What is in your hand? 03/28/2021
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The Staff of God
The Staff of God
When Moses first saw the burning bush,
he went over to it in wonder and the Lord spoke to him from the midst of the burning bush.
God told Moses to go in the name of God and rescue his people.
And Moses wasn’t sure
Moses said
1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
God was prepared for this question, and he said
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
A staff was good for walking,
depending on it’s size and weight
it might be good for self defence
or if it had a bend
a hood on the end
it might be good for retreiving things
Moses staff, did not impress people that Moses had God’s authority.
So God say
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
I bet if I threw down my staff and it became a big old King Cobra, rising up, we could clear a few rows out near me here.
Now here comes the scariest part
4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
If we had a hissing live snake here, it might be hard to find someone willing to grab it by the tail.
But Moses did.
And he got his staff back.
But as far as the bible quotes Moses, he never called that stick his staff again,
he always called it the staff of God, from then on.
You and I just might have things that God can use
maybe he can even use them to convince others that He is real
that he has power
but God often choses to work with what we have
if we are willing to let Him use it.
The Road to Jerusalem
The Road to Jerusalem
Let’s look at the map to see Jesus probably trek to Jerusalem, for the Triumphal Entry
We can see from our first map the familiar Sea of Galilee in the North with Mt Carmel on the coast and Samaria south of those places
We can see the Jordan river and Jordan valley that Jesus would have walked along until reaching Jericho.
Then with a turn westward, He would have started the long, uphill walk to Bethphage, Bethany, the Mt of Olives and Jerusalem.
And that is were our story starts of the triumphal entry in Mark 11.
1 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?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”
This is preparations for the triumphal entry.
This is a major shift in Jesus ministry.
Now he is beginning to reveal himself as their Gentle King
And the people respond accordingly, they symbolism is not wasted on them.
The Father could have sent a wild donkey,
like He
sent animals to Noah to go on the Ark.
But instead,
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, chose to work with people like you and me.
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit, chose to work with people like you and me.
God worked with someone who had regard for Jesus
perhaps he was a follower of Jesus,
and was acquainted with Jesus teaching?
For some reason, when the disciples said the Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly,
the owner/owners agreed and let the animals betaken.
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How would you feel if you had a new car delivered today.
It was right off the truck, delivered to your house and it had never been driven before.
And I came to your door and said,
I need your car!
It’s important,
I will bring it back soon?
If you are like me, you would say
“No way, I haven’t even had a chance to drive it yet”
“You might damage it, or not bring it back”
But the man with the donkeys agrees to let his donkeys be borrowed by men who claim to be with Jesus.
We can hope the man had seen the disciples with Jesus before.
That was a step of trust . . . a step of Obedience.
That was a step of trust . . . a step of Obedience.
It was also a step of obedience for the 2 disciples to go after the colt,
knowing their story might sound like a pack of lies, to the owner of the colt.
The owner might even yell for soldiers to take hold of these thieves trying to steel his donkey.
And it was a step of obedience
a miraculous step, for the poor little colt
never been ridden before
to carry a person,
and go down a road
go down a path,
strewn with stuff
coats and big palm leaves
that was a miracle of the peace that passes understanding
to say the least.
So, the disciples had to GO
They also had to search, to make an effort
They also had to search, to make an effort
Sometimes, people like you and me,
are NOT willing to make an effort for Jesus.
Not to find the Colt, but to find life lessons
in His word.
We are commanded
we are encouraged to
be in His Word
but to often, we let life squeeze
out our time for reading His word
our time for studying his word
or doing the Sunday School devotions as a minimum.
So, the disciples had to search
They also had to speak God’s word.
They also had to speak God’s word.
The average Christian, would have trouble repeating would God says,
First because they don’t know it
Second because they wouldn’t want to be considered judgmental
or narrow minded.
But the disciples were willing to listen to Jesus
to remember His words and to say them
when it was the right time and place.
And giving credit were credit is due,
The Owner had to give his permission, agree to loan out his animals.
The Owner had to give his permission, agree to loan out his animals.
We already covered that he said yes when asked but that was another point of bodience to Christ that he did say yes.
What’s in your hand?
What’s in your hand?
What do you have,
that the lord might want to make use of?
It could be things,
it could be money
it likely involves :
your skills
your talents
and your greatest treasures.
What do you have, that the Lord wants to put to uses?
Are you willing?
Let’s get back to our story
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.
It’s interesting that Mark makes no mention of the colts mother.
Neither does Luke or John but Matthew mentions it.
2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me.
Mark makes no mention about how this Triumphal Entry fulfills prophecy.
You need to read Matthews account of the Triumphal Entry,
or Johns account, to hear about how this fulfill scriptures (Matt 21, John 12)
That makes me think, Mark is writing to a Greek audience, not a Jewish audience
Because the Greeks would have less concern over fulfilled prophecy, but it would be very important to the Jews.
Next comes the parade,
the actual entry into Jerusalem, with
the path strewn with coats and big palm branches
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“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 heaven!”
I’ve seen horses spook before, afraid of little foreign objects.
maybe you have to but just imagine . . .
The whole road down into Jerusalem is
covered with coats and branches,
what a sight for a little donkey colt.
Vickie tells me that is the 2nd miracle with the colt, the first miracle was
the unbroken colt,
accepting Jesus as a rider
no ifs,
ands or
bucks.
That was a miracle of God.
Mark doesn’t tell his readers anything about the Pharisees challenging Jesus to
shut his disciples up
Nor Jesus answer that if the crowd was quiet, the very stones would cry out.
No, if you want to read about that you would need to look in Luke.
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
It was also Luke, not Mark who records Jesus weeping over what is to come to Jerusalem.
That is also in Luke 19.
Matthew is where we would need to look if we wanted to find details of what Jesus did toward the end of that day in Jerusalem
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
14 The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,
“ ‘From the lips of children and infants
you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
17 And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
But most of that was not important to Mark and his readers, he had already shown Jesus to be a great worker of miracles.
that does Mark have to say about the rest of the day, after the Triumphal Entrance
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Mark saw nothing more than that to include in his narrative, his gospel of Jesus life and ministry for that day.
What was important to Mark in the triumphal entry.
What was important to Mark in the triumphal entry.
Jesus orders about the colt
The disciples Obedience
The colts miraculous cooperation
The parade
and checking things out for the next day.
The most important thing for us
May be to consider what we have
our time
our money
our resource
our hearts
How willing are we to share these things with the master?
if, He has need of us.
Lets Pray.
Lets Pray.