Triumphal Entry
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
My wife and I have decided to get in better shape. We are going to start doing lunges. That will be a big step forward!!
Mullins Association meeting
Lord’s Supper next week. We are going to do it a little different than usual.
Lunch after service next week
This week we are going to be in Mark 11:1-11.
Last we was saw Jesus heal Bartimaeus. We saw that the blind man saw better than those who could see. He saw himself correctly and he saw Jesus correctly. He called Jesus Son of David. Also I want to point out that Jesus did not tell him to be quiet about who He was. Normally, If someone called Jesus by one of His titles that showed He was God, He would tell them to be quiet. He did not do that this time. This is a shift in His ministry. His time has come. He is entering Jerusalem.
Today we are going to look at what is commonly called the Triumphal entry. Jesus enters Jerusalem at the beginning of the Passover week. He is treated like a King and people are shouting and praising God. What a scene this would have been. What a difference a week is going to make. Things are going to change dramatically.
The first 10 chapters of Mark are an introduction to who Jesus is and points to these last 6 chapters. The first 10 chapters cover about 3 years of Jesus’ life. The last 6 cover the last week of Jesus’ life. The arrest, death, burial and Resurrection. Mark puts the brakes on and slows down for these last few days of Jesus’ life. We zoomed through the first 3 years of Jesus’ ministry and we slow down.
Mark makes it seem like Jesus nothing has happened since leaving Jericho. That is not the case. There is a very significant healing that takes place in that time between Jericho and His entry into Jerusalem. Mark leaves out when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. The news of what Jesus had done spread to Jerusalem quickly and there were large crowds going to Bethany to see Lazarus and Jesus. This news helped spread Jesus’ fame even more so. This raising of Lazarus was part of the reason for the great treatment of Jesus. The people were excited and amazed at all that Jesus had done and they were ready to greet Him on His entry into the city. The importance of this event is shown by the fact that all 4 of the gospels include this event. This is only the 2nd time that this has happened.( Matt 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19.)
Please stand as we read God’s Word
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.
As Jesus is ready to enter Jerusalem, He sends 2 disciples to go and get a donkey for Him to ride on. There is a lot to talk about with this donkey and how Jesus enters the city. I want to save this and talk about it a little later.
As He is riding into Jerusalem, they started throwing down their cloaks on the road and they were spreading palm branches on the road. This seems like an odd thing to do, especially with the donkey. Who knows what is going to be on your piece of clothing when you go to pick it up. Why would they do this? This is an ancient act of homage reserved for high royalty. They were recognizing Jesus as King. We can see this in 2 Kings 9:13
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.”
The palm branches symbolized joy and salvation and was a picture of future royal tribute to Jesus. We can see this in Revelation 7:9
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
Jesus was finally being treated the way He should have been all along. Sadly, it is only temporary. The crowd was filled with great joy and excited and they were filled with praise for the Messiah who taught with authority like no one had or has ever taught before. He healed the sick and raised the dead. Jesus did all these things like no one had before. Before when someone healed or a prophet raised someone from the dead, they had to do certain things. Lay on top of the dead, have them go and wash in the Jordan river. Jesus just spoke and it happened. He had an authority that no one else had or ever will have. He was and is the Son of God, the Messiah, Saviour of the World!!!
The crowds were shouting Mark 11:9-10
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!”
This phrase is part of Psalm 118:26
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
This was part of the Hallel, which is comprised of Psalm 113-118. It was sung at all Jewish religious festivals, most notably at the Passover. They were acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah. But they thought He was going to save them from Rome, not from their sins! They were acting like many do today. When things are going good and everyone is excited, they are praising Jesus and God, but as soon as things change, so do they. Just like some of these people will. They were so focused on Rome that they couldn’t see their greatest need, to be saved from their sins. We have a case of mob mentality, people started shouting and praising Jesus and everyone around joined in. We will see the same thing happen again in a few days.
Now let’s talk about that donkey!! Why did all the Gospel writers put this about the donkey in here? Is it really that important that Jesus rode on a donkey? This was done to show that a prophesy was fulfilled. Does anyone know who prophesied about the donkey? Zechariah 9:9
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.
Zechariah prophesied this about Jesus around 500 years before it happened. Jesus fulfilled every prophesy that was written about Him. If He didn’t fulfill it when He was here on earth, He will when He comes back!
Jesus showed His authority and power by telling the 2 disciples exactly where to find the donkey. Immediately as you enter you will find it. He even told them what to say to make the owners ok with them taking their donkey. The Lord has need of it and He will send it back! Try that with your neighbors car this week. Walk over to their house and get in their car or truck and start to take it. If no when they come out and start questioning you, tell them that the Lord had need of it and He will send it right back. Let me know how that goes. Jesus knew where the donkey was and He knew what to say to the owner. It never stops amazing me the power and knowledge of our King.
The fact that Jesus rode on a donkey was unusual, He normally walked everywhere. But He rode a donkey into Jerusalem. Not just any donkey, a donkey that no one has ever sat! Think about that. I am no donkey expert, but I would not want to sit on that donkey! If any of us sat on a donkey that know one has sat on before, it is not ending well! This donkey is not broken, it is not trained to have a person on it back. Normally, this donkey would have gone nuts when a person would have sat on it. Jesus is in control of everything. Everything is under His authority. Even the animals. This donkey knew who was riding on him. He knew better than to act out. It was a privilege for this donkey to carry Jesus and it knew it.
Also, no one was allowed to ride on the kings horses or donkeys. Only he could ride on them. It was fitting for Jesus the King of Kings to ride on a donkey that no one had sat on.
The donkey is a animal that a humble person rides on. No one rides into town on a donkey looking to get attention. It they want attention, they would find a fancy horse and ride that into town. Kings would ride on donkeys. When a king came in peace, most of the time he would ride a donkey. No one rides a donkey into war. They ride horse in battle. When a king came on a donkey, he was coming humbly in peace.
Matthew called the donkey a beast of burden! What a fitting animal for Jesus to be riding on as He rides into Jerusalem this last week of His life. I can’t imagine the burden that was on Him as He was preparing to become the Lamb of God that takes away sin. In Matthew 23 we read about Jesus lamenting over Jerusalem. His burden is heavy and He is riding on a beast of burden.
This little donkey had an important job that day. He was carrying the King.
Then finally verse 11. Jesus went into the temple and looked around. It was late so after that He and the 12 went to Bethany. What was He doing there? He was looking around inspecting His Father’s house. He knew what was going on there, but He went to see for Him self. So many times I have read this and never given it any thought. He went to the temple and looked around. This week as I was studying and thinking about this verse, God revealed something to me. Something else is a temple also, our bodies. 1 Corinthians 6:19
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
We are going to see what Jesus does when He comes back to the Temple. What does Jesus see when He comes into your temple and looks around? Does He see the same thing that He saw in Jerusalem? Is your body truly a temple for God, or is it like what the Greeks had when Paul was there talking to them, they had a statue of all their gods and a statue for the unknown god, just in case they forgot one. Is your temple a temple filled with all kinds of idols, little gods that have taken the place of the one true God?
What would Jesus’ reaction be to your temple?
Are you truly serving Jesus?
What do you need to clean up today?
We are going to see what Jesus did for you next week!
Is your temple worthy of what Jesus did, the sacrifices that He made?
All that He went through, was for you. So that you could be a temple of the Holy Spirit.
I pray that He wouldn’t have to drive out any idols from your temple.
I pray that He is satisfied with our temples.
I know that there is always work for us to do to keep our temples clean and true, but I pray He would be happy with where we are with ours.
If not, when we sing you pray for Jesus to cleanse your temple and put it straight so that you can serve Him without all the distractions in there.
Lets pray.
