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.
3. Either the owner of the donkey was acquainted with Jesus or there was some persuasive power in their request, because the man allowed them to take the colt.
4. Let’s pause for a moment and ask ourselves: what is my response to God’s requests?
a. How do we respond when God asks for our time? Do we say, “Sorry, but my time is limited”? Or do we say, “Sorry, it’s my time and I want to use it for me!”?
b. How do we respond when God asks for our effort? Do we say, “Sorry, I can’t take on anything more”? “My schedule won’t allow it!”
c. How do we respond when God asks for our money? Do we say, “Sorry, but I am barely making ends meet, not to mention I need a new car and we are going on vacation soon”?
5. Hopefully, our response to God’s requests are, “Yes, Lord, your wish is my command!”
C. When Jesus entered into Jerusalem the way He did, He was fulfilling prophesy.
1. Prophesy states that the Messiah will enter Jerusalem on a note of triumph.
a. Zechariah 9:9 says: Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
2. So here came Jesus doing what was prophesied – He rode on a young donkey.
a. His disciples threw cloaks over the colt as a makeshift saddle.
b. His crowd of followers led the rest of the throng to break forth in an appropriate welcome of a king – they spread their garments on the road and laid and waved palm leaves while singing and shouting in triumph.
c. Their song was full of hope – Hosanna means “please save us” – it is the transliteration of two Hebrew words that mean “to save” or “to deliver” and “please, I beseech.”
d. The blessed coming of the kingdom of David was something they had been waiting for.
e. They were hoping that Jesus was issuing in a new earthly kingdom that would restore Israel to its freedom and greatness.
3. Jesus, however, was trying to communicate something far different by His triumphal entry, but no one was listening.
a. Roman Emperors on their return from wars chose a prancing horse and rode ahead of the procession of warriors and prisoners of war.
b. But that’s not the message that the prophesy that Jesus was fulfilling was communicating.
c. Jesus entered on a donkey – a symbol of peace, not war; a symbol of humility, not pride.
d. And Jesus’ procession included His 12 apostles and His other disciples and other common people caught up in joy and hope.
e. What a wonderful and beautiful contrast!
4. After Jesus entered Jerusalem and looked around, He retired to Bethany for the night.
a. The triumphal entry was enough for one day, the next day would be time for another claim of His Lordship.
II. Second, We notice that Jesus is Lord of Nature (Mk. 11:12-14)
A. Mark wrote: 12 The next day when they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to find out if there was anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples heard it. (Mk. 11:12-14)
1. So, the next day, Jesus and His apostles headed back to Jerusalem.
2. On the way, hunger pains prompted Him to look for fruit on a fig tree whose mature leaves promised early fruit.
3. This has traditionally been a difficult text to understand and interpret, but I believe to understand it, we must see it as a prophetic, symbolic action – kind of a parable in motion.
B. Figs have a special meaning in OT prophesy.
1. They symbolize the fruit of spiritual fulfillment and the lack of figs represents apostasy.
2. The prophet Micah forecasted Jesus’ hunger and disappointment: How sad for me! For I am like one who—when the summer fruit has been gathered after the gleaning of the grape harvest—finds no grape cluster to eat, no early fig, which I crave. (Micah 7:1)
3. It appears that Jesus’ judgment of the fig tree represents His judgment against Israel.
a. It is a condemnation of promise without fulfillment.
b. The leaves on the tree might be taken as the promise of fruit, but there was no fruit.
c. All of Israel’s history was a preparation for the coming of the Messiah.
d. The promise of their profession was that when He came they would eagerly receive Him.
e. But that is not what happened when He came – they didn’t live up to their potential.
C. I hope and pray that this isn’t or won’t be the case for us.
1. Are we promise without fulfillment? Are we profession without practice? I hope not!
2. After examining us, would Jesus condemn us as having leaves without fruit?
3. The message of Scripture says that a person can be known by the fruit of their life.
a. John the Baptizer said: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Lk. 3:8)
b. Jesus said: “You will know them by their fruits.” (Mt. 7:16)
c. Jesus said: 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit…5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me… 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” (Jn. 15:1-2, 5, 8)
d. Our relationship with God should make us more like Jesus and result in beautiful fruit.
e. No one can claim to be a follower of Jesus and remain unlike the Master they profess to love and follow.
4. In the end, the nature of God calls for severe judgment as the contrasting side to His longsuffering love.
a. Jesus used the fig tree as a warning for anyone who continues to be spiritually barren, whether it be Israel or any of us.
b. As Lord of nature, Jesus’ power can produce life and fruit in a branch connected to Him, or He can remove the branch if it has no fruit.
III. Third, We notice that Jesus is Lord of the Temple (Mk. 11:15-19)
A. Mark wrote: 15 They came to Jerusalem, and he went into the temple and began to throw out those buying and selling. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple. 17 He was teaching them: “Is it not written, My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves!” 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to kill him. For they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was astonished by his teaching. 19 Whenever evening came, they would go out of the city. (Mk. 11:15-19)
1. It helps to understand what is going on here by taking a look at the layout of the temple.
a. The temple area covered the top of Mount Zion about 30 acres in all.
b. The entire complex was surrounded by huge walls.
c. To get into the actual temple area with the Holy Place and the Most Holy place, a person had to go through a series of courts.
d. The first and largest court of the temple was called the “Court of the Gentiles” and everyone, Jew and Gentile, male or female was allowed in this courtyard.
e. The next two courtyards were only for Jew – first came the “Court of Women” and then the “Court of Men” (or “Court of Israel”).
f. The final courtyard before the temple building was the “Court of Priests” which could only be entered by the Jewish priests who were men of the tribe of Levi.
2. The incident in the text we just read occurred in the “Court of the Gentiles” – the outer court.
a. This court of the Gentiles, like the other inner courts, was supposed to be a place of prayer, but it had become commercialized with so much buying and selling that prayer and meditation were impossible.
3. What made matters worse, was that the commercialism morphed into sheer exploitation of worshipping pilgrims.
a. Every Jew had to pay a temple tax and it had to be paid in sanctuary shekels and the exchange rate was exorbitant.
b. Also, animals for sacrifice could be brought from home or could be purchased outside of the temple, but the temple inspectors rejected most animals brought from home or purchased outside the temple, and they just happened to have a supply of approved animals with inflated prices.
4. On top of all this, the “Court of the Gentiles” provided a convenient short cut from one side of the city to the other, and by this time in history, Jews thought so little of the sanctity of the outer court that they just used it as a thoroughfare.
5. This exploitation and lack of spiritual reverence made Jesus angry with righteous indignation which resulted in His clearing of the temple.
B. When Jesus cleared the temple, He was fulfilling prophesy.
1. Can you imagine how literally upsetting it was for everyone present when Jesus overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple?
2. Jesus wanted the temple to be what it was supposed to be, not what it had become.
3. Psalm 69:9 prophesies: “because zeal for your house has consumed me…”
4. As if looking through the eyes of Jesus, Jeremiah wrote: “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?” (Jer. 7:11)
5. Isaiah prophesied: “I will bring them to my holy mountain and let them rejoice in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7)
C. The reaction of the Jewish leaders was swift and severe – they looked for a way to kill Jesus.
1. This one act, more than any other, is what led directly to Jesus’ condemnation and execution.
2. Sadly, the Jewish leaders weren’t concerned about the things Jesus was concerned about.
a. Jesus was concerned about God’s holiness and honor, and people’s access to God.
b. The Jewish leaders were concerned about losing their power and positions.
D. What important lessons can we learn from Jesus’ actions in this event?
1. We learn the importance of having zeal for God, the people of God, and the things of God.
a. When we see that things aren’t what they ought to be, we should never turn a blind eye to it, but should try to do what God would lead us to do to rectify the situation.
2. And one of the important things that must be kept in line with God’s will is the church.
a. When I say the church, I am talking about the people of God and God’s eternal purpose for His people.
b. The purpose of the church and the mission of the church must always be kept on tract.
1. The church is supposed to be a community and family, not an organization or enterprise.
2. As the family of God the church is supposed to be a place of learning and healing – a hospital for broken and sin-sick people.
c. And as for mission, the church is supposed to be a light to the world and salt to the earth, making disciples who make disciples.
1. If we are not careful, then the main mission to make disciples can get lost in other focuses and the church becomes a retail center, recreation center, daycare center, Christian school, food bank, or political agency.
2. As good or necessary as some of those things are, they are not the primary purpose or mission of the church.
3. Saving the lost and growing the saved is the main mission and we must not be diverted from it.
IV. Finally, We notice that Jesus is Lord of Faith (Mk. 11:20-25)
A. Mark wrote: 20 Early in the morning, as they were passing by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Then Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.” (Mk. 11:20-25)
B. We see how Jesus was spending each night in Bethany and spending each day in Jerusalem.
1. So, the day after cursing the fig tree and clearing the temple, we see Jesus returned to Jerusalem on the same path and passed by the same tree.
2. Peter noticed that the tree Jesus had cursed the day before was now completely dead from the roots up – it didn’t just have some withered leaves, but was dead as a doornail.
3. When Peter called Jesus’ attention to it, it prompted Jesus to teach them about the power of faith, prayer and forgiveness.
C. Jesus moved their attention from the withered tree to the larger scene around them.
1. Pointing their attention East toward the Dead Sea, Jesus began to talk about moving that mountain (maybe the temple mount) and throwing it into the sea by faith through prayer.
2. The phrase “removing a mountain” was a common figure of speech used by the Jews to describe a situation that was next to impossible.
3. With that image in mind, Jesus sought to teach them about the power of faith and prayer and forgiveness.
4. Can’t you imagine how much the apostles needed that kind of lesson about faith and prayer and forgiveness?
a. Think about the things that were about to happen to Jesus?
b. Think about the things that were about to happen to them and the task they were about to take on.
c. They were really going to need to put faith, prayer, and forgiveness into action.
D. Just like those apostles, we also need to learn about the power of faith, prayer, and forgiveness.
1. Jesus makes it sound like there are no limits to prayer, but we know that there are limits.
2. Here Jesus implies that prayer can be limited by a lack faith or a lack of forgiveness.
3. Elsewhere, we learn that prayer is limited by God’s will.
E. But I’m afraid that the danger for most of us isn’t that we believe in prayer too much, but that we believe in it too little.
1. Jesus was challenging them and us to seek the unexplored power of prayer.
2. Jesus was challenging them and us to develop a faith in God that believes that God can change both us and the world through our prayers.
3. We must believe that as unmovable as mountains appear to be, there are mountains out there that God wants us to move through prayer and faith.
4. And Jesus teaches here and elsewhere that forgiveness is a necessary practice for His disciples.
a. Jesus wants us to know that we cannot engage in prayer power if we are holding in our hearts bitterness about something that should be forgiven.
b. Bitterness and unforgiveness are a spiritual burden and blockade from prayer’s power.
Conclusion:
A. We have covered a lot of territory today, but it all points to the reality that Jesus is Lord.
1. Jesus claims and reveals His lordship over people, nature, the temple and faith.
B. The most important question for each of us is – Am I allowing Jesus to be Lord of my life?
1. There must be an initial confession of Jesus as Lord and then an ongoing confession of Jesus as Lord.
2. The difference between Jesus residing in our hearts and being allowed to preside over our hearts, is the difference between being a rider in the car and the driver of the car.
a. We must give permission to Jesus to take the wheel.
3. We live out His lordship through daily surrender and the submission of ourselves to His will and ways.
4 And as we walk in His will and ways, we experience greater faith and love and forgiveness – these are the kinds of fruits that are in line with the Spirit of God living in us.
5. Other fruit that grows as a result of the lordship of Jesus includes: good works, prayer, evangelistic efforts, and service.
6. And the byproducts of living under the lordship of Jesus are peace and purpose, contentment and joy, and salvation.
7. There is no better Savior and Lord than Jesus!
8. Trying to be our own lord and carrying the world on our shoulders will not lead to a good end, but recognizing that Jesus is Lord of everything and allowing Him to be our Lord will lead to a blessed end.
9. Have you made Jesus your Lord? If not, will you take Jesus as your Lord today?
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Claiming His Lordship, Sermon by David Owens
• Mark – Be Diligent, The Bible Exposition Commentary by Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books.
• Mark, The Communicator’s Commentary, David McKenna
• Jesus the King, by Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books, 2011
