Going Public Series

Going Public

Mark 11:1-25

Good morning! Please take your Bibles and turn to Mark 11. We are jumping ahead in our study of Mark because this is Holy Week. Next week, we will talk about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and then in the coming weeks we will go back to where we left off.

Well, we can assume this is still an election year, although I guess that is kind of up in the air. But it makes me think of how various politicians have announced their candidacy in recent years. Candidates know how important that first impression is. It can make or break a campaign.

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President back in 2016, he planned every detail. He knew what coming down the escalator from his executive offices in Trump Tower would communicate.

But Trump isn’t the only candidate to arrange the details of their candidacy annoucement. On the day Democratic candidate Amy Klobachar announced her run, there was a near blizzard in her home state of Minnesota. Aides suggested she cancel, or move indoors. But Klobachar wanted to communicate that she was a fighter, so she kept the announcement outside. [Picture]

And for about thirty minutes, it was a great campaign!

But for sheer staging, nobody beats Ronald Reagan. In 1979, California governor and former actor Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for President in a 20 minute video that was broadcast across the country. It was the first image most Americans living outside of California had gotten of the man who would become known as the great communicator. Look at the image: [transition] What does it communicate?

It looks for all the world like the oval office. He’s sitting behind a desk. There’s flags behind him. The former actor knew that just as an audience had to believe he was a cowboy when he was making movies, he had to make them believe he could be president.

So far in this series, we’ve hinted a couple of times about what scholars call “The Messianic Secret.” It’s this idea that every time someone makes a public declaration about who Jesus is, he tells them to be quiet. We pointed out a couple of weeks ago that the first ones to “get it” about Jesus were the demons. Three times (1:25, 1:34; 3:11) He orders them to be quiet when they shout out that He is the Son of God. On four different occasions, Jesus told someone He had just healed not to tell anyone about it (1:44, 5:43; 7:36, 8:26). After Peter confesses that He is the Christ (8:30), Jesus says not to tell anyone. And when Peter, James, and John see Jesus in all his glory on the mount of transfiguration, again, Jesus says, “Shhhhhh.”

Seems like a strange way to announce your candidacy, doesn’t it? But this is what makes the triumphal entry such a big deal. Because it is literally the first time in Mark that Jesus lets the whole world know who He is.

Let’s look at the passage together. This is Mark 11:1-10

11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[a] sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, 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 has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s Pray…

Who He is

First, Jesus is the Master to be obeyed (v. 1-6)

Let’s unpack verses 1-6. Bethany is about two miles outside of Jerusalem. So when they get to the outskirts of Bethany, Jesus stops and sends two unnamed disciples to get a donkey colt. Just so we’re clear, Jesus walks everywhere for months and now that He is within a couple of miles of Jerusalem and, He needs a ride!