Mark 11:1-10
One Sunday morning my sister Liz was surprised to
receive a phone call from her minister. He reported
that he’d just been in a minor car accident and
asked if she could inform the congregation he’d be
unable to conduct services that day.
Liz was flattered that out of the entire
congregation, she was the one he had called—until
the minister went on to say that since Liz was
always the last to arrive at church, he knew she
would be the only person he could still reach at
home.
Next week we will celebrate the resurrection of Christ
This week we celebrate the first day of passion week,
Palm Sunday.
All four of the gospel writers describe the events that
took place on that first Palm Sunday, Today we are going
to focus our attention on Mark’s account.
Mark is the shortest of all of the gospel accounts.
It’s interesting that 1⁄3 of his account deals with the last
week of Jesus’ life.
Mark 11:1-10
Bethany was where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived.
It was situated some 2600 feet above Jerusalem.
Imagine the breathtaking view as they descended into
the city with Jesus.
The Bible doesn’t tell us which 2 disciples Jesus selected
to go and retrieve the colt for Him to ride on into the city.
What it does tell us though is that they obeyed Him.
The disciples showed that they were submitting to the;
Lordship of Christ
Jesus gave them detailed instructions.
He directed them to the village of Bethpage
He let them know the colt would be tied up outside of a
house.
He even prepared them for any questions that may come
up when they were taking the donkey.
Jesus prepared for every detail.
Mark mentions that some bystanders questioned them as
to why they were untying the colt.
Luke’s account says the owners questioned them.
The owners were also submitting to the Lordship of Christ
by allowing the disciples to take the donkey to Jesus.
I like the phrase “the Lord has need of it”
Have you ever heard the saying, Jesus is Lord of All or He
isn’t Lord at all.
This Palm Sunday, we should consider whether Christ is
truly the Lord of our life. Is there anything that He has
asked us to do for Him that we aren’t doing?
The heading in your Bible at the beginning of Mark 11
may read – The Triumphal Entry.
It’s interesting for a few reasons.
1.The triumph hadn’t actually happened yet.
2. Jesus entered humbly.
In the Romans’ eyes, a triumph would be celebrated
when a king returned after capturing or killing 5000 men.
The parade would include the king riding into the city on
a gold chariot.
Priests would also be burning incense and the
People would be shouting the king’s name.
No Roman would have called Jesus’ entrance triumphal!
Jesus hadn’t killed anyone.
But He was about to deliver over 8000 souls from the
bondage of sin. Acts 2 describes the gospel changing the
lives of about 3000 men. Acts 4 tells us that around
5000 men heard the message and believed.
Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was certainly a triumph.
It just wasn’t the type of triumph the people expected.
They were expecting a physical victory, Jesus delivered a
spiritual victory.
Why did Jesus ride in on a donkey?
Because it fulfilled the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in
triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your
king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with
salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”
It also shows the;
Humility of Christ
God chose for Jesus to be mounted on the beast of
burden. The Scripture tells us that Jesus didn’t come to
earth to be served, but to serve and give His life a
ransom for many.
Some of my most favorite verses of Scripture come from
Paul’s letter to the Philippian church.
They describe how Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form
of a bond-servant and how He was found in appearance
as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to
the point of death, even death on a cross. cf Philippians
2:7-8
Isaiah 53 describes the suffering Jesus would endure
through His humble obedience to the Father.
Do we follow the humble example of Christ Jesus?
It’s easy to let pride enter our lives.
Pride is the enemy of humility.
Notice how the people responded to Jesus’ entry into
Jerusalem.
Some put their coats on the colt and the ground as He
was coming into the city.
Others put palm leaves on the ground for Him to ride
over.
It shows us the;
Exultation of Christ
Have you ever wondered what the difference between
exult and exalt was?
Exult means to be extremely joyful
Exalt means to raise something in esteem or power.
The people exulted Christ on that first Palm Sunday
God exalted Christ when He bestowed on Him that is
above all names.
It was customary for the people to sing Psalm 118:25-26
at the Passover celebration.
On this first Palm Sunday the people were shouting the
familiar words from this Psalm as Jesus rode into town.
“O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we
beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the Lord; we have
blessed you from the house of the Lord.”
Jesus came in the name of the Lord
Jesus is the Messiah who had been prophesied about so
many years before.
And He would sit on the throne of David.
The people are joyful because Jesus was finally there.
But the events that would take place later that week
were not what many were expecting.
APPLICATION
What are you joyful about this Palm Sunday?
I’m joyful that Jesus came to Jerusalem out of obedience
to the Father.
I’m joyful that Jesus took my place on the cross and that
His death and resurrection reconcile me to God.
I’m joyful that we have the freedom to worship together
every Sunday.
Share Your Joy
Let’s share our joy with others this week and take the
opportunity to invite someone to worship with us next
week as we celebrate the resurrection.
We should also consider if Christ is truly the king of our
heart.
Settle the Issue of Lordship
Many people claim to be Christians, but fail to surrender
to God’s lordship. We have to bury our old life and take
up our cross each and every day to follow Christ.