Mark 11:1-17

Preaching the Word: Mark—Jesus, Servant and Savior Welcoming the King ( Mark 11:1-11 )

In May 1981 I remember being miserably hot as I sat in a KLM 747 at Manila’s International Airport. Because Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife were giving a state welcome for the visiting Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, our jet, having just arrived, was made to sit for almost an hour with the air conditioning off! Since I could do nothing but watch, I took careful note of what I saw.

Alongside the president and his wife stood a platoon of navy-clad honor guards wearing shining gold pith helmets. Next to them was another platoon dressed in forest green and white gloves and hats. Then came a crimson and gold uniformed band. Finally came a group resplendent in white naval uniforms. Add to the scene swaying Philippine dancers in chartreuse and purple, a baby elephant clad in scarlet, a long red carpet, a Philippine jet bearing the epigram “Hurrah for Hollywood,” a twenty-one-gun salute, several gleaming black limousines, a temperature of 100 degrees, and you have the picture.

As I sat perspiring and gazing through the mirage-like heat waves rising from the runway, I thought to myself, “This is the best the world has to offer in honor and material pomp, but it is so transitory.” And it was! There were a few words, some ringing volleys, and everyone was gone, except for those rolling up the red carpet and sweeping the blazing asphalt.

In subsequent years, similar thoughts came again to me as I read of the Marcoses’ incredibly obsessive materialism: how Mrs. Marcos owned some 3,000 pairs of shoes and hundreds upon hundreds of designer dresses. On one occasion she spent one million dollars in one day. All this to festoon her aging body which is, as the Scriptures say, “wasting away” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Of course, now the reign, the palace, the shopping sprees are all gone! The Marcoses tried their very best to make it last forever. But they could not! So it is with the rulers of the earth.

But it was not so with the King of Kings. He was a new kind of King. He operated from a different kind of principle. As we examine his example, we will escape the transitoriness which haunts our human pursuits.

The Borrowed Donkey

Mark 11:1–7 NASB95

1 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, 2 and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3 “If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” 4 They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. 5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7 They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it.

Mark 11:

() From these verses, What can we learn about Jesus?

() From these verses, In What ways can we be set free and find peace of mind through understanding the foreknowledge & control of Jesus?

Zechariah 9:9–10 NASB95

9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; And His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah

() & () From these passages, What can we learn about Jesus?

The Humble King

Mark 11:8–10 NASB95

8 And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 Those who went in front 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!”

Mark 11:

Psalm 118:22–26 NASB95

22 The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. 23 This is the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity! 26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

Psalm 118:

() What are the different ways that people (we) can respond to the coming of the King into His kingdom reign?

The Mount of Olives

Mark 11:1 NASB95

1 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples,

Zechariah 14:4–5 NASB95

4 In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south. 5 You will flee by the valley of My mountains, for the valley of the mountains will reach to Azel; yes, you will flee just as you fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!

Zechariah 14:4-5

) How can people be ready for that climactic day when Jesus Christ comes a second time?

The Jerusalem Temple

Mark 11:11 NASB95

11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

Mark 11:

Mark 11:

Mark 11:15–17 NASB95

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.”

(-17) What do these verses tell us about God’s Purpose for a place of Worship?

() How can we better achieve God’s Purpose as we gather together?