Triumphal Entry

It's a blessing to be back with you after being in Minnesota, or however you say that, last weekend, had a wonderful time speaking at a conference there, being able to minister the gospel, to a number of people there at a conference and representing the Lord, representing the gospel, and, felt very keenly while I was there that I was representing you. as well, this, this church body and some of the lessons that we're learning in, in our journey regarding the gospel, to be able to bless others with that.

But it's good to be back with you today on, this very special day. and, I say that because it was on this exact Sunday of the year, based on the lunar calendar, lunar means moon, OK.

Based on the lunar calendar, it was this exact Sunday of the year, that Christ, sat upon a colt, a donkey, and, came down the Mount of Olives into the eastern gate. Of the city of Jerusalem, and we call this the triumphal entry of Christ. next Sunday, based on the lunar calendar, is the, when the resurrection took place. So this Sunday is the triumphal entry of Christ.

Next Sunday is the triumphal exit of Christ from the tomb. And we're going to try to wrap our minds this week around this most amazing week from Sunday to Sunday, and the Us on that journey we're going to focus today on Mark chapter 11 verses 1 to 11 on the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Then obviously on Friday our Good Friday service will be reading the crucifixion and burial narratives and then on Sunday, obviously we'll be focusing on the resurrection. I say we'll be in March 11 this morning, verses 1 through 11, but essentially, this will just be our base of operations.

because we're gonna, we're going to listen to John and Luke and Matthew, with some of the additional insights that they have as they describe this most amazing event. Of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Before we get into the text, though, let me share with you guys a few facts about the triumphal entry that might be of interest to you. the first fact may surprise you, but we have 4 Gospels in our New Testament, right?

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and, John, and they describe a number of things from Christ's conception, all the way to his ascension. and yet what's interesting is this event that we find recorded for us in Mark 11:1 to 11, is only the second incident in Christ's public ministry that is recorded by all four Gospel writers. OK, which raises the question, what is the first event? What is the first event, in the public ministry of Jesus that you find in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?

Does anyone want to take a guess? I hear mumbling. I don't. Feeding of the 5000.

Very good. Very good. Give that guy a book. But it's the feeding of the 5000 that was such a significant event that it made a very deep impression upon all of the disciples to such a degree that it's recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

But in the timeline of Christ's life and public ministry that we now come to only the second event. that is recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and, and John, indicating how this made a deep impression upon those who were there when it occurred. Unfortunately, the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem tends to get overshadowed by the cross and by the resurrection, and rightly so. But I think because of the events that come later, on Friday, and then Sunday, the crucifixion and the resurrection, we can lose sight of how magnificent, how amazing, and what a moment this really was when the triumphal entry took place as This happened.

People weren't like, Oh, this will be in Matthew 11 or Mark chapter 11 verses 1 to 11, and later this week will be the crucifixion and the resurrection, even more amazing events. No, when this happened, no one had a clue what was going to follow during. this most amazing week. And a lot of people really got caught up in this moment of the triumphal entry of Christ that we'll be looking at this morning.

A second fact about the triumphal entry of Christ is that it launches what we call the Passion Week, or the week of Christ suffering. That's really what this Sunday launched. as Christ came into Jerusalem, he had told his disciples, I'm coming to Jerusalem, and I'm going to suffer many things, and I'm going to be killed. And on the 3rd day, I'm going to rise again.

This event with the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on this Sunday of the year, launches the most amazing week in the history of the world. Our eternal destinies utterly depend upon the events that took place during this week, from Sunday to Sunday. In fact, what's interesting is that if you just take Christ's public ministry, for example, The 3 years of his public ministry, this period of time, the 7 days from Sunday to Sunday, amounts to less than 1% of that 3 year span, less than 1%.

And yet what's interesting is that in Mark's Gospel, Mark spends 36% of his gospel talking about just the events of this week.

Telling us something about how important this particular week is, and it all gets launched with the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. Another fact about the triumphal entry of Christ that would be good for us to be mindful of as we come into the narrative this morning is that this event was foretold in the Old Testament. This event of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem was foretold in the Old Testament about 550 years before. the triumphal event took place.

The prophet Zechariah says, Listen to this, 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 beast of burden. So imagine that, imagine being here at this moment and actually witnessing a 550 year old prophecy coming true.

imagine someone in our past delivered a word of prophecy, before Columbus discovered the new world. And today, we get to witness that 550 year old prophecy being fulfilled. What an amazing thing that would be, and to be able to witness that. That's what's happening on this day in a very specific way.

One of the intriguing things about this is that not only was the triumphal entry of foretold in the Old Testament, like it'll happen at some point that the Messiah will come into Jerusalem riding up on a donkey. Who knows when it will happen, but it'll happen at some point. And the Jews are left to figure out, well, at some point in the next 3000 years, it will occur. What's interesting is that even the timing of the fulfillment of this prophecy.

is foretold in Daniel chapter 9. We do not have the time to get deep into this at all, but we'll just scan over this very quickly and make note of an indication of timing regarding this. Listen to what is told to Daniel in Daniel chapter 9, verse 24 and following. 70 weeks.

And if you look in the context, Daniel 10 earlier in Daniel 9, the, the indication is this is not 70 literal weeks, but 70 weeks of years. So 70 times 7. which is 490 years, 70 weeks, 490 years have been decreed for your people and your holy city, that's the Jews and Jerusalem, to finish the transgression to make an end of sin. To make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

Verse 25. So Daniel, you are to know and discern that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the prince, see those two points in time. From the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem until Messiah, the Prince comes, there will be 7 weeks, that's 49 years, and 62 weeks, essentially 483 years. And he goes on with the prophecy and talking about how, in verse 26, after the 62 weeks, the Messiah will be cut off, he will be killed.

So very specific time references and you can put the pieces together that the decree to rebuild and restore Jerusalem was delivered by Artaxerxes in 444 BC. We have that recorded for us in Nehemiah chapter 2, verses 1 through 8 during the month of Nissan, which is actually now the time we're at with the triumphal entry in terms of the month of the year, and It's being told to Daniel that it'll be 483 years from that decree that was delivered by this king to rebuild and restore Jerusalem, based on Biblical reckoning that you can even observe in the Book of Revelation.

This is 483 lunar years. We're 30 days for each month, which amounts to 5 fewer days a year than our solar calendar.

So 483 lunar years equals Approximately 476 of our solar years. And so if you start with the decree of the king to allow the rebuilding and restoration of Jerusalem and you count forward from there based on different ways that people reckon this, you end up somewhere around 30 to 33 AD, OK, and so. Any Jew that would have maybe thoughtfully been pondering Daniel chapter 9, verse 24 and following may not have known the exact year necessarily, but they would know that somewhere around this time period, this is going to happen.

And we know with the benefit of hindsight that this was exactly fulfilled even to the day and the month of the year 483 years after the decree of the king to rebuild Jerusalem.

Jesus did come as the king into Jerusalem. As a couple commentators say, this period from the decree of the king to the coming of the Messiah concluded on the day of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. So we observed that this event of the triumphal entry was prophesized, and even the timing of it was this is a very significant moment in Israel's history. Even Jesus, as he descends the Mount of Olives, we're going to see, begins to weep, and he says in Luke 1942, If you had only known on this day.

Even you, the things which make for peace, speaking of the city of Jerusalem, Jesus is like you as a city, you do not understand the significance of what is happening at this moment. And on this particular day, this is the day of your visitation, as your King is coming to you. So this is an amazing event. Where many things are coming together, not the least of which is the fulfillment of prophecy delivered over 500 years before.

Setting the stage for the narrative in Mark chapter 11, verse 1 and following, Jesus has been up in Galilee. He's traveled from Galilee down to Jericho. That's where he healed the blind Bartimaeus. And at that point, he's about 19 miles from Jerusalem.

He then travels about 17 miles to the city of Bethany. And at that point when he gets to Bethany, he's about 2 miles from Jerusalem. However, he cannot see Jerusalem yet, and there's a reason for that, and that is because the Mount of Olives rises up in between Bethany and Jerusalem. All right, so imagine Bethany over here, Jerusalem over here, rising up in between the two cities is the Mount of Olives.

The Mount of Olives is about the size of Mount Rubidoux. So imagine a little village on one side of Mount. Rubioau and then another village on the other side. Jesus comes to Bethany.

And basically to get to Jerusalem he'll need to travel about 1 mile to the summit of the Mount of Olives and then descend and travel for about 1 mile to make his way down into the eastern gate of the city of Jerusalem. So you tracking? OK, Now, when he gets to Bethany, we, we know from John's Gospel, that a lot of pilgrims are there for the Feast of Unleavened bread and the Passover celebration. So there's a ton of pilgrims in the, in the city of Jerusalem.

And word begins to spread that Jesus is in Bethany, just 2 miles from the city of Jerusalem. And no doubt he'll end up making his way into Jerusalem, but the people in the city of Jerusalem don't want to wait for Jesus to come. to the city. And in John chapter 12, verse 9, John tells us that a large crowd of the Jews then learned that he was there.

And they came out, say, well, we're not going to wait for Jesus to come into Jerusalem. We're going to leave Jerusalem and up the Mount of Olives, and then down the other side and come to Bethany, where Jesus is, because we want to see him. And not only do we want to see Jesus, look at what John says. And they came out not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead, sometime before.

And so these pilgrims are arriving in Jerusalem and they're hearing about Jesus. They're hearing about Him raising Lazarus from the dead, and they're like, Well, I've got to see Jesus and I've got to see Lazarus, and they hear that Jesus is in Bethany and so they drop everything and thus begins an exodus of people from Jerusalem up the Mount of Olives and then down towards Bethany. the chief priest and the leadership, the religious leadership in Jerusalem observes something of this exodus happening, and they are not happy about it.

In John 12:11, it says, but the chief priest planned to put Lazarus to death also.

Meaning they're thinking, we have got to kill Jesus, we're going to destroy him, we're going to kill him. And not only that, but we're going to kill Lazarus also, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away. In other words, they're leaving Jerusalem, going to Bethany, and they're believing in Jesus. So the religious leadership is huddled in Jerusalem, and they're angry, they're fuming, and they're wanting to kill Jesus and kill this man that Jesus had raised from the dead.

And thus begins the narrative in Mark chapter 11 verse 1. And here's how we're going to frame things this morning, 4 things that we're going to observe that Jesus did surrounding his entry into Jerusalem on this special Sunday of the year. Let me warn you, the first point that I'm going to make in this sermon outline, I guarantee you it's not going to rock your world. You're not going to go, oh.

I so needed this point to be made. This is thank you, Lord. This is a wonderful gift from you to me. I will remember this point for the rest of my life.

None of you will think that. But it is significant, as we will see. You ready for the point? All right, it's going to rock your world.

He made use of a cult to present himself as king. That's the first thing Jesus did, is he made use of a cult to present himself as king. Can I get an amen? OK, here we go.

Now, you may not think this is that big of a deal. But here's what's interesting in Mark chapter 11, verses 1 through 11, just 11 verses that Mark uses to tell us about the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. And Mark's like, I want to tell them the story of the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem. I'll use 11 verses to do that.

Imagine he's thinking that. And here's his decision. I'll spend the 1st 7 verses doing nothing but talking about the cult. That he writes upon.

That's literally what he does. And this narrative of Christ's triumphal entry, verses 1 through 11, verses 1 through 7, is all about the cult that Christ makes use of in order to present himself as King. Look at how the narrative unfolds beginning in verse 1. And as they, speaking of Jesus and His disciples, approached Jerusalem at Beth Pagey and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the village opposite you.

So they're in Bethany right now. We know from John's account they're staying at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus, OK. And go to the village opposite you, which was no doubt Beth Fy, a tiny village that would have been very closely associated with Bethany. Go into the village opposite you and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one yet has ever sat.

Untie it and bring it here. a lot of interesting things are happening, just in this instruction. Jesus is showing supernatural foreknowledge, going to this village, and I'll tell you right now what you're going to find. You're going to find a colt and that no one's ever ridden upon.

You're going to find it tied there. That indicates the colt is owned by someone. It's not roaming free. Someone owns it.

Someone cares about it. It's someone's property. It belongs to someone who cares enough about it to tie it up so that it won't wander away. So he says, Here's what you're going to find.

And when you find the colt, here's my instruction untie it and bring it to me. Now we would have thought that Jesus would say, when you find the colt, go find the owner. And ask the owner if it would be OK if you could bring the colt to me for me to use, right? if I said to you, go out in the parking lot.

And find a Porsche. And get in that car, start it, and bring it to me if that's You would anticipate, what, there's a great likelihood I'm going to encounter a problem. Somebody's going to say, what are you doing in my car? Where are you taking my car?

And so Jesus anticipates even this happening. And so he says to them in verse 3, and if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? You say two things, the Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it back here. All right.

Now, not every English translation puts the quotation marks in that way, but the English Standard Version, and the New International Version, the Amplified Bible does this, the new American Standard does not. but this is the reading that, that I would suggest that what he's telling the two disciples to say to the people that would inquire, what are you doing untying the colt? is he's saying, I want you to tell the owners of the colt two things. Number 1, the Lord needs it.

And number 2, the Lord will return it immediately when he's done. OK. but again, I think it's interesting that Jesus does not tell the two disciples to ask for permission. We see a kingly display of his royal authority.

A king owns everything. He doesn't have to ask people in his kingdom for permission. He's like, you're going to find a colt here, untie it, bring it to me. If someone says, what are you doing?

You just tell them that the Lord needs it, and he'll return it when he's done. It's that simple. And so they do that. Mark chapter 11 verse 4, and they went away and found a colt just as Jesus said, tied at the door outside in the street.

And they untied it. We know from the next verse that there's bystanders standing around, and which I'm sure created an awkward situation for them, and they're probably thinking maybe we should talk to the bystanders first and, and find out whose colt it is, but then they're like, no, Jesus said just go to the cot and untie it and bring it to me. And so, they go to the colt with the bystanders around and they just start untying the colt. Verse 5, and some of the bystanders were saying to them, What are you doing untying the colt?

And they, the two disciples, spoke to these bystanders just as Jesus had told them to, and they, the bystanders, gave them permission. Now, Mark only tells us that these people were standing by. They were bystanders. but we get some hint as to who these bystanders were because whoever they were in verse 6, they had the authority to grant permission, right, for them to take the colt.

And so we're not surprised when in Luke chapter 19 verse 33, Luke tells us that at least some among the bystanders were the actual owners of the colt. In Luke 1933, it says, and as they, the two disciples, were untying the colt, its owners said to them, Why are you untying the colt? And so they would have then said the Lord has need of it, and he'll return it when he's done. And we know as the text unfolds that permission was granted.

In fact, when you read Mark's account, Jesus says, when you find the colt, untie it, bring it to me. And if someone asks you, what are you doing, just tell them, That I have need of it, and they, the owners, will send it. So Jesus knew they'd find a colt. He knew they would untie it.

He knew that they would be asked, what are they doing? And he then told them what to say, and he knew in advance that once they said that, that's all that the owners of the colt would need to hear, and they would happily grant the use of the colt for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I have little doubt that when the owners of the cot and the bystanders in this little village opposite Bethany, would have heard the words, the Lord has need of it. I think there's every indication that they knew who the Lord was, right?

Think about it. If 2 miles away in Jerusalem, the whole city is abuzz with the fact that Jesus is in Bethany, and there's already a migration occurring from Jerusalem to Bethany, there's a swarm of people that are descending the Mount of Olives coming down into the village. Bethany and no doubt into that neighboring village, and people would observe something's going on, and they would know what it's about. And also no doubt everyone in this other village knew who Jesus was, right?

Because in the neighboring village of Bethany, he had raised Lazarus from the dead, that has created a tremendous amount of interest and press, as it were. As people are flocking to Bethany to see Jesus and Lazarus. So anyone in this neighboring village, if you said to them, the Lord has need of it, no doubt they knew who the Lord was. It's Jesus.

It's the one who raised Lazarus from the dead. And I think there's also a high likelihood that when they hear the Lord has need of it, and he'll return it when he's done, they're realizing what's going on here. Jesus needs our colt. He needs our donkey.

And he'll return it when he's done. And in all likelihood, they're realizing this is the fulfillment of Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9. And what an unbelievable honor it is for them to realize he's going to use our cult to fulfill this prophecy from over 500 years ago. And they're like, sure.

Make use of this cult. Now Mark does not do this, but Matthew in his account of the triumphal entry pauses in the narrative and delivers to us a commentary, and he says this. This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. This is why this is happening.

This is why Jesus has chosen to come into Jerusalem riding upon a donkey on this occasion. He's come back and forth from Jerusalem on many occasions, but on this occasion, something very special is occurring. Now, there's a lot of discussion that you read in the literature on the triumphal entry regarding the choice of a cot or a donkey for Christ to ride into Jerusalem on. And some suggest that it indicates lowliness and humility rather than coming on an impressive looking horse to conquer militarily.

He comes in a humble way riding upon a donkey. I think there's definitely some truth to that, but some of the writings that I was able to read over this past week indicates that the donkey was actually a noble beast. And the thinking of the Jews and to ride a donkey or a mule to one's coronation was not an unusual thing. In fact, in First Kings chapter 1 verse 33, in David's final days, in the final days of his reign, he wants Solomon to be his successor and look at the instructions that he gives in First Kings 1:33.

The king, King David, said to them, Take with you the servants of your Lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule and bring him down to Geho. Letadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and say, Long live King Solomon. So for Jesus to come into Jerusalem riding upon a colt or upon a donkey is partly to convey the same vibe. Basically, I am coming into the city to receive my anointing, as it were, and to be crowned the Messiah King.

And so the two disciples, they go and they untie the colt. They're asked, What are you doing? They say what Jesus told them to say. Permission is granted.

And so look at what it says in Mark 11:7, and they brought the colt to Jesus and they put their coats on it, and he sat on the colt. Now it's interesting that in Mark's account, we just learned Jesus sat up on the colt. and Luke's account of the triumphal entry, he tells us that they put Jesus on it. And I don't think it was necessarily because Jesus needed the help and, and getting on this cult.

The, I think the, the indication is that the disciples are getting a sense of what's going on here, and the significance of it. And this is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. And they're very enthusiastic, and they bring the colt to Jesus, and they're like, well, he's got to have something to sit on. So they spread some clothing on the back of this animal.

And then they help Jesus on to this colt. They're ready to go. Let's go. Let's make this happen.

And as Jesus begins his descent into Jerusalem, he comes, according to the text, writing upon this colt, or this donkey. In doing so, I think there's 3 things that Jesus is saying. He's saying, number 1, I am the promised Messiah King of Old Testament prophecy. That's clear, right?

Zechariah 9:9, there's no way around that. A part of what he's saying is, I am the king. I am the promised Messiah King that the prophets foretold. It's interesting in Mark's Gospel, there's a motif that you see throughout Mark up to this point where Jesus is like telling people, Don't tell anyone what I've done.

Don't tell anyone who I am, and he's prohibiting people. He's trying to keep his identity concealed on one level, but now the cloak is off, and this is his day. To reveal Himself for who he really is. And in deliberately choosing to come into Jerusalem riding up on a cult, he is announcing, I am the promised Messiah King of Old Testament prophecy.

He's also making another statement, and this is indicated in Zechariah 9:9, and that is that I am coming in a spirit of gentleness. I am not coming with the intention of war. I am not coming to do military conquest. I come in peace.

I come in gentleness. And that's what it says in the Old Testament prophecy. Behold your king coming to you gentle and mounted on a donkey. And we all say, well, that's one of the things we love about Jesus is that he comes to us in gentleness.

Yeah, but sometimes we don't like the fact that he comes with gentleness towards our enemies. Right? This is something that would not have been lost upon the people who were there that here he comes, he's obviously not coming. with the intention of warfare, or he would be coming very differently.

Instead he's coming in a spirit of gentleness. During this time there was a huge messianic fervor, especially amongst the Jews, awaiting their Messiah. And when the Messiah came. They've actually found prayers that were written, non-inspired, non-scriptural prayers written during this very time period, and they're messianic prayers, and they're basically saying, O King, King of Israel, come and smash and break things.

That's basically what they were expecting. Messiah to come and just smash and break things and to knock the Romans in their teeth, and to shatter them and scatter them away from Jerusalem, and from the land of Israel. They were not praying for a Messiah who would come in gentleness towards the Romans. And yet, Jesus in coming in this way, says, I'm coming in a spirit of gentleness.

I'm not coming to smash and break things this time around. In fact, we know from the following days of the week that Jesus basically says, I'm coming to be smashed and broken myself. I'm coming to allow myself as it were, to be smashed and broken by enemies, and I will conquer through defeat. I will conquer through my crushing on the cross.

And so you see something of that sentiment, even in the way that he descends upon a donkey into Jerusalem. And he's also saying, just as Solomon rode a mule to his anointing and his coronation, essentially as King, Jesus and coming in this way upon a donkey is saying, I'm coming for my coronation as the Messiah King. Let me ask you something. Was Jesus crowned King?

In the week that followed? What event would we associate with this coronation? No, close. The resurrection.

OK, write down the reference Romans chapter 1, verse 4, where Paul tells us that Jesus was declared by God to be the Son of God. And that is amongst other things, a royal title, Kings were called the Son of God. He was declared to be the Son of God. With power by the resurrection from the dead.

His resurrection from the dead was his coronation day. And that is why after his resurrection, he could say to his disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me. And here he is on this day, this Sunday of the year. He's descending the Mount of Olives, riding upon a donkey, coming towards, riding towards this coronation moment that will occur.

No one would have dreamed what that moment would have looked like. No one at this point was dreaming that he would die and then be raised from the dead. But that is what's going to happen. And he did receive his crowning.

During the week that followed. So the first thing he does is he makes use of a cult to present himself as a king. A second thing that we observed Jesus doing is he received the crowd's praise to Him as king. He receives the crowd's praise to Him as a king.

So we know Jesus would have traveled from Bethany up to the summit of the Mount of Olives. Luke tells us that the events that follow began as he was approaching the descent of the Mount of Olives. So he reaches the summit and he's upon this donkey and he begins his descent and that's when the praise really begins. We also know from John's account in John 12:12, not only obviously, were there a bunch of people in Bethany that traveled with Jesus up to the summit of the Mount of Olives, but in John 12:12, we learned that a large crowd who had come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him.

So there's a crowd of people with him going up to the summit. And as he begins to descend, and as he looks down that descent, there's a ton of people who have been coming out of Jerusalem in order to meet him because they heard that he is on his way. And they bring branches of palm trees with them for this occasion. And as he begins his descent, look at what it says in Mark 11:8.

And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Nowadays we roll out the red carpet for somebody. This was their way of rolling out the red carpet for Jesus. They would take their coats and lay them on the road for the colt to walk upon.

And they spread out leafy branches, laying out the green carpet, as it were, for this processional that they had cut from the fields, and those who went in front and those who followed. So those that had come from Bethany with Jesus and were following him, and those that had come out from Jerusalem to meet Him, and so they were in front of him. Those who went in front and those who followed were repeatedly shouting, 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. You put all the pieces together from the different gospel accounts. And it's interesting that they all recognize Jesus to be the Messiah. And Matthew 21:9, Hosanna to the Son of David, not a son of David, the Son of David, you are the Messiah.

Luke 19:38, Blessed is the King. Who comes in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven, and glory in the highest in John 12:13, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. So they're extolling Jesus as King, the Messiah King. And as long as he's the Messiah, and he's coming for his coronation, as it were, we better make request of Him.

We know from Zechariah 9:9 that when he comes, he will come with salvation, right? And so they're thinking we're going to ask for salvation right now. And they ask for salvation by speaking the word hosanna. Hosanna In our language, Hosanna sometimes just is something people say because it sounds worshipy.

Hosanna in the highest, and it just sounds like a nice thing to say. But actually, in this day, on this occasion, it was a desperate and urgent plea. The word hosanna is from the Aramaic and Hebrew word hoshea, which means salvation. In fact, the prophet Hosea, his name means salvation.

So Hoshea, salvation, and when you take the expression nah and you attach that to the end of a request, it means please or now, OK. So to say Hoshea, nah, what they're saying by that is salvation, please, salvation now. They're coming to Jesus and seeing Him as the source of salvation, and they want that salvation now. Admittedly, they don't have a clue that he's coming to save them, not from the Romans, but to save them from themselves and from their sin and from the wrath of Almighty God.

They don't know what they're asking for, but they are pleading for salvation. They're acknowledging him as King, the Messiah, coming with salvation, and they're pleading for that salvation as they extol him. To such a degree, guys, that we know that from Luke's account that there were Pharisees in the crowd, and they didn't like all that was being said of Jesus. And so they basically say to Jesus, look at this, some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, Teacher, rebuke your disciples, rebuke these people for what they're saying.

They're calling you king. They're calling you the Messiah, the bringer of salvation, rebuke them. But Jesus answered and said, I tell you, if these people become silent, the stones will cry out. Jesus knows the days that lie ahead and the suffering that awaits Him.

But his attitude on this day is today I will have my praise. Today I will be extolled as King, and if somehow I were to silence these people, the stones here on the Mount of Olives would cry out my praise. What an amazing scene this is. By the way, these worshippers of Jesus at this particular moment, they knew so little.

And yet they were so passionate and bold in their worship of Him, right? They knew a fraction of what we know, and yet they were bold and passionate in their worship of Jesus, and there were people in attendance in this crowd who were scowling at them, the Pharisees, saying, How dare you say what you're saying? So they had to put up with the dirty looks of the Pharisees who thought they were doing and saying the wrong thing, and yet they're bold and passionate in their worship.

of Jesus.

Today we know so much more. We know the events that followed His crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead. And his appearances after his resurrection, His ascension to the right hand of the Father. Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father with full authority to do as he pleases, and from that position he's giving out righteousness and forgiveness in relationship to all who come to Him by faith.

With a salvation that would have blown this crowd away. And yet how do we worship Jesus? What is our worship like compared to the boldness and the passion? Of these people who knew so much less than we do today.

I found myself just challenged by By their worship of Him, compared to my own. There's a 3rd thing that Jesus does associated with his entry into Jerusalem, and that is he wept over the city that would reject him as King. It's really interesting. You get such a great feeling about what's happening up to this point of the narrative.

And you would think Jesus must be so happy right now. We, we know that maybe he wouldn't be because of what follows, but think about it. The people here in this moment. It's such a powerful positive moment, they would have thought Jesus would be so excited.

And yet as he descends the Mount of Olives and gets closer and closer to the mighty walls of the city of Jerusalem and the eastern gate, They hear Jesus weeping, not a silent weeping, shedding a few tears and his eyes are moist. No, he's bawling. He's bawling He's crying out loud. Luke 19:41.

Luke tells us that when he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city, and he wept over the city, saying, if you had known in this day, even you the things which make for peace. But now they have been hidden. From your eyes. He's weeping over the fact that he will be rejected.

And that the city of Jerusalem did not recognize and would not recognize how special of a day this is as their king and fulfillment of prophecy comes to them riding upon a donkey. In verse 43, Jesus continues talking, and he says, for the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

And surely enough, within 40 years from this moment, the Roman armies would set siege around the city of Jerusalem, cutting off the food and the water supply. And over the length of that siege, creating conditions of starvation unimaginable to us in this room, people were so emaciated, so starved from the length of this siege by the Roman army that Josephus, the historian tells us that they were gnawing on their leather sandals for nourishment.

Some mothers ate their children. Because of their desperate hunger. There were Jews, according to Josephus, who just were so hungry that they ran out of the city of Jerusalem and surrendered themselves to the Roman armies just thinking, I'll just hand myself over to them and I'll get something to eat. And they surrendered to the Roman soldiers who then promptly took them and crucified every one of them.

Josephus says every day 500 Jews were crucified outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And eventually the Roman armies came into the city and they utterly destroyed the beautiful temple, and not one stone was left on top of the other. The temple is not there on the Temple Mount to this day, and Jesus saw this future day. And he wept.

He wept. Because they did not recognize the time of their visitation. Now in God's providence, this was all in God's decreed, providential plan, and yet Jesus is not, well, this is the decreed will of God, so let's move on. No, he wept.

We learned something of the emotional complexity of our God, who's absolutely sovereign. Over the affairs of men and even the blindness and the hardness of heart. Of the Jewish people was something that was decreed, and yet God weeps. Over the fate that will befall them, he weeps over their hardness of heart.

We can't fully fathom the depth of this mystery, but we see something of the heart of God as he weeps over those who have refused to recognize their time of visitation and mercy. Hastening on, there's a 4th thing that we observed that Jesus does. Associated with this triumphal entry, and that is he inspected everything in the temple as a king would inspect his domain. He inspected or surveyed everything in the temple as a king would survey or inspect his domain.

And Mark's Gospel, it's just totally fascinating to me how anticlimactic the story is. You got this amazing thing. Look at verse 9, and those who went in front and those who followed were shouting, 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.

Verse 11, Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple. And after looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the 12 since it was already late. That's the end of this part of the narrative. He comes in the temple, looks around, and then walks back up the Mount of Olives, and then down the other slope back to Bethany, where he came from, and the day's over.

How intriguing. And yet if you look more closely, something is happening. He's not doing nothing. He comes into the temple and says he looked around at everything.

Everything. He watches and we know what he saw because of what he does the next day. He sees money changers extorting money from the people. He sees the court of the Gentiles, which is the temple was supposed to be a house of prayer for all nations, and yet the court of the Gentiles was just merely a shortcut.

People are bringing their wagons and their wares to the court of the Gentiles because they're too lazy to go around. And all of this noise and hustle and bustle of the animals and of the wagons going back and forth using the court of the Gentiles as a shortcut, hindering Gentiles from being able to truly worship God and pray to Him. Jesus observes, he's just walking around. Who knows how long he spent, but he's just walking around, and he's just watching.

He's looking at everything. Nothing escapes his notice. Nothing. And we do know this, that when he walked away from the temple that night and headed back up the Mount of Olives and then down to Bethany, he was in a foul mood.

A foul mood. We know that when he got up the next morning and went up to the Mount of Olives and then descended back into Jerusalem, he was in a foul, a righteously foul mood. He sees a fig tree that the foliage indicated that there might be fruit. He goes and there's no fruit.

He curses and kills the fig tree, not because he's mad at the fig tree, but because it is a metaphor for exactly what he saw the previous day. All the trappings of religion but no true fruit. And then he comes into the temple on the next day after cursing the fig tree and just cuts loose on everyone in the temple, and he throws out the money changers and he blocks the entrances, no doubt using the help of his disciples. He refuses to let anyone use the court of the Gentiles as a shortcut, and he basically says, this is my house.

This is my house, and this is to be a house of prayer. It's on that day, on that Monday that he's really asserting his authority as king. And what the Jews should have done? They should have said, you're the king.

This is your house. Tell us how you want us to do temple life. No, you want no one going to the court of the Gentiles, using it as a shortcut. OK, we'll stop that.

You don't want money changers in the temple doing what they're doing. OK, we'll stop that. Tell us what you want us to do. You're the king, you're in charge.

That's not how the Jewish leadership responds. In fact, the way they respond is we have to kill this man. They're rejecting him as their king, and Jesus knew that they would, and that is why he wept on the tail end of his triumphal entry, which ends with a significant note of sadness. Let me ask you to bow your heads this morning.

There's much to learn here. I think we should be so passionate in our worship of Jesus, knowing what we know compared to what this crowd knew. We also need to acknowledge that Jesus is our King, and he has full rights to examine and survey and inspect every part of our lives. And he has the right to tell us how to live in every area of our lives.

Is Jesus the Lord of your life? Is he the Lord of every area of your life? Does he have full rights to inspect and direct in every area? Is he the Lord of what you do on Sundays?

Is he the Lord of what you do Monday through Saturday? Is he the Lord of your worship? Is he the Lord of your entertainment choices? Is he the Lord of your clothing choices that you make?

Is Jesus Lord of everything. Have you opened your heart and received and received Him? As this king Who comes gentle, comes with forgiveness for those who would embrace him by faith. You've never received him as your Messiah King.

Receive him today, right where you're seated, call upon his name for salvation. He loves you so much, he died for you. That he might atone for your sins and give you forgiveness. which will come to you if you believe in Him.

But may we as a church body, extol him, worship him, and receive him every bit as the King that he is. We're going to take an offering in just a moment, we would encourage you to give as the Lord leads you to give. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word.

The beauty of narratives such as this, that we can be transported back in time to experience these things and be moved afresh by them. But may this be more than a story, Lord. May we see that you are coming to us. As our King, and may we respond in submission and in faith and in love and in adoration and worship.

And thus give glory to you. Receive our worship, Lord, and receive our offerings as we offer them to you in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said,