Untitled Sermon

What can we learn from the last week of Jesus’ life?

(recap video) Mark ch 11:1-11 is where we pick up today. It’s a Sunday & Jesus

now has less than a week to live. On Friday He will be crucified. Bartimaeus who

just regained his sight is in the crowd following Jesus & His team to Jerusalem.

They came first to Bethany, which is about 2 miles away from Jerulsem, then

continued toward Bethphage (beth-fa-yay) near the crest of the Mount of Olives.

Traveling from Jericho they had now climbed 2,600 ft in elevation & now as they

round the curve they see The Holy City!

When the disciples looked at Jerusalem they got excited, believing Jesus was about

to become King, overthrow Rome & establish an earthly kingdom. BUT When Jesus

looked at the city, He knew He’d soon die for the sins of the world in a horrific way,

right outside those city walls.

The team thought He was walking toward a throne, Jesus knew was walking

toward a Cross. Jesus knew all along this was WHY He had come. We’re fallen,

sinful & separated from God because of our sins. Because of that, we need a

Savior…He was & is that Savior.

The clock is ticking. Jerusalem is filled with people arriving to celebrate Passover.

The population triples this time of year! The Jews love it, the Romans hated it &

were always on special alert for a potential riot that could break out against Rome.

REMEMBER this was the city that killed the prophets & murdered those sent by

God. Jesus knew that this religious city that would do the same to Him

So as He begins the last week of His life, I want us to answer this question: What

can we learn from the last week of Jesus’ life?2

●

Mark 11:1-3 NKJV “1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage

(beth-fa-yay) 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.

’

He tells two of his disciples most think Peter & another that He wants them to go

into this neighboring city. AND When they get there, they’ll find a young donkey.

They’re to untie it & bring it to Him. If anyone asks what they’re doing, just say,

“The Lord has need of it.

”

Jesus tells them WHAT village to go to, WHAT they will find there, WHAT people

will ask them & exactly WHAT they should say. Then everything happens exactly

as Jesus said it would.

What can we learn from the last week of Jesus’ life?

#1 We can trust Him because Jesus knows exactly what’s ahead.

God has the ability to see around corners. Notice, He’s leading the events that

will lead to His own death. Most of us would escape that & go the other route, not

Jesus because, He came to save you!

We must understand this about God…He knows what our tomorrow holds. You

may have a calendar planned out, but Jesus has a plan. He knows exactly what

time you’ll wake up in the morning, how you’ll start your day & what will happen

that day.

He knows every hair on your head…for some of us, that’s not hard. He knows

every conversation, every car you’ll pass, every song you’ll listen to. He knows

every thought you’re going to have tomorrow, the next day & the next.3

He knows the time you’re going to die, how, & what spiritual state you’re going to

be in when you do. God knows everything.

And the God that knows everything cares about you more than anything! I

believe Jesus is trying to teach the disciples again that He’s heading to a Cross & in

a few days their worlds will be turned upside down. They won’t know what to do

because they followed Him thinking one thing & now He’s going to show them

something else.

A crucifixion & death. ANd LONG after HE raises from the grave & they themselves

endure hardship they will draw back on this & say the entire time HE WAS IN

CONTROL so why would we worry!

I want to tell someone today that needs it. GOD IS IN CONTROL!

Your health, wealth, your today, your tomorrow… God is in Control!

I believe Jesus was saying,

“Let me show y’all again, I’m in complete control. Go

over to this city, you’ll find a wild donkey tied up, they’re even going to ask you a

certain question.

” In detail, He predicted everything that would happen.

This is why we need not worry about tomorrow when God, who holds tomorrow

& all the days after that HE is still in control!

Has it ever occurred to you that nothing has ever occurred to God?

God doesn’t go,

“How did that happen?!” God knows everything that will happen.

That ought to give you & I a real sense of PEACE.

Let me ask you, what are you worried about that God already knows about?

Just like this passage, You cannot see around the corner, but Jesus already can! Do

you trust Him?

Mark 11:4-7 “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 there4

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.

What can we learn from the last week of Jesus’ life?

#2 Make yourself available & surrendered for God to use.

Vs 6 says, they answered the owner of this young donkey by saying what Jesus told

them to say: “the Lord has need of it”

...

How can God have a need of anything?

God needs you. Maybe the problem we have sometimes is we forget God needs us

& wants to use us for His glory! We may wonder, why do we go to church on

Sunday? God needs you. God needs you to hear His word, relate with him. Why

do you serve? Because God needs you!

With someone you love, if they needed you, you’d be there for them.

So God says, He needs you. He needs you to be His hands & feet in this world.

Think about it: Who’s going to hear about Jesus or know His love unless YOU tell

them? Who will be the expression of the body of Christ in this community unless

you are?

Sometimes you have the idea of just coming to church & just taking it in. God

needs you. Ask yourself, Am I just a consumer of the things of God or am I a

contributor? Am I sharing Jesus with others?

Can you imagine how that donkey must have felt? One minute he’s probably

thinking,

“here I am tied up, bored, life stinks, no purpose for just a donkey.

” The

someone unties him, Then he hears the Lord needs him. I imagine his ears perked

up…thinking “the Lord needs me?”

My Dad used to call this passage “donkey-ology”5

In the OT, if a firstborn donkey was born, the owner had to make a decision: Either

take the life of the donkey or sacrifice a lamb in its place to redeem that donkey.

You couldn’t just keep a donkey on his own with no sacrifice.

Here’s what’s cool… The fact this donkey was still alive tells us his owner killed a

lamb in it’s place. That donkey owed its life to the death of a lamb.

Just like we owe our lives to The Lamb of God who died in our place!

Just like this donkey. First, He found us, then, He redeems us, then, set us free! He

untiled us when we were in bondage to sin! And just like that donkey when they

found it, God says,

"I have need of you"

. By the way: That's your purpose is to be

used by Him.

Our job is to tell people about what Jesus did for us! That donkey’s job was to get

Jesus closer to the Cross! Interesting enough, did you know that all donkeys have

something on their back that makes them unique.

They have a Cross! It’s a reminder. We are to do the same thing everywhere we

go, knowing Jesus needs us to carry The Gospel Everywhere we go to a lost &

dying world!

Think about this, the donkey had never been ridden. Jesus often took hold of

something no one would ever use for something great & would touch it. He'd

touch a leper that no one else had touched. He'd borrow a tomb that no one had

ever used. Now, He'd ride a donkey that no one had been upon. God's not afraid to

use what others won't touch or use.

The greatest ability is not our ability…it’s our availability. Some of us today need to

say: Lord I’m available.. send lost people my way and I’ll carry the message of

Jesus to them! .6

Another thing I see is, when God borrows something, He always brings it back

better. He borrowed the donkey & returned to his owner. He comes back broken.

He can be used for more now!

Whatever you give to God…your marriage, children, your job, yourself, your tithe,

He makes it better! The only things in our life that aren’t better are the things we

haven’t given to God.

So let me ask you..What part of your life have you not made available to God? Is it

your time? Your abilities? Your relationships? Your finances? Your future? Perhaps,

your willingness to SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH THOSE AROUND YOU?

Now, keep the picture in your mind. The Jews are getting ready to celebrate

Passover. Passover is the time the Jews try NOT to forget God’s blessing. They

remind themselves every year that while they were slaves in Egypt until God

rescued them.

Remember how? God came along & the 10th plague He sent upon Pharaoh to get

His people free was the death of the firstborn sons in Egypt.

Remember how? God told Moses to take the blood of a lamb & put it over the

doorposts…the top, sides & bottom. That’s a picture of the Cross. God told him

when the death angel comes, every home that he sees the blood upon, he will pass

over that home & will not enter.

Every home that doesn’t have the blood, that’s not under the covenant of God, the

death angel will enter that home & take the life of the firstborn son. That’s why

they called it Passover. Death passed over them because of the blood of the

lamb!

Now…lambs everywhere in the streets being ready to be sacrificed! Then The

Lamb of God is going to come riding down Main Street.7

Jesus has always tried to avoid publicity before. They even tried to make Him King a

couple times, but He would slip away. He never put Himself under the spotlight,

but this day He allowed it. WHY?

Dr. Warren Wierbe said,

“Jesus was declaring Himself to be Israel's king,

deliberately challenging the religious leaders!”

This is what set in motion his arrest.

As He comes down main street, in the eyes of God, is the picture of all these lambs

being sacrificed temporarily to cleanse their conscience, but here comes the Lamb

of God that will take away the sins of the world!

Why did He come into the city this way?

He had to fulfill the prophecy that the Lamb of God would come on a donkey to

present Himself as the Messiah.

●

Zechariah 9:9,

donkey.

"

"Behold, your King comes to you lowly and riding upon a

This means the prophet back in this Old Testament scripture was saying if you want

to recognize who the Messiah, the deliverer of Israel, your King is going to be, He’s

going to come in a lowly state riding a donkey.

Jesus had a way of touching every base. He did everything His Father assigned to

Him. This was a fulfillment of prophecy.

“Prophesy is simply history pre written.

”

God pre-wrote this 550 yrs earlier through The Prophet Zachariah on exactly how

His son Would be Recognized .

Peter Stoner studied eight prophecies about the Messiah that were fulfilled by

Jesus. He calculated the odds of one person fulfilling all eight by chance to be 1 in

100 quadrillion.8

To picture those odds, imagine covering the entire state of Texas two feet deep

with silver dollars. Mark just one, mix them all together, blindfold someone, and

allow him to travel anywhere in the state before choosing a single coin.

The chance of him selecting the marked coin would be the same as one person

fulfilling all eight prophecies by chance. Yet Jesus fulfilled every one of them &

many more.

●

Mark 11:8-10 NKJV “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!’”

Think about it, they were crying out,

“Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who

comes…

” Sometimes we think we know what God’s up to when we don’t. They

thought their King was coming into town to take over Rome. That wasn’t God’s

plan…Jesus was going to a Cross.

What can we learn from the last week of Jesus’ life?

#3 Stay faithful to Jesus even when His plan is not what you expected.

We don’t always know the ways of God. Faith is trusting God. Faith is saying,

I’m trusting you even though I don’t see which way you're going or what you're

doing.

”

These disciples & followers think thought they’d go & be part of the cabinet &

rulership overthrowing Rome. They get there & instead He’s going to the Cross.

Their whole lives are about to be devastated.

They’re saying,

“This is not what we expected.

”

“God,9

But real believers have to find trust in God & rest in the security of trusting Him

even when they don’t understand. That’s what you do. It may not be your plan for

life, but you’re trusting Him.

Some of you are living in a season that is not what you expected.

You prayed for one outcome, but something different happened. You thought God

would answer one way, but He chose another. Let me ask you: Can you trust God

when His plan doesn’t look like yours?

Real faith says,

“God, I don’t understand the road You have chosen, but I still trust

You.

” It may not be YOUR plan, but you can trust HIS plan!

Something else we see is there’s a picture of humility. Jesus, the King, Creator of

the world just as Zachariah had predicted, CAME LOWLY” down main street on a

donkey.

Roman soldiers, when they did a parade, it was boastful! They had Arabian horses,

gold chariots, elephants, music, they threw out coins to the crowds, matter a fact

it have this parade or “merit of Triumph” as it was called, A Roman general would

have to kill at least 5000 enemy soldiers.

Jesus wouldn’t kill anyone, yet His death/resurrection would soon lead to 5,000

being saved when the early Church began weeks later! This passage is called,

“Jesus’ triumph entry” yet it looks nothing like what the world would have called

“triumphant.

” Thsi man riding a donkey, coming in humility would soon be triumph

over death, HEll & the grave so that we could be too after this life is over BY faith in

what HE has already done!

The Roman’s probably laughed at this humble parade.

Here’s Jesus with this group of fisherman, tax collectors, sinners, & all together

“broken people” following him, cheering! “Blessed is the kingdom of our father10

David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!’” Hosanna,

originally a Hebrew prayer that meant “save now.

”

The religious leaders had to laugh at those cheering this! This man a Savior, a king,

ha! But Jesus didn’t care; he only cared about pleasing the father!

We all should be like this picture today, broken people following Jesus. Whatever

He says to do, do it & do it with humility.

In this Church today, are 2 types of people…broken & unbroken.

When we have more people that are broken, through real life experiences…loss of

a loved one, failed marriages, child gone off course yet still following JEsus as

broken as we may be, we have more have more of Heaven’s blessings. Brokenness

& still following Jesus bring s Heavens blessings!

When we have less broken people, we get proud, we get out of balance. That’s

why God’s blessing will be on a place where there’s broken people.

Some cheered, some sneered but Jesus only cared of the Fathers approval. Let me

ask you, whose approval controls you?

Are you making decisions based on what honors God or what impresses people?

Are you willing to obey God, share Jesus with others even when you're afraid? Are

you willing to do what He says, when no one sees it? Are you willing to obey when

others don’t understand?

●

Mark 11:11 NKJV “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.

”

It’s significant that when God’s going to do a great work in a city, Jesus starts with

a church. The church sets the spiritual temperature for the city. If we want to know

the spiritual climate of the city, we have to look at what the church is doing. Like

Jesus did in this verse...11

We are the church, so we have to be at our very best for Christ to make a

difference in the city. We have to share the gospel everywhere we are, we have to

live accordingly, you are the only Bible some people will ever read! We must pray

for the souls in this city like their eternal life depends on it because it does!

Now, my hope is as believers we’ll say,

“Thank You Lord, You’re in control.

” But

Maybe today you realize that your greatest need is NOT for God to change your

circumstances. Your greatest need is for God to change your heart.

You cannot save yourself. But the King who rode into Jerusalem went willingly to

the Cross for you, died in your place, was buried & rose again. He offers forgiveness

& eternal life to everyone who places their faith in Him.

Today, you can turn from your sin, place your faith in Jesus & receive the gift of

salvation. Everything you’re looking for can be found in Jesus!

I heard a story of a guy the other day that’s highly successful & he’s figured out

how to live a satisfying & fulfilling life. When he asked How? “He said one day I

woke up & I said I’m gonna live today like it’s my last day. He said it changed

everything.

”

The young interviewer asked,

"Did you go out and spend all your money?” and he

said,

“no because I wouldn’t be here to enjoy what I spend it on because today’s my

last day.

”

He said,

“I called people I normally wouldn’t call & told them I loved them, I woke

up that morning & had coffee with my wife & said,

‘today’s the last coffee I’ll ever

drink with my wife.

’ I went to work & I said, today’s my last day. How can I make

the biggest difference? I had dinner with my Family & said today’s the last dinner

I’ll ever have in my family. What will I say?12

He said,

“I’ve learned to do this for many years now & it really makes what’s

important stand out & it really makes you appreciative of every little thing that you

would normally get frustrated with or overlook because it’s your last day.

This was the last week in the life of Jesus & we saw it was important. Doing the

fathers will head to the Cross.

If today was your last day what would you do? You wouldn’t spend all your money

or do this or that…you would call people you love you care about in your care

Jesus with them.

You would be bold & visit that friend you’ve been needing to tell a gospel with &

share Jesus with them. You would tell the waiter, you would tell the Workout

partner, you could tell everyone you could because today after all is your last day!

So let me ask you, if you know Christ, who are you sharing Jesus with before the

sun goes down today?

If you don’t know, God, & this was your last day, what would be more important

than settling where you’ll spend all of eternity?

Because: Eternity is too long to be wrong!

What did you do with Jesus when you had a chance?

Invitation