Mark 11:1-11

This passage is most often preached on Palm Sunday. It is known as the Triumphual entry passage. This passage initiat the final week of Jesus life on earth, but we are preaching on it 10 days before we celebrate His first arrival to the planet at Christmas.

The crossover of these accounts is beautiful. Jesus arrival to the planet was by humble means and His arrival to Jersualem was an an untrained pack animal.

Humility marked His coming and His going.

Over the last few chapters of Mark, Jesus, 2 times, made blind men, eyewitnesses of His glory. He made blind men, eye witnesses. Talk about impossible. His own disciples weren’t seeing His majesty, but blind men were.

But in this passage, for the the first time in a long time a few of His disciples obey His commands and that is cause for celebration for all of us. There is no time like the present to start obeying Jesus.

And one of the major reasons why we want to do this is because we don’t just believe that Jesus came long ago, we believe that He is coming again. He is on His way here to inspect all of our lives and

Luke 18:8 (ESV) - when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Mark has been showcasing people seeing things and not seeing things for the last few chapters, but now at the culmination of this passage, Jesus is going to use His own eyes to survey the temple grounds and assess all the work that needed to be done.

Mark 11:1 (ESV)

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them…

Mark 11:2–3 (ESV)

2 …“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.’ ”

Mark 11:4–5 ESV

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?”

Mark 11:6–7 ESV

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.

Mark 11:8–9 ESV

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!

Mark 11:10–11 ESV

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.

Pray

This passage has been termed the “Triumphal Entry,” but the means of triumph in this passage is so opposite of the way we normally understand it.

Normally when we picture the concept of “triumph” in our minds, we picture a team jumping up and down when time expires and they have the most points or goals on the scoreboard. We imagine a team of 18-22 year olds cutting down the nets after 63 other teams have been eliminated from the March Madness Tournament.

Or we just see Patrick Mahomes holding up the Lombardi trophy in early February.

Whatever image is conjured up in your mind when you here the word “Triumph” is probably the opposite of what you see Jesus doing in the passage.

The crowd might be pumped up for what they are anticipating or even expecting to happen when Jesus gets into Jerusalem, but there is no trail of defeated enemies in the wake of Jesus. He isn’t hoisting up a trophy as He rides into Jerusalem on a royal steed. He is riding into Jerusalem on a colt in order to be hoisted up Himself 5 days later on a cross.

The way of the King is a path of humility.

We have said it a few times now in the last month, that personal greatness is measured by the amount of sacrificial service we give to others.

This “triuphal entry” passage is the embodiement of that reality. Jesus humilty in this passage sets the stage for a conflict of kingdoms and in the end only one kingdom prevails in the end.

John records in…

Revelation 11:15 (ESV)

15 loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”

His path to glory was a path of humility.

Talk through the passage and make a few points along the way.

Mark 11:1 (ESV)

1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives…

Jesus is always on the move in the Gospel of Mark. He is going from here to there and everywhere in breakneck speed. In this Gospel, Jesus has been to 35 different locations, but now He is “near” Jerusalem. He has been heading this way for a while, but now He is almost there. This is the first time we see Jesus in Jerusalem in the Gospel. His time of arrival had come at last and He is at the base of the Mount of Olives.

For people familiar with OT prophecies about the coming Messiah, when they see “Mount of Olives” in the text, alarm bells start going off

The Mount of Olives was a place designated by the prophets like Zechariah and Ezekiel as the place of the future eschatological revelation of God’s glory (Zech. 14:1–9; cf. Ezek. 43:2–9)

Zechariah starts out by saying, “Behold, a day is coming for the Lord,

Zechariah 14:4 (ESV)

4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east,

Ezekiel describes what he saw and says,

Ezekiel 43:2 (ESV)

2 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east. And the sound of his coming was like the sound of many waters, and the earth shone with his glory.

And Mark shows Jesus moving closer and closer to the heart of the nation. He is near Jerusalem now at the Mount of Olive, but He is on His way to the temple itself.

This surely sent shivers up their spines.

These prophecies from Zechariah and Ezekiel were well known by the people. One day a Divine Warrior will come and restore Israel by defeat all her enemies.

In the Jewish mind, this wasn’t “if this happens” it is “when this happens.” They knew it would happen, Yahweh has spoken, but they just didn’t know when.

But another prophecy they knew that came from Zechariah was that the king as Divine Warrior will come humbly riding on a colt.

Zechariah 9:9 (ESV)

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.

Seems like a weird way to conquer the world, but if that is what Yahweh says, I guess we will believe it and rejoice when we see it happening.

And then we read this

Mark 11:1–3 (ESV)

1 …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.’ ”

This is it. This is happening. This is happening now! And armed with the immediacy of the moment, the disciples completely obey what was instructed of them.

When the disciples recognized that the Kingdom was at hand, they obeyed fully.

Jesus says go and in verse 4 Mark tells us they went.

Jesus says untie and bring a colt to me and in verses 4-6 they find one, untie it and bring it to Jesus.

Jesus says if any one asks you what’s the deal, “say” (imperative command) (He gives them the script) and then in verse 6, they say what Jesus told them to say.

These 2 disciples do as they were told. They were given a specific set of instructions and they do them specifically.

Look, I say this to myself. Obedience doesn’t have to be that difficult. Obedience can be simple. We can do what He says. He has given us a new nature to do so.

And when we humble obey what He commands, God is able to do extraordinary things with our ordinary obedience.

These guys, go, untie a colt, bring it to Jesus and speak words they were told to speak and their obedience provided the means by which the humble King of Glory could make His way into the heart of the nation.

God can do extraordinary things with our ordinary obedience.

Another thing to notice here is this, two disciples obeying is easier than one. We all have agency and responsibility and we must all individually decided to follow Jesus, but man it can be so much easier to follow Jesus when you have another Jesus follower along side you to help you obey.

We are told to…

Hebrews 10:24 (NIV)

24 …consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

How would the conversations change in your home if every member of your household that follows Jesus put this command into practice?

What if you woke up each day determined to help your spouse, kids, siblings or parents be more like Christ.

What if you stirred people out of their complacency, encouraging them toward others-centered actions?

I imagine the climate of our homes would change for the better and Jesus Himself would be honored and glorified.

Don’t make obedience to Jesus a burden. His commands are not burdensome.

The disciples had a string of failures over the last few chapters, but here they do as they were instructed.

A lot of times we deepen the consequences of a set of bad decisions by continuing to make bad decisions. At some point, if you want anything to change, you have to actually start obeying.

And like I said at the beginning.

There is no time like the present to start obeying Jesus.

Trust and Obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus.

If you aren’t experiencing joy and happiness and delight when you worship these days, ask yourself if we are trusting and obeying Jesus.

One final thing to point out from verses 1-6; why get a colt that “no one has ever ridden.”

In the OT animals devoted for a sacred purpose must be ones that had not been put to ordinary use. Animals without defect were set apart for acts of worship and sacrifice.

Animals that had never worked were the ones that pulled the Ark of the Covenant, back to the land of Israel after it had been captured by the Philistines.

The Ark of the Covenant was the holiest object used in Israelite worship, but now Jesus Himself, the Holy One of Israel is humbly riding into Jerusalem on this un-broken in animal.

And the people start rejoicing because they are able to put two a two together. Here is our long awaited, heavily anticipate Messiah

Mark 11:7–8 ESV

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.

Mark 11:9–10 ESV

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!”

The Messianic overtones of Psalm 118 are dynamic and vibrant as the people shout out “Hosanna” which literally means, “Save us.” Every pious Jew would have known this Psalm as it is one of the most famous “Hallel” Psalms of the OT.

The people shouting this Psalm demonstrates that they are in tune with the significance of Jesus symbolic actions.

Jesus is approaching Jerusalem from the east as the embodiment of God’s glory. But He isn’t going to the northwest corner of the Upper City to Herod’s palace to deal with the Romans, He is heading straight toward the temple.

And this should send shivers up all of our spines.

Mark says

Mark 11:11 (ESV)

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.

Mark 11:11 gives me goosebumps.

The word made flesh dwelling among was entering into and looking around at everything in the temple of God.

He comes down from heaven and humbly enters into the temple, the dwelling place of God and He looks around and notices the shambles that it is in. He sees the damage. He surveys the devastation. He sees the daunting task that lies ahead of Him in order to clean it all up.

He looks around and “everything” in the temple. He uses His eyes and He sees it all. Every square inch. No stone is unturned. He examines it, thoroughly, and then exits getting ready for a week of ministry that will end of killing Him so that He can clean it.

What if He did that here today.

What if He walked among us. What if He humbly stepped into to this temple of living stones as a humble King and started looking around.

He is the Lord of the Temple you know.

What if he strolled into here today and started walking around inspecting things in us. What if he started using His eyes to survey the landscape of our lives.

Mulling over the moments and your every movement this past week.

Discerning the thoughts and the intentions of our hearts?

What if He knew what your Friday night looked like and knew what it would take to redeem that series of bad decision?

What if He knew what it would take, but still went on with His week?

What if your Tuesday morning blow up at your family, didn’t make Him run away in horror, but actually caused compassion within Him that caused Him to move closer to you.

He knows the thought that have paraded across you mind this past week. and with compassion he looks at you, longing that you would look back at him instead. He puts himself in front of your vision so that you can gaze at his pure and true beauty.

He saw all the ugliness and it didn't scare him away and retreat rather he retreated to get some rest to come back and do the work that needed to be done. He demonstrated his steadfast love and commitment to his people and to his God by coming back the next day. And that's what he does with you that's what he does with me. Every day his mercies are new he comes back to inspect us through the holy means of his word and his spirit that indwells us and he asks us if we can see what he sees. Do you see the ugliness do you see the brokenness do you see the rampant wickedness that can sometimes reside in our hearts still. All that darkness and brokenness doesn't scare him away it actually draws him to you with his cleansing power to redeem you.

What if..

His humble commitment to cleaning up His dirty people should cause us to want to follow Him on His path to glory. It should cause us to humble ourselves in His sight so that He can lift us up.

Micah 6:8 ESV

8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

The passion week of Jesus began and ended with humility. Jesus humbly rode in on a colt and a few days later He marched out and died on a cross.

Humility from beginning to end.

The way of the king is the path of humility.

He isn’t going to come breaking down the door your heart. He will patiently wait for your eyes to open up to see what He is offering you so that you can joyfully receive what He is giving and then allow Him to make your heart His home.

Look at these elements. He is not forcing Himself on you. He is giving Himself for you. Receive Him. And do it now, because the next time He comes back it won’t be on a donkey.

Revelation 19:11–13 ESV

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.

Pray

Song: O Little Town of Bethlehem (3rd stanza)

Communion.

Benediction

He is coming…

You better watch out, better not cry, better not pout, I’m telling you why.

Jesus Christ is coming back down.

We live as if we don’t believe that he is coming. But He is on his way. He once entered into the temple in Jersualem and someday soon He will head back this way.

Just like the discipels in this passage obey His commands in order to get ready for His arrival, we must now tune our ears to hear His voice so that we can appropirately respond to whatever He says, in order to get ourselves ready His inevitable, imminate arrival.

He will come with a shining brightness, and power, that the whole earth will see it. It will not escape anyone’s attention, so be ready.

The way of the King is a path of humility.

Sink down into your own nothingness, in the spirit of meek, patient, and trustful surrender to God. Accept every humiliation; look at every fellow man who annoys or offends you, as a way for grace to humble you. Use every opportunity of humbling yourself before your fellow man as a steppingstone to live a humble life before God.

Brethren, here is the path to the higher life. Down, lower down! … Just as water always seeks and fills the lowest place, so the moment God finds the creature humble and empty, His glory and power flow in to raise up and bless.

Murray, Andrew. Humility

Copyrigth 1895 - moody library

There is no time like the present to start obeying Jesus.

Discussion Questions

How would the conversations change in your home if every member of your household that follows Jesus put this command into practice?

There is no time like the present to start obeying Jesus. (delaying obedeince in any area of life)