CHRIST THE Messiah and KING

INTRODUCTION:

Jesus, His disciples and the crowd were on the road to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the most important feasts in the history of Israel-the Passover. The Passover was a celebration of God’s redemption of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.

When they arrived at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of His disciples to the village ahead of them. He told the disciples, “…just as you enter the village, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

They found the colt in the street, tied at the doorway. As they did, some people standing there asked, “what are you doing untying the colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt, they threw their cloaks on it to make a saddle for Jesus. Many spread their cloaks along with palm branches and started to shout, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest.”

Jesus entered Jerusalem, and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, and since it was late, He went to Bethany with the twelve.

What can we take away from this story?

1.Christ demonstrated His kingship by riding a donkey that had not been ridden before.

“You will find a colt there which no one has ridden. If anyone asks, ‘tell them the Lord needs it.”

There is nowhere in the story we are told that pre arrangements were made for Jesus to have this donkey. What is clearly coming out here for us to see is the omniscience of Christ. He knew all the information about the donkey that it had not been ridden before and where it was tied.

Jesus sent His disciples to the village ahead of them to find a donkey that had not yet been ridden. This is significant because a donkey for the king was not for just anyone to ride. It was exclusively reserved for the King. Mark is conveying to his audience that Jesus is the Messiah, the king of the Jews. It is important to note that for an animal to be used for a sacred purpose, it must have never been used for any other purpose.

Why did Jesus ride the donkey on this particular day? He walked everywhere. But on this day, He decided to ride a donkey that had never been ridden. Matthew and John tell us that Jesus was fulfilling , “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The Old Testament’s prophecy stated that Israel’s Messiah would come, but it also indicated that His coming would be meek and lowly. He was coming in peace. When a king went to battle, he rode on a horse. When he was coming in peace, he rode on a donkey. Jesus is here coming in peace.

True peace is only achieved when God and man are reconciled. The apostle Paul writes in that “since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. True peace comes through a relationship with God and the joy of freely entering His presence. Christ’s purpose for coming into our world was to bring this peace.

2. Christ demonstrated His kingship over His disciples and their questioners.

2. Christ demonstrated His kingship over His disciples and their questioners.

In , we see the omniscience of Christ on display. Philip informed Nathaniel that he met the Messiah and invited Nathaniel to come and meet Him. When Nathaniel was approaching, Jesus said, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me,” Nathaniel asked. Jesus said, “Oh, I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Jesus revealed His omniscience to Nathaniel. I wasn’t there but i saw you sitting under the fig tree.

2. Christ demonstrated His kingship over His disciples and their questioners.

The King of the Jews demanded the use of a donkey which had never been ridden before. He informed His disciples that if they were asked why they were untying the donkey, they should point out that “the Lord needed it.” The right of the owner shrinks in light of the King’s demand. Jesus is the creator of the universe. He owns everything. In this context, He had enough status to have this done. I hope we realize that everything we own is for the Lord. The Lord is the ultimate owner. This reminds me of , “ The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” This Psalm points out the sovereignty of God over all He has created. Christ’s demand for a donkey that had not yet been ridden before highlights that He, the creator of the world, owns all that is within it.

The fact that the disciples did exactly as Jesus commanded them demonstrates the He has kingship over them also. We know that the disciples, on many occasions failed to obey Christ. But on this mission, they carried out Jesus’ command without arguing or hesitation.

The Omniscience of God must bring us comfort. It tells us that Christ knows everything that His children are going through.

The kingship of Christ was also demonstrated over the folks who questioned the disciples’ actions allowed them to take the donkey. They accepted His words given to the disciples.

If Jesus is The King and Messiah, then we as His followers owe Him an unchallenged allegiance. Because He rescued us from the dominion of darkness, we owe our lives to Him. Paul writes in “For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

We see this in , “O Lord, you have search me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with my ways.” The Psalmist is conveying to us that God knows everything about Him. When it comes to Him God is not in the dark.

In , “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to a foreign god, would not God have discovered it, since He knows the secret of the heart?

3. Christ demonstrated His kingship by accepting the welcome of the crowd.

3. Christ demonstrated His kingship by accepting the welcome of the crowd.

“…many spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut...”

Mark is conveying to his readers that Christ is the Messiah, the long awaited king. The spreading of cloaks and branches before Jesus is suggests a ceremonial welcoming of a king. We see this in , when Solomon was being welcome as King. We also see it in when Jehu was welcomed. When welcoming a king, it was customary for the people to lay their garments on the road.

Mark is conveying to his readers that Christ is the Messiah, the long awaited king. The spreading of cloaks and branches before Jesus is suggestive of ceremonious welcome of a king. We see this in , when Solomon was being welcome as King. We also see it in when Jehu was welcomed. When welcoming a king, it was customary for the people to lay the garments on the road.

They were welcoming a King, but which king were they welcoming? It is oddly reminiscent of how Simon Maccabaeus entered Jerusalem 150 years before, after he had blasted Israel’s enemies in battle. On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered Jerusalem with praise and palm branches, and with harps, and cymbals, and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel (). It was a conqueror’s welcome they sought to give to Jesus, but they never dreamed of the kind of conqueror he wished to be.

Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 310). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 310). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 310). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Why did Jesus ride the donkey on this particular day? He walked everywhere He went in Israel. But on this particular day, He decided to ride a donkey that had never been ridden before. Matthew and John tells us that Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy found in 9:9. The Old Testament’s prophecy stated that Israel’s Messiah would come, but it also indicated that His coming would be meek and lowly.

“Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.”

Large crowds went before Jesus shouting “Hosanna,” which means “save now.” This is taken from . It was then that Judas Maccabaeus arose; and, after an amazing career of conquest, in 163 BC he drove Antiochus out and purified and reconsecrated the Temple, an event which the Feast of the Dedication, or the Feast of Hanukkah, still commemorates. And in all probability was written to commemorate that great day of purification and the battle which Judas Maccabaeus won. It is a conqueror’s psalm.

Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 311). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Barclay, W. (2001). The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Mark (p. 311). Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

They were expecting a political Messiah. They were expecting a Messiah who would defeat the despised Romans and establish a Jewish Kingdom.

They were expecting a political Messiah. They were expecting a Messiah who would defeat the despised Romans and establish a Jewish Kingdom.

The Passover commemorates the time when God delivered their ancestors from bondage to the Egyptians. They were hoping that God would demonstrate His power once more to defeat the Romans. “Save Now.” This was political! They were pleading with Jesus “save us, we beg.” Bartimaeus had called Jesus “Son of David” and begged for help and he was cured. Was the crowd doing the same?

There were many prophecies that talked about the Messiah being a ruler over Israel. In , “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come from me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old from ancient times.” It was a promise made by God that some day the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem to rule over Israel.

In , the magi from the East asked, “where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?” The expectation for a political Messiah was high. They saw the fulfillment taking place right before them.

Sometimes we make a mistake to think that the purpose of Jesus coming was to destroy our political foes. That is not true. His purpose for coming was to defeat our fiercest enemies-the world, the flesh and the devil. They misunderstood what kind of King Jesus was. Sometimes, we believers misunderstand the mission of Christ. Sometimes we want to tie Christ’s mission with a particular political party. When we dress Christ in our political garb, we do His mission an injustice. We diminish the impact of the gospel. He was apolitical and brought a different message.

It is true that Christ came to save, but the salvation that the nation was looking for was not what Christ was offering now.

“He who comes” was another euphemism for the Messiah. They were expecting Christ to establish the Messianic Kingdom. To the crowd, Jesus was the coming one. He was the One John the Baptist spoke about in .

Blind Bartimaeus pointed out that Jesus was the Son of David. And the crowd was shouting, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.” Mark is tying it all together. Jesus, the Son of David was on the scene and the people were crying for the Kingdom of David to be established. This was the mindset of the disciples also. In they said to Jesus, “Lord, are you going to give the kingdom back to the nation of Israel?”

The arrival in Jerusalem has a sad ending. The Son of God entered the temple and nothing happened. There was no one there to greet Him. The people of Israel misunderstood Him. Therefore, He left for Bethany with His disciples.

The self-revelation of Jesus demands a response. Jesus did not stop the crowd from crying out to Him. His arrival revealed two kinds of faith-the first is a self-centered faith and the second is a faith that is misdirected. Peter, James and John sought the best seat within the kingdom and the crowds were longing for a kingdom that was political.

What faith are you demonstrating in Christ? We should be demonstrating authentic faith. It is a faith that will remain faithful to Christ.

Conclusion:

When Christ is king of our lives, we will live to please Him.