Mark 11:1-19
Key Verse 11:9b...  “…Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

In today’s passage, we see two different characters of Jesus.   We see him fulfilling the Scripture and riding into Jerusalem on a donkey colt as our gentle savior and king. We also see him as the holy God who hates sin when he clears the temple of the money changers. How do we respond to Jesus when we see these two characters of Jesus? Through this message, let’s find out about Jesus better and who he is to us. Especially may God help us to respond joyfully to Jesus and positively to his rebuke so that his gentleness, peace and salvation may rule our hearts. May the King Jesus also give us a pure and sincere heart so that we may pray for all the nations on the earth. 

Part 1. The triumphal entry (1-11)

 Let’s read verse 1, “As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples.”  Jesus was headed for Jerusalem for the final time. It was nearing Passover time and things were very busy in the Jerusalem.  Jesus was now well on his way to become the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn.1:29). Within five days Jesus would be crucified like a criminal on the cross right outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

 Jesus was sensitive towards this time. He knew that his time was coming to die for the sins of the world. What would you do if you knew you had only five days to live and then you would be executed? Most people would only think about themselves or how they might enjoy their last five days. But Jesus didn’t. He thought about God’s mission and his disciples. He still needed to train his disciples.  So to fulfill the Scriptures he gave two disciples a mission. We don’t know which two disciples they were. But what was Jesus’ mission for them?  Let’s read verses 2-3, “saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

 We see here how poor our Lord Jesus was. He did not have a horse or even a mule or even a donkey to enter Jerusalem to fulfill the Scriptures. So he had to borrow someone else’s donkey colt. Jesus’ mission and command to these two disciples seems awkward and even shocking to the disciples ears. Without even asking the owner’s permission, they are to go and take a donkey colt from a person they do not know. How could Jesus ask his disciples to do such a thing? Since he is God, couldn’t he just make a donkey colt appear at his command? Of course he could. But Jesus is always teaching his disciples something. What does he want to teach us through this event?

The key words in these verses that Jesus is saying are:  “the Lord needs it.” These words show  who Jesus is.  Jesus is Lord of all things and all creatures on the world. Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” The donkey colt tied at this person’s house was not owned by that person. It was not his, but the Lord’s. The donkey colt was created by Jesus for this very purpose in history. It was put there so that he would have it to ride into Jerusalem to fulfill the Scriptures.  It was waiting for Jesus to use it. It was not an accident that it had been there. 

We call this the Lordship of Christ. This means that Jesus is the Lord of all things. Lord means the owner.  Each one of us was created by God.  The Lord Jesus owns our lives. This means that he wants to use our lives. He didn’t make us for nothing. He didn’t make us and then forget about us because there are over 6 billion people in the world.   Sometimes we think that our lives are ours. We also like to  think everything that we have is ours. One rock singer made a song titled, “This is my life.” Some of the lyrics he wrote are: “…This is my life. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone.”  But he could not be happy, even after he married a super-model. Later they divorced. So he could not control his own life. When we try to control our lives and hold onto our material possessions for ourselves then we become very fearful and anxious. But when we humbly acknowledge that our live are just borrowed, and when we let the Lord Jesus Christ  use our lives, then we can have the peace of God with us. 

What did these two disciples do when Jesus gave them this command? Let’s read verses 4-6, “They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.” 

The disciples went against their own reasoning and human logic. They decided to obey Jesus. Their faith was simple and so was their obedience. They didn’t calculate or question Jesus. What happened when they obeyed? When they simply obeyed, then they had no fear of people. They were very direct, “The Lord needs it”, they said, “and will send it back here shortly.” When they spoke these words of Jesus, they believed that God would move the people’s hearts to let them borrow the donkey. As a result, God led them every step of the way and gave them a success. Verse 6 says it all to us, “They answered as Jesus told them and the people let them go.” This means that when we have Jesus’ words in our hearts and do exactly what Jesus tells us, then he will give us success. This is because God always blesses our obedience. We don’t have to make up our own words to witness. Just listen to Jesus’ words and speak his words because Jesus’ words always have power. 

What happened when they brought the donkey colt to Jesus? Let’s read verses 7-8, “When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches that they had cut in the fields.” In entering Jerusalem in this way, Jesus fulfilled the scriptures that were written about him in Zechariah 9:9-10. It says, “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation; gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle brow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”

 This scene and these verses from the prophet Zechariah, show us what kind of a king Jesus will be.  First of all, Jesus is gentle and humble king.  No king would ever ride into a capital city like this. He would usually ride in on a white charger horse with many chariots and soldiers. His coming would inflict fear into the hearts of the people of the conquered nation and deep respect in the heart of the host nation. No one could approach this kind of king.

 But Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey’s  colt. This scene might look kind of comical. We can imagine Jesus riding this colt and his feet almost dragging on the ground. However, his coming in this way is very open and easy for anyone to come to. Jesus is very gentle here. This is the good picture of Jesus. Perhaps all the children laughed when they saw Jesus approaching this way and ran up to him. He was easy to come to. There were no barriers here. There was no needed security here like armed guards or undercover officers or secret service police. No armed security guards were  shouting, “Make way! Stand back!!” There were no police barricades or anything like that. Because Jesus comes this way, gentle and humble, we as sinners can approach him. We don’t have to fear. He is gentle and sympathetic towards us. Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us about Jesus our Great High Priest. It says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and fine grace to help us in our time of need.”

 Secondly, he brings salvation and righteousness to us. This is the nature of Jesus’ kingdom. Last week we saw how Jesus had mercy on a blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Ordinary kings would ignore such a useless man. Such kings would not want these kind of people in their kingdom. I heard a while ago that the mayor of San Francisco wanted to fine all the homeless people. He didn’t want such people on his streets. But Jesus had mercy on a homeless blind beggar Bartimaeus. When he cried out for Jesus’ mercy, Jesus went to him and healed him. Then he allowed Bartimaeus to follow him. In Jesus kingdom, there will be former paralytics, tax collectors, prostitutes, robbers, and beggars. There will be all kinds of sinners who have received Jesus’ saving mercy. Many who were dirty and filthy because of their sins are made right with God because of Jesus. All their sins are forgiven forever. They will all eat and drink with Jesus at a big picnic table in the kingdom of God. There will be a great celebration. In this world, many people are rejected because they are different or because they do seem useless and are helpless. But Jesus doesn’t reject anyone who comes to him. To those who welcome him, Jesus comes and gives them new life. He brings salvation and he brings righteousness to men. 

What was the people’s reaction to Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem? Let’s read verses 9-10, “Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, ‘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!’” 

They became euphoric and emotional. They seemed to welcome him with great joy and emotion. They believed that he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel, like in times of King David. So they shouted, “Hosanna!” Which means to save. They were shouting, “Save us from these Gentiles! Save us and help us to rid our country of these Romans!” They also wanted to be saved  from their poor material lives. We see here that they had no idea what kind of kingdom Jesus was coming to give to them. They were looking for an earthly kingdom. They had a lot of anger towards Rome. They wanted the Romans out of Jerusalem and out of their country. They thought Jesus would liberate them. They also wanted to be rich and powerful.

However, Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. Even with the best of human conditions, without Jesus’ rule in our hearts, we have no salvation, no righteousness and no peace. Jesus’ kingdom is one that gives peace to men and victory for all men. This is why we call his last entry into Jerusalem as the “triumphal entry.”

 Why is it the triumphal entry? How can anyone’s sufferings and death be triumphal? It is because it was God’s victory for men over sin and death and the devil. Because one man Adam sinned, all sinned. When sin came, death also came to all men. From that time on, men became slaves of death; slaves of sin and slaves of the devil. Instead of God’s rule in men’s hearts, men’s hearts were ruled by fear. Look at the 1990’s, they were called the “age of anxiety”. But Jesus came as the second Adam. He came to obey the will of God and die for our sins. He came to defeat the power of the devil. Hebrews 2:14-15 says about Jesus, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death, he might destroy him who holds the power of death---that is the devil---and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

The important thing here is how we respond to Jesus. How do we respond to him? Do we welcome him like this crowd, or do we close our hearts? In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus asks all people who are weary and burdened to come to him. This is because he promises, that he will give us rest for our souls. Without welcoming Jesus we have no rest for our souls. We have no peace because we are ruled by fear and anxiety. I heard on the radio yesterday that since the September 11th incident, the use of drugs to treat depression and anxiety has more than doubled. We also hear how fearful people are to even go shopping. Last week one man sprayed some clear liquid into a subway car. People panicked because they thought it was some sort of bioterrorism. But all it was a was a cleaning agent. 

If we don’t welcome Jesus into our hearts we are constantly ruled by all kinds of fears. We are also ruled by greed, anger, lust and despair. The list goes on. Now we have to respond to this verse, verses 9-10. How are we going to respond? We need to welcome Jesus. He wants to come into our hearts and give us his peace. He is the prince of peace (Isaiah 9:6-7).From last months events, many people were shocked because they thought terrorism could not come to America. They thought America was not vulnerable like the countries in the Middle East are to terrorism. But look what happened! Where can we find peace? Where can we find a refuge in the storm? Unfortunately not in America! Our peace and refuge is in Jesus. It is when we welcome him. When his kingdom is in your hearts you will have his peace. May God help you to welcome him. Then you can freely ago shopping and be strong and courageous. 
 

Part 2. Jesus clears the temple (11-19)

After arriving into Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples went into the temple. Look at verse 11, “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.”

 Why did Jesus go in the temple? Because it was the center of Israel’s spiritual life. It was the barometer of their faith. Let’s read verses 12-14, “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’ And his disciples heard him say it.”

 Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? Why did he pick on this tree? It was because it reminded him of the temple. It was very leafy with big green leaves and many green leaves. But when he went up to it and looked closely at it, it had no fruit. This is the reason for a tree. It is to have fruit. I hope the persimmon trees we had planted here at the center give good fruit. The temple was like this leafy and fruitless fig tree. The temple in Jerusalem was beautiful on the outside. It was large and massive so that it could be seen from many directions and for many miles. It was an imposing physical figure, much like the capital building is in Washington DC. 

But on the inside, there was no fruit. What it means is that God chose his people and called his people to be different from the world. He wanted them to bear fruit. What kind of fruit? Is it apples and watermelon? No, it was the fruit of love. It was the fruit of caring for the needy and the helpless. It was the fruit of maintaining justice and doing what was right. It was the fruit of being a holy nation. God looked for good fruit from his people, but he only found bad fruit (Isaiah 5:1-7).

 Jesus also was concerned about his people and their attitude towards God and the temple. This is why he did not ignore going back the next day to the temple. In verses 15-16 we see another character of Jesus. Let’s read verses 15-16, “On reaching Jerusalem Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.’

 This scene does not look like the gentle and compassionate Jesus that we know. What happened to Jesus!? Why did he act this way? Why was he angry? The reason is found in verse 17. Let’s read verse 17, “And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ But you have made it a den of robbers.’” Jesus reacted in this way because the house of God, the temple was corrupted from within. He called it a den of robbers. What was the purpose of the temple? It was the place where sacrifices were offered. It was the place where God said his presence would be. It was the place where God’s people should come together and read the Bible and to pray. 

It should not be used as a market place. Jesus was angry with holy anger because his Father’s house was corrupted. How could people pray in such a place? How could people worship the holy God in such a place? Jesus was heartbroken. He needed to do something. So he cleared the temple and taught them what the house of God should be. It should be a house of prayer for all nations.

We can compare the temple to our hearts. God wants our hearts to be filled with a prayerful spirit. If we are Christians, then one of our greatest privileges is to pray to God. Our faith only grows when we pray. The more we pray the more our heart grows wider and deeper. Those who pray for all nations are the people of God. They are a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Those who pray only habitual prayers before they eat or not at all can’t be the chosen people of God. 

Jesus wants his people to pray not just for ourselves, not habitually or superficially, but for all nations, even our enemies. We need to pray for their forgiveness and salvation. When we view God’s history, we learn that God wanted his people Israel to be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49). He wanted the word of the Lord to go out from Jerusalem to the whole world. He wanted people to come and learn from his people (Isaiah 2:3). However, his people did not pray for the Gentiles or tell them the good news of God’s saving love and heavenly hope. Instead, they only became corrupted and materialistic. They only thought about every scheme how to make money and how to take advantage of people. They abused their positions. 

When Jesus rebuked them for their corrupting the temple like a den of robbers, they didn’t repent. How did they respond?

 Let’s read verses 18-19, “The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. When evening came, they went out of the city.”  They did not repent. They only wanted to kill Jesus. How do you respond to Jesus’ rebuke? Sometimes our hearts are filled with materialism or with a busy mind. Our hearts are far from praying. Jesus wants us to clear our hearts from the love of money and from the love of materials. Let’s respond positively to Jesus’ rebuke so that we can have a clean heart to pray for all nations.

 These days we see many people buying bumper stickers or signs with the words, “God bless America.” Many people think that God should bless America because we are America. God should bless America because it is God’s duty. One article I read had  the writer saying that the phrase should include a comma, after God. It should read: “God, bless America.” It was a prayer request. He wrote that God is not obligated to bless America. But when people repent and turn to God then God can bless America.

 God can only bless us when we repent of our love for money and materials and turn our hearts to him in prayer. May God help each of you to be a prayer servant for all the nations. May God help you to welcome Jesus as your king so that you may have his salvation and righteousness and peace.