Marcos 11

Marcos 11

Boice adds that "Citizens of the (Roman) empire were required to burn a pinch of incense to the reigning Caesar and utter the words Kyrios Kaisar (“Caesar is Lord!”). It is this that the early Christians refused to do and for which they were themselves thrown to the wild lions or crucified. It was not that Christians were forbidden to worship God. They were free to worship any god they chose so long as they also acknowledged Caesar. Romans were tolerant. But when Christians denied to Caesar the allegiance that they believed belonged to the true God only, they were executed. (See Boice's Daniel: An Expositional Commentary- Page 69) Wayne Detzler writes that kurios - In the earliest Greek this word meant "to have power or authority." Later it came to describe one who is in control. As classical Greek developed, it became a title for men of importance. Since the gods of ancient Greece were neither creators nor lords of their fate, pagan deities were not called "lord" until much later. By the time of Christ, kings had come to be called "lord." This was true of the Roman Emperor Caligula (A.D. 37-41). It was also true of Candace, the fabled queen of upper Egypt (Ac 8:27). So too Herod the Great, Herod Agrippa I, and Herod Agrippa II were called "lord." (BORROW New Testament Words in Today's Language) 🙏 THOUGHT - Lord is not merely a name that composes a title, but signifies a call to action so that every saint should willingly, reverently bow down to Jesus Christ. If Christ is our Lord, we are to live under Him, consciously, continually submitting our wills to His will as His loyal, loving bondservants ("love slaves"), always seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness (Mt 6:33+). According to this practical working "definition" beloved we all need to ask ourselves "Is Jesus Christ my Lord?" "Do I arise each day, acknowledging this is the day the Lord hath made?" (Ps 118:24+) "Do I present my body to Him as a living sacrifice and surrender my will to His good and acceptable and perfect will as I begin each day?" (cp Ro 12:1+, Ro 12:2+) Beloved, don't misunderstand. None of us have "arrived" in this area of Jesus as Lord of our lives. And it is precisely for that reason that Peter commands us to continually "grow (present imperative) in the grace (unmerited favor, power to live the supernatural, abundant life in Christ) and knowledge (not just intellectual but more importantly transformational) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (2Pe 3:18+) So do not be discouraged. Don't "throw in the towel" as they say. Keep on keeping on, pressing (continually = present tense) "on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Php 3:14+) "Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually." (1Ch 16:11) One day, you will see that it was all worth it! Alistair Begg - The Coming Kingdom - 3 Perspectives: 1) The Actions of Jesus a. a deliberate action – premeditation; careful planning; not spur of the moment incident; maybe Jesus had already made plans for this to take place - seen in the location of the donkey - seen in the nature of the donkey = unridden – Num. 19; Deut. 21 - seen in the password that would free it up to be taken b. dramatic action -- A prophetic symbolism to the way in which he will enter Jerusalem – as opposed to doing things in secret; his sitting on the donkey is dramatic – nowhere else described as riding – everywhere else He is walking c. dangerous action – danger of being misunderstood; when people embraced the notion of His Messiahship and used the correct Scriptures, they had the wrong expectation; only afterwards that even the disciples understood his actions 2) The Reaction of the Crowd a. Defined by Passion – vs. 8 – spread their cloaks on the road and cut down branches and spread them on the road; extravagant gesture – 2 Kings 9 b. Defined by Expectation – clear assertion of Messiahship; they shouted the chants of the pilgrims from Ps. 118 along the lines of the testimony of Bartimaeus; Zech. 9:9 – Who is this person and When will He come? Their passion is fueled by their expectation c. Defined by Confusion – Didn’t the blind just see? Isn’t the king coming riding on a donkey? Their expectation is marred by their confusion; Triumphal Procession as opposed to Triumphal Entry – Jerusalem crowd is a different animal [does not agree that the pilgrims were fickle] They are thinking national restoration; political revolution; overturning of Roman authorities; now we will have an earthly kingdom just as we have always wanted; they hate the Romans; did not want to live in subjugation; they would have embraced this type of message; earlier tried to make Jesus king by force – if you can feed the crowd with 5 loaves and fishes you have the economic answers we need They were reading their bible selectively 3) Application to Ourselves He looked at that temple scene and could hear his own 12 year old voice – holding court with the religious authorities – “I have to be in my Father’s house” – strange thing to say – now He looks around and sees a materialistic disaster zone; prostituted so that the merchants can make money; I will deal with this tomorrow; - Beware of naivety that says of people that are passionate in quoting the bible that they must be OK; here they are flat out wrong; possible to twist the Bible in wrong ways; America is full of people quoting the bible; doesn’t mean they are right - Confused because they did not understand the nature of Messiahship – or the gospel message – did not like the parts about His suffering and death; selective reading; focused only on a triumphant king - Must keep the gospel in the center of my thinking, prayer and living or we might end up confused as well – creating a Jesus of our own making Mark 11:4 They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. and found: Mt 21:6,7 26:19 Lu 19:32-34 Joh 2:5 Heb 11:8 Mark 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 21:4+ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5 “SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’” 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, COMMENT - Note that Mark does not quote Zechariah's prophecy. A gentile audience would not have been familiar with that OT book. Luke 19:32+ So those who were sent went away and found it just as He had told them. JUST AS JESUS HAD DESCRIBED They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it - They found things just as Jesus had described and they obeyed what He directed them to do. As an aside, be careful what sources you read as "Numerous scholars (ED: I PUT "SCHOLARS" IN QUOTES!) have suggested that the present account (TRIUMPHAL ENTRY) is an early Christian myth created and read back into the life of Jesus on the basis of the church’s reading of Zech. 9:9 (Bultmann 1968: 261–62; Dibelius 1934: 121–22). " (Robert Stein - see Mark Baker Exegetical Commentary- Page 33) Alan Carr - How did Jesus know this? Some writers suggest that Jesus had already been to the owners of this little donkey and arranged for the use of the animal. They believe Jesus set this up before hand. I suppose they believe Jesus set things up with that fish that Peter caught with the tax money in its mouth, Matt. 17:27. Well, He did set it up, but not physically. He set it up in His sovereignty! These events remind us that Jesus is God and that He is in control of all things, Eph. 1:11; Isa. 46:10-11! That encourages me! So, these verses prove that Jesus is God! Which two disciples went after the donkey? The Bible doesn’t say! You see, it doesn’t matter who does what as long as the Lord is glorified! I wonder if those two men complained about their assignment. If they were Baptists they did. I can hear them now, “Can you believe this? After all we’ve done for Him; Jesus picked us for this dirty assignment.” They didn’t realize that they were the instruments He would use to fulfill prophecy. They were doing something far bigger then they could see. We usually are! When we are involved in the Lord’s work, we are involved in big business!) Brian Bell adds "The disciples are instructed to bring both of them, perhaps so the mom could settle the youngster down. These animals were quite expensive, and we see in Lk 19:33 ('owners") that there were at least two owners who had gone in together to buy these donkeys. In our culture today, it would be like someone coming up to a bright red convertible Porsche, opening the door, starting the car and driving away. When the owner comes running outside you would just say, “The Lord needs it.” When the disciples were sent to get a colt, Jesus was putting into place yet one more very specific prophecy about who He was. In Zechariah 9:9, which was written some five hundred years earlier. What the Bible Teaches - The triumphal entry into Jerusalem is not only the culmination of the journey that began at Luke 9:51+, and the fulfillment of the prophecy by Zechariah 9:9, it is one of the most important events in the life and ministry of the Lord. It is recorded in all four Gospels which is not true of His birth, temptation, transfiguration nor the Gethsemane experience. If He had not ridden on the colt in fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy, they the nation would have had some excuse for not knowing Him. At the time of this entry He proclaimed His kingship publicly and officially (What the Bible Teaches – Luke) Mark 11:5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" Mark 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 21:4+ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5“SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION, ‘BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU, GENTLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY, EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A BEAST OF BURDEN.’” 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, Luke 19:33+ As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” Some of the bystanders were saying to them, "What are you doing, untying the colt?" - Luke identifies the bystanders as the owners of the colt. (Lk 19:33+). This is also exactly as Jesus had warned in verse 3 that they would be asked "'Why are you doing this?' The idea is what right do you have to untie my colt? Mark 11:6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. Mark 11 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passages: Matthew 21:6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, Luke 19:34+ They said, “The Lord has need of it.” THE LORD HAS NEED They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them - They responded to their questioners that “The Lord has need of it.” (Lk 19:34+ ) And they gave them permission - Again the two disciples (they spoke) obey explicitly Jesus directive and Jesus' "predictive" (immediately he will send it back here) follows suit as one would expect.