Oh Save! Hosanna

Mark 11:1-11 1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, 2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him. 3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither. 4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him. 5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? 6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. 8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. 11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.

Psalms 118:26 26 Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.

1. Introduction: Jerusalem: three significant points needs to be made about Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem.

a. Matthew, Mark, Luke say little about Jesus' ministry in Jerusalem. This is the first mention of a specific visit there.

1) The synoptic gospels give only a hint that Jesus was ever in Jerusalem

2) The first three gospels concentrate on Jesus' ministry in Galilee

b. The Gospel of John covers Jesus' ministry in Judea and Jerusalem and tells us that Jesus was in Jerusalem quite often, especially during the great feasts.

c. When Jesus visited Jerusalem, His ministry was different from His Galilean ministry. In Galilee Jesus taught many subjects, but in Jerusalem He focused only upon one theme: He is the Messiah.

1) There was a reason for this

1. Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine, and the temple itself was there

2. Jerusalem was the hub and center of Jewish life and worship

3. The population of Jerusalem and the surrounding suburbs and cities ranged in the hundreds of thousands (Bethphage, Bethany and Jericho were all within about seventeen miles away.)

4. The temple required over twenty thousand priests alone, not counting the Levite helpers who must have numbered even more

2) If there was any place where Jesus would proclaim that He was the long awaited Messiah, it would be in Jerusalem.

2. Note the following visits to Jerusalem.

a. Jesus cleansed the temple proclaiming it to be "My Father's house" (John 2:16)

b. He proclaimed that He was the Son of Man (John 3:14)

c. God's only begotten Son (John 3:16).

d. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath, a man who had been sick for 38 years. Then He proclaimed that He had the right to break the Sabbath law because He was the Son of the Father. He was equal with God in every sense of the word (John 5:1-16; John 5:17-30).

e. He declared that

1) He was sent of God (John 7:16-17, 28-29; John 8:18, 26, 29, 42)

2) the Source of life (John 7:37-39)

3) the Light of the World (John 8:12; John 9:5)

4) the Messiah (John 8:24, 28)

5) the Spokesman of God (John 8:26-28, 40)

6) the Son of Man (John 8:28)

7) that God was His Father (John 8:28, 36, 38, 49, 54)

8) that He had come from God (John 8:42)

9) that He was the great "I Am" (John 8:58)

10) the Son of God (John 9:35-37)

11) the Great Shepherd of Life (John 10:1-42)

f. Jesus declared Him being the Messiah by the triumphal entry

1) He fulfilled scripture that He was the Messiah, deliberately proclaiming that He was "the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16)

2) Jesus was warning the people that they were looking for the wrong Messiah.

1. He was not coming as the the national hero to save the world physically and materially by overthrowing the Roman and Gentile governments of the world

2. He was coming as the King of Peace to save the world spiritually and eternally. Spiritual and eternal salvation must occur first, then He would return to bring peace and national salvation to all men everywhere

3. He had to come first as the King of Peace; then He would come as the King of Conquest.

3. Scene One: the first scene involved the colt. Note the painstaking detail of these verses. Christ had a reason for making such detailed preparations to enter Jerusalem. He was deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 - “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” The prophecy said four things.

a. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem”: Not with this world's joy. God never exhorts man to "rejoice greatly" in this world's fleeting joys.

b. ".. Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, he is just, and having salvation; ": Jerusalem's King was coming and with him is “justice” and “salvation: just as Jerusalem had expected, but He came somewhat differently than expected.

c. "..Thy King cometh unto thee… lowly ": The Messiah was coming lowly, in meekness, not as a reigning monarch. He was coming to win men's hearts and lives spiritually and eternally, not physically and materially

d. "..Thy King cometh unto thee... and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass ":

1) The Messiah was coming not as a conqueror riding a white stallion, but as a King of peace riding a young colt.

2) He was not going to kill men and overthrow their governments (the Romans and Gentiles). He was coming to win men's hearts and lives through the gospel

4. Scene Two: the triumphal entry. This symbolized that Christ came to save now (Hosanna). Note the word "many" (Mark 11:8); "very great multitude" (Matthew 21:8). They were proclaiming Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of David who had come to deliver them from the bondage of Roman and Gentile rule. Of course by riding the colt Jesus was proclaiming that He had come to save now, but not like they expected.

a. This is the first and only time that He made an entrance into any city where Jesus deliberately received the homage of the people.

b. Christ was helped atop the colt and began His triumphal entry into Jerusalem

1) Two million pilgrims or more gathered in Jerusalem every year for the Passover Feast

2) The news concerned the miracles Christ had performed—many which led up to the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1f; John 11:55-56). The very atmosphere was electric with the exciting news that Jesus was God's promised Messiah

3) There was the multitude already travelling with Him (Matthew 21:29)

4) And there was the multitude of citizens in Bethany and Bethpage who had begun gathering around Him (Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1f)

5) The whole thrust of the picture points to teeming thousands searching for Him and rushing out to welcome Him when they heard He was coming.

6) The multitudes did two things.

1. They received Him as King. This was shown by two acts that were always done for kings when they entered a city. They stripped off their cloaks and cut down tree branches, and they spread both out on the roadway before Him.

2. They received Him as Messiah

5. Scene Three: was the investigation of the situation of the temple. This symbolized that Jesus came obediently. The scene was descriptive. “ And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things "

6. Scene Four: was the seclusion at Bethany. This symbolized that Christ prepared spiritually.

7. Conclusion (Bob’s conclusion)

a. This was the beginning of the last week of Christ’s earthly life and ministry.

b. Christ had stayed out of the limelight until this point in time.

c. The people did not want to believe what the scriptures clearly foretold, but instead what their need was.

d. We as Christians today must be careful of the same thing.

1) We must study the Bible through the “eyes of the Holy Spirit”

2) We must handle the “WORD” with great compassion and love

3) We must guard against all things worldly, and open hearts to the message of God

4) Before we try to accomplish anything thing spiritually, we should seek seclusion and pray.