We continue in Mark for our Summer Reading Challenge of 2022. Today’s reflections from Mark chapter 11address the Scripture saturated scene of the Triumphal Entry.
- Mark chapter 11 has five main movements: (1) Jesus’ Triumphal Entry (11:1-11); (2) Jesus curses the fig tree (11:12-19); (3) Jesus cleanses the temple (11:15-19); (4) Jesus’ lesson from the fig tree (11:20-26); and (5) Jesus’ authority challenged (11:27-33).
- Today’s episode focuses on Five pictures in the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem that bring His identity into High Definition.
PICTURE 1: Your King is Coming on a Colt!
- Have you ever thought it was strange that Jesus wanted to enter Jerusalem on colt on which no one has ever sat? I certainly have! However, the authors of the Gospels not only see this as an accurate retelling of the narrative, they also see it as a fulfillment of the Scriptures!
- In fact, as we will see, every action of Jesus and those around them has tremendous significance as it pertains to prophecy and imagery of the Old Testament!
- We read in both Matthew’s and John’s account of this event that Jesus’ coming on a colt is a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9 which reads, “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.”
- Jesus’ coming into Jerusalem on a donkey is the bold proclamation — YOUR KING IS COMING
PICTURE 2: Your King is Coming on Cloaks and Palms!
- Not only do we see Jesus riding on a donkey, but we see the people throwing their cloaks on the donkey, on the road, and others spreading leafy branches on the road — this too is an image soaked in Old Testament significance!
- In 2 Kings 9:12-13, after Elisha the prophet anointed Jehu as king over Israel, we see those around Jehu layout their cloaks under him, and they blew the trumpet and declared “Jehu is king.” Jehu then proceeded to eliminate the wicked leaders of Israel, at his hand also the wicked Queen Jezebel and decendants of Ahab, and prophets of Baal were destroyed.
- And, as noted by the ESV Study Bible, the spreading of palm branches was connected with prominent Jewish victories (as seen in the book of 1 Maccabees 13:51 where we see the Jews entering Jerusalem “with praise and palm branches… because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel”).
- This act of cloaks and palms is like the rolling out of the red carpet — neither the King, nor the animal upon which he rode should touch the bare earth! Jesus’ coming on a donkey, under which are the cloaks of those who would follow him into Jerusalem, expects a removal of oppression and replacing the worship of idols with the TRUE worship of the TRUE God.
PICTURE 3: Your King is Coming with the Praises of the People!
- Next we see that 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!”
- There could not be a much clearer declaration of what was happening! Even though what they expected was different than what happened, these words also point to the Old Testament expectation of the coming Messiah!
- The word Hosannah is Hebrew for the cry “Save!” or “Please save!” And the words of the people come from the words of Psalm 118:25-26, “Save us, we pray, O LORD … Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.”
- Furthermore, the crowds identify Jesus as the King who would establish “the coming kingdom of our father David” — this echos what Bartimaeus proclaimed at the end of chapter 10. It points to the declaration that Jesus is in fact the fulfillment of God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:13-14 – that a descendent of David would sit upon the throne and his kingdom would be forever. The fulfillment of the promises in Isaiah 9:1-7 — of a Son to be born that would sit on the throne of David; and in Isaiah 11:1-16 — of a shoot from the stump of Jesse (David’s father) who would establish justice; and in Jeremiah 23:1-8 — that a righteous Branch for David shall be raised up and reign as king and shall be a shepherd where the shepherds of the people had failed.
- Jesus’ coming with the praises of the people proclaims him as the fulfillment of the those Davidic messianic promises.
PICTURE 4: Your King is Coming at the Beginning of Passover!
- In terms of timing – we note that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem takes place at the beginning of the Passover week.
- In the observation of the Passover, the people of Israel every year would dramatically retell and relive the amazing works of God in delivering the people from slavery in Egypt (read more in Exodus 12). During the time of the Exodus, the blood of a lamb was spread upon the door frame of the Isaelites’ homes, and the angel of death would “pass-over” their home. This was the tenth and final plague which God brought to release the people from the bondage of the Egyptians.
- The yearly celebration of Passover was a looking forward to and anticipation of when the LORD would come in judgment — and again Passover HIS people and ultimately deliver them again from all their oppressors.
- Those celebrating Passover in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus would have been expecting the Messiah to liberate them, at this time, from the oppression of the Romans. However, as we know, It was not from the oppression of the Romans that Jesus was bring freedom — rather, from slavery to sin (see John 8:34-36).
- Jesus’ coming at the beginning of Passover anticipates the ultimate liberation of God’s people from their ultimate enemies – Sin, Satan, and death!
- In the observation of the Passover, the people of Israel every year would dramatically retell and relive the amazing works of God in delivering the people from slavery in Egypt (read more in Exodus 12). During the time of the Exodus, the blood of a lamb was spread upon the door frame of the Isaelites’ homes, and the angel of death would “pass-over” their home. This was the tenth and final plague which God brought to release the people from the bondage of the Egyptians.
PICTURE 5: Your King is Coming to the Temple!
- Finally, we see Jesus enter Jerusalem and he goes into the temple and looks around at everything. He will return to the temple the following day (Mark 11:15-19) and drive out the people who were selling and buying animals in the temple, and he will overturn the tables of the money-changers. Jesus came to the temple not as a fellow worshipper — but He came as the Sovereign Lord as prophesied in Malachi 3.
- The same passage which applied to John the Baptist in Mark 1 comes to bear here: “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… (verse 2) but who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears.” And the rest of the passage in Malachi 3 talks about the cleansing or purifying of the priests and the whole temple system.
- And the words which Jesus speaks to them in Mark 11:17 draws upon the language of the prophets in Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11
- Jesus’ coming to the temple is a picture of the LORD himself cleansing and restoring the purpose of his temple!
Conclusion:
- My friend, have you thought about the tremendous amount of Scripture that is fulfilled in what has been called Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry”? The donkey, the cloaks and palm branches, the praises of the people, the Passover, and the temple — each piece proclaims something about Jesus — He is the coming King, in the line of David, who will remove the oppressors of his people, and will deliver them from Sin, from Satan, and from death; He bring judgment and justice, and He will restore right and pure and TRUE worship of the TRUE God.
- While each part, if considered on its own, points us to something of the glory of Jesus, when they are considered together, they are like the building of a grand symphony, each part adding depth and meaning and building to the final movement and grand crescendo !
- Each picture serves as a promise of something greater! Each shadow a skewed representation of the substance — but in all these pictures and promises we find the fulfillment in Jesus Christ! Oh Come behold the wondrous mystery – the glory of this Jesus!
- I have linked a song below that has helped me in that regard!
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