Mark 11:1-11
In the first 10 chapters of Mark, we covered about 3.5 years of ministry for Jesus and His disciples. In the last 6 chapters, we’ll cover 1 week. This last week is what we know as Passion Week. And it may be a little weird to be preaching a message on the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem on October 1st, but this is where we find ourselves as we journey through this gospel together. As we go through these chapters in the coming months, I’ll make sure to let you know when we enter a new day of the week.
In the 3+ years that the disciples have been with Jesus, He has alluded to the prophecies about the coming Messiah. The disciples had been listening closely, and while they may not have fully grasped things just yet, Jesus was about to fulfill a few more Old Testament prophecies that they would have known pretty well.
Let’s make sure we have a proper foundation of historical context before we talk about the fulfilling of the prophecies. In 63 BC, the Romans conquered Jerusalem and took control of the city. They imprisoned, tortured and crucified thousands of Jews. This went on for about 70 years, and in 6 AD Rome finally made Judea a Roman province. The Jews had lost their freedom yet again, and for the past 70 years had faced the power and authority of Roman rule. They had no freedom. They were taxed unfairly. They were oppressed. Everything had seemingly been taken away from them. They needed someone to come in and rescue them.
Zechariah 9:9-10 was a passage that the Jewish people held to tightly:
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
They were so ready for their King to enter Jerusalem, overthrow the Romans, and take His rightful seat on the throne, establishing His kingdom, and bringing Israel back to a place of prominence and respect.
So we have this great expectation of the Jewish people. To add to our foundation of historical context, let’s remember what was going on in the camp of the Pharisees.
Over the course of Jesus’ ministry on earth, He had upset some people, hadn’t He? The religious leaders had built up a fierce hate towards Him over the years:
He ate with and associated with sinners, you weren’t supposed to do that!
He broke the Sabbath to heal people. His disciples broke the Sabbath to eat.
He called them hypocrites, broods of vipers, fools
But the number one reason why they felt such a hatred towards Him was because of who He claimed to be:
John 5:18 – “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
One more thing, and then I promise we’ll get into our passage. Remember that all along the way, Jesus has been telling people to keep His miracles quiet. “Tell no one about what I have done.” The timing of this moment is just too massive to miss. It was time for Jesus to go public, and what a time to do it. An estimated 2.5 million people would have been in Jerusalem for the Passover. An estimated 250,000 lambs would be sacrificed.
So with anticipation from the Jewish people around what Jesus was going to do, and a murderous plot from the religious leaders, let’s get into our passage this morning.
Read Mark 11:1-11
All along this journey through Mark that we’ve been on, we’ve followed a thread that is “Jesus the Suffering Servant.” Just recently He has been teaching His disciples about true greatness. In order to be considered great, you humble yourself. Even the Son of Man is not above this. And what better picture of humility than riding into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Interesting here that Jesus tells them that they are going to have to search for the colt. They are going to enter the city and see a colt, and they will just know. It has not been broken, no one has ever ridden on it before. The fame of Jesus spread so much that, when the owner asked why they needed to borrow it, Jesus said, “just tell them the Lord has need of it.” Remember, the anticipation of the people had grown almost to a boiling point. The owners knew who they were referring to when they said “the Lord.” They will get their donkey back once Jesus is done with it, but imagine being the owner and having this request brought to you. The Lord, the Messiah, needs your young donkey, is that ok? Like, YES! Does He need anything else?!
It happens just as Jesus says, and they return to Him with the colt in tow. Let’s look a little closer at the next few details of our story:
Threw their cloaks on it / Many spread their cloaks on the road:
Spreading your cloak on the ground for a figure of royalty to walk on was a sign of great honor and respect. What we have to understand here, is that most of these people only would have owned one cloak. The disciples’ acknowledgement of Jesus as King was expressed in their creating a saddle for Jesus to ride on. That was one thing. But think about the implications of laying your cloak on the ground for the donkeys to walk on. Not only would the muddy feet of the donkey potentially ruin the cloaks on the ground, but the great crowd that followed would also be stepping on the cloaks as the owners were trying to pick them up. But they didn’t care! They were willing to risk great loss to give Jesus the honor they felt like He deserved.
And so this begs the question for us. Are we willing to risk great loss to give Jesus the honor that He deserves? In the face of worldly values, empty philosophies and vain pursuits, are we willing to hold fast to Jesus?
Others spread leafy branches cut from the field:
While this included all kinds of branches, the primary and traditional one we know of are palm branches. Palm branches were a symbol of triumph and victory. Again, the expectation of the masses was that Jesus was marching into Jerusalem to overthrow the Romans. Victory is here! And that’s exactly why they were yelling “Hosanna!”
Those in front and back were shouting “Hosanna!”:
Those leading the parade, and those trailing the parade were all yelling “Hosanna,” which means literally, “Save now!” Roman oppression was nearing its end. Freedom was right around the corner. But their cries went beyond “hosanna,” they were singing Psalm 118:25-26 that says:
(Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord:)
“Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.”
Listen to this connection to Psalm 118: Passover celebrated the Hebrew people’s deliverance out of Egypt and Psalm 118 was one of the Egyptian Hallels. These were songs that were sung by the Jewish people to celebrate the Passover. And so the nation of Israel mistakenly anticipates another deliverance like God had brought about from Egypt. They saw Jesus as the Messiah who would deliver them from Roman oppression, but they misinterpreted Psalm 118 because they had missed the crucial context that the Messiah would be a Suffering Servant before He would be a conquering King.
Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our Father David:
And they add to it, “blessed is the coming Kingdom of our Father David!.” Listen to the prophecy from Jeremiah 33:15-17: “In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel.”
The promised Messiah was going to come from the line of David. They really did believe that Jesus was the Messiah! That He was the One chosen to save Israel. But it’s not going to happen that way they had hoped. It was not going to happen the way they had anticipated. In fact, these same crowds would be yelling in just a few short days for the Romans to crucify Jesus.
We talk a lot about how the resurrection set Jesus apart from other prominent figures in other religions. This moment is one that we sometimes overlook in the conversation. Listen to this comparison from one author:
“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, Mohamma’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.”
Application
With great anticipation, Jesus entered Jerusalem. In a hope-filled shout, the crowds joined together with “save now!” And this familiar story can become overlooked as far as relevance. See, they were hopeful for something that had not yet happened. We live on the other side of this. And because of the truths that we hold in our hands, because we know the end of this story, and the end of THE story, we live in great anticipation of what is to come. We live in hope. We have the confidence when life gets hard to shout “Hosanna! Save me now!”
They expected an earthly King, but we got a heavenly King, sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding on our behalf. They expected a conquering King, but we got a servant King who willingly suffered on our behalf.
And while a lot of messages end with a challenge, or some questions to dwell on, really what I want us to collectively do today is just be thankful.
