Going Public
Mark 11:1-25
Good morning! Please take your Bibles and turn to Mark 11. We are jumping ahead in our study of Mark because this is Holy Week. Next week, we will talk about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and then in the coming weeks we will go back to where we left off.
Well, we can assume this is still an election year, although I guess that is kind of up in the air. But it makes me think of how various politicians have announced their candidacy in recent years. Candidates know how important that first impression is. It can make or break a campaign.
When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President back in 2016, he planned every detail. He knew what coming down the escalator from his executive offices in Trump Tower would communicate.
But Trump isn’t the only candidate to arrange the details of their candidacy annoucement. On the day Democratic candidate Amy Klobachar announced her run, there was a near blizzard in her home state of Minnesota. Aides suggested she cancel, or move indoors. But Klobachar wanted to communicate that she was a fighter, so she kept the announcement outside. [Picture]
And for about thirty minutes, it was a great campaign!
But for sheer staging, nobody beats Ronald Reagan. In 1979, California governor and former actor Ronald Reagan announced his candidacy for President in a 20 minute video that was broadcast across the country. It was the first image most Americans living outside of California had gotten of the man who would become known as the great communicator. Look at the image: [transition] What does it communicate?
It looks for all the world like the oval office. He’s sitting behind a desk. There’s flags behind him. The former actor knew that just as an audience had to believe he was a cowboy when he was making movies, he had to make them believe he could be president.
So far in this series, we’ve hinted a couple of times about what scholars call “The Messianic Secret.” It’s this idea that every time someone makes a public declaration about who Jesus is, he tells them to be quiet. We pointed out a couple of weeks ago that the first ones to “get it” about Jesus were the demons. Three times (1:25, 1:34; 3:11) He orders them to be quiet when they shout out that He is the Son of God. On four different occasions, Jesus told someone He had just healed not to tell anyone about it (1:44, 5:43; 7:36, 8:26). After Peter confesses that He is the Christ (8:30), Jesus says not to tell anyone. And when Peter, James, and John see Jesus in all his glory on the mount of transfiguration, again, Jesus says, “Shhhhhh.”
Seems like a strange way to announce your candidacy, doesn’t it? But this is what makes the triumphal entry such a big deal. Because it is literally the first time in Mark that Jesus lets the whole world know who He is.
Let’s look at the passage together. This is Mark 11:1-10
11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[a] sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s Pray…
Who He is
First, Jesus is the Master to be obeyed (v. 1-6)
Let’s unpack verses 1-6. Bethany is about two miles outside of Jerusalem. So when they get to the outskirts of Bethany, Jesus stops and sends two unnamed disciples to get a donkey colt. Just so we’re clear, Jesus walks everywhere for months and now that He is within a couple of miles of Jerusalem and, He needs a ride!
So he sends these two disciples followers to the edge of the village on one of the busiest travel days of the year—no social distancing whatsoever!-- to borrow a ride. Notice he did not tell them to ask first. Now, think about the fact that in the Old West, they shot horse thieves. And this is the even older Middle East, so I would imagine going to untie someone else’s donkey without asking would be a pretty big deal!
Imagine if today, Jesus said to you, “go on over to Long Lewis, and pick out one of those brand new Ford F150’s that no one has ever driven. Sticker’s still in the front window, and the keys are in the ignition. If the salesman or security guards ask you a question, just say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here immediately.
How do you think that would go? Do you wonder if these were two disciples that Jesus was annoyed with? Couldn’t Jesus just call on God to lower a new donkey out of the clouds? Or, Jesus, how about if you just change one of the disciples into a donkey for a couple of hours? You wouldn’t mind, would you, Bartholomew?
Those are some of the questions that would have been going through my mind. But the thing is, the disciples didn’t ask any of them. They just obeyed.
Because that’s what followers of Jesus do.
True discipleship means handing Jesus a blank check and saying, Lord, here I am. Use my life in a way that will bring you glory.
Church, we have to choose whether we are going to to participate in Gods plan. Jesus is the Master to be obeyed.
Second, Jesus is the King to be crowned (v. 7)
For what its worth, when I was doing the outline for this, I originally had the word coronated instead of crowned. But then I saw this on the slide and I figured maybe I could find a new word. But in this scene, Jesus is absolutely establishing himself as the heir to the throne of David, and Israel’s rightful king. Let me show you something in the Old Testament that will help you see this scene the way Jews in Jesus’ day would have seen it.
The Old Testament book of 1 Kings begins with King David in his extreme old age, about to die. And you may or may not realize that David had several sons, and all of them wanted to be the next king. One of them was a guy named Adonijah, who we read in 1 Kings 1:5 just up and declared, “I will be king.” But the Lord had already revealed to David that his son Solomon would be king (that’s in 1 Chronicles 22 if you’re interested). So when David hears that Adonijah has set himeself up as king, he directs the high priest Zadok and Nathan the prophet to get with Solomon, and these are the instructions David gave. Look at 1 Kings 1:33
33 And the king said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord and have Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon.
And that’s exactly what they did. They put Solomon on David’s donkey and had him ride right past Gihon Springs, which was just outside the gates of Jerusalem. And from Gihon, Solomon rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Skip down to verse 38, and look what the people did:
38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. 39 There Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
Sound familiar? That’s pretty much exactly the scene Jesus orchestrated. Did you ever realize that other than this, there’s no record anywhere of Jesus riding on a donkey or a horse? He saves it for this moment. This is His coronation day!
The third thing Jesus tells us about who He is is that He is the Savior to be worshiped. Look at verses 9 and 10:
9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
I have no idea if the crowd understood what they were shouting. I kind of think they didn’t, because keep in mind that this is the same crowd that a week later will be yelling “crucify.”
But Jesus knew! And finally, after three years of telling people to be quiet when they told the truth about who He was, Jesus rides into Jerusalem receiving the praise and worship He deserves. The word “Hosanna” means “Save, I pray.” The crowd is shouting, almost word-for-word, the words of Psalm 118:25-26
25 Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The crowd is exalting Jesus as the Savior. And friends, every time we gather for worship, whether we are physically all together in this room or whether we are gathered “virtually,” we are exalting Jesus as Savior. Right where you are, in your own living room, you are joining the body of Christ in exalting Jesus as Savior.
However, Jesus is not going to be the Savior the people are expecting. Prophecy is being fulfilled, but not in the way they thought it would be. Let’s move from who Jesus is to what Jesus is like.
What He’s Like
The first thing we need to understand about the character of Jesus that we see in this passage is that He is humble and peaceful.
Keep in mind that Jesus orchestrated all these details in order to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah 9:
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, (Zech. 9:9-10)
Did you pick up on the key words? “Humble” and mounted on a donkey. No war horses. No battle bows. Verse 10 says He shall speak peace to the nations.
Do you understand how different Jesus entry into Jerusalem really was? Typically, a king or a military hero would enter a conquered city on horseback, with his army behind him and the captives they had taken behind them. In fact, when Mohammed conquered the city of Mecca on January 11, 630 AD, this was exactly how he did it. He rode in on a warhorse. He was surrounded by 400 mounted cavalry leading 10,000 foot soldiers. Those who sang his praises were absorbed into Islam, while those who opposed him were either killed or enslaved. When Mohammed entered Mecca, he took over as the undisputed religious, political, and military leader. Today, one of the holiest shrines in the Muslim world is the palace in Istanbul, Turkey where Mohammed’s sword is displayed.
Compare that to the man from Nazareth, who had never even been on a donkey before this moment, much less a war horse. His only companions are his twelve disciples. A week later, one will betray him, one will deny him, and all the others except for one will run away.
Jesus leads no captives. Instead, people voluntarily wave palm branches, a symbol of peace.
However, there is another side to the character of Jesus. While Jesus is completely humble and gentle, His first 24 hours in Jerusalem show that He is also righteous and wrathful.
Look at verses 12-14 with me:
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
And if you skip down to verse 20, you see that when the disciples passed that way the next morning, this fig tree was withered.
Now, this particular miracle has bothered people for two thousand years now. It bothers me. Because it seems like Jesus is acting out against a poor, innocent tree that isn’t even in season. What’s going on here? Is Jesus just “hangry?”
There actually is a lot going on between the lines here. Remember that Jesus never wasted an action. He is teaching us something here, both in the story itself and in the way Mark tells the story. I’ll get back to that in a minute.
But what helps us understand the story is that if the tree had leaves on it, it could have had figs. They may not have been fully ripe, but they would have at least been edible, and could have taken the edge off Jesus’ hunger. You see, the leaves promised something that the tree didn’t deliver. And Jesus expressed His righteous indignation against show without substance.
Sadly, I wonder how many Christians that could describe today. If there is anything this time in our world will identify, it is the difference between true followers of Jesus and those who are putting on a show. When times are good, its easy to trust in God. But when hard times come, is there any fruit in your life, or are you just leaves?
In our Gospel Project Sunday school lesson this week, we talked about John the Baptist challenging his listeners to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” If God has truly done a work in your life, you are going to bear fruit. And please, take this warning from the fig tree. There will come a point where, if you’re just playing games with your commitment to Jesus, you will be found out. And you will be out of chances.
Jesus didn’t look at the fig tree and say, “All right now, tree… I’m going to come back this way tomorrow, and there better be some figs… I’ll give you one more chance.”
No. Jesus looked at it and said, Never bear fruit again. And it didn’t. Friends, there will come a day when Jesus will examine your life, looking for fruit. And if there is none to be found, Jesus, in righteousness, may say, “Nope. There’s no fruit here. Cut this one down.”
Second, there is something significant about the way Mark tells this story. One of Mark’s favorite storytelling techniques is to start a story, interrupt himself with another story, and then finish the story. And usually, the story in the middle has something to do with the story on the outside. That’s what’s happening here. In the middle story, Jesus cleanses the temple. Look at verses 15-18:
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
There were a lot of shady things being done in the Temple. Especially during Passover. Since all Jews were required to come to Jerusalem for Passover, the population was ten times its normal size during the celebration. So here’s a diagram of the Temple. Imagine how crowded it must have been! And everybody needed a lamb. Since the lambs needed to be perfect, even the ones that people brought from home had to pass inspection. And—shocker—they never passed! So people would be forced to buy a new lamb, usually at ten or even fifteen times the normal price. Talk about getting fleeced!
Oh, and you couldn’t pay with any foreign currency. So there were moneychangers there who—you guessed it—would charge ridiculous fees to change your money into temple shekels.
But added to all this was where all the moneychangers and lamb choppers (that’s probably not what they were called, but work with me) were set up. They weren’t in the temple itself—that wouldn’t be allowed. Instead, they were in the court of the Gentiles—the one place non-Jews who wanted to worship Yahweh were allowed. And the court was so choked with merchants that there was no room for them. That’s what made Jesus really mad. That’s why he said, “Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
Jesus displayed His wrath against religion without righteousness. And hopefully you see what this story has to do with the fig tree. There were lots of very religious things going on in the temple. But it was leaves without figs. There was nothing nourishing or life giving or God glorifying in their religion. And Jesus wanted no part of it.
Have you considered the possibility that what is happening in our country right now may be God calling us back to what it means to truly worship Him?
Since we are talking about Passover, let’s talk about the first passover. And how each of the ten plagues in Exodus was designed to undermine one of the Egyptian gods. [Explain]
Now, think about all of the false gods that have been undermined in our culture over the past few weeks. [Explain]
Why He Came (v. 18)
What we see in Mark 11 is a picture of Jesus totally and absolutely in control. Just as He orchestrated all the details of his entry into Jerusalem, everything else he does in this chapter is intentional and deliberate. He wasn’t throwing a fit when he cursed the fig tree. And He didn’t have a rage tantrum in the Temple. From start to finish, Jesus did what he did in order to move His mission forward. And you get a hint of that in verse 18:
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching.
Jesus understood what happened in Jerusalem at Passover. Passover was the time, and Jerusalem was the place, where a spotless lamb would be slain to cover the sins of the people.
So he knew exactly what kind of reaction He would get when He overturned the tables and drove out the moneychangers in the Temple. In fact, He had told his disciples about it weeks or maybe even months before. Turn back one chapter to Mark 10: [Not on screen, but on your listening guide
32 And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, 33 saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. 34 And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.” (Mark 10:32-34)
Conclusion—Are you still keeping it a secret?
