Mark 11:1-14 I have need of
Him !
Jesus
at this point in our Story is entering the last week of his earthly Life –
Before Cross
Mark
11:1-3
Now when they drew near Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the
Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples;2 and He said to them, "Go
into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find
a colt tied, on which no one has sat. Loose it and bring it.3 And if anyone
says to you, 'Why are you doing this?' say, 'The Lord has need of it,' and
immediately he will send it here."
A) Very
interesting: Paradox – that the Lord
would have need of anything
B) But we
read Mark 4 that He needed to borrow a boat to sit in to preach –
1) He needed 5 loaves and 2 fish – feed
crowd.
2) He needed a borrowed
tomb…Buried so he could rise
C.)Listen: Our Lord has chosen to place himself in a
where He has need!
1.) Paul said
He who was rich has become poor for our sakes
Why chose to
become poor? One reason: He might partner with us in what He is doing
A.)
Whether it is fishing for men – “Peter can I borrow you boat”
B.)
Or feeding a Multitude Son, can I use your food
C)
Now Understand the Lord needs us like I need
my 3 kids to help me paint the house – I just need them to stay out of the way .
1) But
sometimes I let them help out in projects so that they can learn & be
blessed .
D) The Lord
Chooses to partner w/ us for the same reasons. Grow us & to Bless us !!!!
1) Been
rightfully said – Without Him – we can’t / Without us He won’t
E) Harvest
is great Laborers few pray for laborers Tell them that
the Lord has need of him
Also
interesting that Jesus chose to ride in on Donkey
A) Dumb Stubborn Strong
willed – Picture of us !
B) Before
ridden – had to be loosed
1) So too with us – Jesus is
all about helping people get loosed!
C) Laz – Loose Him – take
off the grave clothes
1) Our Lives – Flesh coming
off little by little
Before
a Donkey could be released it needed to be Redeemed!
Ex 13:13 "But every firstborn of a donkey you
shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break
its neck. And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.
Now this is an interesting Scripture where the Lord instructed that
Whenever a donkey was born – a lamb had to die so donkey could live!
A) No sacrifice – the donkeys
neck broken
B)
Interesting to me that in that same verse – the Lord is speaking about
redeeming a Donkey / then Sons – connection
1) We can be a lot like DONKEYS - Stubborn / Strong willed Etc.
C) Our
Jesus came as the Lamb of God / came to REDEEM US so that we would have to have
our NECKS BROKEN .
S0 The Lord wants to
ride us and use us!
A.)
REDEEMED US /
RELEASED US / He will REWARD US !!!!
Mark 11:4-11
4 So they went their way, and found the
colt tied by the door outside on the street, and they loosed it.5 But some of
those who stood there said to them, "What are you doing, loosing the
colt?"
6 And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded. So they let
them go.7 Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it,
and He sat on it.8 And many spread their clothes on the road, and others cut
down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.9 Then those who
went before and those who followed cried out, saying:
"Hosanna!
'Blessed is He who comes in the name of
the LORD!'10 Blessed is the kingdom of our father David
That comes in the name of the
Lord!Hosanna in the highest!"
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He
had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to
Bethany with the twelve.
TRIUMPHAL
ENTRY: Only time in Jesus ministry where he orchestrated Public display of
Praise.
A) In every other instance –
Jesus would always leave when the CROWDS
would start to proclaim His Praises
1)
When
Crowds would seek to make Him / their King !!!
B)
But
here we see that He Orchestrated the whole thing !!!!
He
picked the time – Beg. Of the Passover week
He
picked the Place – Eastern Gate leading into the City
He
picked the means – He would ride in on a colt of a Donkey – a donkey that had
never been ridden
Why?
Two Reasons to fulfill Prophecy!
Zech. 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just
and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a
donkey.
B)This
Prophecy WAS given by the Prophet Zech.
over 550 yrs before this event
1) There He Prophesied of HOW the Messiah would ride into the city
of Jerusalem Declaring Himself to be their King !!!
Behold Your King is coming
to you – but He comes Lowly riding on a
donkey
A) The
Roman Soldiers observing this Scene must have been Laughing
B) The Romans were experts at
parades & official public events.
1) We call this event “the Triumphal
Entry,” but no Roman would have used that term.
An official “Roman Triumph” was indeed something to
behold!
A)
A Roman general had to kill at least 5,000 enemy
soldiers to merit a Triumph;
AA) When a
Roman general came back to Rome after a complete conquest of an enemy,
1)
He would ride into the city on the back of a GREAT WHITE
STALLION
a)
In tow behind him would be His Trophies /the cities captured King & Soldiers Jewels
he collected displayed .
1)
And behind them would be his own Army !!! he was welcomed home with an elaborate &
official parade.
BB) Our Lord’s “triumphal entry” was nothing like that, but it was a triumph just
the same.
1) He was
God’s anointed King and Savior, but His conquest would be spiritual and not military.
CC) It is interesting
that a few weeks, from this event the Gospel would “conquer” some 5,000 Jews and
transform their lives (Acts 4:4).
So Jesus fulfilled the Prophecy of
Zech. 9 / Also Dan 9 - 483 yrs before.
Prophesied to the day
A) From the Decree to go and rebuild the city & the walls - until the messiah comes – 483yrs
B) March 14th 445 BC – King Artex. Gives the decree to
Nehemiah – Stop watch begins
1) Lunar calendar – 360 days = 173,880 days April 6th AD 32
C) Daniel also prophesied what would happen at the end of that week –
1) Messiah Cut off but not for himself
D) Here they Proclaimed Hosanna - / Later
in the Week they cried CRUCIFY!
So the first reason was to Fulfill
Prophecy – the 2nd reason was to get the religious leaders to react
A) See according to Matt 26:3-5 they wanted to wait until after Passover
to arrest Jesus
B) But it was important in the plan of God that Jesus fulfill the type –
Lamb offered up on Passover.
1) This event sent the religious leaders into a frenzy
C) Luke’s gospel tells us that the Pharisees demanded that Jesus – rebuke
his followers for crying out Hosanna
D) To which Jesus responded – If they
did the rocks would cry out ! – ROCK CONCERT
1) I wish they would have stopped !
E) So important for us to Cry out to the Lord – be expressive
Love the Lord with all your heart /
Soul/ mind / strength – Soul – Emotions –
A) Full gamut of my emotions -
B) Not be afraid to be expressive – Cry out – to stand lift your hands
C) Not give a reason for the Rocks to need to Cry out
Interesting thing to think about –
Creation Worships – Claps their hands / Rocks sing / Mountains shout
So Jesus orchestrates this whole thing!
Need of a Donkey
Contrast: Mark 11:12-14
Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany,
He was hungry.13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if
perhaps He would find something on it. When He came to it, He found nothing but
leaves, for it was not the season for figs.14 In response Jesus said to it,
"Let no one eat fruit from you ever again."
And His disciples heard it.
Fig tree gave the outward appearance
of health
A) Leaves – green – looked healthy
B) Jesus looking for fruit –
C) Christians like that tree – Appearance of life
But no fruit { Jesus looking
D) No Fruit – Problem in the root system
TURN PSALM 1
Rooted in the word – Fruit is the result !
Donkey of the Fig tree ?