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.
a. Some 500 years earlier, the prophet Zechariah wrote of this event: “See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a
donkey”- Zechariah 9:9b.
b. However, that’s not the usual way that a KING makes His ENTRANCE.
COMMENT:
Rulers usually came as CONQUERORS riding a PRANCING STALLION. Jesus enters not on a WAR HORSE, but a BEAST of BURDEN. He is the “PRINCE of PEACE”- Isaiah 9:6.
C. Can you imagine what the Roman Soldiers garrisoned throughout Jerusalem are thinking as they see
this ITINERANT PREACHER riding into Jerusalem on a DONKEY followed by His MISFIT BAND of DISCIPLES?
1. I can picture them POINTING at Jesus and MOCKING Him as He enters the city, “Look at him over
there! He thinks he’s a king.”
COMMENT:
When a ROMAN LEADER made his appearance into a city, it wasn’t on a DONKEY? No, Roman rulers rode BLACK STALLIONS followed by CHARIOTS and dozens of SOLDIERS
MARCHING in step with SHIELDS gleaming.
They would have LAUGHED at the description of a “TRIUMPHAL ENTRY.” Undoubtedly, to them Jesus looked more like a JESTER—a CLOWN—riding a DONKEY, rather than a KING!!
2. Yet, the scene of Jesus coming in JUDGEMENT in the book of Revelation is an entirely different
PICTURE.
a. In the Gospels Jesus is seen as a SACRIFICIAL LAMB voluntarily giving His LIFE to bring
PEACE to the WORLD.
b. In Revelation He is seen as a mighty WARRIOR coming to DEFEAT the enemies of God’s people- Revelation 19:11-16 (READ and COMMENT)
3. How we see the COMING of Christ is dependent upon our ACCEPTANCE or REJECTION of Him.
COMMENT:
We can ACCEPT Him as the Prince of Peace who comes to bring us Salvation, or REJECT Him as Lord and Savior and see Him as our JUDGE who comes to make WAR. IT’S OUR CHOICE!!!
II. THE KING IS HONORED AND PRAISED BY THE PEOPLE- vv. 8-11
A. As Jesus comes into town riding on a DONKEY, the huge CROWD of people begins to show Him
HOMAGE by taking off their COATS and spread them on the PATH that Jesus traveled.
1. Others cut PALM BRANCHES and spread them on the ROAD.
a. This took place on the Sunday before Jesus was CRUCIFIED on Friday.
b. That’s why we call the Sunday before Easter “PALM SUNDAY”.
2. Of course, the spreading of COATS and BRANCHES is like walking the “RED CARPET” today.
COMMENT:
It was CUSTOMARY to show HONOR to the King in this way, as the Israelites did “King Jehu” in 2 Kings 9:13.
B. Then the people began to SHOUT: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest.”- vv. 9-10.
1. The Hebrew word for “HOSANNA” means SALVATION.
a. It is the same word the Psalmist used in Psalm 118:25 when He wrote: “O Lord, SAVE US…”
b. Not only is it used as a PETITION for SALVATION, but also as an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
of POWER.
COMMENT:
Now, the SALVATION the people are requesting is probably not SALVATION from SIN, but more than likely SALVATION from the Roman Government.
2. Like the apostles, they expected the MESSIAH to be setting up an EARTHLY KINGDOM to defeat
the ROMAN EMPIRE.
a. That’s what they meant in v. 10- “Blessed is the coming KINGDOM of our father David!”
COMMENT:
Yet, Jesus had not come to set up an EARTHLY KINGDOM, but a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM—the CHURCH. Jesus told Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, that “His kingdom was not of this
world”- John 18:36.
b. Little did the people understand that for Jesus to be CROWNED King, He will have to DIE on a CROSS.
C. Now, Matthew’s gospel gives us a better picture of how Jesus’ TRIUMPHAL ENTRY impacted the city
of Jerusalem.
1. Matthew 21:10-11- “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is
this?’ The crowds answered, ‘This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.’”
a. The Greek word Matthew used for “STIRRED” is where we get the English word “SEISMIC,”
as with EARTHQUAKE.
COMMENT:
Jesus’ TRIUMPHAL ENTRY into Jerusalem SHOOK the CITY—not physically, but MENTALLY and EMOTIONALLY. There was such EXCITEMENT and JUBILATION that the WHOLE CITY felt and realized that there is something SPECIAL about this man coming into the city RIDING a DONKEY.
b. My question is: Where is that SEISMIC ENTHUSIASM for Jesus today among God’s people?
COMMENT:
We don’t see it in our HOMES, we don’t see it in our CHURCHES. We need to be turning the WORLD UPSIDE down for Christ, but we are barely making a DENT in our neighborhoods.
2. And when Christians do get EXCITED about their Lord, there will always be some who will try to
throw COLD WATER on their ENTHUSIASM.
a. Listen to what Luke said happened- Luke 19:39-40- “Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” “I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
ILLUSTRATION:
When I was preaching at the Southside church in Terre Haute, we had a Worship Leader named David Carnes who would place a STONE on the COMMUNION TABLE and say, “Okay, church. If you hear this STONE crying out this morning, then we are not doing our job in PRAISING the Lord.”
b. No matter what, Jesus Christ is going to be PRAISED! And either we are the ones PRAISING the Lord, or God is going to RAISE up ROCKS to PRAISE His Son!! Shouldn’t it be us!!!
D. As all the EXCITEMENT dies down and the PEOPLE go to their homes, “Jesus makes His way to the
Temple, the PLACE of WORSHIP, where He spends some time just LOOKING around”- v. 11.
1. “This is the very TEMPLE where Jesus as a 12-year-old boy during another Passover week, sat among the RABBIS and TEACHERS of the Law and AMAZED them with His understanding of
Scripture at such a young age”- Luke 2:41ff.
a. Remember, that was when Jesus’ parents, Jospeh and Mary, were heading back to their home in Nazareth after celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem, when they realized that their 12-year-old SON—GOD’S SON—was MISSING. (Can you imagine LOSING the Son of God?)
b. Three days later after FINDING Jesus in the Temple and SCOLDING Him because they had been frantically searching for Him, Jesus said “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”- Luke 2:49.
2. But now 21-years later as Jesus walks around the Temple Courts, He is DISHEARTENED and ANGRY by what He sees has happened to “His Father’s House.”
(STAYED TUNED! THAT’S NEXT WEEK’S LESSON.)
CONCLUSION:
A. Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday with EXCITEMENT, WONDER, and PRAISE!!!
1. However, as we will see during our next few lessons, that the EXCITEMENT for Jesus on Sunday quickly
changed.
a. Five days later on that Friday, many of the very same people who were enthusiastically SHOUTING “Hosanna in the highest,” will be crying out “‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ as Jesus stands before Pilate being TRIED as a BLASPHEMER for claiming that He is the Christ, the Son of God”- Mark 14:13-14.
b. At one moment they are PRAISING Jesus Christ, and the next they are wanting Him EXECUTED.
2. We are a FICKLE people, aren’t we?
a. I don’t know how many people consider themselves members of Garfield Christian Church, but I
guess it would be around 200-250.
b. Our average ATTENDANCE each Sunday is around 80 to 90—including CHILDREN.
B. So, where are the other 100-plus people? Why aren’t they here WORSHIPPING with us this morning?
COMMENT:
We can blame our CULTURE or our NEIGHBORHOOD. We can blame the PREACHER or the ELDERS. We can blame the YOUTH MINISTER or the WORSHIP LEADER or on the MUSIC. But the real problem is a lack of true DEVOTION and LOVE for the One who DIED on the CROSS for their SINS.
1. If only all those who CLAIM to be CHRISTIANS were gathered to WORSHIP God this morning, every CHURCH BUILDING in America would be full.
2. But you see, throughout the GOSPELS Jesus makes it very clear that He doesn’t want mere CROWDS, He wants DISCIPLES—TRUE FOLLOWERS.
3. He wants those who don’t just say “I am a Christian”, but those who show it by “taking up their cross DAILY and FOLLOW Him.”
IS JESUS LORD & KING OF YOUR LIFE?
