for hymn selections this evening, if you'd please turn in your copy of God's Word to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, verses 1 through 11, on page 847 of your pew Bibles in front of you. Gospel of Mark, chapter 11, first 11 verses. Hear now the word of the Lord. Now when they drew near to Jerusalem to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 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. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, what are you doing untying the colt? And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before 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. 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 12. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but this word of the Lord endures forever. Let's go to him in prayer. Lord, please send your spirit to us now to teach us all things about Christ, that we would greater appreciate the sacrifice that he made for us, that we would have greater faith as we walk in this world, and that we would know you to a greater extent. In Christ's name we pray, amen. So far, from chapter 2 to chapter 11 of Mark's Gospel, we've covered several years of ministry in Christ's life. Some have said that these first ten chapters are the prelude to the final six chapters. That is because these final six chapters, chapters 11 through 16, cover a week of Christ's life and ministry. One week, and the last third of this book is in view. And it begins with this, a triumphal entry. An entry filled with irony and paradox, singing and praises, worship and honor, Jesus has come to Jerusalem. It was a worthy entrance, fit for Christ because of who he is, and studying this text with its plethora of Old Testament fulfillments and allusions, studying this will only help us understand who the King is, that he is good and that he is in control, and also how we ought to receive him. who the king is, that he is good and in control, and how we ought to receive him. To that end, we have two sections today. First, the king's entrance, and then the king's reception. The king's entrance, and then the king's reception. So first, the king's entrance. Imagine the noise. Imagine the anticipation and the energy that's in the air. Word has spread. Jesus, the miracle worker from Nazareth, the one who teaches with authority and silences even the scribes, the one who has yet to meet a demon who he can't cast out, that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem. In fact, he's at the gates. Not only that, it was right in time for the Passover, where many people would come to Jerusalem, make the trek all the way up the hill to Jerusalem to practice devotion, to sacrifice to God, and to come near to the holy. Jesus has given sight to a blind man, and now he enters into Jerusalem. Jesus comes as king of Jerusalem, of Israel, and of the world. But he comes as a king of this world never would come. Do you remember in the Old Testament how cities were conquered or how kings would make their entrance into cities or towns or countries? In Joshua, spies were sent into Canaan before Israel went into Canaan to conquer it, to make sure that it wouldn't be too difficult to conquer. They surrounded Jericho for seven days and marched around it, eventually yelling and blowing trumpets before they ran through the fallen walls into the city. Jehu entered Jezreel in 2 Kings 9, it's said, with much violence, where he pursued and killed the idolatrous rulers of Israel. Oftentimes, when a king enters into a city or a country or a land, it's with much grandeur and even with military parades. The same is true today. Politicians and their families are expected to come out and show respect and reverence when even foreign leaders come to our country to visit. The best musicians come and play music. The homeless and the trash are cleared away from the streets, and the streets are cleaned. When a king enters a city to visit or to conquer, he makes fanfare. And the same is true of Jesus, in a way. But his fanfare is not like anything that any king of this world would want, let alone order and orchestrate himself. What does Jesus do? Jesus sent two of his disciples 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. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it. and we'll send it back here immediately. Jesus goes and finds a colt, that is, a young donkey. Actually, he sends two of his disciples to do that, and I hope it was James and John, honestly. I hope that these brothers who had asked for glory and to sit at Jesus' right and left hand are here being given an object lesson of what that actually would entail, that they're going to go and essentially steal, but they will call it borrow, a colt, a young donkey. From this we know, though, that the king is in control. He knew where this colt would be. He knew that no one has ever ridden on this colt. He knew that there will likely be some watching over this colt, and he knew exactly what to say to gain their permission to take this colt with them. From this simple fact, we can be sure that there is no one here who is too small, too obscure, or too young to be used for Christ's glory. From this simple fact, we can be sure that there is no aspect of our lives that Christ deems as too small or too obscure or unworthy to use for His glory. He is absolute knowledge and control, and He wants us, even the smallest of us, for a great purpose. Do not think that there is any aspect of your life that is too small or insignificant or too hidden for Christ to not know about it and for Christ to not desire it to be used for His glory. Because it's not about what you can bring. It is about what Christ brings to you and will do through you. For the last several weeks, Jesus has been trying to teach essentially this lesson that the last will be first, the little will be exalted, the humble will be made great in the kingdom of heaven. But see that it is not just any young donkey. It was a colt on which no one has ever sat. Now let's not overlook this detail. In the Old Testament, animals, things that were set apart for a holy or a sacred purpose, had to be unused in ordinary purposes. They had to be never used for the things that their purpose would suggest they'd be used for if they were set apart for God. Numbers 19.2 is just one example of many, which says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the Lord that the Lord had commanded. Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. The point is that something that was used in the service of God was not supposed to be a hand-me-down. It was supposed to be something that could be put to use, but instead will be put to God. It needed to be fresh and unused. Jesus was born from an unused womb. He rode into Jerusalem on an unused donkey, and he was laid in an unused tomb, all of which he returned for their rightful purpose later. But why a colt? Why a young donkey? Well, it was a fulfillment of a prophecy in Zechariah chapter 9. If you'd like to turn there, it's on page 796 of your Pew Bibles, somewhere in the Minor Prophets. Zechariah chapter 9. Now this fulfillment of the prophecy in Zechariah 9 is not just a cool way to verify who the king would be as he came into his city. One might be tempted to think it was just a tool of verification. You know, who should we look for? The one on a donkey? You know, if I could predict the license plate or type of car of our next president, that would just be a cool way to verify that I'm a prophet, which I'm not. But it wasn't just a tool of verification. It isn't simply that. This prophecy was made 500 years before its fulfillment, recorded in Mark 11, and it shows us the character of the King of Jerusalem. the character. The king is humble. More than that, it contrasts his character with worldly kings. In Zechariah 9, verses 1 through 8, a wave of judgment is predicted on several nations. First, Hadrask, and Damascus, and Hamath, then Tyre, and Sidon, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, Ashdod, the cities of Philistia, This prophecy was made that there would be a wave of judgment that would conquer all of these cities or peoples or nations. And this prophecy was made in about 520 BC. Now, about 200 years after this prophecy was made, this was the war path of Alexander the Great. As he went and conquered and spread his Greek empire, this was essentially his war path that he followed at one point. Alexander conquered them with his might, even some like Tyre and Sidon, which had been impregnable for centuries. They were known for their strength and for their inability to be conquered. But when he came to Jerusalem, this prophecy held true. You'll see in verse 8 it says, Then I, that is God, I will encamp at my house as a guard. so that none shall march to and fro, no oppressor shall again march over them. For now I see with my own eyes. God was saying that the wave of judgment would not come to Jerusalem, but that he himself would turn back the conqueror. And Alexander was, in fact, halted. He did not conquer Jerusalem. There's a story, not sure if it's true or not, but that he did enter into Jerusalem, but entered it almost in a way of humility, that he was in awe of their worship and reverence for the one true God. This great king, Alexander, named after his greatness, would not enter Jerusalem on a chariot or on a stallion as a king come to conquer and to subjugate. And then verse 9 of Zechariah 9 describes the king who would enter as the king of Jerusalem. You see, no king in his right mind would ride a donkey, let alone a young donkey, as he enters into any city. But when the King of Jerusalem comes into Jerusalem, the prophecy says, 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. This prophecy and its fulfillment by Christ establishes not just the fact of his messiahship, it doesn't just verify his status, it establishes the character of his messiahship. He is humble. He is gentle. He's winsome, he's possessing salvation. This prophecy stated that the king of Jerusalem, the king who would enter into Jerusalem, would not come as a conquering, mighty king slaying all who go before him. He would not come as any king, would come to any city, because this king is righteous, having salvation, and humble. And from the end of Mark chapter 8 until right now, Jesus has been trying to teach his followers that the last will be first, that the humble will be exalted, that the proud will be warded off. And this is not just a new model that Jesus came up with on his own. This model, the last being the first, that God uses the weak to establish his strength is seen all throughout the Old Testament, and it's always looking forward to Christ's fulfillment, because this model of this heavenly economy shows the power and strength of God. foolish things of this world show the wisdom of God, the weak things of this world show the strength of God. Jesus comes on a borrowed donkey, riding on a saddle of borrowed cloaks, knowing that in one week's time he will be put to death for the sins of those all around him at this moment. Christian, understand that this is the king that you follow. Don't expect prestige or glamour or any sort of royal treatment in this world. I remember the first time that I visited Westminster Theological Seminary in October of 2019. I had all these high expectations of the elegance and glamour of this famed place of rigorous theological academia, how ornate all of the classrooms must be, how it all must be candlelit and have wonderful sconces on the walls, all stone. And then I got there. And I sat in on Dr. Crow's class where he was teaching on the Gospels. And I couldn't believe that he was preaching or teaching from the Greek New Testament in front of him and that all the students were following along. That was incredible. But then I looked up and I tried to count how many ceiling panels had water stains in them. It wasn't glamorous at all. In fact, the whole campus was under construction at the time, but the AC wasn't working in the room that we were in, so the window was open, and so concrete dust was flying into the room and visibly getting on people's laptops as they tried to take notes. The auditorium at Westminster was aptly named Rust Auditorium. The library was significantly smaller than even my undergraduate library had been. There were very few grand armchairs on which to sit and read, and even those ones had no lumbar support. Mostly it was just hard, wooden chairs. But this is a place that God has used to safeguard his Christianity, his religion, his doctrine, and his people for almost a century in America. But it isn't just Westminster. How many of our churches in the OPC don't even have a building that they regularly meet in, but regularly will set up shop in a school or in a church that's not in use on Sunday morning? They rent these multipurpose rooms. They borrow someplace else. Most pastors don't even have their own office in our denomination. But they preach the gospel with clarity and with power, and they make disciples of the king who entered on a donkey. How many of our homes or our neighborhoods are not what we would want them to be, but are messy, humble, modest, and in service to the king of glory? Are you willing to trust a king whose ways are not flashy, not loud, but are humble and precise. The obedience of these two disciples, that they went and fetched this young donkey, that obedience is often unimpressive. We don't even know who it was that did this. but it is part of the divine plan. When Jesus commands something, don't consider the glory of the task because the task is likely not going to be glorious at all. Only consider the character and the glory of the one commanding you and follow him and do as he says. As we just sang, trust and obey. There's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Because after the two disciples brought him his donkey, he mounted it. And Mark records for us the king's reception. Verse eight. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before 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. This is the triumphal entry, the one who comes in the name of the Lord, being led and followed by those who are praising his coming. This crowd rejoices in the fulfillment of Zechariah 9 and cries out from Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26, Save us, we pray, O Lord, O Lord, we pray. Give us success, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26. This psalm was a song of deliverance and thanksgiving. It was often used in Passover liturgy, but it also speaks of rejection. Just before those verses cited, starting in verse 19, we read, open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. And then in verses 22 through 24, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. How appropriate is it that the crowd cheers and praises the Messiah from verses 25 and 26, when in a very short while, in chapter 12, Jesus will quote verses 22 and 23 to show that his rejection is the cornerstone of his people. that his rejection is the working out of the salvation of the Lord. This triumphal entry is triumphal not because it forever establishes Jesus' immediate and inevitable and glorious rule and reign, but because it establishes the salvation of his people. He came to Jerusalem as the ultimate destination of his earthly ministry. This is why Mark spends a third of his gospel on this final week of Christ's life where he's in Jerusalem. Jesus came there to enter into it, to be the Son of David in the city of David, to teach about the God of salvation, and then to accomplish that salvation by dying for his people. These same people who cheered for him, cried Hosanna, which means save us, will later be the ones who turn away from him, reject him, and demonstrate their need of salvation. But the cry is true and genuine here nonetheless because they need salvation. They need a savior. They need the one who is righteous, who has salvation, and yet who is humble enough to give it, even to those who need it, yet are responsible for Christ's death. That is, you need it. We cry, Hosanna, save us. Ever blessed is he that comes in God's name. Why? Why do we cry that? Because he has orchestrated all things, even the things that others and we meant for evil, even the small and humble things like a donkey tied to a door, so that he would be made known to you and so that you would know your need of him. Receive your king as he is, righteous, humble, and having salvation. And see yourself in light of his righteousness, a sinner, unrighteous, undeserving, but loved so dearly by God that he sent his son, the king of glory, to come in humility to save you. He did this for you so that you could give him praise and glory for eternity. Now before we close, there's one final verse that's easy to overlook. Verse 11, when Jesus overlooks the temple, when he inspects the temple, it says, We're going to look again at this verse next week, but this was the inspection before the judgment. He came to the place where worship was supposed to be offered, and he looked around. It had been a long day. They had walked many miles. If he and the disciples made the trip from Jericho all in one day, it would have been about 21 miles, mostly uphill. But Jesus takes the time and the energy to go to the temple and to look around at everything. the God to whom all this worship is given, the God whose presence is deadly to any who come to him unclean, now comes to his temple, and then he goes away to Bethany to find a place to rest for the night. What an interesting little detail that Mark gives us. Malachi chapter three verses one through four says, behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. And the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like the fuller's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. And they will bring offerings and righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. The Lord suddenly comes into his temple. Who can endure the day of his coming? He is a refiner's fire. He comes and he inspects, and then he waits. When Jesus looks into our hearts, into the temple of his Holy Spirit, what does he see? What is he going to see if he inspects his temple even now? We should not mistake his patience for indifference. He inspects before he judges and the day of judgment is coming. Today is the day to repent of those sins that put him on the cross. It is because he went to the cross that you can rightly repent of those sins. Repent because judgment is near. Jesus is coming back and he will not come back on a donkey, but on a white horse, according to Revelation 19, bringing his immediate rain and casting out all sin. Repent because that day well could be tomorrow. Be found worthy by the humble king. That is to say, be found in him. Hold nothing back. Repent and confess your sins because you know that the blood of Jesus will wipe them clean. The question is not whether Jesus is king or not. The question is, what sort of a king is he? and have you received him as the king that he is. Not the one that you imagine him to be, not the one that you reject him as. The king has called you, telling you to trust in him, to pick up your cross, to go where he goes, and to do so joyfully singing with true depth and full understanding, Hosanna, save us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Let's go to this Lord now in prayer. Jesus, please save us. Make us able to stand before your throne. Lord, give us the faith and the heart to come to you, hating our sins, but loving you and knowing that we will be accepted because of what you have done for us. Lord, save us from our sins, help us to receive you as we ought, and help us to live a life worthy of what you have given us, salvation, because you are humble, righteous, and just. We pray all of this in your name, Jesus Christ, amen. Our hymn of response is Psalm 118b, from which much of our text was quoted today. Psalm 118b, the glorious gates of righteousness. If you please rise and turn to Psalm 118b.