Triumphal Entry Of The King Of Kings Series

GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION

TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF THE KING OF KINGS

A. Mark 11:1-11 (READ)

1. We have now come to the FINAL WEEK of Jesus’ LIFE on earth—often referred to as “HOLY WEEK.”

a. Since we have only 5 Sundays until Easter, counting today, for our remaining STUDY of Mark’s Gospel I will be focusing on the HIGHLIGHTS of Jesus’s FINAL DAYS leading up to His

CRUCIFIXION.

COMMENT:

I started the series on the Gospel of Mark last summer, and picked it up again in January. Today marks the 23rd lesson in this series, and by the time we are through I will have preached 28 lessons from Mark’s Gospel—and, believe, me I could PREACH 28 more. There is so much to LEARN about Jesus and His TEACHINGS from this Gospel.

b. I hope you continue to study the GOSPELS on your own.

2. Although Jesus is greeted by a LARGE crowd of people as He enters Jerusalem, they are not there because

of Him.

a. The city of Jerusalem was crowded with visitors whom have come to CELEBRATE the PASSOVER.

b. Every Jewish adult from a 20-mile radius was obligated to attend the CELEBRATIONS, and many

more came miles and miles away from all over Judea.

c. Some Hebrew historians estimate that as many as 2½ million would gather in Jerusalem during

Passover.

3. Even today millions of Jews and Messianic Christians all over the world still celebrate PASSOVER.

COMMENT:

For those of you who don’t know, PASSOVER was an event that had taken place 1500 years earlier from the TRIUMPHAL ENTRY that we’re studying today. It COMMEMORATED the time when the Israelites were FREED from Egyptian SLAVERY.

In Exodus 12 “God told Pharaoh that unless he allowed His people to go free, the first-born child of everyone in Egypt will die.” But then God told the Jewish people to “take the blood of a SACRIFICIAL LAMB and put some on the top and sides of their DOORFRAME, and when the angel PASSES OVER through the night, their first-born CHILDREN will be SPARED.”

3. Each Spring the Jews celebrates the PASSOVER, remembering how God SPARED the lives of their CHILDREN and DELIVERED them from Egyptian BONDAGE leading them into the PROMISED LAND. PASSOVER WEEK THIS YEAR IS APRIL 8-16.

B. As Christians we CELEBRATE something far greater than the PASSOVER.

1. We CELEBRATE the DEATH, BURIAL, and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ our Lord.

a. Jesus is our SACRIFICIAL LAMB.

b. When Jesus’ second cousin, John the Baptist, introduced Jesus to his disciples, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”- John 1:29.

2. Through the SACRIFICE of Jesus on the CROSS, we are spared from eternal DEATH, we are set free from the BONDAGE of Satan, and we will enter the PROMISED LAND of eternal life in HEAVEN.

C. It began on what is known as Palm Sunday almost 2,000 years ago.

1. The TRIUMPHAL ENTRY of Jesus is recorded in all four Gospels, giving this event great significance.

a. Jesus, the Passover Lamb, heads into Jerusalem for the last time, where He initiates a massive public

demonstration as He offers Himself to King of Israel.

b. Keep in mind that normally Jesus moved quietly and preferred obscurity, many times charging those He healed to “tell no man”. Here, however, Jesus generates a huge COMMOTION as He ENTERS the CITY.

2. If there was any doubt before, this time Jesus is making it very clear who He is:

a. He is the King of the Jews (King of kings)

b. He is the Anointed One of Israel (The Christ—Messiah)

c. He is Lord and Savior

d. He is the One the PROPHETS wrote about for centuries—the Son of God.

MESSAGE:

I. THE KING COMES IN PEACE- vv. 1-7

A. Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem is a CLIMAX for which ANTICIPATION has been building.

1. Ever since Peter proclaimed that “Jesus was the Christ” (Mark 8:29), Jesus had been telling His disciples that “He must go into Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the Jewish leaders . . . be killed and rise again on the third day.”

2. He had been preparing His disciples for three years for this DAY—and now it’s TIME.

B. Jesus sent two of His disciples to a nearby village to prepare for His TRIUMPHAL ENTRY.

1. They were to look for a COLT of a DONKEY and bring it to Jesus.

a. In v. 2, Jesus makes the point that the “Colt has never been ridden.”

b. In the Old Testament when an ANIMAL was used for SACRED PURPOSES, it had to be one that had not already been used for COMMON LABOR.

2. The riding in on a DONKEY is very significant, because it symbolized HUMILITY and PEACE.