle was used in riding an ass; a covering was merely tied on its back and a halter affixed. That seems to have been the purpose of the disciples’ putting their garments on the ass ridden by Jesus on Palm Sunday. The spreading of garments represents royal homage (2 Kings 9:13). Branches were also waved in homage to rulers (cf. 1 Macc 13:51; 2 Macc 10:7). The larger palm branches used for the Feast of Tabernacles (in the fall) would not be available at Passover time (in the spring), unless brought from Jericho; the branches described here are small enough for the colt to walk on. (Carrying branches was also part of the worship at the feast depicted in Ps 118:27.)

COLT Young of various riding animals. In this case a young donkey. associated in Scripture with humility or peace. That Jesus chooses a colt over a grown donkey reinforces Mark’s portrayal of his humility.

***** Donkeys were beast of burden (they carried heavy loads) “they were important” Joesph’s brothers used ass to transport grain they purchased from Eygpt. Abigail used ass to bring food to David as he waged war against Saul. In Jewish culture the more Asses you had the wealthier you were. The ass was held in high regard by the Jews and was considered an economic asset. An individual had to have an ass for minimum existence (Jb 24:3), and wealth was frequently counted by the number of asses one possessed Job had 500 asses before calamity came, he had 1000 after God restored him. Saul’s father lost his female asses and he was sent to search for them. David assigned one of the 12 managers of his royal estates to look after his asses exclusively

Hosanna - Jesus entered Jerusalem as one coming in the name, that is, the authority, of the Lord (11:9–10) with a God-given mission of salvation (“Hosanna” means save now). By riding a colt, Jesus laid claim to His own brand of messiahship—not conquering hero but humble servant (see Zech 9:9).

Hosanna” means “O save!” and both this and the next line of verse 9 come from Psalm 118:25–26. Psalms 113–118, called the Hallel, were regularly sung at Passover season, so these words were fresh in everyone’s minds; hopes for the restoration of the Davidic kingdom also ran high at this time of year.

The coming of the kingdom when David or his descendants would again reign (e.g., Is 9; 11; Jer 23) is here associated with the hope of one coming in the Lord’s name. (David is their “father” in the sense of “deliverer,” not their ancestor: cf. Is 9:6; 2 Kings 13:14.) Passover commemorated God’s deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt; consequently, Jewish hopes for a future deliverance from their current problems ran high during this season, and Rome had troops in Jerusalem ready in case riot control became necessary. By treating Jesus as the object of any of these hopes, the crowds are beginning to see in this teacher a possible messianic figure who could lead them against the Romans.

Jesus Christ, humility of

The obedient submission of Jesus Christ to his Father, seen in his willingness to become a human being for humanity’s sake, his freedom from self-interest and his willingness to serve others.

Jesus Christ’s willingness to become a human being

Php 2:6-7 “human likeness” is not mere similarity to but identity with humanity. See also Ro 8:3; 2Co 8:9

Jesus Christ’s humility predicted in the OT

Mt 12:19-20; Isa 42:2-3; 50:4-6

The suffering servant: Mt 8:17; Ac 8:32-33; Isa 53:2-7; 1Pe 2:22; Isa 53:9; 1Pe 2:24

The coming king: Mt 21:5 Jn 12:15; Zec 9:9

Zec 12:10

The shepherd struck: Mt 26:31 Mk 14:27; Zec 13:7

The response of the Pharisees to Jesus Christ’s entry into Jerusalem

Lk 19:39-40

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, ( Hab. 2:11) the stones will cry out!” Luke 19:39-40

Important Cross references

Zech. 9:9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!Look, your King is coming to you;he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Psalm 118:25-26 Lord, save us!Lord, please grant us success!26 He who comes in the nameof the Lord is blessed.From the house of the Lord we bless you.

2 Kings 9:13 Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”

Parallels

Mathew 21: 1-11 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples, 2 telling them, “Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there with her foal. Untie them (?there were two, perhaps Jesus rode the mother until he came close to Jerusalem then He sat on the Colt?) and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them at once.”

4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

5 Tell Daughter Zion,“See, your King is coming to you,gentle, and mounted on a donkey,and on a colt,the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9)

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them. 7 They brought the donkey and its foal; then they laid their clothes on them, and he sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their clothes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. 9 Then the crowds who went ahead of him and those who followed shouted:

Hosanna to the Son of David!Blessed is he who comes in the nameof the Lord![c]Hosanna in the highest heaven!

10 When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in an uproar, saying, “Who is this?” 11 The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Luke 19:28-40 When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples 30 and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a young donkey tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’”

32 So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them.33 As they were untying the young donkey, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”

34 “The Lord needs it,” they said. 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the donkey, they helped Jesus get on it.36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road.37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

38 Blessed is the King who comesin the name of the Lord. Peace in heavenand glory in the highest heaven!

39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.” (IF the people didn’t cry out, creation would)

John 12: 12-19 12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting:

“Hosanna!Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord[d] —the King of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written:

15 Do not be afraid,Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming,sitting on a donkey’s colt.[e]

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

17 Meanwhile, the crowd, which had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify.[f] 18 This is also why the crowd met him, because they heard he had done this sign. 19 Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see? You’ve accomplished nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!”

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