Jesus in Jerusalem
Preached by Jason Abbott
March 2, 2014
This week Natalie and I had Thai food and had fortune cookies at the end. My fortune cookie had two fortunes in it (Oh, Happy Day!)—one of which read: Your Actions Speak Louder Than Other People’s Words.
Now, I sincerely doubt that that is actually true of me. However, I don’t doubt—in the least—that that statement is true of Jesus in this particular passage. His actions speak! What Jesus does is clearly meant to proclaim his identity as Israel’s Messiah or its divinely “appointed, eschatological deliverer and ruler….”1 And, without a doubt, Mark intends for us to understand what Jesus does in precisely that way.
Mark even foreshadowed this message in Jesus’ encounter with Bartimaeus. Remember that he included, in last week’s story, this beggar’s appeal to Jesus:
Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me (10:47)!
I didn’t draw your attention to it in last week’s sermon, but the designation, Son of David, “amounts to a clear messianic declaration” by Bartimaeus which Jesus interestingly doesn’t deny.2
Therefore, I think, it’s fair to say that Jesus—even in last week’s passage—was making a strong messianic statement by not saying anything, and allowing Bartimaeus to go unchecked, when he called him Son of David.
His actions speak louder than other people’s words!
In today’s passage, Jesus will continue to act in ways that proclaim his true identity as Israel’s messianic king. Thus, in order for us to hear his actions speak, in order for us to see his actions for what they really proclaim, we are going to ask two questions of these verses: (1) How is Jesus behaving or acting like the Messiah that Israel expected? And, (2) How is Jesus behaving or acting unlike the Messiah that Israel expected?
However, before we go any further, let’s read this passage together and, then, pray for God’s blessing upon our time in his word.
Mark 11:1-11
1 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
1. How does Jesus act like the Messiah Israel expected?
We’re going to collect Jesus’ actions into a pile of evidence rather quickly. Please forgive me for doing this. Each of these could be a sermon in and of itself. However, I’m hoping we can see the broader strokes with which Mark is painting on a much larger biblical canvas.
a. Jesus and his disciples pause at the Mount of Olives (v. 1).
This was a place full of historical significance and messianic expectation for the Jewish people.
It was an ancient place of worship (2 Samuel 15:32).
It was the place in which Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord settle after departing the temple (Ezekiel 11:23).
It was where final judgment would be measured out (Zechariah 14:4).
It was associated, by the Jews, with the Messiah’s coming (Ant. 20.169).
Consequently, “Mark, who seldom mentions place names, may mention the Mount of Olives here in order to associate its messianic significance with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.”3 If so, Mark has preserved a profound picture of this Jesus. It is a picture through which the worship of the Lord, and the glory of the Lord, and the judgment of the Lord are being brought together in the divine mission of Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ.
Without a doubt, Jesus’ actions say something about him.
b. Jesus sends two of his disciples to retrieve a colt (v. 2).
I once heard actor Matthew McConaughey share a story about an argument he and his dad had over McConaughey’s shabby appearance while in high school: worn-out t-shirts and torn jeans, a pair of hippie sandals and a beard. McConaughey continued the story by explaining that they lived in a conservative Texas town and his father (who was a conservative guy) was less than thrilled by, what he considered, his son’s ever deteriorating appearance.
McConaughey shared that as the two of them were driving someplace (and still a good distance from their destination) that he thought it would be a good idea for him to justify his appearance by appealing to the fact that Jesus had also had a beard and had worn sandals and didn’t have the nicest clothing.
At this point, McConaughey’s father promptly pulled his car to the side of the road and told his son to get out and walk. When McConaughey asked him why, his dad’s retort was that Jesus had also walked everywhere that he went.
McConaughey’s dad was almost exactly right.
Other than this single instance, in which Jesus was traveling into Jerusalem, he did, apparently, walk everywhere he went during his earthly ministry. Consequently, this fact should raise a question for us: Why doesn’t he walk now? Why does he stop, just before entering Jerusalem, and send for a colt?
The answer is that he rides the colt because doing so will speak clearly about who he is.
In the Old Testament, the colt was exactly the right mount for the Messiah. Consider Zechariah’s prophecy:
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 (Zechariah 9:9).
Here, Jesus clearly deviates from a normal pattern (i.e. walking everywhere) in order to fulfill what this prophecy and others (cf. Genesis 49:11) have predicted about the Messiah.
Furthermore, what made Jesus’ action (of riding into Jerusalem on a colt) even more noteworthy is that it was customary for pilgrims, going up to Passover, to walk into the city.
Jesus’ actions speak about his person.
c. The colt had never been ridden and was commandeered (vv. 2-6).
An unbroken colt was considered especially appropriate for sacred uses. Thus, in the Old Testament, such unbroken animals were used for holy purposes. For examples of this you can look at Numbers 19:2 or Deuteronomy 21:3.
The thinking was essentially that the animal had “been used for no profane purpose and [was] in full strength.” 4 Such animals were thus considered sacred and, in Jesus’ case, appropriate for a king to ride.
Perhaps, a good analogy would be that we would expect the Queen of England to arrive at special events in a brand new Rolls Royce Phantom as opposed to a gently used Honda Civic. After all, the Rolls Royce would be the right (or the righteous) ride for a queen.
Also, commandeering a colt would’ve been the sole prerogative of a king. Perhaps an arrogant king would simply take the animal without any explanation. Historical examples, of such heavy handed seizures of property by kings, are not difficult to find (i.e. the genesis of our Fourth Constitutional Amendment).
Jesus, indeed, commandeers the colt for his purposes, but, as a meek and gentle king, he assured all those who asked that it would be returned again shortly. Nevertheless, his actions are the actions of royalty. He acts and moves as king.
Jesus actions clearly speak about his identity.
d. Jesus rides over cloaks and branches without protesting (v. 8).
You see, such ceremonial pomp (throwing ones jacket across a dirty road) was exactly (in Jesus’ day) what someone would expect for a king. For example, when Elisha has Jehu anointed king of Israel, Jehu comes out from the anointing and the author tells us:
[In] haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps…and proclaimed, “Jehu is king” (2 Kings 9:13).
It’s a show of honor for someone great! It’s not unlike the red carpet today. Or, it is something like the clichéd image of a man laying his coat over a mud-puddle for the woman whom he loves.
So, again, Jesus’ actions speak quite clearly since he, as with Bartimaeus, does not turn down such honor. By not protesting, by not stopping such treatment, Jesus embraces and professes his kingship publically.
His actions proclaim his anointing as Israel’s Messiah.
2. How does Jesus act unlike the Messiah Israel expected?
The crowd’s singing gives us a clue. Mark tells us:
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” (vv. 9-10)!
It’s quoted from Psalm 118—one of the Hallel Psalms (i.e. Psalms 113-118). These Psalms played a prominent role during the Passover celebration. Therefore, it shouldn’t surprise us to find it being shouted as people go up to Jerusalem for the Passover festival.
However, Psalm 118 was most likely “a royal song of thanksgiving for military victory.”5 If this is the case, then it follows a victorious Davidic king’s triumphal procession through Jerusalem toward the temple while the people sing his praises and celebrate the victory God has worked through his chosen king on their behalf (vv. 15-16). (Sounds a bit like our current passage, doesn’t it?!)
Yet, when the king reaches the temple, he requests permission to enter and is granted entrance by the keeper of the gate (v. 19). As he moves inside, the celebration moves inside with him (vv. 22-25). Finally, the king moves attention to the altar for a victorious sacrifice (v. 27). And the entire congregation praises God in unison (v. 29). (Doesn’t sound like our current passage anymore, does it?!)
Jesus comes into the temple, and Mark’s account is suddenly void of any celebration and praise. Mark rather anticlimactically records:
[Jesus]…went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out…with the twelve (v. 11).
Where have the crowds gone? Where’s the king’s glorious temple reception? Where’s the triumphant welcome for the Messiah?
Suddenly, Jesus looks unlike the picture of the messianic king in Psalm 118. In fact, rather than come victoriously into the temple Jesus comes to confront it. “…Jesus enters the temple. [And] having surveyed it all…Israel’s unwelcome messianic king returns to Bethany.”6
You see, Mark has given us an accurate picture of the Messiah—he divides! Parades of common people sing his praises, yet Israel’s leaders are set against him. These leaders had crafted an idolatrous picture of the Messiah for themselves, and, consequently, they would not receive him at the temple as in Psalm 118. So, the victory parade grinds to a halt.
And this little vignette, in Mark’s gospel, poses for us the ultimate question. Will we receive Jesus as he is, or will we reject Jesus because he doesn’t look like we think a king should look? The answer we give will determine who is Lord of our lives and will determine how our lives are lived.
1 Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling, Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms: Messiah, 77.
2 R. T. France, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: Mark, 429.
3 James R. Edwards, The Gospel According To Mark, 334-335.
4 Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers, 364.
5 G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, 207.
6 Ibid., 208.
