Mark 11:1-11

The Triumphal Entry

1As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.' "

4They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

"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!"

11Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.



BACKGROUND READING:


Psalm 118


Zechariah 9:9-17


Matthew 21:1-11


Luke 19:28-44



Dig Deeper

When I was a teenager my parents took me on a trip to Washington D.C. Getting there was a long trip, so when we finally arrived at the city I was already filled with a great deal of anticipation. This was the place where so many incredible things had happened. It was the place where so many of America’s great men had lived, worked, and were now memorialized. To be there induced excited feelings of hope and enthusiasm for me.


Take these same feeling that I felt as a young man and increase that exponentially. Now you’re beginning to understand the feeling that most Jews would feel as they entered into Jerusalem. This was the sit of God’s holy Temple. It was the place where God had assured his people that His presence would dwell with them. It was the place where daily sacrifices were done to invoke God’s promised forgiveness and to renew the hope of a renewed future. When Jews came to Jerusalem for the festivals, they were coming, full of excitement, to celebrate and remember the great things that God had done in the past. These were the stories of hope and freedom, two concepts that first-century Jews were clinging to.


Jesus’ followers must have been feeling all of those same feelings of celebration, hope, and freedom, plus one additional very exciting item. For them it was time for the kingdom to finally come. Jesus has completed his long, intentional, and highly symbolic march towards Jerusalem. (The gospel of Luke particularly stresses this theme of Jesus marching towards Jerusalem, a new Exodus of sorts, that is a fulfillment of God’s promised return that most Jews were expecting).


Mark stresses all those excited feelings in this story of Jesus’ reception upon his arrival in Jerusalem. Everything in this scene speaks of royalty. People in the first century didn’t throw their cloaks on the ground and wave palm branches for just anybody, even if it was an important somebody. Mark’s point is clear: the people were receiving the man that they though was going to be the true king. Two hundred years earlier, Judas Maccabeus had defeated the Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes, restored Jerusalem, and rebuilt the Temple. The people at that time, waived palm branches and ivy and sang hymns of praise as they ushered in a new royal dynasty that lasted a hundred years. We can’t miss what Mark is telling us. From chapter 8 on, the disciples have understood Jesus to be the Messiah, the true king. This is his royal reception.


The shouts of the crowd further stresses the point that this is a royal reception. Theologian N.T. Wright says, "’Hosanna’ is a Hebrew word which mixes exuberant priase to God with the prayer that God will save his people, and do so right away." The chant, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, comes from Psalm 118, a Psalm that is about going up to Jerusalem and the Temple. The next line in their chant is a rather dangerous one: blessed is the coming of the kingdom of our father David. This is exactly what they believe they are welcoming into the city; the crowds are now confirming what Bartimaeus had already been shouting. For Herod Antipas and the other authorities in Jerusalem these were indeed fighting words, words which would get Jesus killed.


The scene ends rather anti-climactically with Jesus entering the Temple, taking a look around, and then returning back to Bethany for the night. Nothing happens for the moment. What Mark will do in the remaining chapters is show us exactly what Jesus was trying to tell his disciples in the previous chapters. Jesus is going to radically redefine the Jews’ concept of kingship and Messiahship; he was going to turn all that on its head.



Devotional Thought

Have you truly made Jesus the King of your life, willing to offer your property, resources, and talents to however he would use them? Or have you reduced and trivialized your commitment to him to the point that you simply see Jesus as a force that will help you get through and be more successful in doing the things you really wanted to do anyway? Is Jesus your King or a comforting religious experience?