Sermon Tone Analysis

We come to a turning point in the ministry of Jesus in Mark 11.

For the next 6 chapters everything happens in Jerusalem in one week.

This is what is known as the Passion week of Jesus.

From this point forward we will focus on Jesus as the Messiah come to save His people, the religious leaders looking to condemn Him and His warning to the nation of Israel that He was not coming to conquer Rome, but to conquer sin as the King of Peace!

Let’s look at what is called “His Triumphal Entry.”

Text; Mark 11:1-11

1. Jesus and the Colt; 1-7

When Jesus instructed his disciples to go into the town and loose this colt, we need to understand this colt was the foal of a donkey [Mt.

21].

The symbolism of the colt is very important.

David rode a mule and Solomon rode David’s mule to be anointed king of Israel.

In ancient days a mule was a noble animal.

It was used by kings and their emissaries.

When they entered a city in peace, they rode a mule to symbolize their peaceful intentions.

So when Jesus rode this colt [mule] it was a symbolic act of a king coming in peace.

This differs dramatically from a conquering king.

When a king entered a city as a conqueror, he rode a white stallion.

Jesus rides in peacefully this time but He will come again a second time to conquer, riding a white stallion.

Two Disciples- The scripture does not reveal the names of these two disciples, but this is a mission of faith.

They go on the words of Christ alone.

Notice He sends two.

Colt- this is a colt that’s never been ridden.

The law required that only animals that had not been used for ordinary purposes were appropriate for sacred purposes.

This colt had to be one that had never been yoked or used in an ordinary way.

It had to be a yearling so it was not tame at all.

Yet when they brought this colt to Jesus, He sat on him.

This is not natural, most animals will buck and pitch a fit.

The submission of this colt demonstrates Jesus’s authority over His creation.

2. Jesus Fulfills Prophesy; 8-10

When Jesus enters the city riding the colt people gave Him the welcome of a king.

Hosanna- “Save now”, a cry for the Messiah, the Son of David to bring salvation to His people Israel.

“He who comes in the name of the Lord”- the Jews believed that during a Passover celebration, Yahweh would recognise their oppression and send His salvation/deliverer as He did in Egypt!

Jesus was deliberately fulfilling the prophesy of Zech.

9:9

Jerusalem was rejoicing but for the wrong reason.

Jesus their king has come but they mistakenly thought Jesus was coming to overthrow the Roman government.

“Just and having salvation, lowly [humbly]”- Jesus salvation is not to save one from the world [Rome] but to save one from their sin.

This salvation is not brought about by armies but by sacrifice.

Jesus came to die!

Hebrews 9:22, 25-26 (NKJV)

22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission...

25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—

26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus is the Paschal lamb that would be sacrificed during the Passover for the sins of mankind!

In no other manner are the differences between Muslims and Christians more sharply contrasted than in the difference between the characters and legacies of their prophets.

Perhaps the contrast is best symbolized by the way Mohammad entered Mecca and Jesus entered Jerusalem.

Mohammad rode into Mecca on a warhorse, surrounded by 400 mounted men and 10,000 foot soldiers.

Those who greeted him were absorbed into his movement; those who resisted him were vanquished, killed, or enslaved.

Mohammad conquered Mecca, and took control as its new religious, political, and military leader.

Today, in the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, Mohammad’s purported sword is proudly on display.…

Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, accompanied by his 12 disciples.

He was welcomed and greeted by people waving palm fronds—a traditional sign of peace.

Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the Jews mistook him for an earthly, secular king who was to free them from the yoke of Rome, whereas, Jesus came to establish a much different, heavenly kingdom.

Jesus came by invitation and not by force.

(Dever, It Is Well, 65)

Akin, D. L. (2014).

Exalting jesus in mark (D.

L. Akin, D. Platt, & T. Merida, Eds.; Mk 11:1–11).

Holman Reference.

Jesus will never force Himself or His salvation upon anyone, but He will give all men the opportunity to trust Him as Savior.

3. Jesus and the Temple; 11

In the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, it says when Jesus came into Jerusalem He went into the temple and drove out those that bought and sold.

Here in Mark is the only place it says He went to the temple, looked around and then returned back to Bethany because it was late in the day.

He cleanses the temple on the next day.

This is a significant piece of scripture often overlooked and because of that, many get the chronology of the Passion week wrong making Jesus crucified on Friday [Good Friday] instead of Wednesday [Good Wednesday]

It is impossible to get 3 days/nights from Friday afternoon till Saturday 6pm which starts the next day Sunday when Jesus arose from the grave!

Manipulating the scriptures to fit the traditions of men is a foolish thing to do.

Just like the wise men didn’t arrive in Jerusalem to see the babe in a manger but a year to 18 months after his birth to see the “Child in a house.”

[Mt.

2:11]

The temple was quiet, there were no money changers or merchants at work in the temple.

The reason why is because it was the Saturday Sabbath.

This sabbath was an important sabbath though, it was Saturday, Nisan 10th, a seventh day Sabbath, the day on which God’s Law said that a “lamb without blemish” must be selected and set apart.

Close;

His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem was the fulfillment of the prophetic type represented in the Law for the selection of the Paschal Lamb.

When Jesus went out to Bethany, he was separated from the fold to be held for sacrifice.

Jesus never stayed in Jerusalem after being chosen as the sacrificial lamb, until the day he was to be crucified.

Jesus not only fulfilled Zec.

9:9, He also fulfilled the prophecies in Daniel 9 of his 70 weeks until the coming of the Messiah and him being cut off.

Christ Triumphal Entry was God’s way His Son would proclaim His Messiahship so clearly that the people could not mistake what He was doing.

God wanted the world to know that He was bringing peace to earth through His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus entered into Jerusalem that day, triumphantly as the Prince of Peace, The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Have you entered into His rest/peace, triumphant over sin through salvation by faith?