Let's take our Bibles this morning and let's go to the book of Mark, chapter number 11, if we could. Mark, chapter number 11. There was a book written called, The World's Worst Predictions. It contains within it lists of some of history's all-time prophetic goofs, if you would. One, for instance, was King George III said in 1773 that the American colonies had little stomach for revolution. I guess he was a little wrong about that. There's an official of the White Star Line speaking of the firm's newly built flagship, the Titanic, which was launched in 1912, that declared that the ship was unsinkable. I guess he was wrong there. In 1939, the New York Times said that the problem of TV was that people had to glue their eyes to a screen and that the average American wouldn't have time for it. That's a joke, amen? An English astronomy professor said in the early 19th century that air travel at high speed would be impossible because passengers would suffocate. These are just different things that people have predicted at some point that obviously today we'd be like, well, that was kind of off, wasn't it? One thing I have learned over the years is that we as mankind, as it were, we have a very hard time predicting the future. Mankind does happen to land right. It was really nothing more than a lucky guess at best. However, God is much different. Because he is omniscient, all-knowing, he can predict things with pinpoint accuracy. It's estimated that the Bible, in its composition, is one-fourth of predicted prophecy, of which two-thirds now has already been fulfilled on some level. And one of those fulfillments is seen within our text today. It's the triumphant entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into the city of Jerusalem shortly before His crucifixion. We're up to this point now as we've been in a verse-by-verse study of the book of Mark. And we're going to pick it up again here in Mark chapter 11, verses 1 through 11, we'll look at here this morning. It says, And when they came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany in the Mount of Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples, 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, wherein never man sat, loose him, and bring him. And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this? Say ye that the Lord hath need of him, and a straight way he will send him hither. And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door, in a place where two ways met, and they loosed him. And certain of them that stood there said unto them, Why do ye loosing the coat? Or what do ye loosing the coat? And they said unto them, Even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. And they brought the coat to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way. And others cut down branches off the trees, and stawed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, Say, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple. And when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the even time was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve." We're going to look at this scenario a little bit closer as we discuss today from our text what I call the Lord's Triumphant Entry. and the implications of that. So let's pray. Father I thank You for this time as we continue our verse-by-verse study through the Gospel of Mark. And Lord it has been very enlightening as we learn about the elements of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord at this time where we are celebrating His birth it is the reason where He was born was because He was born to die for us so that we may have eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Thank You for His sacrifice and this time we ask that You would bless and that You would Again, give us understanding from thy word of some important elements that we find within our story. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, as I mentioned, the pages of scripture have a significant amount of prophetic predictions throughout them. As time has marched forward, approximately two-thirds of those predictions have already come to pass. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the most significant ways that we know that the Bible is true. that it is the source of absolute truth and that we can trust it. The fulfilled prophecies validate the credibility of the scriptures to the human race because it's only God Himself that can predict things with pinpoint accuracy. In fact, in the book of Isaiah, the Bible says, Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Verse 10 says, declaring the end from the beginning. In other words, God can tell us what's going to happen from the very start. He knows how it's all going to play out, as it were. He is omniscient. He knows all things. And He's very aware of how things happen. Now, we can see a circumstance, and we can say, boy, this is going to end bad. By the time it's all said and done, it's like, wow, I didn't realize all those good that would happen, or vice versa. We can say, oh, it's a shoe and it's a done deal. And then by the time it's all said and done, it's like, what happened? And maybe you've had a little bit of both happen in your life, probably. But God can see beyond what we can see. He has a much clearer vision of all that is entailing. And he can predict what's going to happen from the very beginning, well before we even understand it. In fact, before even certain things even come into existence. And over the years, I have watched various types of analysts, and maybe you have as well, whether they're political analysts, economic analysts, sports analysts, social analysts of some sort, religious even, scientific. And they try to make all these predictions. There's always these predictions that are that are up and no doubt you've heard them. They're always on these talk shows and always on the news communicating some sort of prediction of the future. However, they're not always right, are they? They have all these stats and they have all these polls and then they end up being dead wrong. And that happens quite a bit, doesn't it? And then, of course, We listen to them again and just get so convinced because they can be very convincing that what they're saying is going to be right on, dead on, and then they're wrong. And it just goes to show that we as people cannot predict anything. No person knows what a day may bring forth. Things that are unseen all of a sudden appear out of nowhere in one day. In fact, the Bible says in Proverbs 27.1, boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. None of us know what the day is going to bring forward. Now, we sometimes have a little bit of an idea maybe, but you know what? Sometimes you get sideswiped by things. Sometimes something happens that you never expected for what we would consider good and what we consider not so good. See, God can see all that before it even happens, but we can't. We are limited in our ability. We have, I guess what they say, cracked crystal balls. We can't predict a thing. We're not good at predicting the future. I've tried to predict the future on some things in my own life and it's just like I have been wrong many, many times more than I've been right. And if I've been right, it's been because of a lucky guess at best. God knows. He knows. We can't predict the future. But God has the ability and he has a proven track record to prove it. This event in our passage is one of those events that God predicted centuries before it ever occurred. And if you know anything about Jewish history as recorded in the scriptures, the Jewish people, to give you the background of all this, the Jewish people were exiled for about 70 years in a country known as Babylon. We know it today as the modern country of Iraq. But at the time it was Babylon. It was a world power at that moment. And they had been judged of God for their idolatrous practices, the Jews. And God brought a remnant of of that faction that lived in Jerusalem and Judah over to this area of Babylon. And they would be there for 70 long years as God worked out the kinks within their belief systems and got them looking back to Him again. Now during that time period there was a very prominent prophet by the name of Daniel. Maybe you've heard of Daniel there in the Old Testament. He would become a prominent political figure in the Babylonian Empire. He was amongst a group of teenagers that was exiled to Babylon during the sieges on the city of Jerusalem. And he would live there and see the 70 years pass. And as an old man, probably now in his 90s, he recognized that the 70 years had come and gone. and he recognized that it was the time that God had promised to begin the process of returning the Jews to their homeland. If you go, hold your place here Mark, but go to the book of Daniel and chapter number 9 there in the Old Testament. Daniel chapter number 9, it's just after the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is after the book of Jeremiah and you have the book of Isaiah. in Daniel chapter number 9 you see that Daniel here he is understanding that hey 70 years just like Jeremiah the prophet had predicted have now come and gone. And God said that we are going to go back, our people are going to go back to their homeland. And he spends some time on his face before the Lord in regards to that. Verses 1-3 we will just look at here to begin with, In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of the Sea of the Medes, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years, the 70 years, wherever the word of the Lord came by Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face on the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting and sackcloth and ashes." So in so many words he recognized that the time frame was up and now he begins to seek the Lord seeking some understanding of what the future held. for his people, the Jews. In the midst of seeking the Lord, the Lord laid upon his heart or revealed to him the future of the Jewish people often referred to as Daniel's 70 weeks. Daniel's 70 weeks, you pick that up in verse 24 of the same chapter it says, 70 weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city to finish their transgression and to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. The streets shall be built again, and the wall even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself. And the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week, and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. And for the overspreading of abominations he shall make a desolate, even unto the consummation, and that he determined shall be poured upon the desolate." That's a very dense portion of Scripture to read. And we've studied this out before in times past. We did a verse-by-verse study of the book of Daniel. here a few years back during our Bible class hour. But in essence, these few verses that are mentioned here are a synopsis of Jewish history going forward. And the time frame is summed up in a period of 70 weeks. Without going into a ton of detail, each week is a representation of seven years of Jewish history. So a total of 490 years. time frame would commence upon the decree given to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. It appears that this aligns with the Book of Nehemiah, when the Medo-Persian king Artaxerxes gave Nehemiah the commission to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the city walls and restore civil order. Now over the course of time, time would pass about 483 years and at week 69, it abruptly stops. And the 70th week has yet to occur. The 70th week, again, without getting on all the details, I've preached on this before, but the 70th week is the week we often refer to as the tribulation period. It's what Revelation chapter 4 through 19 explains and other portions of the book of Daniel. is a time frame that is yet to come. But at week 69, it's like God's stopwatch or God stopped His watch or His ticker there for the Jewish people. And you say, well, why did the time stop? It was the fact that the Messiah was rejected and cut off. That's what it mentions here. It mentions, shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself. What is happening here is that the 69th week ended with this triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. That's where it ended. It ended right there. Jesus came in, but he would be rejected, right? Because right now we are in the of our study here at the Book of Mark, we are in the final week of his life before he would be crucified, okay? That 70th week ended, or excuse me, the 69th week ended the moment he walked into that scene. Now, if you calculate the days based on the Jewish calendar which had 360 days in it, and which evidently from what I understand was the 360 days was the common, kind of the common calendar around at that time. That's changed a little bit over the course of time. We have what's called the Gregorian calendar that was brought in I believe in the 1500s where we have a 365 day or 364.24 or something like that calendar. I don't remember the exact numbers on that. But the whole point is that if you take that Jewish calendar and multiply things out you can accurately predict to the day when this was supposed to occur. And depending on when people put certain days down based on again modern calendars there can be a little variation on the dates but the whole point is this if you do the math from the time that the decree went forth from Artaxerxes to the time the Messiah shows up in our text was 173,880 days. If you counted those days, you could have pinpointed the exact day that Jesus would enter into the city of Jerusalem as He did. The prophecy nailed it down to the exact year, month, and day. And the sad thing is that the Jews missed it. They missed it. And they went to go on to crucify the Lord. Go to Luke chapter number 19. It's a parallel passage to our passage here today. Luke chapter number 19, here Jesus as He was entering into the city has a little bit of a moment we might call it. Look at verse 41, this is speaking of that day of that triumphant entry. And when He was come near, He beheld the city, Jerusalem, and wept over it. saying if thou hast known even now at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. They could have. They could have easily calculated out the day, but they missed it. They missed it. But God was right on time here. See, these types of prophecies tell us, again, the Scriptures came from God and that they can be trusted and they can be heeded because, again, of this predicted prophecy that came to pass. Now, we live in a day that is getting increasingly toxic against God's Word. There are people today, even in churches today that attempt to discredit God's Word as being old news, irrelevant for the modern culture in which we are living. And that it contains the Word of God but it is not fully the Word of God. I believe today that the Bible is true from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21. that God has preserved it from this time to every generation so that we can know Him for real. And that the predictions that we see in the Bible are there to remind us that God is accurate no matter how much stuff can get in between seeing the fruition of something to come to pass. And if this Bible is true, then we best obey it, right? best obey it. Again, we live in a world today that's getting increasingly toxic and hostile against God's Word, but the hostility will never invalidate God's Word. It never has and never will. In fact, that hostility, as it were, will just bring about further validation of God's prophetic ability as the world bends towards a one-world system politically, economically, and religiously. us personally though these prophecies tell us that we can again trust the Word of God, the Bible, and base our life decisions off of it and come out at the place God wants us to be. So let's look a little closer at some of the specific details of this prophetic event mentioned in Mark chapter 11 as we see first off what I call the cult, the cult itself. Seemingly a little aspect that plays a very big role in our text. Here Jesus and His disciples as we've been seeing over the course of time studying our passages here in Mark have been traveling towards the city of Jerusalem. Everything is kind of beginning to climax here or at least we're moving in that direction. Along the way several key events occur and some are mentioned within the Gospels of Mark and there are some that are mentioned in different Gospel accounts. There's no way that I could cover every one of them. I've been trying to stay as close to the verse the verses as they come out in Mark. Occasionally we go into some of the other areas. But there are a lot of events that still transpire and that I'll make some reference to because they do affect the overall story. But now in an area, they are outside the city near the Mount of Olives and Jesus has two of His disciples fetch a colt for Him to ride upon. We see this in verses 1 through 7. And when they came nigh to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, sent forth two of his disciples, 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-tide, where never man sat loose him, and bring him. 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. And they went their way, and found the colt-tide by the door without in a place where two ways met, and they loosed him. And certain of them stood there said unto them, Why do ye loosing the colt? What do ye loosing the colt? And they said unto them, Even as Jesus had commanded, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him, and he sat upon him." It would be upon this colt that Jesus Christ would ride into the city of Jerusalem making this triumphant entry. Now there are a few things to note about this situation that reveals a little bit more about God. for us. Number one, again, the fact that this whole event is fulfilled prophecy. This situation was predicted actually specifically back in the Old Testament. The Matthew version of this scenario says, and this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the full of an ass." The prophecy is found in Zechariah chapter 9 and verse 9. Hold your place here in Mark but just go to Matthew and then you'll break into the Old Testament. You have Malachi and then you have the book of Zechariah chapter number 9. I want you to see this itself. Zechariah 9 and verse 9. It says here again that prophecy quoted in Matthew, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, thy King cometh unto thee. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass. So we see here that this again is fulfilled prophecy. Remember part of Jesus' time on earth was not to override the Scriptures but to fulfill them. And several times in all the Gospel accounts, Old Testament prophecies were mentioned, written years prior of all that Jesus would say and do. And when it was all said and done, Luke's Gospel account states this, Luke 24, 44, and he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me." All these prophecies were there and they had to be fulfilled. If one was broken, then God would lose credibility. But all of them were fulfilled beyond things that anybody could really control except God. And it was critical that Jesus said, all things must be fulfilled as it was written in the Law of Moses. Those were the first five books of the Bible. You have the prophets and you have the Psalms, speaking of the Old Testament. And these prophecies were critical because they validated everything about Jesus Christ and Him being God. That was the big question in those days and it is still today. Is Jesus Christ God? Again, Jesus is often times put on the same shelf as all these other religious prominent figures have gone by history. But the fact that He fulfilled all these prophecies who predicted about him centuries before, really statistically impossible for him to do, but the fact that he did validates who he is as God. And these prophecies prove that he was the very Messiah that our world is needing because he came to do what the world needed. The world needed a Savior. The world needed an atonement for its sin. because the world without it would be judged for it. And may I say today that if you have never accepted the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ as the payment for your sin, then today could be that day for you. And that's what He wants for you. See, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one, the Bible says in Romans 3.10. that we will one day as a result of our sins stand before the Almighty God and be judged for those sins and be found guilty for them. And as a result, we would be judged forever in a place called hell. But the Lord stepped into eternal history through the personage of Jesus Christ. And when he was born there in Bethlehem stables, he came here for the purpose of one day dying for the sins of the world and providing an atonement that God accepts as payment for sin. And that was His own shed blood. It's only blood that covers sin, not any good works, not water baptism, not anything like that at all. The Scripture says, without the shedding of blood in Hebrews 9, there is no remission or forgiveness of sin. But Jesus Christ came and He sacrificed Himself on the cross of Calvary, provided a blood atonement so that whoever would come to Him with an attitude of repentance and faith could have their sins blotted out and that they could be with Him forever in Heaven. The Bible refers to that as being saved or born again. It's a time in your life where you recognize that you're in a position of helplessness in regards to your sin and that you need God's help and God's remedy for sin and that's the blood of His Son. And you are willing to come to God on His terms, as I mentioned already, being willing to repent of your sin and place faith alone in Jesus Christ to cover those sins. And when you're willing to do that, all you have to do is ask, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved according to Romans 10.13. And you can be born again or saved, as it were. I've mentioned many times from this Paul, but that happened to me on April 4th of 1999, where I recognized I was a lost, hell-bound, hell-deserving sinner in need of a Savior. And I was willing to forsake my efforts to get myself to heaven and trust Jesus' efforts on the cross to blot out my sins before Almighty God. And I was willing to go in a new direction in life instead of trying to live out my own way of living. and I was saved that day and God changed my life. And there are others here today that you can testify of that. Jesus is a critical link to us being right with God. And these fulfilled prophecies prove again that He is the very Messiah that God had promised who had the ability to provide for our eternal security with the Lord. Number two, we see the fact that His sovereignty over the creation. Now to bring events to pass God must have the ability to control the creation itself. In our passage we see this sovereignty and allowing the cult to be found and to be used and without a whole lot of problem. Something fairly simple but God of course as we've been looking at already has brought much more significant things to pass that are quite remarkable. The Bible teaches us that the creation stands at attention as it were. to be used at God as He sees fit. Psalm 119.90 verses 91 it says, Thy faithfulness is unto all generations. Thou hast established the earth and it abideth. They, the earth, the creation, continue this day according to Thine ordinances for all are Thy servants. All are Thy servants. God just has to command the creation and it will do as He pleases. And you see different things in the scriptures about this. I just read this this morning. I think it was in the Psalms. where it says that he brought water out of a rock. He sent manna from heaven in those stories in the Old Testament. Water out of a rock, that's interesting, isn't it? I don't know if you ever tried to squeeze a rock. It doesn't quite drip a whole lot, does it? I've never put a rock in a blender. That'd be interesting. get kind of seized up pretty quick. There is no liquid coming out of a rock naturally. But God can command the creation to do whatever He chooses because He is all-powerful and He is sovereign. And God has the power to orchestrate anything and in the process of orchestrating and He is in the process, I should say, of orchestrating some grand plans with creation as he sees fit. Ephesians 1.11 says, In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. Now within the spear of God's sovereignty, God has given mankind a free will to make choices. And the greatest choice, of course, is whether or not to respond to God Himself. Now how all that exactly works within the sphere of God's sovereignty, people have attempted to explain but often have to step on other scriptures in order to come to their conclusions. I just accept the fact that I can't explain it all and I'm okay with that because there's just a lot about God I just don't know about and you're just not going to be able to figure all that out. When I get to heaven, I'm going to sit on his knee and ask him a lot of these questions. I don't know about you. I got a lot to ask him. Why is this? Why is that? It's going to be a good time. Because there's so much I just can't grasp with my human mind. And I'm okay with that. Why? Because, you know, what I already know about God. It tells me a lot about a very benevolent creator. who can do a lot. And there are just some things he can't explain to me because my little noodle just can't handle it. And that's okay. That's okay. But it's interesting to note the fact that God can even take the wrong choices of mankind and still orchestrate an ultimate good. Romans 8.28, we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Somehow amongst all that, God can still bring about good All that tells me is there is a greatness in God that we can't even begin to understand. Knowing that God is in sovereign control is a very comforting doctrine, especially in a world that seems so out of control. You know, the news tells you to fear about absolutely everything that there is. And all the YouTube channels, well, maybe not all of them, But a lot of them are geared towards all these things where you need to fear this, you need to fear that, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear, fear. Let me tell you something, my God's in complete control of it all and He's working all things after the counsel of His own will to bring about an ultimate good in the end. Because guess what, God wins in the end. He wins in the end. And we who are with Him are on His side as it were. Those who have been born again the Bible way, guess what, you win too. Now this world might scoff at that and the world's saying, we're going to overthrow all that. Oh, let me tell you something that's all going to go. Because the Bible says that the nations are but a drop in the bucket to God. And though the whole world were against the Creator, they're not going to have a whole lot of success against Him. You know, planet Earth, as big as it is, it's a big planet to us. But it's a speck of dust in the size of the rest of the cosmos. And God was the one that spoke all this cosmos into existence. Think about how, you know, it's funny how boastful mankind can get against God. It's like a speck of dust kind of coming up to you and I and say, hey, you know, I want to take you on. No, that's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. See, God is in sovereign control. And even though this world seems out of control at times, God knows exactly what He is doing and He has not fallen off His throne. He has not lost control. He is working a greater plan in the midst of it all. Number three, we see the humility of God. Though Jesus is the Creator and Lord of all, as the Bible tells us, He comes into Jerusalem not on a war horse but on a lowly mule. You know, people at that time, if they came, you know, you have pictures of these generals coming in on these grand war horses and so forth, and they're quite a spectacle. But Jesus came on a lowly mule that really had never been trained according to the way it describes this cult. But it's symbolic of who he was as the Prince of Peace, one who is coming to make peace between mankind and God by offering himself. When he does return one day and makes his second triumphant entry into Jerusalem through that eastern gate into the temple area there on Mount Moriah, we call the Temple Mount today, he will be riding a horse because that's when he'll be the conquering king. The Bible mentions in Revelation 19 and 11 where it says the heavens will be open and it talks about him being on a white horse. Remember that? He will one day come that way. But the first time he came was different. It was different. And it shows us the humility of God. As big and amazing as God is, God is quite humble. And he was willing to humble himself so lowly he became one of us. Think about that for a little bit. This grand being became something very, very tiny so that he might be our Savior and our Lord. So as we see this event has significant connotations for us to consider. Well secondly, and finally don't worry, I only got two today, the cries we see. Jesus and the disciples were making his way to Jerusalem. Part of the reason he was heading there was due to the fact that this was Passover week. It was about to be celebrated. And so many people were in the area that time celebrating the Passover. He would be the Passover Lamb. In fact the day that He entered it is believed was the same day, it was the day that they would choose the Passover Lamb. I mean it all lines up very, very nicely. As Jesus enters Jerusalem we see a few different groups that seem to cry out for different reasons about this event. You see first off the crowd, verse 8, And many spread their garments in the way, and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. And they that went before that followed cried, saying, Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest." Here we see first off the crowd cries out. And this entrance event you have to understand a little bit what actually had transpired shortly before this. What had happened before this was a very significant resurrection. It was the The resurrection of Lazarus, remember that story? You had Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, beloved friends of Jesus. Well, Lazarus died. He was in the tomb for four days. His body was beginning to decompose. Jesus delayed his coming for the very purpose that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. And when he did that, it created a very seismic explosion of interest. in Jesus Christ. If you go to the book of John chapter number 12 again another parallel passage it outlines some of these details I've mentioned. John 11 is that story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead but now they're about six days out from the Passover and they're there in Bethany and then they're going to march in as we see in Mark 11. But we see here in John chapter 12 verse 9 it says, 12. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, he was in the area, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. 13. But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus. the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet Him, and cried, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat thereon, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold thy King cometh sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not His disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things unto Him. The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead bear record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold the world is gone after him." So this triumphant entry comes on the heels of that massive event and there is a lot of excitement. Again I use the word seismic, explosion. It was It reverberated around the region there of what took place, how a man who was dead for four days was now alive. And it was through the power that Jesus exercised. And I believe what was happening was simply this. These people believed that their conquering Messiah had finally come. So that was the mentality of the time. They were looking for their conquering Messiah, not the lowly Lamb of God, who would free them from Rome, because He had incredible power. I mean, who could you stop? I mean, how could He be stopped if He can raise His soldiers from the dead? You know, I mean, that would be impossible. And they're very excited, obviously. They're singing their hosannas and so forth. But they failed to realize all that was happening. That's why Jesus cried and wept over it as he came to the city. He didn't realize what was going on here. Sometimes we as people get these grand ideas of what God is doing or how he's going to do something, but sometimes find out that God ends up working in a whole different way and plan. You ever have that? You get this idea, this is how it's going to work out and how God's doing this, and it just seems like it's going in that direction. And then it's just like, it takes a sudden turn. or a detour, or something happens that is like, that's not what I expected. That's not how I was thinking this was all going to end up. And sometimes we begin to wonder, am I doing the right thing? Am I following the right direction? Have I lost my rocker? Fallen off my rocker, as it were? But we have to remember that God is actually working a much better plan though at sometimes we may feel let down to begin with. Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9 I've used this here recently in a few messages, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Sometimes we get again this idea that God is supposed to work this way, that way and so forth but He ends up working in a whole different way, in a whole different direction and we think what's going on here? God's ways are higher than our ways, and he is working out his best good as he sees it from his vantage point and not from ours. The sooner we learn to trust God with what's going on versus just depending upon our own abilities and desire of what's to happen, the better off we'll be. It's better off to be on God's ways than try to hope for our own sometimes. Number two, the next cry out comes from the Pharisees. weren't all that happy about what was all transpiring. Go to Luke chapter 19, the religious leaders at that time. Luke chapter number 19, again one of the parallel passages, and as he's coming in they're shouting, and they're crying, and there's a lot of hoopla as we are well aware of. But look at the way the Pharisees respond. Verse 39, and some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, Rebuke thy disciples. In other words, tell them to be quiet. This isn't right. Well, it was, but that's the way they reviewed it. They wanted Jesus to tell the people to be quiet. In essence, silence the praise and worship of him. Do you know that there is an entity that is asphyxiated at stopping the praise and worship of God? That is the wicked one. We know him as Satan. Why does he want to stop the praise and worship of God? Because he wants the praise and worship himself. Satan wants to be worshipped. He wants it all for himself. He wanted to be, as the Bible mentions in Isaiah 14, exalted above the stars of heaven and worshipped like God, like the Most High. He wants to be worshipped. He wants to be emulated. He wants all the praise, but worship belongs to God alone. Anything that seeks to steal worship from God is demonically inspired. regardless of what form it takes on. Number three, the stones. I like this. This is interesting. Look at verse 40 in response to the Pharisees' criticism and cry. And he answered and said to them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. The stones would cry out. Remember I talked about the water coming out of a rock? Now, could you imagine what a stone would sound like if it talked? Would it have a deep voice, squeaky voice? I'm sure the big ones, you know, would be pretty deep and bass sounding, and the little ones would sound like little yippy dogs or whatever. I mean, it would be quite interesting to listen to the stones cry out. But if these people ceased their praise, the inanimate objects of creation would cry out. Wow. it tells us this, the presence of God always causes something within the creation to issue praise and worship. Whenever God's presence is somewhere where it's aware of and it's realized, something will cry out in praise. You see in the Bible, whenever anybody gets before God, they're prostrate in worship before him. There's something about the presence of God that causes the creation to say, praise God, in so many words. It's fascinating to watch. It's just the natural outpouring of the creation towards the Creator. And God does that just by His walking into the room, as we might put it. It tells us something about God and how his being naturally provokes worship wherever his presence is. His presence shows up. Again, it says something about the greatness of God. Sometimes people who are well-known and they enter the room of a place, you know, people just take notice. They take notice. Well, when God enters the room, inanimate objects would even take notice. Wow. Again, it just tells you what kind of God we serve. And hopefully, we can begin to even wrap our minds a little bit more around who he is as our God. Well, we'll continue more next time as we continue our march through the Book of Mark. But hopefully, some of these things gave us a clearer view of the greatness of Almighty God. Let's stand for a few moments Today we'll just have our invitation just a few moments of time