Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye be entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and straightway he will send him hither.
4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
8 And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
Before we look at our text, I want to bring to our attention the challenge of free speech that is increasing across the Western world. In the U.K. which ironically stands for the “united kingdom”, there is a man who has been in prison for around seven months now for exposing the Muslim gang rapes and the lopsided approach to justice in that country. The U.K. is becoming a Muslim nation. The man in prison, in solitary confinement during this time, is not a Christian man. He does not believe in the true God. However, he was willing to expose the corruption that is taking over his country. He was severely punished for putting out a documentary exposing the injustices. The government insisted his documentary was a lie and he published it anyway.
There is a woman, the wife of a ‘conservative’ politician who has also been jailed in the U.K. for exposing the illegal immigration system that has been protected by the British government. She is the mother of a twelve year old child. She too, is not a Christian woman. She does not know the true God. She used language in her statement that was foul and completely unnecessary. However, she exposed the issues that are causing her own country to become unsafe and changed for the worse.
In Canada we are still hearing of court cases of people who dared to stand up to the tyranny of our government during the Wuhan virus debacle. It is finally coming out that our government overstepped its bounds when it tried to mandate the shots, etc. during that time. They are still pushing lies regarding that whole matter. It is a fact that our government tried to shut down ‘christian’ activity during that time. They did not go after mosques or native religious activity, but they went after ‘christian’ activity. I realize that most churches are false churches. Most serve a false god. The fact is that at this point, God is still protecting the privilege of His children to preach the Gospel. We do not know how long we will have this privilege in Canada, but regardless, we can continue to preach the truth just as the apostles did in the first century.
In our text, Jesus was continuing to move toward Jerusalem, where He would be arrested, tried, killed, buried and rise again. None of this would happen before Its’ time. The same was true for the apostles. The same is still true for God’s children today. We need to be sure we submit to God’s will and follow His leadership. He still wants people to know the truth.
In our text we are now in the final week prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. He was almost done teaching all that He needed to do. It would soon be time for Him to lay down His life to provide salvation for mankind. Many would reject Him, but that was their loss.
The mount of Olives was an important place to Jesus. He spent much time there with His disciples and also in prayer. Now He would wait for the disciples to make preparations for His presentation in Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. He would not come in with the pomp of a secular king. He would not even come in with the pomp of King Solomon. He would come in a humble manner, continuing His purpose during His first coming.
Jesus told the disciples where they should go to find the colt needed for Jesus’ special ride into Jerusalem. Jesus knew exactly where this animal was. He knew it was an animal that was not trained for riding. Yet this animal would be perfect for what He was about to do. Jesus did not need any man to break the animal that He would ride. He created the animals and He was well able to command this colt to behave for His ride into Jerusalem.
This event reminded me of the account in the days of Samuel when the Ark of God was captured by the Philistines. After God taught the Philistines some important lessons regarding that ark, they took two milk cows that had just calved. Those cows were not broke for pulling a cart. They placed the ark of God on a new cart and hitched it to those cows and sent them off. Those cows took that ark back into the land of Israel. They did not run and kick and knock that ark off the cart. They did something very unusual, but God commanded them to bring that ark back into the possession of the Jews. God can command any person or any animal to do His bidding.
Jesus gave the disciples all the instructions they needed to bring that colt to Him. There would be no resistance to His use of this animal. The disciples needed to heed Jesus’ instructions and bring the animal to Him. We read that they found things just as He said they would.
This colt which had never been ridden, submitted to Jesus. They put garments on it and Jesus sat on the colt. We read that the people spread their garments before the colt as Jesus rode into the city. Others cut branches off the trees and spread them in the way. None of this excited that colt. Everything was under God’s control.
We read as well that the people cried out, praising the Lord. The people knew this was a special event. Again, none of this excited that colt. This was a joyous occasion. Jesus was revealing Himself to the people as their King. They were excited in the moment, but this excitement would be turned into anger and a desire to see Jesus killed just a few short days later. He did not come to overthrow the Roman government. That is what the Jews wanted. Jesus came to change the heart of man. Most did not believe they needed to change.
As we read in verse 10, the people exalted Jesus as coming in the lineage of David. They knew Jesus was special. They exalted the God of heaven here.
As Jesus entered the city, He stopped at the temple. He looked around and observed what was going on. Keep in mind this was just prior to the annual Passover feast. The people would be coming from all over to keep the Passover. Many lambs would be killed and those travelling a distance would need to purchase a lamb for this special event.
Jesus would address the spiritual needs of the people further yet. For now He looked around at what was taking place. We see here that Jesus did not remain in Jerusalem for the night. He went to Bethany and spent the night there. Jerusalem was the place where the king’s palace had been since the time of king David. Yet this descendant of king David was not welcome to dwell in Jerusalem. He would stay in Bethany with His twelve disciples. Jesus would have a busy few days ahead of Him as He would be fulfilling the requirements of the Old Testament lamb that was chosen on the tenth day of the month Abib. This lamb needed to be kept separate until the fourteenth day when it would be killed and the blood caught in a basin. All this was part of the passover that God instituted just prior to Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Jesus Christ would fulfil all the typology of this important Old Testament event. His blood would be shed and those who would trust in His sacrifice would have that blood applied to their hearts. Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb. His shed blood is of so much greater significance than the blood of the lambs that had been slain prior to this event. Since Jesus’ crucifixion, there has been no need for those animal sacrifices. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all that was pictured before.
Today we can know the peace of God and know His blessing in our hearts and lives. It is important to know Him and to submit to His will. He is the King Who came to rule in your heart and mine. Those who are His sheep need to submit to His will.
Pastor Bartel
