Mark 11:1-11 "The Triumphal Entry"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

In a couple weeks, we plan to have a meeting right after church to form an Events Committee…

This would be for people who are fueled by assisting with the planning and logistics for church events…

So, be in prayer if you feel called to serve in this way… more info to come… and feel free to see me after church today with questions…

Well let’s turn in our Bibles to Mark 11. Mark 11:1-11 today.

We left off where Jesus… the disciples… and a multitude of Jewish pilgrims were ascending up to Jerusalem.

The Passover season was upon them…

Which for many was one of the three required feasts to ascend to Jerusalem to celebrate.

For Jesus… this Passover carried a far different meaning… for He Himself was the Passover Lamb.

The first city they came to during the ascent was Jericho…

And, near there they encountered Blind Bartimaeus…

Who repeatedly cried loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

He was totally blind physically, but his pronouncement testified that he saw perfectly spiritually.

Multitudes of people were around Jesus, but it was the honest cry of the blind beggar that caused Jesus to stop in His tracks.

And, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever according to Heb 13:8, so we can expect that any desperate and honest prayer we raise to our Lord…

… a prayer like that will cause Him to pause today as well.

Jesus had compassion and touched the eyes of the blind… as Matthew records… and gave Bartimaeus his sight back…

Telling him… “Go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Unlike the Rich, Young, Ruler (who we never caught his name)… Bartimaeus (who we do know his name) did not go away sorrowful… in fact he did not go away at all…

For he followed Jesus on the road… he was raised up from a blind beggar on the side of the road…

To a disciple of Jesus on the road.

Today, we enter the first day of Jesus’ Passion Week… Palm Sunday… where Mark 11:1-11 records “The Triumphal Entry” our message title today…

One of the few events recorded in all four Gospels…

And an event riddled with Messianic significance, as we’ll see ahead…

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage today.

Mark 11:1-11 “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples; 2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”

4 So they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. 5 But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?”

6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go. 7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it. 8 And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.”

Praise God for His word! Please be seated!

In Mark’s Gospel, our author omits a few of the events between Jericho and Jerusalem...

In Luke 19… the encounter with the chief tax collector Zacchaeus…

And, the great anticipation of the disciples that the “kingdom of God would appear immediately”… which led to Jesus sharing the Parable of the Ten Minas…

That was the parable about a nobleman who went into a far country and entrusted ten of his servants with ten minas (about three months wages each).

And, when he returned he rewarded those who were faithful and wise with what was entrusted to them… and entrusted more to them…

But, to those who did nothing, and didn’t expect the Master to return… he would stripped of his reward and judged.

A very sobering parable as we are in that very dispensation of time waiting for the King to return.

Now in Mark 11:1 it’s recorded that they come to “Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives” just prior to the Triumphal entry.

Let’s pull up our map to see where these two towns are in relation to Jerusalem…

We’ve been looking at this first map over the last several weeks… going up to Jerusalem… and Bethany and Bethphage are at the top of the Judean Mountains on the Mount of Olives.

This next map zooms in on these towns and if you follow the yellow line… it lays out a likely path Jesus would have followed as He journeyed through Bethany and Bethphage, and then entered Jerusalem.

Bethany / Gk Bēthania by def. means the “house of affliction” OR the “house of dates”, as in ripe dates.

Bethphage ‘Beth’ meaning “House” and ‘Pag’ means “unripe figs.” It’s the “house of unripe figs.”

So, there was the “House of Ripe Dates” (Bethany)… contrasted with the “House of Unripe Figs” (Bethphage)…

Coincidence? Well… we’ll see next week that as Jesus comes out of Bethany (where Mary anoints Him with oil)… and then Jesus heads towards Bethphage (the House of Unripe Figs)…

And, He curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit… which truly was a denouncement on unbelieving Israel…

Israel was truly a House of Unripe Figs…

Interesting word plays and symbolism.

Bethany was the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus (whom Jesus raised from the dead)…

Today, Bethany has an Arabic name “al-Aizariya” which means “the place of Lazarus.”

Where today you can visit a fantastic tomb called the “Lazarus Tomb. ”

Bethany was also the hometown of Simon the leper (Matt 26:6; Mark 14:3), where Mary broke the Alabaster Flask of oil to anoint Jesus.

And, forty days after His resurrection… Jesus’ ascension occurred near Bethany (Luke 24:50)…

Truly, much fruit came from Bethany…

Now on the first day of the last week of Jesus’ Ministry… called “Passion Week”…

Just one day prior to The Triumphal Entry… our account here in Mark 11… John 12 records Jesus came to Bethany... “six days before the Passover.”

So, after sometime after sundown on Friday… which… after sundown is when the next day began in Jewish reckoning… on Saturday Jesus was in Bethany…

And, on this Saturday… Mary anointed Jesus with oil of spikenard… a very expensive aromatic oil extracted from the root of an Indian herb.

Mark 14:3-9 reflects this same account, just out of chronological order.

In Mary’s heart, there was nothing too precious to give to Jesus… nothing was too valuable to give to Jesus…

This valuable item may have been a family heirloom… valuable not only in money, but also in sentimentality…

Mark even records that she broke the Alabaster flask indicating she didn’t just give a little… breaking the neck of the vessel allowed her to pour the oil out generously on Jesus… also making the vessel no longer usable… symbolizing the totality of her giving.

Kind of like the widow who gave her two mites… which was all she had…

Mary even used her hair to anoint Jesus’ feet with the oil…

And, it all this… Mary demonstrates her open handedness with her possessions… in this beautiful act of worship to Jesus.

In contrast, Judas protested that this oil… worth over 300 denarii (over a years worth of wages)… was wasted on Jesus and not sold.

Scripture says Judas was a thief… and had the money box… and stole money out of it.

And, I challenge you to examine yourself… who does your life reflect more?

Judas or Mary?… Something for us to take a walk with this week…

If you’re holding back from giving Him your all… if He’s not worthy of your time or treasures… well then… your life may just reflect more of Judas and less of Mary.

To put it another way… If you peek into your life… does your time… and your heart… and your bank account… reflect that nothing is too valuable for Jesus?

If not… dear Christian… it’s time to be like Mary. It’s not too late.

If you’re a Christian, and you’re not giving financially to God… that’s a Judas move… that’s robbery…

And, it’s not Pastor Marc saying it… it’s Yahweh God who says it…

Straight from the LORD’s mouth as spoken through Malachi…

Mal 3:8-9 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.”

Truly, that was written to the Israelites, because under Mosaic Law, the Israelites were required to give a tenth or a tithe… it was robbery… it was breaking the law NOT to give to God…

BUT, if they were faithful to give… God promised blessing…

Mal 3:10-12 continuing in the same passage… “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; 12 And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.”

Those are some amazing promises… I love how God says “And try Me now in this...”

Do you have the faith to test God with your finances? He promises blessing and to hold back the devourer.

That sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

But, some would say… “That’s ok God… I’m going to hold onto my money… you go ahead and send the devourer…”

I’m not big on plagues… and I believe in God’s word, so I’d rather put God to the test and bring the tithes into the storehouse.

But, what about today… does this same principle apply today as NT believers?

I think it does.

The NT teaches believers, that’s you and I… who are not under the Law, should give as the Lord has prospered them…

Maybe for you that’s a tenth…

In Acts 4… when necessity called… people sold lands and houses to care for one another during the early church… which was a time when such extreme giving was needed.

So, the NT principle for Biblical Stewardship is to give as you have been prospered…

2 Cor 8:3 gives this example, “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord...”

And blessing is also promised… as Paul uses the law of sowing and reaping applied to giving financially…

In 2 Cor 9:6, Paul wrote, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Try Him in this… give faithfully… give bountifully… not out of obligation, but follow Jesus’ example and most importantly… give out of love…

2 Cor 8:9 in the context of giving… declares, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

And, that’s why we give like Mary… why nothing is too costly to give to Jesus… not our time, treasures, talents, or our heart…

He who was rich… already gave all… for us.

William G. Moorehead wrote, “He was rich in possessions, power, homage, fellowship, happiness. He became poor in station, circumstances, in His relations with men. We are urged to give a little money, clothing, food. He gave Himself.”

He did in willingly… and He did it in love. And, that is our model for giving.

Be like Mary… Be like Jesus.

Our heart when tithing today should reflect the heart of Mary… it should be an act of worship… done in love… not for Calvary Chapel… certainly not for me…

But as an act of worship towards Jesus Christ.

Hey, and if you’re visiting today, and you’re thinking, “I knew it… ALL Pastors and churches ALWAYS talk about giving money!”

NO… that’s not the case… at least not here…

You just happen to be visiting church on a week when I’m fulfilling the stereotype… you’re welcome.

Come back next week next week… the fig tree will be cursed and the Temple will be cleansed…

Much more uplifting.

Well, after this first day of Jesus’ Passion week… where Mary anointed Jesus with the precious oil of spikenard… a precious offering of love…

We come to the next day… traditionally called “Palm Sunday”…

Back in Mark 11… let’s re-read VSS 1-3… “Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples [who are not named]; 2 and He said to them, “Go into the village opposite you; [and there’s some debate which village this is. Most scholars favor Bethphage… The word “opposite” could also be translated as “before”… In Matt 21 they came to Bethphage, and the ESV then states “Go into the village in front of you...” So, it would seem the disciples now enter Bethphage… continuing on…] and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. 3 And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”

This is quite the fascinating scene because it alludes to Jesus’ omniscience…

Jesus tells two of His disciples to go into presumably Bethphage… and the disciples will find a colt (a foal of a donkey)…

A foal is an equine a year or less in age. A colt is a male equine four years of age or less.

I have a slide of a donkeys and colts to give you an idea their sizes. And, even the small ones… there are many pictures online of people riding them.

Matthew adds “you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.

So, now Jesus has predicted several variables… they will immediately upon entering the village… not after searching or asking around… as soon as they enter they will find… a female donkey with her male colt tied…

AND, if someone questioned them… which they would… Jesus prepared them with a response…

And, Jesus predicted that the owner upon hearing that the donkey and the colt were for the Lord… would send the animals freely.

So, kind of subtle, but nonetheless testifying of Jesus’ omniscience…

Jesus knew exactly how this would go down…

And, how did He know? Of course He was fully God and fully man, but how else?

Prophecy.

Matt 21:4-5 records, “All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

Around 520 B.C. the prophet Zechariah penned that prophecy which foretold the coming Messiah…

The full prophecy in Zech 9:9 reads, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation [words Matthew did not record], Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal [Hebrew “ben” lit. “son”] of a donkey.”

And, then some 500 years later… just as prophesied… here comes Jesus riding into town on the 10th of the Jewish month Nisan.

The day the Passover Lamb would be inspected by the Priests.

Some scholars also see the prophecy of Dan 9:24-27 as being fulfilled here… taking Daniel’s prediction and calculating the number of days from the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to Messiah’s entry… as 483 years… and through a long calculation… they find that the day lines up with the Triumphal Entry.

And, the Jews missed it. And, even if they saw it, they still wouldn’t see it.

Paul wrote “… blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in...” Rom 11:25

Paul spoke about something like scales falling from his eyes… as a Pharisee, and a Hebrew of Hebrews… he knew the scriptures, but he couldn’t connect them to Jesus.

Jewish Tour guides today… they can tell you all about Jesus… and prophecies connecting Him as Messiah… but there’s a spiritual blindness… a veil… a hard heartedness… where they don’t accept Jesus.

And, the Jews of Jesus’ day… they were just as blind. They had an expectation of a conquering King, but failed to understand the role of Messiah in His first coming…

True He came as the King… and He would be triumphant, but not over rebellious mankind… not in His first coming…

In His first coming He came as the Suffering Servant… the humble Lamb to bring salvation…

And can I point out a funny picture… at least in my mind… nothing says humble like riding on a young donkey… a grown man being carried by a colt… His feet dragging on the ground… the colt heehawing…

Very humble…

I’m not, but If I were the God of the Universe, I’d consider riding in on a rhinoceros…or a Great White… or a T-Rex…why not?

Nothing says “God of the Universe” like riding a T-Rex.

But, the Biblical significance of riding in on a donkey ties back historically to when kings and leaders rode a donkey when they came in peace.

One example is 1 Ki 1:33, when Solomon was to be anointed as king, David instructed, “… have Solomon my son ride on my own mule...”

And, indeed Jesus came as the Prince of Peace… to reconcile the relationship between man and God… to allow us to be at peace with God… by sacrificially dying… conquering sin and death…

In Jesus’ second coming… He will be riding a white horse (Rev 19:11) with ten thousands of His saints (Jude 14)... who are also on white horses (Rev 19:14)…that’s you an I… and that day will be glorious.

And, contextually in that day… conquering kings and Generals rode into cities they overtook on war horses, but Jesus did not come to conquer Rome during the Triumphant Entry…

He came to fulfill prophecy… to fulfill Passover… and in all symbolism… He came in peace.

And, just as Jesus predicted… Look again at VSS 4-6… it was so… “So they went their way, [the two disciples] and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it. 5 But some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing, loosing the colt?” 6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let them go.”

Imagine that… it all went down just as Jesus predicted.

We’re going to see today, that this whole triumphal entry scene and all the details… are planned out and prophetically predicted…

And, in many ways… are not are very lives the same?… Planned out by God… oh we can make plans… and we can exercise free will… but is it not the Lord who’s sovereign plan reigns?

Pro 16:9 declares, “A man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

Don’t like that one, well how about…?

Pro 19:21 “There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.”

James put it this way… Jam 4:13-15 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”

Kind of humbling. We can be so arrogant to think that we are in charge of our own lives.

So often we put ourselves on thrones… people make themselves social media stars… media stars… Hollywood stars…

Their heads are in the clouds for sure, but they don’t live amongst the stars…

Ps 144:3-4 declares, “LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? 4 Man is like a breath; His days are like a passing shadow.”

God is in control… and our life? It’s but a vapor… like a passing shadow.

I’m all for making plans, but don’t be surprised when God re-directs your path.

If the Lord wills, your plans will come to pass… otherwise… “blessed are the flexible, for they shall not break.” -as Chuck Smith used to say.

Well back in Mark… the disciples find the donkey and the colt… and sure enough the owner stops them, “Hey man, why are you untying my donkey?”

And, they reply, “The Lord had need of it.”

And the owner replies, “Oh ok… that’s cool.”

That’s like coming out of your house in the morning and someone is about to steal your car, and you say, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? That’s my car!”

And, they say, “It’s for the Lord.”

And, you reply, “Oh, yeah… sure thing… here’s $50 for gas too.”

Earlier, we talked about being open-handed with our possessions, and giving to the Lord cheerfully… well here’s yet another example in our passage today of one who lived this out well.

And, whether or not the owner had previously met Jesus… this point holds true…

He was happy to let his donkey and colt go… as the Lord had need of it.

He put up no fight… perhaps he recognizes it’s all the Lord’s anyhow… perhaps this is a joyful act of worship… an offering to the Lord.

So, the two disciples bring the donkey and it’s foal to Jesus, and I love what V7 of Mark 11 says, “Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.”

What I love about this verse most is there is no indication that the colt resisted Jesus. We don’t read that the colt bucked against Jesus.

This colt… a foal… so young that it has never been ridden… submits to Jesus… and goes along where Jesus leads him.

This testifies first of Jesus’ control over nature… just like how He calmed the wind and the seas on more than one occasion.

And, this testifies that nature gladly submits to the Lord.

Mankind is the only part of creation that bucks against God… that resists God… and denies God…

Nature longs for God.

Romans chapter 8 has a lot to say about this…

“… creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” Rom 8:19

Creation desires to return to the Edenic state… prior to the fall…

“… creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption…” Rom 8:21

“… we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Rom 8:22

Scripture also speaks about how nature should praise God…

Ps 148:7-13 reads, “Praise the LORD from the earth, You great sea creatures and all the depths; 8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; 9 Mountains and all hills; [The hills are alive with the sound of music…] Fruitful trees and all cedars; 10 Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and flying fowl; 11 Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; 12 Both young men and maidens; Old men and children. 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven.”

Ps 96:11-13 reads, “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; 12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the LORD. [WHY?] V13 For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.”

Ps 98:8-9 “Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the LORD, [Why?] 9 For He is coming to judge the earth.”

Even then… there was an expectation of the Lord’s return.

And, nature rejoices and longs for His coming…

And, in this the Donkey… this young colt who submits to and doesn’t resist the Lord… the Colt stands as a rebuke to mankind…

Mankind who truly is like a young donkey bucking against God… instead of giving Him the praise He deserves.

Isa 53 states, “He is despised and rejected by men...”

John 1:11 speaking about Jesus states, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”

Jesus entered His own creation… and mankind in general rejected Him… but even more specifically… His own people… the Israelites did not receive Him.

Just like young Saul, who Jesus convicted for kicking against the goads…

He was like a donkey kicking against the Master’s leading… kicking against the truth the Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews.

What I also love about this verse is the ridiculous and humorous debate about Jesus sitting on this young colt…

Questions like… “How can a foal or a colt support the weight of Jesus?”

I’m no expert, but the pictures we saw earlier support the idea that even a young donkey can bear the weight of a man.

And, it’s possible that Jesus alternated riding the donkey and the colt.

Because Matt 21:7 reads, “They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them.”

And, that verse has opened a can of worms because people then ask, “Well, how did Jesus ride both the donkey and the colt simultaneously?”

I’ll tell you what I DON’T THINK He did… or better yet, let me show you on this next slide…

I don’t think Jesus came riding in standing on both of them… one foot on one and the other foot on the other… like some cowboy rodeo show.

And, I don’t think Jesus was on the colt who was on the back of the donkey…

All of that is ridiculous…

But, possibly He alternated… and if He did… I do imagine as He approached Jerusalem and entered the gates “Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”

And, can I just say… if the heavens and the earth is His… if He was able to found the world and all its fullness (Ps 89:11)…

If “All things were made through Him...” Jn 1:3…

What is it for him to ride a colt, the foal of a donkey?

He could have ridden a lady bug if He wanted, but that wouldn’t have fulfilled prophecy…

Continuing on in Mark 11… we will see more prophecy being fulfilled as Jesus approaches Jerusalem… let’s re-read VSS 8-10 “And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut down leafy branches from the trees [John 12 tells us these were ‘branches of palm trees’] and spread them on the road. 9 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ 10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Prior to this scene there were many times that Jesus did not accept worship…

He would say, “My time… or My hour has not yet come...”

He would flee to the mountains to pray by Himself… away from the crowds who attempted to force Him to be their political Messiah.

When He performed miracles… He told the person being healed to ‘tell no one.’

When demons called Jesus the Son of God… or referred to Him by a Messianic title, He rebuked them to silence.

Many times prior He concealed His identity for the revelation of Him as Messiah was premature…

But now… here at the Triumphal Entry… Jesus accepts the worship of mankind… He accepts their words and their actions… all of which pointed to the Messiah… and King.

His time had come… Passover drew near… mankind’s redemption was nigh.

So, Jesus accepts their acknowledgement… and let’s pull up the slide for the Triumphal Entry…

They ‘spread their clothes on the road’ symbolizing honor to the King.

Spreading their clothes on the road was an act of homage…a custom for announcing a king (as they did for Jehu in 2 Ki 9:13).

Other people laid palm branches on the road… a sign of rejoicing and triumph…

By definition, this is a date palm…

During The Feast of Tabernacles, in September, palms were used to rejoice before the Lord... and to make the booths (Lev 23:40; Neh 8:15).

Palms have been said to symbolize victory and triumph. 1 Maccabees 13:51; 2 Maccabees 10:7; Rev 7:9.

And the people cried out Hosanna!

Hosanna was a plea for salvation. We read “...the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out..” They are screaming…shouting…entreating the Lord.

“Save now, I pray”...That’s what’s reflected in their cries, “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’

They had been singing the Songs of Ascents on their way up to Jerusalem… and now they sing Hallel Psalms… praise psalms (Psalms 113-118) as Jesus enters Jerusalem…

Specifically, in V9 they are crying out Ps 118:24-26 “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!”

Hosanna is a Greek word with Hebrew roots in Ps 118:25 “Save now, I pray.”

Hebrew hôšî ‘âh nâ’

And, then in V10 they cry, “Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

The reference to David’s kingdom is an acknowledgement that Jesus is the promised Messiah.

And, the kingdom coming in the name of the Lord points to their expectation that the kingdom was about to be set up.

And, after a few days… when that didn’t happen, it’s no wonder this same crowd went from shouting “Hosanna” to “Crucify Him!”

They will turn against Jesus and demand His crucifixion in just four days…

We have to be careful NOT to be like them… NOT to turn on Jesus when He doesn’t meet our expectations…

Because many people today want the same thing these Jews want… a Messiah to prosper them… a Messiah to overthrow tyranny… a Messiah to solve all their problems…

And, if that doesn’t happen… people lose interest in following a God who can’t be ruled by their own desires… their own lusts of the flesh…

Today, people are falling away from God… and falling away from churches… even churches are falling away from God… becoming subject to the whims of our society… embracing sin as acceptable.

You know what the word “falling away” is in Greek right?

It’s Apostasia… where we get our English word “Apostasy.”

And, scripture tells us there will be a Great Apostasy before the rapture and the revelation of anti-christ… and the word encourages us not to be agitated or disturbed when this happens, because it has been prophesied…

2 Thes 2:1-3 declares, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming [the ‘parousia’ the rapture] of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away [apostasia] comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition...”

Before Jesus comes again… there will be apostasy, the anti-christ will be revealed, and a few verses later Paul would also write about the restrainer being removed…

The restrainer is the Holy Spirit, and where does He dwell in us, but He will be “taken out of the way” as Paul wrote…

How? When the church leaves the earth in the Rapture.

People fell away from Jesus in the same week He Triumphantly Entered Jerusalem… and a Great Apostasy is upon us now… and NONE of it is surprising to God…

He’s in total control. He told us it would be this way.

Don’t be ‘soon shaken in mind or troubled’…

And, He also told us to be salt and light… while a falling away is happening…

For now… we remain the salt… the preservative for this big ball of dirt.

Back in Mark… Mark 11 only focuses on the people and their praises of Jesus… but, if you turn to Luke 19… we are going to look at a few verses Luke captures… displaying the opposite response from the Pharisees…

Luke 19:39-40 “And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” 40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

The Pharisees call for a rebuke, because they understand all the Messianic overtones, and Jesus let’s them know… that if they didn’t profess Him as Messiah…

Nature itself would cry out… (just like in all the verses we read earlier).

Jesus receiving praise was inevitable and unstoppable…

The religious leaders should have been the ones crying out Hosanna… they were the ones who knew the scriptures…

But their hearts were harder than even the stones that would have happily cried out in praise to Jesus.

And, the national blindness and hard-heartedness of Israel and her leaders… broke Jesus’ heart…

As reflected in the next verses in Luke 19:41-42 “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.”

And, I think God still weeps… even over one soul who does not come to Him…

He’s “… longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet 3:9)

And, had Israel accepted Jesus… they would have had peace…

But, they didn’t… they rebelled against God… and continued to rebel against Rome… leading to their undoing in 70 A.D.

As Jesus predicted in Luke 19:43-44 “For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

And, that’s exactly what Roman General Titus’ troops did. You can visit Jerusalem today and still see the stones of their wreckage.

Our account today closes in Mark 11:11 “And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. [the Temple area] So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.”

[Worship team please come]

Typically, at this time the Passover Lamb was brought into the temple courts to be inspected by the priests…

But in this final verse… it appears as though Jesus is doing the inspection…

Mal 3 says, “He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap.”

And we will see the results of the inspection next week as the Fig Tree is Cursed and the Temple is Cleansed…

Clearly the inspection was failed.

And, as He gazes into each one of our lives today… what does He see?… what does He say?… what are the results of His inspection?

And, if you honestly don’t know…

Pray this prayer in Ps 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”

See what God reveals… and know… He is a God of grace transforming you into the image of His Son…

He will never leave you nor forsake you…

And, He is “working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ...”

Let Him do that work this week ahead.

Let’s Pray!

If you find yourself here bucking against God for any reason… please let’s talk… let’s pray… let’s grab coffee and figure that out.

Jesus triumphed over so much already to bring us into relationship with God…

And, a beautiful transformation happens in our life when we just submit… and stop wrestling Him.

I pray you all have a week filled the the Peace of God ahead. God bless you as you go!