Claiming His Lordship Series

Introduction:

A. I want to begin with an illustration from Bruce Larson’s book, Believe and Belong.

1. For many years, Bruce worked in NYC and when people were struggling with whether to surrender their lives to Christ, he would take them on a walk from his office to the RCA building on Fifth Avenue.

2. In front of that building is a gigantic statue of Atlas straining to hold the world on his shoulders.

a. There he is, the most powerfully built man in the world, and he can barely stand up under this burden.

b. Larson would tell the person that that’s one way to live.

3. But on the other side of the street opposite this statue of Atlas is Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and Larson would take the person into the sanctuary and show them a statue of Jesus as a boy of 8 or 9 years old who is without effort holding the world in one hand.

a. Larson would tell the person: “We have a choice. We can carry the world on our shoulders, or we can say, “Lord, I surrender my life to you, since you are already carrying and sustaining the whole world.”

4. Jesus is already Lord, but will we allow Him to be our personal Lord and Savior?

B. When we declare that Jesus is Lord, we are saying that He has all power and authority, and is our Master and Ruler.

1. The confession that “Jesus is Lord” is certainly one of the earliest Christian confessions.

2. In his sermon on the day of Pentecost, Peter declared that Jesus, the one they had crucified, was both Lord and Christ.

3. The apostle Paul often wrote about this fact and its importance in salvation, like in Romans 10:9 when Paul wrote: If you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord”… you will be saved.

4. In Philippians 2:11, Paul concluded his beautiful section about Jesus with the words: “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.”

C. I hope that all of us have come to understand that Jesus is Lord and are allowing His Lordship to bless our lives.

1. In our sermon last week from the Gospel of Mark we observed Jesus on His way to Jerusalem.

2. The events we will cover in our sermon today, show Jesus arriving in Jerusalem and show Him claiming His Lordship.

3. Jesus accomplishes this task by fulfilling several prophesies concerning the Messiah and showing His Lordship in several ways.

I. First, We notice that Jesus is Lord of the People (Mk. 11:1-11).

A. Mark wrote: 1 When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’”

4 So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it, 5 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.

7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from 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!

11 He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. (Mk. 11:1-11)

B. The pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover was an exciting one.

1. The crescendo of the trip came when the Jews on the pilgrimage climbed the East side of the Mount of Olives, just out of sight of the city,

a. When they would reach the crest of the mountain, suddenly the vista of the Holy City would burst into a panoramic view in front of them.

b. This was the place where Jesus was when He sent the disciples to get the colt.

2. The disciples did as Jesus told them and when they found the colt and untied it, some people asked them what they were doing.

a. They replied as Jesus had instructed: “The Lord needs it.”

b. Incidentally, this is the only time Jesus is called “Lord” in Mark’s Gospel.