Get Ready for the Return of the King

Series: How Do We Follow Jesus in the Way TODAY?

Sermon: Get Ready for the Return of the King

Text: Mark 11:1-11

I. Planning Question

A. Connection to previous passage:

1. Make the most of your Bartimaeus moment: Follow Jesus on the way

2. Ongoing congregational question: How do we follow Jesus in the way TODAY?

B. Parameters:

1. No going back

a. No return to days of general cultural approval

(1) Separate, isolate, eradicate

(a) Facebook post: local personality

i) “If the new mandates do not work, it is time for a vaccine passport that is verifiable. Businesses could then require one to enter. It is no different than, "no shirt, no shoes' no service". The county board could also make them mandatory for all county facilities. If these irresponsible people will not get vaccinated, we need to quarantine them not the rest of us.”

ii) This principle:

a) You’ve heard this principle before: “For the sake of the rest of us, let’s separate and isolate the population we don’t like.”

1) Native Americans - reservations

2) Japanese Americans - WW2

b) separate and isolate ends with the movement to eradicate

1) Jewish Solution under Hitler in Germany

2) Abortion in America today:

Baby is inconvenient

No problem, kill it!

(b) Anyone who challenges the mass mindset becomes the focus of community angst

(c) Christian, this should not surprise you!

i) we need to remember what Jesus said about days like this:

(2) Matthew 24:9-13 (ESV) 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

(a) Not only will there be attacks from the outside

(b) But there will be apostasy and betrayal from the inside

(c) But the one who endures to the end will be saved

(3) Luke 21:10–19 (ESV) 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

(4) No, there is no going back to the old days of cultural approval, not for any of us.

b. No return to mass gatherings and multiplied conversions

c. No going back to the days when we could expect or hope that Christians coming to the community would join us because the vast majority of new arrivals have no Christian background, and many are decidedly “not Christian”

2. Only going forward

a. We live as Christians in an increasingly unfamiliar and difficult cultural context

(1) There is no going back

(2) There is only going forward.

b. How do we move forward from here?

c. How do we follow Jesus in the way TODAY?

C. Short Series: How Do We Follow Jesus in the Way TODAY?

1. Today: Mark 11:1-11 Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem as the returning King provides several clues for following Him in the way TODAY!

2. Next Week: Mark 11:12-25 Jesus’ curse of the fig tree and cleansing of the temple point to lives directed by His will and fulfilling His purpose as lives that succeed in following Him in the way.

T.S. Turn our attention to what is commonly called Jesus’ triumphal entry and ask, “How does this event in Jesus’ life lead us as we seek to follow Him in the way TODAY!”

II. Get Ready for the Return of the King

A. The Triumphal Entry

1. Israel longed for the return of the glory to the Temple of God, the return of the King

a. Ezekiel saw the glory of the LORD leave the temple

b. The people saw the temple destroyed as they were sent into exile

c. The nation never returned to its former glory

d. They waited for the Messiah to restore the glory

2. Jesus’ short journey from the Mount of Olives across the Kidron Valley to the city of Jerusalem and his immediate entry into the temple symbolically fulfill this desire.

B. An Intentional Second Look at Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem: Five Clues for Following Jesus in the Way TODAY

1. v. 2 Prepare for the future

2. v. 4 Trust and obey the command

3. v. 6 Give them Jesus’ word

4. v. 9 Praise the coming King!

5. v. 11 Look past what is for what should be

T.S. Let’s take a quick look at each of these clues and how they might help us follow Jesus in the way TODAY.

III. Five Clues for Following Jesus in the Way TODAY

A. v. 2 Prepare for the future

1. It may be a miracle of foreknowledge or it may have been previous planning

a. It appears more like planning

b. Does not have the record of amazement and praise that often accompanied miracles

2. Jesus knew what was coming and he prepared for it

a. He knew His identity - returning King on a kingdom mission

b. He knew His destiny - the cross to gain a people, then a people to gain a kingdom

c. He prepared for what He knew was coming

3. What do we know?

a. We know that Jesus is the true King

(1) Colossians 3:1 (ESV) If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

(2) Hebrews 1:3 (ESV) He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

(3) Revelation 1:5 (ESV) and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

(4) Philippians 2:9-11 (ESV) 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

b. We know that Jesus calls His subjects to faith

c. We know that Jesus is coming to claim His faithful and establish His kingdom

d. We know that the time prior to His coming will challenge faith

(1) Matthew 24:21-22 (ESV) 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

(2) Prepare for what we know is coming

(3) Invest in the discipleship of your own soul lest you be swept away with those who are perishing

B. v. 4 Trust and obey the command

1. Disciples could have been maimed, imprisoned, stoned or crucified for stealing

2. They had one course of action: trust and obey the word of Jesus

a. They went

b. They found

c. They took

d. They told

3. They did not cower in fear, rather they acted in faith!

a. 1 John 5:4 (ESV) 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

b. Time and again we are exhorted, encouraged, and commanded to fear not and to act in faith.

c. Move forward TODAY in faith trusting Christ’s word and obeying Christ’s commands.

C. v. 6 Give them Jesus’ word

1. “They told them what Jesus had said”

a. No excuses

b. No effort to make Jesus look good

c. No attempt at cultural relevance

2. If you are truly following Jesus in the way, the world will wonder why you do what you do

a. Trust and obey the command

b. Tell them what Jesus says!

(1) In order to tell them you have to know

(2) In order to know, you have to study and listen

(3) In order to study and listen, you have to invest!

D. v. 9 Praise the coming King!

1. Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the LORD!

2. Let praise keep your heart and advance your confession

a. “The LORD inhabits the praise of His people”

b. Philippians 4:8-9 (ESV) 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

E. v. 11 Look past what is for what should be

1. Jesus saw the marketplace the temple had become

2. Jesus looked past what was to what should have been

a. My house: a house of prayer

b. You’ve made it a den of thieves

c. Jesus cleared the temple

3. The house where the Spirit of God now dwells is your heart and your church

a. Look past what is

b. Look to what should be

c. Act for what should be

(1) Your heart: Confess and repent

(2) Your church: Engage and exhort

(a) Now is the not the time to disappear and hope someone else will help the church thrive and attain God’s goals

(b) Now is the time to step up, get involved, add obedience to faith and help God’s people align themselves in the way with Jesus

T.S. God is at work in the world, in the church, in your lives. He actively pursues your conformity to His will. He sets out a plan for you to follow Him in the way.

IV. Conclusion

A. The work of God in the church TODAY

1. Purifying the sons of Levi

2. Starting with the household of God

3. The great falling away

4. Separating the sheep and the goats

B. Don’t be a goat.

1. Chopped

2. “You’ve been ‘chopped.’”

C. The King is Coming,

1. Get ready, invest in the state of your own soul

2. Stay ready

3. Commit wholeheartedly to follow Jesus in the way, in your own life, in your church