JESUS’ ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.
(Part 1)
Mark 11: 1 – 7
Sermon by:
Rev. P. den Butter
PUBLISHED BY
PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE
OF THE
FREE REFORMED CHURCHES OF NORTH AMERICA.
(September 2006)
LITURGY:
Votum
Psalter 86
Law of God
Scripture Reading: Mark 11: 1 – 11
Text: Mark 11: 1 – 7
Psalter 320: 4, 5
Congregational Prayer
Offerings
Psalter 382
Sermon
Psalter 187: 2, 3
Thanksgiving Prayer
Psalter 303
Doxology: Psalter 413: 1, 2
Congregation,
Today we will listen to God’s Word as it comes to us from Mark 11: 1 – 7. It is a two part sermon and the follow up sermon will be from Mark 11: 8 - 10
This passage in the gospel brings before our memory the final week of the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has labored for 3 or 3 ½ years now in the midst of the people of Israel. He has preached Today we will listen to the Lord’s Word as it comes to us from Mark 11: 1-7. It is a two the word of God to them, performed many miracles and has revealed Himself as the Son of God, especially to His disciples. But now that the end of His earthly life is coming, He is fully aware of the fact, and He is fully willing to end His life within a few days time. He is willing to do all that the Father has commanded Him to do. He is also willing to give His life as a ransom for many. Therefore, He no longer makes any attempts to escape from the threatening and the enmity of the people. Because He is willing to do the Father’s will to the very end, He now is going to do a very remarkable thing. When He has made His last journey from the northern regions to the province of Judea, to the city of Jerusalem, the city is crowded with many pilgrims that have come from far and near to celebrate the Passover Feast. And among the people there is much talk about the Lord Jesus. The question has been raised among them,” What think ye that He will not come to the feast?” Many among these pilgrims have never heard the Lord Jesus preach personally, as they come from far away places, but they have heard about the Lord Jesus, and now they would also love to see Him, and also witness one of the miracles that He performs. Of course, many of them in the meanwhile, are aware that the commandment has been given by the spiritual leaders, namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and the chief priests that if any knew where the Lord Jesus would be, he should tell them so that the leaders could apprehend Him. That commandment that was issued not so long ago, clearly tells us what the mood among the spiritual leaders is in these days and what the Pharisees think of the Lord Jesus. They consider Him a danger, a threat to the spiritual health of the people, but also a threat to their own position.
And for that reason, it is quite a risky matter for the Lord Jesus to come now to Jerusalem. The tension is building up, and yet in the midst of that tension the lord Jesus decides to go to Jerusalem and to do it in a very different way than He has ever done it before. A thing He has never done before He is now going to do. We read in several passages in the gospels that He withdrew from the public life. He retired to some remote area far away from the people. Read with me in Matt. 12:14 “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; and charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.” In these days the Lord Jesus did not show Himself publicly very often and certainly did not advertise His work. He was not seeking publicity. He rather worked in silence.
This was the manner in which the Lord Jesus has worked so far. And therefore viewed in this light, it is greatly remarkable that the Lord Jesus is now going to take an entirely different attitude. This time He will do things completely different. He will now do a very public thing. He will have a triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. When he comes into the city He does not come ‘in cognito’, but He will have everyone see Him and witness His entry. This time, He will not make His entry a secret.
What does He do? He rides into the city sitting upon a donkey, surrounded by his disciples, and huge multitudes of people enthusiastically welcoming Him and singing praises to God. In a city that is crowded with pilgrims such a thing can not be hidden. Everyone hears about it. Why this sudden change in the policy of the Lord Jesus? Why does He, who always retired from the public eye, now make His entry into Jerusalem
such a public affair, to be observed by all? I believe the Lord has several reasons for doing it.
In the first place, He shows that He is not at all afraid of the power and hatred of His enemies. They are scheming and plotting to imprison and kill Him. They certainly will have great power to carry out their plans, but Jesus is not afraid of them, for He knows that these enemies with all their power can not do anything without God’s permission. Therefore, in His public entry into Jerusalem the Lord Jesus demonstrates that He is not at all afraid of them. He even defies His enemies. In the second place, He shows His sovereign power. His sovereign power over against the plans that are made by His foes. The Lord even takes matters into His own hands. He takes the initiative. He even forces the issue. He puts Himself in the spot light and everyone has to take notice of Him. By this, He is saying that He is the King. There have been moments in the past three years that the multitude came to Him and sought to make Him King, but then Jesus withdrew. But He no longer withdraws. When they now want to give Him honor and praise and acknowledge Him as King, He gives them permission to do so. He openly declares that He is the King, that He is the sovereign who rules and reigns. And then thirdly, the Lord wants to make the last act of his life a very public matter. The last act of His life will be His death. He knows that the time has come. He knows that within a few days time, He will have to die upon the cross. The time has come that He must sacrifice Himself to thereby make atonement for the sins of His people. That last act must be known by all. It may not take place in a corner, but it must take place before the public eye. Everyone must know it, and hear about it. The Lamb of God may not be slain in secret, but it must be done in the presence of all men. And so purposely, the Lord draws the attention to Himself. When He rides upon a donkey into Jerusalem it is certainly a very public act. I believe that these three reasons explain why the Lord Jesus did this very uncommon thing.
In all these things, He is manifesting His glory. In the beginning of the last week of His life, He reveals Himself as Someone who is full of glory. He will not suffer and die as a
victim, nor as a martyr; but when He dies, He dies as a volunteer. He dies voluntarily. He had said and now He will prove that it is true,” I lay down my life for the sheep, no man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of myself. This power I have received from My Father.” That is what He now demonstrates. The power to die voluntarily, to lay down His life voluntarily!
And since the Lord is doing this, everyone in Jerusalem has to make up his mind, and to decide what will be their attitude towards Jesus. Therefore, it is not accidental that we read elsewhere after all these activities have happened, “what think ye of Christ?’ That is the question that the people in Jerusalem have to answer now. After His public entry into Jerusalem, friend and foe alike, must know that God expects them to come to a conclusion, to make up their mind. No one can remain neutral, and uncommitted.
And since we hear this gospel, namely the triumphal entry of the King into the city of David, Jerusalem, congregation, since that message comes to us as well, we also must come to a conclusion. What think ye of Christ? What is He to you? Do not try to push off this question. Maybe you have done so for many years already. But let it be no longer so! Do not try to push away that question. This is a matter that must be solved in all our lives. What think ye of Christ? Are you able to say,” Thou art the Christ, the Son of God.” Thou art the Savior! Can you say, “Thou art my Savior!”
Well, let us look more closely at the events as they are described for us in Mark 11. After having spent the night in Bethany, in the house of Martha, Lazarus and Mary, the Lord Jesus together with His disciples walks in the direction of Jerusalem. And when they approach the village of Bethpage, the Lord sends two of His disciples into that village and commands them to bring a young donkey, a colt. He tells them exactly where they will find the animal together with its mother and when they have found it they must bring it. If the owner of the animal begins to ask a question, then they simply must tell him that the Lord has need of it. And that simple answer will be sufficient to satisfy the owner and
give the animal to the disciples. And without further questions, they are allowed to take the animal to the Lord Jesus. The disciples obediently do as they have been told. They find the animal exactly where the Lord had said it would be, they loosed the donkey, and when the owner asks why they are doing it they give the answer that the Lord Jesus had given them previously. That was sufficient. They take the young animal and return to the Lord. That is briefly the account that we find in the first part of this passage.
This story has been recorded by Mark but the Holy Spirit has seen fit to inspire the other three writers of the gospels to also write about it. In Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-36 and John 12:12-15, we find the event of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem recorded. The fact that the Holy Spirit has put it into the Word of God four times must tells us that the happening is very important and we are to pay close attention to it. Let us study this passage to glean some lessons from it.
The first lesson to learn is that the Lord Jesus has a perfect knowledge; He is the all-knowing Christ, the Omniscient Son of God. He knows all things. He knows them perfectly. He knows exactly where the donkey was. He knows exactly what will happen when the disciples will untie the young animal. He is Omniscient. He reveals Himself also in this part of the gospel as the Son of God who partakes in the divine attributes, because He has the divine nature. He possesses also the divine attribute of Omniscience.
This tells us that the Lord has a perfect knowledge of ALL that transpires in this world. Even small and insignificant things are known by Him. Recall the story of Nathaniel. When he was called to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord in the brief conversation that is recorded in John 1:48, says to Nathaniel,”I saw you under the fig tree.” No one knew that Nathaniel was at that particular time sitting under the fig tree, but Jesus did. Jesus saw him with His all-seeing eyes. Nothing escapes from Jesus’ observation. He is the Creator, He is the preserver of all living things and because He is the Creator of all, He is aware of all the movements and the situations of man and beasts
alike. He knows where the donkeys are and knows the response of the owner, He knows everything. Let us not overlook this truth, congregation.
It is a truth that is emphasized more often in the Word of God. Let me give you a few quotations. John 2:25 “And needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man.” John6:64”But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.” To Him there are no secrets. To Him, all hidden things are naked and open before His holy eyes. That perfect knowledge of the Lord Jesus is emphasized several times in the Word of God.
That tells us that we should not overlook this very important truth. This truth must have some affect upon us. What affect? What does it do in us when we realize that all of our life is open before the eyes of the Lord? Let me tell you what affect it should have both upon the unconverted and the converted. Upon the unconverted, this truth should have an alarming affect. This truth should alarm us as long as we are outside the Savior. Remember Christ’s eyes see us! Wherever we are and whatever we do we cannot hide from Him, He is all-knowing and all-seeing and we cannot do our works in secret. The things that we try to hide from other people, from our parents and our neighbors, He knows. He even knows the secrets of the heart. Things that we never speak about, things that are known to ourselves only, He knows them. Also our sinful things, our sinful thoughts, our sinful lusts, the things we try to hide from other people, He knows them all. There will be a day that all the secrets of our life will be brought into the open. Then this all-knowing Christ will be the judge. That perfect knowledge of God and of His Son, Jesus! To know and realize that His holy eyes watch us when we are sitting in church. Do we realize that His eyes are always watching us, that we cannot find a place where His eyes do not see us? Even the darkness does not hide from Him. He hears and sees all that we say and do in the open, but with the same perfect knowledge He hears and sees all that we say and do in secret. Does that not alarm us? Does that not affect us? Should it not make us diligent to escape from sin, from temptation and never more to do things
that are forbidden by the Lord? That perfect knowledge of the Lord Jesus should alarm us greatly! We should be terribly afraid to do anything against His will, or against the Law of God.
But this same truth, of the perfect knowledge of God is also a truth that is meant to bring comfort, to bring encouragement especially to the hearts of those that do truly fear the Lord. The Lord knows everything in their lives, and in their hearts. He knows their struggles, their trials, their miseries, their pains, their disappointments. He says t o the church at Ephesus, in Rev. 2:2” I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience,” and to the church at Pergamos in Rev. 2:13”I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is:” and to the church at Smyrna, Rev. 2:9”I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty.” He knows all their conditions. Nothing is hid and can remain hidden from Him. Their temptation, their trials, and their weaknesses, H knows it all. That is a comforting truth. Sometimes God’s people feel abandoned by everyone, to them it seems everyone and everything is against them and that no one cares for them. There are times that they feel lost, miserable, poor, needy, unable to defend themselves, unable to stand in the day of temptation. What do they need? What they need to hear is this truth of Christ’s perfect knowledge emphasized again.
The truth, that He hears them when they think that they are forsaken by God and man. He hears their secret cries for help that go up from a tried heart. He hears their groans and sighs and is acquainted with all their griefs and all their pains. He sees them when they are in their closets, upon their knees, downcast because they fear that the Lord does not hear them any more. But His eyes do see their cries.
He also knows it when there is love in their souls for the Lord. Recall the story of Peter’s reinstating into the ministry of the Lord. Peter appeals to the perfect knowledge of the Lord Jesus when he said, “Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee”. Is the perfect knowledge of the Savior not a comfort to those that are in need and for