Sermon artwork

Mark 11:1-11

Preached by Bart Erlebach on 30th March 2025

Scripture

11:1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus 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!”

11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.

(ESV)

Generated Transcript
Today's reading is from the gospel mark chapter 11 verses 1 to 11. It can be found on page 1015 of the church bibles. Matthew chapter 11. Sorry, marked chapter 11. As they approached Jerusalem and came and came to Beth Age and Bethany at the Mount of Volives, Jesus sent 2 of his disciples saying to them, go to the village ahead of you and as you enter it, you will find a cult tied there, which no 1 has ever ridden, untie it and bring it here.

If anyone asks you, why are you doing this? Say the lord needs it, and we'll send it back here shortly. They went and found a cult outside in the street and tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, what are you doing on tying that cult? They answered is Jesus a toll them to, and the people let them go.

When they brought the culture Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord. Blessid is the coming kingdom about Father David, Hosanna, in the highest heaven. Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple courts.

He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went up to Bethany with the twelfth. Thank you, Jane, for reading that for us. Let's pray together as we come to god's word. Let's pray. Father, we pray, the morning, make our hearts and our minds alert.

As we look at your word, help us to be attentive to your word, help us to be ready to see Jesus, and to understand what he is doing as he rides into Jerusalem on that donkey. And father, please, would you buy your spirit, take your word and not just educate our minds, but change our hearts and change our lives. Our men. So we're beginning a new series today. It's called e ster Riddles because there were strange things that happened that first Easter in the week leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection.

There were strange things that happened. Things like Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, or Jesus cursing a fig tree, or Jesus breaking bread. And then when he died, the darkness, there was in the curtain that was torn, and then Easter, Sunday, the empty tomb. Strange things happening. Some of them, which maybe you think, well, I'm just very familiar with that.

Doesn't seem that strange, but they were strange. And other things, which maybe you just think, well, no, that really is strange. I have no idea what's going on there. But each 1 of them, as we unpick them, as we see what they're really about will take us to the heart of Easter, what Easter is really all about. And so we're gonna begin today with the riddle of the donkey.

We come into Mark's gospel. On palm Sunday, not okay. Today isn't palm Sunday. Don't get confused next Sunday is not Easter Sunday. If those are if some are used to the sort of church calendar, normally palm Sunday the week before Easter, you're thinking about, Jesus striding into Jerusalem on a donkey, but we're going to do it now because we want to touch more incidents in that week leading up to Jesus' death.

And so that's why we're doing it this week. So don't get confused. Don't think it's Easter Sunday next Sunday. Alright. So Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.

The crowd who have come with him from Gallilee. This isn't the Jerusalem crowd. This the galilee crowd who've come with him on the journey, are shouting, are cheering, are ripping off branches, and putting them on the ground in front of the donkey. What's going on? What's the meaning of this?

Jesus is making a huge claim about himself, because we have here a very carefully planned entrance into jury slump. You see it sometimes don't you when celebrities arrive for, big events, red carpet events that sometimes they do things which are outrageous to draw attention to themselves, or sometimes they do things to make a point, to make a stand, like when Lady Gaga did that thing where she wore a dress made out of meat. Weird. But she was trying to make a point. But whatever celebrities have done, whatever kind of big extravagant thing they've done to try to draw attention.

It is nothing compared to what Jesus has carefully planned here. He's traveled all the way from Gallavy to to Jerusalem. That is a distance of about 90 miles. And he has walked the entire way until we get to well, there's 1. Have a look.

Page 1015. As they approached Jerusalem and came to Beth Paige and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, that's where he gets to. That is about 2 miles away from Jerusalem. He's traveled about 88 miles on foot. He's come to the top of the mount of olives, and therefore, Jerusalem is there in front of him across the valley.

He can see it, 2 miles away, and he stops so that people can go and get a donkey for him to ride the last 2 miles. He has traveled almost the entire journey on foot, and now stops so they can get a donkey for him. And we see Jesus has made careful plans for this donkey. This isn't just a donkey that happens to be by the roadside. He says to 2 of his disciples verse 2, go to the village ahead of you.

And just as you enter it, you'll find a cult tied there with the which no 1 has ever ridden, untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you why you're doing this, say the lord needs it, and we'll send it back here shortly. Some see here a miracle, but I'm not sure it is. In fact, I don't think it is. There are plenty of other miracles.

Don't worry. The pastor isn't denying miracles in the bible. There are plenty of miracles Jesus does, but I just don't think this is 1 of them. It's seems more likely this is careful planning that maybe the previous passover when Jesus would have been in Jerusalem. He made these plans.

Maybe went to the village and made arrangements, found someone who'd got a donkey that no 1 had ever ridden and said, could you keep this? For me. And at some point, maybe next year, I will send some people, some of my friends who will come, and they'll ask for the donkey. And if you say, why are you doing this? Here's the password.

The lord needed, and they'll know it's me. Careful preparations. Why? Well, riding into a city is a grand thing to do. It's the kind of thing a victorious general would have done in those days to ride into a city after a military campaign where you've won victory tree over the city, and to ride in would be a grand gesture.

But by riding in on a donkey, Jesus is fulfilling a particular prophecy from the Old Testament, a prophecy in the book of Zechariah. Here it is. Written hundreds of years before Jesus did this. It says, Rejoice greatly, daughter's iron, shout, daughter Jerusalem, see your king comes to you righteous and victorious, lowly, and riding on a donkey, on a cult the foal of a donkey. So here we have a promise that 1 will come, who will ride on a donkey into Jerusalem.

And who is this person, according to the verse? It is their king. The king of Jerusalem will come in that way. Do you see, Jesus is deliberately fulfilling that prophecy, making these arrangements to use this donkey to ride into tourism. He's quite blatantly, isn't he making this claim to be this king and people knew it.

As soon as he they saw he was doing this, that he was getting a donkey, they would have known what he was And Jesus doesn't dial down the excitement at all. In fact, he seems to up the excitement. Did you notice the past word that they give, the lord needs it. I mean, that's gonna wind the crowd up. Can you imagine overhearing that?

At. He's calling himself the lord. He's called for a donkey. And so the crowd join in. First 7, when they brought the cult to Jesus through cloaks over it.

He sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Some have said that Jesus tolerated their praise, but he looks here like he orchestrated it almost, which is staggering because so far in Mark's gospel, he's been very secretive. If he healed someone, he will often say, don't tell anyone about this, as if they could, as if they could keep it quiet that someone had been cured of leprous or that their daughter had been raised from the dead. How are they gonna keep that quiet?

But it shows, doesn't it? Jesus so far has been secretive. He's he's kept a lid on the excitement, but now it seems like he's just overtly making this claim, and people are loving it. And they shout verse 9. Hosanna.

Bless is he who comes in the name of the lord, best is the coming kingdom of our father, David, Josena, in the highest quotes from Psalm a hundred and 18. The crowd knows what she's claim. And we need to know that this actually is not just a claim to be king of a small middle eastern country because the quote from Ekaria goes on. That's first 9. First 10 is I will take away the chariots from E frame and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow 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. By riding into Jerusalem, on a donkey, Jesus is claiming to be the king who can, and will bring peace to the nations. Whose rule is from sea to sea from the river to the ends of the earth. The riddle of the donkey. Jesus is the king to the ends of the f.

And as you read those verses in Zechariah, when you're thinking that's the kind of king we really need in this world, 1 who can bring peace to the nations, and peace that comes through righteousness because that's how he's been described coming with righteousness. So a piece that he can bring through justice, not not not just through what whatever means possible, but with justice and right consciousness. That's what we want. We're aware, aren't we? We've already prayed this morning about the world.

And the changes that are happening, things that are very worrying. The political landscape is shifting. Thing. And in the spring budget, this last week, the chancellor said we'll need to spend more on defense. Why?

Because the world just feels less stable. It is less stable. And no politicians work for peace. We wonder whether they really make it happen. And if they can, whether it'll be fair.

But Jesus' claim is to be the king, the ruler overall nations who can and will bring peace and end to hostility, a world where weapons of war are no longer needed, and where people do not need to live in fear. Jesus is saying is the king who can and will achieve all that. But while this is a big claim, big scale claim, it's also a personal challenge. Because if Jesus is the king of all the earth. He is also claiming to be your king.

And so he claims your loyalty, your submission, your obedience. And that doesn't fit with how a lot of people view Jesus. Who do you think Jesus is? Many people include in their answer, the word, just. He was just a good teacher or just a compassionate man.

And that word just seems to imply that people might think, well, others think he was something more. Others think he was something greater, but, they've built him up too much. They've made him out to be something he wasn't. Indeed, they've built him up in their imagines to be imaginations to be something greater than he ever claimed to be, but this passage removes that word just, not just, anything. Jesus is claiming to be the king who kingdom has no boundaries, no borders, claiming to be the king of all people, including you and me.

And to be a Christian is to live with Jesus as your came with the right to your life every bit of it. He claims ownership of your life, a number of people in this church family, I know, are moving house soon or hoping to move house soon. I wonder if you've ever gone back to an old house that you used to live in. 1 that may maybe you used to own. Maybe you've driven past it.

Maybe you've been in. Maybe you plucked up the courage to ring on the doorbell. And somehow, it's managed to persuade the people who now own it to, to let you in and have a look. It's a strange thing to do, especially if you see bits which maybe you did to the house, which maybe they've removed, or things they've changed, or things they've acted. And there's a bit of you going, but that's mine.

You should have kept it. You should have looked after it. It's mine. And you have to remind yourself. It's not yours.

They can do what they want with it. When Jesus claims to be king of your life, he claims ownership of it and says, I can do in your life what I want to do in it. And we have to remember, he's the king. He owns it. Not us.

He's king of all your life, or he isn't king at all. CTO Christian is to recognize Jesus as the king, the owner of your life, which means he has the right to every part of it. Writing into Jerusalem Lamona Donki is a huge claim. The claim to be the king whose rule is to the ends of the earth and the claim to be your king. But we've only really figured out half the riddle of the donkey.

It tells us much more about Jesus. It actually tells us what kind of king he is, what kind of mission he was on. You see, the this incident does end in a very strange way. It's very odd. You see, the crowd have been excited.

They've got excited. They're shouting. They're putting the palm branches down. They're throwing their cloaks on the floor. They're shouting, they're chanting, and jerry Jesus rides into Jerusalem heads for the temple, and then verse 11.

Jesus entered Jerusalem went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelfth. What an anti climber Well, he didn't mind the shouting and the chanting. He he didn't stop it. He arrived in majestic procession, goes to the temple, looks around, looks at his watch, decides it's almost in the time, and goes back out to exactly where he started.

Can you imagine the crowd's disappointment? Because the crowd would have been hoping for something far bigger than this. There's something spectacular would happen. You see, Israel was an occupied country. The Romans ruled in Israel.

Oh, sure. The the Israelites had their religious leaders, but they were under Rome. And the promises in the Old Testament would make you think if Jesus is this king, he should smash the Romans. After all, the verse in Zechariah, just before the 1 about the donkey says this, but I will encamp at the temple at my temple, to guard it against marauding forces, never again, will an oppressor overrun my people for now. I am keeping watch.

And Psalm a hundred and 18, that the crowd were shouting contains this. All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the lord, I cut them down. They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the lord, I cut them down. So the people would have been expecting that with the arrival of this king, this should have been a major confrontation with the Romans. Don't you think they would have expected Jesus?

Yeah. I can ride in on the donkey, but head to the Roman Palace and to where pilot was governing to lay siege to it, maybe, defeat the occupying powers, but he doesn't. Goes to the temple, looks around, and leaves. What's going on? But the answer can be found by understanding more about the riddle of the donkey.

You see, it is odd that in the prophecy, it was a donkey. That isn't exactly grand. Is it a donkey? No. If you were gonna make a big impression, if you really wanted to look good, you'd ride on a horse And if you really wanted to make a statement, it would be a white horse.

That's what the victorious generals would have written. To a arrive on a donkey? Well, that'd be like a a member of the royal family, arriving at an event in a beaten up old mini. Nothing wrong with beaten up old minis, but it's not what you arrive There's help for us in the old testament passages that we've looked at. You see, in the passages in Zechariah and in arm a hundred and 18.

There are right next to each other, bits which talk about god coming and destroying the enemies, smashing the nations, opposed to god's people. And then right next to it, in the very next verses, as we've seen, zechariah 9 verse 9, the bits which speak about a king coming humbly and riding on a donkey. Now that is confusing, isn't it? Both are there. But by coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, Jesus is saying the visit that he is doing to Jerusalem them is not gonna be a military campaign.

This isn't gonna be a destroy the Romans visit. This is gonna be a riding in on a donkey visit, a bringing salvation visit. By riding into Jerusalem Mona donkey, Jesus is claiming, yes, to be the king whose kingdom is worldwide, and he is saying he's come in humility. Riding into the capital city to bring salvation. Jesus knew, as he rode into the capital city, that he hadn't come to rule over the nations, to destroy the Romans and begin his reign, but to bring salvation.

And in order for him to do that, this journey was not gonna end with a coronation on a throne, but with a crucifixion on a cross. Some a hundred and 18, even. When the crowds were shouting, yes, some a hundred and 18 speaks of, nations being cut down, but it also speaks about a stone being rejected and becoming the cornerstone. And the New Testament picks up on that and says, that rejected stone is Jesus. That's what was gonna happen to in Jerusalem.

He was gonna be rejected. And it's only by heading to the cross that he can win peace for us. It's only by heading to the cross. He can be our savior because when he died outside Jerusalem, he died the death of a traitor, the death of someone who's committed treason. But if he's the king of all, why is he dying a traitor's death?

Well, he isn't dying for his own treason, but for us, he's taking the death you and I should have. If Jesus were to come in judgment, you see, the reality is he would have to come against you and me, because we're all rebels against his kingship. Humanity has rejected god. And so we deserve the traitors death. Maybe you find that surprising.

But the Bible consistently tells us that mankind is not at peace with god because we've all rebelled again census kingship. And if you aren't sure about that, just think, how did you react when I said Jesus came as king and commands your loyalty, your submission, your obedience, Didn't you react by thinking I'm not sure about that. The whole of my life? Oh, he can have some of it, but all of it Now all of us want to be king of our own lives, really. And that is the rebellion in our hearts.

I'll be king of my life. Thank you. Not you And say the bible says we deserve him to come as our judge, but he died the traitor's death for us so we can be reconciled to god. We can be forgiven. What kind of king is this?

He rides not on a white horse, but on a donkey. He wears not a royal crown, but a crown of thorns in place of a throne across instead of a palace, a hillside outside Jerusalem, dying amongst criminals. Here is the king. Come to save us in humility. He comes riding on a donkey to be the humble savior.

And we need to let him service in this way. We need him to sacrifice for us to die in our place so we can have peace with god. And do you see what difference this makes to submitting to him, I can understand why people struggle with the idea of giving your whole life in submission to Jesus. Now maybe there are some here. Maybe some Christians here.

Who have held back from giving themselves fully to Jesus. I wonder if that's true of you. But you've kind of held back. Well, maybe it's out of pride. Jesus, you can't have that bit of life.

But maybe for some, it's out of fear. You've been frightened of what Jesus might ask of you. What he might demand of you? We need to remember. This is the kind of king he is.

He rides on a donkey. He's not self serving. He's not manipulative nor abusive. He came and served you and went to such lengths for you that he ended up on the cross. And therefore, this came combines both majesty and humility.

Unbelievable an incredible, tender self giving love. Why wouldn't you give your all to this king who gave his all for you? Love so amazing. So divine demands my soul, my life, my all. Don't hold back from giving him your whole self.

Give it to this who rides on a donkey. There's nothing to fear in submitting to him. He will only ever do what is best for you. We're almost at an end. But there is 1 last question to answer.

Just 1 part of the riddle that we haven't quite answered. What about those prophecies of Jesus coming to rule and reign to judge the nations and bring peace. Because they are there in Zechariah and some hundred and 80. Is Jesus saying, no, those were just a mistake? Now I've just come how humbly.

I've I've just come to do that bit, but those other bits. Don't worry about that. No. It's not that. There is an answer, but it wasn't what the Israelites in Jesus is they were expecting.

And we can understand why they didn't expect it because you do have in those prophecies, these descriptions, right next to each other, talk about coming humbly, right next to talking about nations being destroyed. But the answer series, the answer to the riddle is that Jesus will come twice. Once a a donkey, humility, bringing salvation, but we're told Jesus will come again. And in Revelation chapter 19, it says there will be a time when he will come as a rider on a white force. When it says, with justice he judges and wages war.

He came once in humility, bringing salvation he will come again to judge. And the 2 things are connected. The 2 visits are connected because if we come to Jesus for the salvation he won at the cross, we don't need to fear when he comes to judge. At his first coming, he did everything necessary for us to be safe when he comes again. So here is the riddle of the donkey.

Jesus, the king to the ends of the earth, came humbly, bringing some salvation, and he will come again to judge. Let's pray. How many father we praise you for this riddle of the donkey. Thank you that Jesus was making such big claims to be the king, the king over all the world, all the Earth, and therefore makes a claim over us. And thank you.

He came on a donkey, humbly, to bring salvation. For the help each 1 here to come to Jesus for that salvation. And we praise you that Jesus will 1 day come again to judge and bring peace. That we praise you for Jesus and pray each 1 here would respond according to your word, amen.