Our scripture reading today will be taken from Mark chapter 11. If you'd open your Bibles there, please, to Mark chapter 11. And we'll be looking at the first 11 verses of this text. And you follow along as I read the Word of God. For those visiting today, we go straight through books of the Bible. We've come to chapter 11 as we're working our way through this Gospel of Mark. And we're going to look at the first 11 verses. So follow along as I read it. As they approached Jerusalem at Bethphage, And Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, go into the village opposite you. And immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there on which no one yet has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? You say, the Lord has need of it. And immediately he will send it back here. They went away and found a colt tied at the door outside in the street and they untied it. Now, some of the bystanders were saying to them, what are you doing untying the colt? They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them and they gave them permission. They brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it. He sat on it, and many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front 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! Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple and after looking around at everything he left for Bethany with the twelve since it was already late. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of the Word of God and the exposition to follow. Will you join with me please in prayer? Our Father we bow in thy presence today to thank you for the privilege we have of living in the United States of America. Just the fact that we live in this country is a tremendous blessing. And on this weekend, we especially remember those who've died while in active service for our country, for our freedoms. They defended us. They liberated people who were oppressed. They expanded the cause of peace. We thank you so much for them. We know that there are families all over this nation who love and miss one who paid the ultimate price for this great country of ours. Lord, we ask that you would keep our service men and women safe. We pray you shelter them with your protective grace. They are protecting us. We ask that you would protect them. We pray for our military. We know that many feel as if they're not appreciated. Please let them know that there is a nation of people who loves them, who respects them, and who supports them. We pray that you grant them courage to face each day, help them accomplish their tasks, And Lord, on this weekend, we think of the words of President Lincoln at Gettysburg, and we pray that we would resolve to make sure that those who've died have not died in vain. We pray that until Christ comes, that the government of this country, that is by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. You've said in your word that greater love has no man than this, than one is willing to lay down his life for his friends, and many of our military have done that, and of course, so did your precious son, Jesus Christ. He laid down his life so that we could have everlasting life. We pray that many in this country and many all over the world would believe in him and be saved. We pray that in Jesus' name, amen. If you'd open your Bibles, please, to Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11, please, as we continue on in our journey through this great book of Mark. Two of the cheapest cars that you can buy brand new are the Chevy Spark and the Ford Fiesta. They'll run you about $13,000 to $14,000 for a brand new one. Now compare that to a presidential limousine that costs about $300,000 per car. Just imagine the president pulling up in a fleet of Ford Fiestas. Probably not a good chance you're going to see that. In years gone by, I spent a lot of time hunting elk in the Rocky Mountains. During that time, I got to know a number of outfitters. Those outfitters took their clients deep into the mountains by horse or mule. Not one time would they ride them in on a donkey. Actually, a mule's an offspring of a donkey and a horse, but the average donkey's just too small for an adult to ride. And that's why when you read the Bible, you see that King David and Solomon, they had a mule, well-trained mule. You read that King Ahasuerus in the book of Esther, he had a nice horse. No king would ever think of riding a donkey. But here's a story of one who did. As we come to this chapter, we're coming now to the final part of the Gospel of Mark. In the next six chapters, we will see Christ's final ministry in Jerusalem. He'll be betrayed, He'll suffer, He'll die on a cross, and He'll rise again from the dead. What we really have in Mark is a straight beeline from Galilee to Jerusalem. And the entrance of Christ into Jerusalem here is a key moment in his life because he enters Jerusalem and he's clearly recognized, as you'll see, by a vast number of people as the Messiah. I mean, they understand that. They get this point. as he rides into Jerusalem. He's going to cleanse the temple. He's going to challenge and confront spiritual leaders. He'll publicly debate them and show them to be wicked. He'll teach his disciples about the coming destruction that's going to hit Jerusalem. He'll teach them about a new Passover that will replace the old Passover. And all of this will lead to his arrest, his trials, his crucifixion, and resurrection. Now everything that happens to Jesus Christ is divinely orchestrated. Both he and his father are intricately working out the sovereign will of God. They're on a divine schedule. And to begin all of this, we come to this very interesting text because Christ publicly enters into Jerusalem by riding on a donkey. And that actually ends up proving he's the God, Savior, Messiah, King. Now you recall last time we were together we saw an incredible miracle of a blind man who just kept screaming, just screaming, son of David have mercy on me. He's screaming that out on the main road that's leading into Jerusalem and by him screaming this at the top of his lungs. They couldn't shut him up. I mean, you remember that last week. They just couldn't stop him from screaming. But what the people were hearing is this is the son of David. This is the Messiah. He was identifying him as the king of the Jews. So his entrance now into Jerusalem comes on the backdrop of that. And these people have a real good perspective as to just who Jesus Christ is. And even though This turns out to be a major public declaration of who Christ is. He's the Messiah. Christ himself is not necessarily screaming this out. The people are. The fact of the matter is they don't have a relationship with him. Now there are four divine messianic actions I want to show you. First of all, he prepares to enter Jerusalem by acquiring a donkey, verses 1-6. We read, As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has yet ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. Jesus is traveling, you recall, from Jericho to Jerusalem. The text says they were at Bethphage. No one knows precisely where this city is. Most think it was about a half mile, perhaps, away from Bethany. Bethany, we know, is located about two miles out of Jerusalem, so that's probably about a half mile away. And we would learn later from John's Gospel that Bethany was the hometown of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. Jesus will spend several nights in Bethany. He'll move in and out of Jerusalem, making that two-mile trip in and out of Jerusalem multiple times. Verse 1 says this is happening near the Mount of Olives. That's critical. Because that's directly connected to Jerusalem. It's a mountain that rises about 2,600 feet above sea level. It overlooks the Temple Mount. And Zechariah predicts that this will be the very mount where Jesus Christ one day will return and put his feet down the second time in the Day of Judgment. And Ezekiel predicts the same thing. So it's not a coincidence that Mark brings up this is near the Mount of Olives. And the reference to being near the Mount of Olives clearly connects us to that book of Zechariah. And there's an interesting prediction that Zechariah makes. So I want you just to go back in your Bibles into the Old Testament a little bit, just before the last book of the Old Testament, since this book of Zechariah. And I'd like you to look at chapter 9, if you would, please. In Zechariah chapter 9, And I want you to notice what is predicted by Zechariah in Zechariah 9, 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey. even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I want you to look at verse 10. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. You had the choice of all kinds of animals. You could get on a good horse, you could get on an impressive mule, but it is predicted by Zechariah that this king of yours, who's going to come, the king of glory, is going to come riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Way back in the book of Genesis, there was a prediction about some donkey cult. Go back to Genesis 49, if you would, for just a moment. Genesis 49. These are noteworthy passages to look at. In Genesis 49, there's a description made here about somebody who'd come through the line of Judah. I mean, we're talking about the first book of the Bible. And in Genesis 49, I want you to notice verse 9, "...Judah is a lion's whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion who dares rouse him up. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of all the people." So one's going to come through Judah, who would one day be in charge of all people he ties his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine clear back in the first book of the Bible there's this amazing prediction about one who would come from the tribe of Judah who would ultimately be the king would rule over all the people he would be coming into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt now Jesus According to verse 1 of chapter 11 of Mark, if you go back there, sent two of his disciples to the village ahead of them to get a donkey. I don't know what two disciples they were, but probably they didn't like that job. I mean, what kind of job is that? I want you to go into a village and get some donkey. That's not a glamorous job. You're not going in there and getting a beautiful horse. You go get some donkey colt in there. Nothing glamorous about that. But you know that non-glamorous job of two of these disciples fulfills biblical prophecy. Sometimes people doing non-glamorous jobs in the work of the Lord have no idea as to the eternal significance of what they're doing. The job may appear to be lowly. In all reality, it can have some serious ramifications. Going to get this donkey, which appears to be just a menial job assigned to two disciples who are probably already tired of walking, so they've got to go another half mile to get this donkey, turns out to be a fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And he gave them four assignments, these two. First of all, I want you to go to the village opposite you. Verse 2, go into the village opposite you. The Greek literally reads, go into the village that's over against you. And the noun village talks about a real small little burb. You're not talking here about a major city with walls. You're talking here about Orangeville. It's obvious it was just a small little place. And it wasn't much of anything. And when you live in a small little village, everybody knows everybody. So if a stranger or a couple of strangers come wandering into town and meandering up to some animal tied up at a fence or something, he's gonna stand out. The second assignment is when you enter the village, you're gonna find a colt tied there. Verse two says, you'll find a colt tied there. Now, this colt is qualified by the words, this will be a colt on which no one yet has ever sat. You're gonna find a, how would he know this? How would he know? You go to that village, you can't see it. It's over a half mile away in hill country. And you're gonna go there and find a colt on which no one can say, you'd have to be God to know this, which is exactly the point. Thirdly, you untie the colt and bring it to me. He says in verse two, he says, untie it and bring it here. And you might think, isn't that stealing? Isn't that cattle wrestling? No, he's God. He made this animal. As we just got done singing, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. It all belongs to him. And the reason why he's requesting this donkey is not because he's so exhausted he can't make it into the city. I mean, we know that Bethphage is very close in proximity to Bethany. Jesus is only about two miles out of Jerusalem. He's used to walking high up in the mountains. He could easily make this walk without cracking a sweat. The reason why he wants this donkey is to fulfill prophecy. And he wants to fulfill the prophecy literally. You see, it was predicted that the one who would be the king would come into Jerusalem riding a donkey. He wants to interpret that and do that literally. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a key point of Bible interpretation you never want to forget. The Bible must be interpreted literally. Biblical prophecy is to be interpreted literally. That's how Jesus Christ interpreted it. If God says that one day Israel will be the honored nation of God, if God says that one day she will have a promised land that literally runs from the Nile to the Euphrates up north into Turkey and sweeps back down across the Mediterranean coast, we need to interpret that literally that one day she'll have that land. If God's Word says there will come a day when every knee will bow before Jesus Christ, every single knee will bow before Jesus Christ, we need to interpret that literally. If God's Word says unbelievers are going to burn in everlasting fire, if they do not believe in Jesus Christ they will go to a place of unquenchable fire, we need to interpret that literally. And if God promises any who believe on me will come and live with me in heaven, we need to interpret that literally. That's how Jesus interpreted prophecy. The fourth assignment he gave them is if anybody questions you, just tell them the Lord has needed the donkey. He says there in verse three, if anyone says to you, why are you doing this? You say, well, the Lord has need of it and immediately he will send it back here. Now remember, you're just a small village here. You got a couple of strangers, they've never been to this place. They go up to some donkey and they just start untying it. And anybody's first reaction to seeing that would be, these guys are stealing the donkey. And animals were critical, not only for packing light loads and transportation of light people, but also for farming. So if you were to go into some village and take somebody's donkey, it's a serious crime. Still is. Especially out west. You steal somebody's colt or horse, get yourself in serious trouble. You know, it's estimated that over 40,000 horses a year are stolen in the United States. In 2011, a woman from Arkansas was sentenced to 60 years in prison because she stole five horses and horse equipment. One of the horses was found dead. So whether it's in Jesus' day or our day, you just don't take somebody else's colt. It's serious business. But Jesus says to these guys, go do it. and he gives specific instruction how to handle it. If you're challenged, if anybody questions you, you tell them, well, the Lord has need of it. That's all you have to say. That's all you have to say. The Lord has needed this donkey. In other words, this donkey is for God's service. You tell them that. There are royal implications to all of this. Now, when a king would come into an area, he would claim temporary rights to an item or a person or an animal for immediate service. In fact, later in this very book of Mark, in fact let's go over and see that, chapter 15 for just a minute, chapter 15. And notice verse 21. This is after Jesus is being led out to be crucified. Verse 21 says, And they pressed into service a passer-byer coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander, and Rufus to bear his cross. You could, if you were a power in charge. You could actually call people into service. You could claim items into service. So a king could easily go and say, I want that donkey. Of course, he'd never want that. He'd want a horse or a mule, but a king could literally do that. So there's, there's some far reaching ramifications to this. Now, when Jesus says, if anybody says to you, he uses a third class conditional clause is probably that's exactly what's going to happen. You're gonna go in there untie the donkey and somebody's gonna question you on it. And he says what you say to them is you say to them the Lord has need of it. It's interesting because I can't find where it says the Lord needs us. He needs the donkey. Now he can use us if he can use a donkey. But the fact of the matter is he needs this donkey to fulfill prophecy. But you see, when it comes to humans who were once made of the image of God, who've fallen far short of the glory of God, who are depraved and alienated from God and dead in their trespasses and sins, He doesn't need them. He'd take pure grace to save them. What He does say in Scripture is, we need Him. We need Him to be our Savior. God can use us, but He doesn't need us. I think there's a great illustration of that in the life of Esther. You'll recall that Mordecai, in the book of Esther, was telling her she needs to go tell the king, Ahasuerus or Xerxes, that they're Jewish. And Esther is balking a little bit at that assignment. And Mordecai says to her, look, if you don't do it, God can raise up somebody else to do it. That's not a problem. But you'll be responsible and accountable because you didn't do what you were supposed to do. Look, if you don't want to commit your life to Jesus Christ, his work will go along just fine without you. Or me. You won't lessen the program of God. No one here is going to alter prophetic prophecy. But we all need him in our life because he's the only one who can save us from our sins. Now at the end of verse 3 Jesus says, tell the owners that I need the donkey and there seems to be a discrepancy here in the text whether or not he's saying I'll send them back to you when I'm done with him or whether or not they're going to send them with him. Both are legitimate possibilities. According to verse 4, the disciples went to the village and sure enough when they got to the village, there it was, there was that colt tied at the door of the house. Colt was not in a corral. It was tied on a door outside in the street. So verse 4 says they did what they were told. They untied it. They untied it. So far the plan's going just like Jesus had said. Two total strangers walk into a village. Nobody knows who they are. They go up to an animal that doesn't belong to them and just start untying it. And according to verse 5, some of the bystanders are looking at this and they're going, hey, what are you doing? Untying that animal. Luke brings out that some of the bystanders were the owners of this animal. They obviously wondered why a couple of foreign unknowns in the middle of the day, daylight, I mean this isn't even dark. In the middle of the day they walk up to a donkey that isn't theirs, they untie it and start walking away. And verse 6 says they did just what Jesus told them to do. They said, well, we're taking this donkey because the Lord has need of it. They responded, just what Jesus told them to do. They obviously realized we better tell them the Lord has need of it. And that noun for Lord means the Lord God, who has power and authority over everything. the Lord God who is the master of the universe this divine person told us to come get the donkey and at the end of verse 6 we read they gave them permission everything about this donkey business is sovereignly planned and controlled by Jesus Christ he's the one who's in charge here How did he know there would be a donkey tied? How did he know what those people would say? How did he know that if his disciples responded back to them just simply saying the Lord has need of them that they would say okay fine? How did he know that? He's God. That's how he knew it. Which brings us to the Second action, he approaches Jerusalem by riding on the donkey. Notice verse 7, they brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it and he sat on it. And then he spread their coats in the road and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. Those who went in front 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. Now, Jesus approaches Jerusalem by riding on a donkey, and there are five actions that are brought out here. They brought the cult to Jesus. They brought the cult to Jesus. The first man in our country of the United States to actually have donkeys was George Washington, from what I can glean from history. He was the first one to bring donkeys to this nation. Jesus takes this donkey that's brought to him and they've done exactly literally what he told them to do and again does it not show the importance of us taking the Word of God seriously and literally. That's how you interpret it. When the Word of God says something in this grace age to us in the church, take it literally. Secondly, the disciples put their coats on the colt. That's what we read in verse 7. They put their coats on it. They obviously didn't own any tack. I mean, they don't have a donkey saddle. And they don't have a good bridle. So they used their coats for Jesus to sit on. And some have suggested that one reason why they would have done that is so that Jesus could be raised high enough on a donkey colt so his feet wouldn't drag on the ground. I mean, this is not even a full-grown donkey. In fact, Mediterranean donkeys are known to be very, very short. A Mediterranean donkey can be anywhere between 36 inches and 40 inches high, and a colt would even be less than that, so his feet would be very close to the ground. Thirdly, Jesus sat on the colt. Verse 7 says that. And I don't want you to overlook that. And he sat on it. Now let me tell you something. You climb on the back of a colt, whether it's a horse, a mule, or a donkey, on which no man has ever sat, and you are in for a rodeo bucking bronco ride. I know this because I've done it. We got on a horse when it was just a young colt. No one had ever ridden her. We had worked with her for hours. In fact, Mary filmed it of me first putting my leg up over it. We were in a corral in an arena of a friend of mine. And I slung my leg up over that colt. He was right in front of the colt. It was scary. It's intimidating to sling your leg over a new colt. And the colt did just fine. So we took the colt home. I decided to take the cold out riding in the field. I want to tell you, I went flying off her back. I got back on her, flew off her back again. I can't tell you how many times I've hit the ground. It takes approximately six to eight months for a donkey to bond with a human. In fact, it's easier to break a colt of a horse than it is the colt of a donkey. It takes six to eight months just to bond with that animal. Now keep in your minds, this is a colt on which no one has ever sat. There's been no groundwork done with this animal at all. The only thing we could assume since it was tied up is they had somehow sacked it out. They'd obviously taken a rope and tied it to a post at a home or something like that, but nobody's ever climbed on this donkey's back. Jesus is the first one to get on this donkey's back. He just climbs right up on this back and this animal and he rode it straight into town. Now there are two things I want to say about that. First of all, Jesus must have been very thin. because a donkey can only pack about 80 pounds dead weight up to 120 pounds. So I'm going to assume Jesus was very very thin and didn't present a real weight problem like if I would have climbed on the back of that donkey. Secondly, it shows us the power he has over creation. Why can't you just climb? on the back of an animal like a horse or a donkey and mule and just ride it and enjoy it. Why do you have to worry about breaking an animal? Because there is a curse. An Adamic curse. And perfect harmony between humans and animals will not exist until that Adamic curse is lifted. When you see Jesus getting up on a donkey on which nobody has ever sat and he can just ride that thing straight into Jerusalem, you're seeing the one who can undo the Adamic curse with the human world and even with the animal world. Which brings us to the fourth action. Many people spread their coats at palm branches on the road. That's what we see in verse 8. Many spread their coats on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they'd cut from the fields. I mean, this was a sign of a great coronation of a king. They're giving Christ the red carpet treatment. When Jehu in 2 Kings was anointed king of Israel, people spread their garments under his feet. I mean, they're spreading their garments under this donkey that's walking on a road into Jerusalem, and they're putting their garments under his feet. And then we learn that many went in front of Him and they're identifying Him. They're in front and in back of Him, identifying Him. Those went in front and those who followed, they're shouting things out. And they're shouting four impressive messages. First of all, they're shouting out, Hosanna! Hosanna! The old Hebrew means, O Lord, save! This particular word actually means, You can save us now! You can save us now! they've not admitted they have a sin problem. But they'd sure like it if he went into Jerusalem and saved the whole nation, but they don't want to admit they have a sin problem. Secondly, they're shouting, Jesus is the blessed one who comes in the name of the Lord. I mean, they said in verse 9, these people knew he came with the full authority of God. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Thirdly, they're shouting out that Jesus is the one who brings the Davidic kingdom. This is the one of whom has been predicted this kingdom of our father David. He's the one who can give us this kingdom. And fourthly, this is the Hosanna in the highest. This is the one who comes from the highest throne of God. This is an epic moment. It's an emotional moment, but this emotional enthusiasm means zero. I mean, you read that and you go, wow! It doesn't get any better than that for the Lord Jesus. It means nothing. Because these people weren't really interested in a personal relationship with him. Most of the crowd Who are saying, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the one coming of the kingdom of our father David. Hosanna in the highest. Most of these same people in just a few days will be crying out, crucify him, crucify him. Same group. I don't put a lot of stock in emotional responses. Never have, never will. We don't try to manipulate people or raise hands or walk aisles. I've never put much stock in any of that. Because I've seen too many people emotionally do stuff that doesn't mean anything. What you look for are people who are serious about their relationship with Jesus Christ and who love the Word of God. That is proof of reality. The third action is Jesus enters Jerusalem and then leaves it. Verse 11 said, he entered Jerusalem and came into the temple, and after looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the twelve since it was already late. Now this is a very important, symbolic, eschatological moment. He comes the first time to the temple here and leaves it, but he'll come back again to it. When he went into the temple the first time, this should have been the high point of his whole career, his messianic career. The people should have been there to love him and honor him and worship him and bow down before him. I mean, that should have been what should have happened in his temple. It's his temple. His temple has been built to worship him. But when he got into that temple, what he saw, as you'll see in the next couple of weeks, he saw a bunch of abuses. He saw a bunch of arrogant leaders. He would come back another day and he'd deal with them all. You know, God gives a grace period before he destroys. He gives people time to get it figured out. He gives people time to deal with the corruption, but sooner or later he says that's enough of that. So he comes to the temple, and he comes in there, and then ultimately looks around, should have been honored and worshiped, and he should have never had to leave, but he does leave, and he'll be back. But on the day he comes back, the next time, he's not riding a donkey. He'll be riding a horse. I want you to go over to Revelation chapter 19. I want to begin reading at verse 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him which no one knows except himself. He's clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty, and on his robe, on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There's where he's going to come back for coronation. There's your description. The first time he humbly came riding on a donkey. The next time he comes, he's coming in all of his glory riding on a charger, a white military horse. And every eye will see him. Every knee will bow before him. What this tells us is you can have him as your savior or you can have him as your judge. You decide. Listen, Christ doesn't need us. We need Him. That's why He came here. He came to save sinners from their sins, and we're all sinners. Had Israel admitted that, things would have been different, but they wouldn't. So, He came and He left. But one day He's coming back, and if you will believe on Him, you will be saved. Let's pray. If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, there's a wonderful picture of what is happening here, in that the first time Christ comes, He offers you grace. He comes as a lamb. The next time He comes, He's coming as a roaring lion. If you've never invited Christ into your life to save you from your sins, do it right now where you sit. We don't ask you to raise hands or walk aisles, we ask you to do honest business with God. Just admit the truth that you're a sinner and invite Christ into your life to save you. Our Father, what an amazing passage of scripture this is to look at. It is humbling for us to see it in many ways was just totally humiliating for the Lord Jesus Christ to have to go through this. But oh, we are so thankful that he did because he is the one who can save us from our sins. He's the one who can give us hope. And we thank you so much for his precious work on the cross. In Jesus name, amen.