The King is Coming!

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Mark 11:1-25

Introduction: (What?)

The first “Holy Week” was quite an event that started with a parade like no other. The crowd was in two parts; one group behind Jesus and another ahead of Him. Some folks had gone via Bethany on their way to Jerusalem for Passover in order to see for themselves that Lazarus had really been raised from the dead. They followed Jesus as He traversed the 2 miles into Jerusalem. Others, already in Jerusalem, came out of the city to meet Him when word spread that He was approaching. Although we consider Christmas as the “first coming” of Jesus (Messiah), I think that the Triumphal Entry was more in line with the coming of the KING. The parade into town was only the beginning. Let’s walk with Jesus today through the opening days of this momentous week.

Explanation: (Why?)

1. Deity on a Donkey (vv1-11)

Vv 1-3 “When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives; He sent two of his disciples and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The LORD needs it and will send it back here right away.’” The village that Jesus referred to was most likely Bethphage, a small town near Bethany, located on the SE slope of the Mount of Olives. This, Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, is the only time that village is mentioned in scripture. The colt, most likely the foal of a donkey, was in plain view when they entered the village. They didn’t have to go hunting for it. Jesus evidently anticipated that someone would challenge the disciples’ taking of the colt, so He prepared them for it. (Whenever Jesus gives us directions for something He wants us to do, He will also give us a “heads-up” so that we might know what to expect.)

The fact that the colt had never had anyone sit on it relates to the moving of the Ark of the Covenant. That required an “unyoked carrier” (1 Sam. 6:7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart...”) Jesus was the living Ark of the Covenant and thus required an animal on which no one had sat.

Vv4-7 “So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, and some of those standing there said to them, ‘What are you doing, untying the colt?’ They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go. They brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and He sat on it.” The disciples did exactly what Jesus commanded and encountered exactly what He said they might. They were prepared. When Jesus sat on the colt, here was deity on a donkey. Normally a victorious general or a monarch would approach a city mounted on a white warhorse. (Jesus will do that when He comes again (Rev. 19:11-16). Now He comes in peace. The prophet Zechariah said “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; He is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The people who were in Bethany who were watching these events take place, then got in on the celebration. As the colt on which Jesus sat began to move along the road, some of the people took off their outer garments and spread them on the road ahead of the colt. This was part of an ancient practice for welcoming a new king. Others spread leafy branches cut from the fields. Evidently it was beginning to sink in that here was the long awaited king.

“Those who went ahead and those who followed behind shouted: ‘Hosanna! (shout it with me) Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!’ He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.” (vv9-11) Jesus spent the time before Passover in the home of Lazarus, Mary & Martha, and went back and forth into Jerusalem each day. As mentioned earlier, it was only 2 miles between the town of Bethany and the city of Jerusalem. Question: when was the last time you walked 4 miles round trip to and from church? Just wondering.

2. The Lesson of the Fig Tree (vv12-14; 20-25)

“The next day when they went out from Bethany, He was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, He went to find out if there was anything on it. He found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. He said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again!’ And His disciples heard it.” (vv 12-14) This is one of those passages that requires a bit of thought. If you just read it without delving into the circumstances, Jesus comes off as being a bit petty. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the first place a note in the Amplified Bible tells us that if there are leaves on a fig tree there should be fruit. Seeing it from a distance Jesus would not have been able to tell if there was fruit or not. However, upon closer scrutiny, He found no fruit. Mark included the tidbit that it was not the season for figs. Remember, Jesus was a craftsman, not a farmer. The main take-away from this passage is that this was a fruitless fig tree that gave the appearance of having fruit. John McArthur notes that the abundance of leaves held out the promise that the tree might be ahead of schedule with its fruit. He also notes that the fig tree was frequently used in the OT to identify the Jewish nation. In this situation, Jesus used the tree with an appearance that would lead one to expect fruit as an object lesson regarding Israel’s spiritual hypocrisy and fruitlessness. Once again Mark uses his parenthetical reporting to help us see the time line. The story of the fig tree is continued AFTER Jesus went into Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. We pick up the story in v20. “Early in the morning, (the day after the fig tree incident) as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. Then Peter remembered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’” The lesson to us today is that Jesus will curse (condemn) those who put on a show, but do not produce. Believers today have been grafted in to the tree of spiritual Israel, therefore we stand to face the same condemnation when we don’t produce fruit. We have the buildings, the literature, and all the accouterments, but where is the fruit? In John 15 we find much more about the requirement for fruit from believers. V5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.” Then in v 8 Jesus said, “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be My disciples.” Backing up to v2 we find, “Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He (the vinedresser, God) removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.” Christianity is all about producing fruit. The fruit that churches MUST produce is disciples. (remember the Great Commission?) The fact that American Christianity is fruitless is proven by the decline in the size of congregations and the number of churches that are plateaued or dying. Our baptisteries are dried up and we have a hard time finding people who are actively involved in making disciples. It doesn’t seem to bother us that we are not reaching the lost in our area. So long as the AC works, the pews are comfortable, and no one sits in our seat, we are content with the status quo.

There are some churches that are diligently working to bear fruit. I read of a church in Calhoun, Georgia this week that has baptized 168 people during the pandemic. They have literally worn out their baptistry and are having to install a new one. They baptize people any day of the week whether there is a service going on or not. When someone accepts Christ and wants to be baptized, they do it then and there. A church in Hendersonville, TN has recently baptized 99 people in one service. Jesus would not curse such a church. But woe to the church that looks like it has it all together and yet is not producing disciples.

Let’s get back to Peter’s observation regarding the withered fig tree. The response Jesus gave does not sound like it fits with Peter’s statement. Vv22-24 “Jesus replied to them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for---believe that you have received it and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.’”

Jesus was not saying that believers would go around moving literal mountains, but He was emphasizing that our “prayers of faith” can and should overcome great difficulties. These prayers should be in accordance with the will of God. Matt. 6:10 “Your kingdom come, Your will be done...” and in 1 John 5:14-15 “This is the confidence we have before Him: if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of Him.” 1st determine the will of God in the matter of your concern, then ask in accordance with that will. An example is what Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 3:9 “The LORD does not delay His promise as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” Therefore you and I can pray confidently for our unsaved friends and family, because we know His will in the matter.

3. Spring Cleaning on Steroids (vv15-19)

Going back to vv 15-19 we find the reason behind the cursing of the fig tree. Remember, Jesus had gone to the temple on Sunday, looked around, and then had gone back to Bethany for the night. He saw the merchandising that was taking place on Sunday evening. Consequently he had all night to determine what He was going to do. “They came to Jerusalem, and He went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.” This was not a spontaneous fit of anger. It was a carefully thought out response to the misuse of the House of Worship & Prayer. He was fulfilling the prophecy of Malachi 3:1 “See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the LORD you seek will suddenly come to His temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in---see, He is coming, says the LORD of Armies. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach.”

Gentiles who came to the temple were only able to enter what was called “the Court of the Gentiles”. This was the very spot that the merchants had co-opted for their money-gouging activities. Therefore the Gentiles had no place to gather for worship. The money changers were charging as much as 12% to exchange the money of the travelers for accepted Jewish coins which were the only ones accepted for temple taxes. The sellers of doves were those who charged exorbitant prices for birds required for sacrifice. The animals that were sold there were for those who had traveled great distances and could not bring “unblemished” animals for sacrifice. Therefore the merchants sold them pre-approved animals at a huge mark up. The Jewish historian, Josephus wrote that at one Passover (AD66) 255,000 lambs were bought, sold and sacrificed in the Temple courts.

Jesus also stopped those who were using the Court of the Gentiles as a short-cut to get their wares to other places. Again Jesus grabbed a “teachable moment” and quoted from both Isaiah and Jeremiah when He said, “Is it not written,’My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? (Isa. 56:7) But you have made it a den of thieves!” (Jer. 7:11) Jesus not only stopped the merchandising, He also cleared the Court of the Gentiles for its original purpose of being a place of worship for Gentiles.

This only stoked the fire of the chief priests and scribes for when they “heard it and started looking for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching.”

Application: (How does this impact my life today?)

One commentator asked some cogent questions that will help us apply this passage to our lives.

“Are you a barren fig tree? You look like you should have fruit, but you don’t. Who are the disciples you have made in your years as a believer? Where are they today?

Can you forgive those you once hated and have wronged you? Can you get the gospel to them? How will you do it? When will you do it?

Can/will you remove any and all barriers that would keep the unsaved from hearing and responding to the gospel?

To those questions, I would add some more. Where are you in the crowd? Are you among the merchants? Are you among the religious traditionalists who put stumbling blocks in the way of the unsaved? Or are you one of the unsaved; one who has never surrendered to Jesus as LORD?

Today is the day to determine your spiritual destiny. Today is the day to get right with the God whom you say you serve. Today is the day to express your love for Jesus and the Father in the only way they will understand…your obedience to their commands.