Gospel of Mark: Receiving The King

Text: Mark 11:1-10

Theme: When Jesus comes triumphantly into a man’s life, his life is forever changed, and that change should be revealed in his behavior.

Date: 06/16/19 File name: GospelOfMark29.wpd ID Number:

From Robin Hood to The Man in the Iron Mask from Lancelot to The Lord of the Rings, so many of the legends in literature are about the desire for a king to come and set everything right. This desire was also the great hope of the Jewish people. This is why the people were waving palm branches when Jesus rode into town. Palm branches were a Jewish symbol of freedom and victory. It would be like Americans waving their red, white and blue flags on the fourth of July. However, instead of celebrating something that has already happened, the Jews were crying out for something to happen. The word, “hosanna” means, “Lord, save us now!” This was a desperate cry for liberation. The people were expecting Jesus to give them political freedom through military victory over the Romans. Yet, Jesus came to deliver his people from a far greater power and enemy.

The Triumphal Entry of Jesus reveals that God comes to us in unexpected ways, with unexpected agendas. For thousands of years, the Jewish people had been looking for the Messiah. They were anticipating a great military leader, one who would overthrow all of their enemies and restore Israel to its former greatness, reminiscent of the glory days of David and Solomon’s kingdom.

What they had not anticipated was that their King would appear as a carpenter. They never expected that He would possess no weapons, no army nor any political power. They certainly never expected that He would be crucified on a cross on the city garbage dump. Throughout His ministry, Jesus gave evidence on top of evidence that He was exactly who He said He was. He proved His identity time and again by what He taught and through His miracles. Virtually everything He said and did fulfilled Old Testament prophecy to the letter.

Yet his countrymen, by and large, refused to believe that He was in fact God’s Anointed One. In this 11th chapter of Mark’s Gospel, Jesus is once more about to reveal His identity to the nation of Israel. They will be given one final opportunity to recognize Him as their King.

I. A STRANGE COMMAND — THE KING'S PREPARATION

“As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ” 4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.” (Mark 11:1–7, NIV84)

1. the stage is set for Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem

a. in the last nine months, He has traveled throughout Galilee, Samaria, Perea, and finally, Judea

b. He has ministered in at least thirty-five different places

c. now He is on His way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover

2. verse 1 says that He was approaching Jerusalem from the side of the Mount of Olives, going through Bethany and Bethphage

a. news had spread quickly that Jesus was going to attend the Passover

1) expectations were at fever pitch

b. everywhere Jesus went, He had been performing miracles, and healings

1) just a week or two before, He had raised Lazarus from the dead

2) this miracle was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Israel’s religious leaders

“Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. “What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”” (John 11:45–48, NIV84)

“So from that day on they plotted to take his life.” (John 11:53, NIV84)

3) isn’t that amazing? ... you raise a man from the dead, and people want to kill you

ILLUS They also wanted to kill Lazarus! I suppose Lazarus could have simply told them, “been there ... done that.”

3. people had been openly talking for years – “Could this be the Anointed One?”

a. already once before — after the Feeding of the Five Thousand — the crowds had conspired to take Jesus by force, march on Jerusalem, and proclaim Him king (John 6)

b. when He raised a dead man from the grave, the crowds were sure “This guy is it!”

c. as more and more people pour into Jerusalem for the Passover, there is a great anticipation

4. as Jesus prepares to enter the city, He issues a very strange command

a. He will indeed make a "Triumphal Entry", but it will be in a surprising way

b. Jesus asks some of His disciples to go into the village and find a colt on which no one had ever sat, untie it and bring it back to Him

1) this was indeed a strange request — strange, that is, unless you understand the reasons behind it

A. THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY

1. what we see here is a purposeful preparation made by Jesus in order to fulfill prophecy

a. this was no haphazard event

1) Jesus understood the prophetic revelation which had been given concerning the entry of the Messiah into the gates of Jerusalem

2) His life was directed by these prophetic revelations

3) this one is found in Zechariah 9:9:

"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."

2. in Zechariah's prophecy, Jesus received direction for how he was supposed to enter into Jerusalem

a. Jesus timed His entry into Jerusalem precisely – this is why there was such a high level of expectancy in Israel at this time – they new what their Scriptures taught

1) almost five hundred years earlier, an angel appeared to the prophet Daniel, and told him that God had marked out a certain amount of time for the fulfillment of certain events concerning Israel

2) the countdown of God’s timetable would begin when the Persian King, Artaxerxes, issued his edict for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem – Nehemiah 2

3) when Artaxerxes issued that edict, unknowingly, he set in motion God's clock for the Jewish nation

4) Daniel was told that four hundred ninety years would run their course before the fulfillment of all of God's dealings with Israel

5) at the end of four hundred eighty three years the Messiah would arrive in Jerusalem

3. the year that Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, occurred on the 483rd year of Daniel’s prophecy

ILLUS. “25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.” (Daniel 9:25, NIV84). This prophecy includes a mathematical prophecy. Now I won’t go into great explanation here, but remember that the Jewish calendar used a 360-day year; 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days. In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days. The date of the command to rebuild Jerusalem was given by King Artaxerxes on March 14, 445 BC. If you do the math, making the necessary corrections for errors in the calendar, it means that on April 6, AD 32, Jesus rode into Jerusalem. That was exactly four hundred eighty three years later.

a. our Lord takes great care with details

1) in John 2:4 Jesus tells his mother that “My hour has not yet come.” We also hear those words come out of his mouth in John 7:6, 7:30, and John 8:20. But in and in Mark 14:41 (and John 12:23-24) on the night of his betrayal, he tells his disciples, “The hour has come”

2) Jesus know precisely God’s redemptive timetable ... it’s this Passover ... this moment in time precisely for the Anointed One to make his grand entry into Jerusalem as Messiah

4. it was no accident that He perfectly fulfilled all prophecy concerning Himself

a. we are not told in our text whether there were any arrangements made concerning this colt prior to Jesus sending His disciples for it

1) the Scripture is silent on this

b. in any event, He sent them into town, with a strange command

1) He told them where to go and what to say

2) when they arrived, they found the colt tied at the door, they told the bystanders what Jesus had instructed them to say, and brought the colt back to Jesus

5. but why a colt?

a. it was not merely to fulfill prophecy that Jesus did this, though that would have been sufficient

b. Jesus rode in on a foal of a donkey in order to reveal the character of His coming and of His Kingdom

1) kings and mighty warriors of that day rode on stallions

ILLUS. In the ancient world, when a city was conquered, the first thing that was arranged was a victory parade by the conquering king or general. History tells us that Alexander the Great always rode his steed, Bucephalus into a city after he conquered them. It was Alexander’s way of announcing to everyone concerned, “We’re here and we ain’t going away.”

c. but there was no war horse here

1) Jesus had come proclaiming the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man

2) He had come to establish a Kingdom, but not the kind the people were thinking of

d. Jesus came in humility and gentleness

II. A SHOUTING CROWD — THE KING'S RECEPTION

Mark 11:8-10 "And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, '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!'”

1. as Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He encountered a shouting crowd

a. this was the reception of the King

b. the people gathered along the way were looking for the Messiah

2. the salvation for which they longed, however, was a temporal salvation

a. they wanted someone to deliver them from their position under the foot of Rome

3. as Jesus mounted the colt and began His ride towards Jerusalem, the people spread their garments in the road

a. some spread palm branches, some waved palm branches

b. still others cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"

4. in the shouts and in the palm branches there was great significance

ILLUS. About one hundred fifty years earlier, Simon Maccabaeus had delivered Israel form Syrian rule. On that occasion, which is known as the Second Maccabaen Revolt, a great celebration was held with praise, palm branches, and musical instruments. After that revolt, the palm branch came to symbolize freedom and the Jew’s desire for deliverance. For the Jews, to be waving Palm Branches as Jesus entered Jerusalem would be similar to everyone of us standing along a parade route, waving the American Flag as the parade passed by. The words they were shouting were also important. The crowds were shouting “hosanna” which literally means "save us." So, as Jesus was riding along the road, the crowds were shouting, "Deliver us! Deliver us!" Deliver them from what? Well, from Roman oppression, of course.

a. Jesus indeed had salvation to offer, but a far different kind of salvation than the Jews expected

1) His salvation would run far deeper than mere exorcism of the Roman army

2) as long as He fulfilled their expectation, they would sing His praises and follow Him

3) He didn’t, and within a week they were shouting a different refrain, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

5. the Jesus they wanted was the Jesus of their own expectations

a. when He failed to live up to those misguided expectations, they forsook Him and shouted for His condemnation as ardently as they had praised Him and shouted for His coronation before

III. A SORROWFUL CRY — THE KING'S LAMENTATION

Mark 11:41-44 "And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying 'If you had known this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children with you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"

1. as Jesus approaches the city, He begins to weep over Jerusalem

2. in Mark’s account we have three things revealed

a. a broken heart

b. a blind people

c. and a tragic end

1) the broken heart is the heart of Jesus

2) the blind people are His countrymen, who could not see what God was doing in their midst

3) the tragic end was the impending judgment which would be visited on Jerusalem 40 years later because they had not received the King

3. Jesus was approaching Jerusalem from the East, coming from Jericho

a. about two miles from Jerusalem, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, He came to Bethany

b. continuing on His journey around the south side of the Mount of Olives, He passed by Bathphage, which was a little hamlet, almost at Jerusalem

c. from there, the road descended into a shallow valley, and then ascends very quickly to a rocky plateau

4. as you come over the rise, the entire city of Jerusalem bursts into view

a. and what a glorious view it was!

1) the entire city could be seen from this vantage point

2) from the East, it was spectacular view city

b. as He comes over the rise, Jesus could see the entire city - the Temple with its courts, the magnificent city behind, and the gardens and suburbs a little further back on the western plateau

1) He could also see hundred’s of thousands of Passover pilgrims who were camped out on the hillsides surrounding Jerusalem

ILLUS. As many as two million people would gather for this feast. It is thought by historians that almost half of the population of Judea and Galilee may have been there.

5. Jesus saw the multitudes of people and the holy city, and He wept

a. He wept because His heart was broken

1) they were a blind people

b. listen to what He said, "If you had known this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children with you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

1) they were blind to the coming of the King

2) blind to the significance of that coming

3) blind to the message of the Kingdom

4) blind to the day of their visitation

5) blind to the things which make for peace

c. and they were going to suffer a tragic end

1) Jesus said that a tremendous enemy would come and invade them and destroy the city, and not one stone would be left upon another

ILLUS. This is, in fact, what happened, when the Roman legions under Titus invaded Israel and laid it low. Titus appeared with 80,000 men and laid siege to the city. After several initial assaults and the Jews' refusal to surrender, Titus built a wall around the city, determined to starve them out. The Romans captured almost all of those seeking to smuggle food in. Titus ordered all who were captured outside the city to be crucified. About five hundred were crucified every day. Every tree in the area was cut down for wood, including those on the Mount of Olives.

Famine hit hard. People were dying in the streets. Dead bodies were everywhere. When the people no longer had the strength to bury their dead, they threw them over the wall. Finally, the city fell, and in August of AD 70, the city and the Temple were destroyed. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that 97,000 people were taken captive and that 1,100,000 people were killed during the entire siege. Jerusalem was leveled and just as Jesus had predicted, The loot from the city and Temple were carried back to Rome and financed most of the construction of the Colosseum.

6. this was the horrible and tragic end, of Jerusalem

a. this is what Jesus foresaw as the judgment of God for a people who were blind

b. Jesus said it came because they "did not recognize the time of [their] visitation"

c. they had not received Jesus for who He was – their hearts were hardened, and Jesus' heart was broken

IV. LESSONS FROM Mark 11:1-10

A. GOD OFTEN SURPRISES US

1. God surprised us at how He entered the world, and He surprises us at how He departed the world

2. Jesus thoroughly surprised the Jews at how He entered Jerusalem

a. when the Romans saw Jesus riding a donkey, they probably thought it was all a joke

1) after all, what king rides a donkey?

2) kings ride high-spirited stallions as their war steeds

3) I doubt that on this day the Romans saw Jesus as much of a threat to their imperial power

3. I have no doubt that many of the Jews wondered why this One who would be King was riding a lowly donkey

a. after all, wouldn't Messiah be riding a powerful war horse?

4. even Christ's own Disciples did not understand the importance of what they were witnessing

“At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.” (John 12:16, NIV)

5. similarly, we don’t always understand, when God comes to us in surprising ways

a. when He comes to you in that still, quiet voice, how do you respond to Him?

b. how do you receive Him when He comes to you in unexpected ways?

1) so often, we want God to speak in thunderous tones

2) but, more often than not, God chooses to speak to us in the still, small voice

c. it is strange that amid the clamor of the world God comes to us in a still, small voice

1) the world shouts at us on every side, like an obnoxious car commercial, and God chooses to speak softly

2) the word shouts, "Listen to me!"

3) but in order to hear God, you must quiet all other voices, and in stillness and solitude hear the Spirit of Christ speak

B. HUMILITY BEHOOVES ALL OF US

1. where is the triumph in the triumphal entry?

a. Jesus’ triumph was in his humility

ILLUS. J.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was once asked in an interview they the Dark Lord Sauron missed Frodo walking right into Mordor to destroy the ring. Thokien explained that Sauron could not conceive that someone with that much power would be willing to give it all away. Yet, it was through giving away his power that Frodo destroyed the greatest power of Evil.

2. in a similar way, Christ came to conquer the greater enemies of Satan, sin and death by humbling himself to the point of death, even death on a cross

a. Jesus’ marched into Jerusalem was indeed a victory march, but it was victory veiled

b. the cross was his victory veiled, but his resurrection and ascension were his victory unveiled

3. Jesus entered Jerusalem in humility, ready to serve, and this should be a Christian’s approach to life as well

C. HAVE YOU RECEIVED JESUS ON HIS TERMS?

1. how do we receive Him?

a. do we receive Jesus on His terms as He really is?

b. do we receive and submit to the commands of Jesus and the claims of Christ on our lives?

c. when our expectations of God are not fulfilled, do we forsake Him?

2. how do you receive Him?

D. DO YOU WEEP FOR THE LOST WHO ARE HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION?

1. Jesus still comes today, but people still reject Him

a. He still weeps over lost humanity

b. the heart of God is still broken over those who will not see