How do you know if somebody is filled with the Holy Spirit?
How do you know if a church is a church that is filled with the
Holy Spirit? Well, I can tell you one thing
for certain. They make much of Christ because
he was sent to glorify, to glorify Him.
And that is what we have come to do in the word of God today, to
glorify the Son of God. And so I invite you to join me
on that quest in Mark Chapter 11, beginning in verse one
together. And as you're turning there,
allow me to make a few remarks. There are very few events that
are shared in all four gospel accounts concerning the life and
the ministry of Jesus Christ. The major ones include what you
and I have studied a few months ago, and that is the miracle of
multiplication of bread and fish and the feeding, particularly of
the 5000. That is something that you will
see in Matthew. That is something you'll see in
Mark Lutke. That's something you'll see also
in John. And then there are the obvious
events. The events of Christ's passion.
His betrayal, his arrest, His trial.
His death. His burial, His resurrection.
All gospel accounts have records of Christ, final mission on
earth. We also have in all gospel
accounts, the denial of Peter. Every single writer sought to
capture that and what we have before us in this text today.
This particular occurrence is no small event.
It is paramount. It is significant, and it is
significant for many reasons. And evidently it was significant
enough for all these four witnesses to give us a detailed
report of what took place at this juncture of the ministry of
Jesus Christ. It is commonly known as the
triumphal entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem.
And as you would expect, each of these gospel writers have their
unique inputs and they have their unique insights.
And when we compare each of them, they just provide an even
more full picture of what took place in that parade.
But I want us to read this, and I want you to read it with
excitement because you were just told, again, that this is shared
between all four writers, and we have reason to believe that
there's something that the Lord wants to say to us in it.
And so let's begin in verse one and conclude in verse 11 before
we see what God has to say to us.
Now. When they drew near to
Jerusalem, to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives,
Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, Go into the
village in front of you, and immediately as you enter, as you
enter, you will find a cult tide on which no one has ever sat.
Untie it and bring it. Anyone says to you, why are you
doing this, Say the Lord has need of it, and we'll send it
back here immediately. And they went away and found a
colt tied out of door outside in the street, and they united it.
And some of those standing there said to them, what are you doing
untying the colt. And they told him what Jesus had
said, and they let him go. And they brought the colt to
Jesus and threw their cloaks on it.
And he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on
the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut
from the fields. And those who went before and
those who fall were shouting Hosanna, Blessed is you, comes
in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming Kingdom of
our father David Hosanna in the highest.
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 12 Lord, bless the
proclamation of your word, bless the hearts who will receive it.
We are eager to hear from you. Be glorified in this moment in
Jesus name. Amen.
This is a very familiar story. We tend to hear it once a year
at least, but we don't have to wait for that time of the year
to explore what the scriptures have to say.
And we should believe that there are practical insights and
charges and comforts in this text.
Though deals with a particular unrepeated moment in history.
When we look at this text, I'm not sure if you caught on to it,
but there are three particular groups that are mentioned on the
scene, many actors on the stage, and we can easily group these
different actors into 3 three different categories, 3
different identities. The first one is a group that
you are very familiar with, the disciples.
We've been following them throughout this journey and mark
the second group is unique. The group I'm Speaking of are
the owners of this cult that Jesus requested.
And lastly, another group of people that we are familiar with
pertaining to the ministry of Christ is the crowd.
The crowd. And this is how we're going to
approach this text together. I want us to look at each of
these groups because they are mentioned clearly to us, and we
should prayerfully expect that the Lord has something to teach
us about them and through them, with the specific highlights
that He's provided from them. And so it's a very simple
approach today. Let's begin by looking at the
first group that is mentioned, the disciples.
We have learned so much from the disciples.
We've learned so much about the disciples.
We have learned so much through the disciples.
And sometimes what we've learned from them are repeated truths to
our benefit. And sometimes when we come
across them, we come across fresh principles that we can
apply to ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ in 2024.
And what we can draw from the first few verses of Mark,
Chapter 11 is a simple observation, but one that should
comfort our hearts if we pay attention closely.
We read here that when Jesus was approaching the city in verse
one, he sent two of his disciples.
He had how many? You know, 12, But at this time
in the specific task, he recruits 2 out of the 12 and he
sends them out to perform the specific mission.
And again, this may be a simple thought, but it's worth chewing
on. Here's the thing that we can
take from this all of the apostles, all of the disciples
were called to serve God. But with this specific
illustration, we are reminded that not all of God's disciples
serve God in the same way. God has designed, and God has
determined, specific missions and ministries for each of us.
And that's what we see here with just a glimpse. 12 were chosen,
12 were called, 12 were to be trained and used for the glory
of God. And at this time, not all 12,
but two out of the 12 we do something in helping prepare for
prophecy to be fulfilled. And I hope that comforts you,
because it's a reminder of the activity of the Lordship of
Jesus Christ over his disciples then, and it has not changed
concerning how he manages the gifts and the callings of his
disciples at this time. Some will be sent, some will
remain, some will serve, others will speak, some will be made
more known, others for the whole lives will be made hidden, all
for the glory of Jesus Christ. And your response in mine is
very simple. Understanding how the CEO of the
Church operates, you receive what he has given you, you obey
it faithfully, rejoice in the callings that he has provided,
and also rejoice in how he works through fellow disciples of
Jesus Christ. But the scene of obedience and
the Lordship of Jesus Christ is even more profound when we
consider what John says about the very same disciples at this
time. So look at John 12A parallel
account and look at the commentary that John gives
concerning his fellow Apostles to be In John 1216 we read after
describing the triumphal entry from his spirit LED perspective.
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when
Jesus was glorified then they remember that these things had
been written about him and had been done to him.
No surprise. How many sayings, how many
teachings, how many events did the disciples miss the
significance of, And it is no different here in the final week
of Jesus time on earth, John tells us that the disciples did
not understand these things at first.
They couldn't comprehend it. They didn't interpret it
correctly. They viewed it through the
personalized lens of what the Messiah should be and what he
would do. And so they missed it.
So although they are operating here in obedience to the
commands of Christ, they are still plagued by ignorance.
So yes, let's beat up on the disciples again.
No, no, no, no, no. You're supposed to be comforted
by this truth when you connected with what we just read in Mark
Chapter 11. In what way?
Here's the value. Here are these disciples who are
blinded even at this moment, partially seeing and yet still
the Lord Jesus was willing to use them to fulfill prophecy.
Isn't that wonderful? So you have these guys who have
not yet been able to surrender their skewed perspective.
You have these guys who are slow to learn from the best teacher,
preacher, expositor in the world.
You have these guys who again, would be the ones laying the
foundation of the church, and they have in many times
attitudes of the flesh flare up way more than you would expect
for guys of such caliber. And with all of that, Jesus
Christ doesn't disqualify them. He still invites them and sends
them. He still utilizes them, you say.
Well, what does that mean for me?
Well, you haven't caught on yet. Should you not also rejoice in
knowing that even when you and I haven't fully grasped the
significance of serving Jesus, of knowing his truth, even when
you wrestle with the truth, Christ doesn't put you on the
shelf. He's still willing to be
glorified through you. He's still willing to use you to
touch other people for his name's sake.
He's still willing to show His Majesty in you and show others
His Majesty through you. He's still willing to position
you in particular places and moments and with people.
Though you're a weak, and though you are feeble, and though you
are distracted like these were, you were supposed to take
comfort in seeing Jesus sending these two out of the 12 and
using these 12 as a whole, even though John tells us they were
ignorant. And so we see here that Christ
again in his compassion. What do you see here even in
this? The grace of Jesus Christ.
But not just his grace. You see his omniscience?
He gave them instructions, right?
Look at verse two and said to them go into the village in
front of you and immediately as you enter it you will find a
cult tide on which no one has ever SAT.
Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you while
you're doing this, say the Lord has need of it and we'll send it
back here immediately. Some would say, well the Lord
made pre arrangements concerning this and the disciples just
needed to fill in the rest of the equation so that this can be
successful. But we have every right to be
persuaded that this is not Jesus making pre arrangements and
making those plans known. This is Jesus operating in his
omniscience, knowing all things, knowing exactly where things
are, knowing exactly what needs to be said, knowing exactly
what's about to transpire. This is Christ and his all
knowing power, demonstrating it to his own and to us.
Do you know why that's important to see Christ in control here?
Because he's about to enter a week where he is going to be
betrayed, arrested, tortured, nailed to a tree.
And from the early settings of that time, we're already being
proven that Christ was in complete control.
Christ wasn't taken by surprise. Christ wasn't arrested outside
of his will. Christ here, even from the
beginning of the entrance here, is showing I have this all under
control. This is going according to the
script that I myself have written concerning my faith and
the faith of humanity. You want to know how in control
he is? Notice the type of Colt that
would be united and used. We read here the last part of
verse 2 on which no one has ever sat.
Nothing's random in the Bible. Yeah.
Oh, OK Never. Nobody ever sat on it.
No. Think about it.
What would happen with an animal that is untrained, that doesn't
know what it's like to have a human on its back and steering
it and guiding it? We have every reason to believe
that it wouldn't be a graceful ride, a very difficult one.
And yet with that you have this unbroken cult, unused cult,
inexperienced cult, and Jesus summons it and rides it
perfectly, showing what again His Lordship, his sovereignty,
even this beast would submit to his authority and would walk
exactly where he needed to be taken and would not interfere,
interrupt with his plans. This is Christ fully in control.
And so in control is he that he anticipated some witnesses of
these disciples trying to take this cult.
How do you modernize that? Imagine two guys coming into
your driveway and trying to get into your car, knowing that
there would be some potential witnesses.
He gives them and equips them with the right statement that
would ease any tension. And this is where we come to the
second group that we're going to learn from, not just the
disciples, but the owners of this cult.
We're not told hereby Mark, that they were their owners were told
by Luke and Luke 1933, if you want this for a reference and
see it with your own eyes, you can turn there, Write it down
for later. And Luke 1933, we read.
And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them,
why are you untying the colt? You have every right to ask.
That's your car. Is there anything to learn from
these owners? You better believe it primarily
in their response to what the disciples relayed from Christ to
them. Again, the Lord anticipated
this, and so He gives them the key phrase that would resolve
it. The Lord has need of it, and
we'll bring it back immediately. And in Mark 11-6, you see the
result of that declaration? They let him go.
You know, we don't know who
these owners are. We don't know their names.
We don't know their backgrounds. We don't know their ties to
Christ. But what they did in this moment
speaks volumes about them, doesn't it?
It does because they surrendered.
They surrender their possessions.
They surrender their will. They surrendered their rights to
the simple understanding of the knowledge of the wishes of
Christ. All these owners needed to hear
this. Jesus needs it.
Then let him have it. Let him take it.
This could indicate that these guys were believers.
But I want to take it beyond that.
Not just believers. A certain type of believer,
saturated and totally consecrated to the Lordship of
Jesus Christ, swiftly, readily, joyfully surrendered all they
needed to hear. The Lord has need of it.
What about you and I with the commands of Jesus?
We're a little bit more hesitant with some of them, are we not?
There's no debate from these guys.
There's no questioning, There's no negotiation.
They threw the keys into their hands, so to speak.
And I'm moved by these unnamed servants because this is the
type of worship that the Lord Jesus Christ deserves, that the
moment you understand His will, it's made known to it's clear to
you that your heart is unreserved and giving yourself
to what His wishes are. That is what it looks like.
And let me help you make it easier.
If you are one who feels tension in your heart, imagining the
thought that if Christ were to ask anything of you, it belongs
to him anyway, it's all his anyway.
He's the rightful owner of it. Everything you have, the the
nice shirts you guys have on right now.
You guys look beautiful today. The colors and all that and how
you got you in your car and the the warm house that you're going
to return to. All of those things, my beloved
brothers and sisters, are borrowed.
I know your name is on the contract.
I know you worked hard for it, but even the strength to work
hard for it and the intelligence to save up for it came from God.
It's His. And the more you rehearse that
and the more you ask God to open your eyes that the more liberty
you will know in the place of radical obedience.
The Lord has neither. Well, it's His anyway.
Let him take it. But just meditate longer on this
with me. Sometimes you just need to read
slow and let it simmer on your heart.
The Lord has need of it. The Lord has a need.
He's the all sufficient one. He is the great.
I am, I am that I am. How is it that we read here that
the Lord has a need? Well, I can tell you right off
the bat that this is not the Lord explaining that He's needy.
He is not needy, nor is He lacking in anything as some
would assume, and only will. No completion or fulfillment
from getting something from us. He doesn't need anything.
He's not lacking anything. He's complete and whole and
holy. So what does this mean for the
Lord to say? I have need of it?
I think about it even further. This is the Lord who created all
things, who out of nothing, brought everything.
I have no doubt in my mind, and neither should you, that if God
really wanted a donkey, he could have called it into existence
and its maturity. All right, there we go.
We have it. Now let's go.
Could he have done that? Absolutely.
But he has need of it. In what sense?
I argue here that this is, this is an example of the Lord and
his character expressing what his desires are.
He doesn't need anything, but he has desires.
He's a person He loves and he hates.
He takes pleasure and there are things that cause him to recoil.
And in this moment we learned that the Lord takes pleasure in
seeing His servants express their trust and their love to
Him by giving what He asks of them.
The Lord has need of it. The Lord requires it from you.
He requests it, not because he is lacking again, but because he
is longing. And I think you and I at this
point can pause and ask my delaying and obedience and
anything. Let me just speak to you as a
brother to a fellow brother to a fellow sister.
Are you delaying this afternoon? Has God been pressing your heart
on something? And you know it's from God and
you know you saw it in God's word and you know that it
pertains to a particular situation in your life, But
you've been delaying learn from these owners.
They did not miss a beat. They did not reserve anything.
They gave it freely and gladly and urgently.
So let this be a reminder, perhaps to some.
I don't know what's going on in your life, God knows.
But here we are with this text and this point, and maybe it
will point at something in your life.
Do not delay any longer. Get to it.
God's been speaking to you about it.
Why are you delaying? The Lord has native it.
The Lord requires it from you, and He is worthy to receive it.
But Mark does something interesting here in talking
about this cult. He he he doesn't do something
that Matthew and John do. He doesn't give us the
explanation why Christ really wants this cult.
What's the big deal? You know it.
You've been through enough Easter services and Passion Week
services to understand why this is happening.
But let me remind you and read the two things that Matthew and
John write concerning the fulfillment of this moment.
Matthew 21 Turn with me there in verse 4.
Matthew 21, verse four, in Matthew's account we read this
took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet saying,
say to the daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming to
you humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foil of a
beast of burden. This is prophecy being
fulfilled, Matthew says, and John echoes that you read it in
John chapter 12, verse 14 and 15.
You need to turn there because we're going somewhere with this
in John 1214, and Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it just
as it is written. Fear not, daughter of Zion,
Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.
This is prophesied. This was something that was
declared hundreds of years ago. Tell me who the prophet was.
Anybody know? Zechariah?
Zechariah declared this, that Israel's king will come on a
colt, lowly humble, a colt signifying peace, not a horse
signifying war. But what's interesting is when
you look at these prophecies and compare them with the original
writing from Zechariah. So as you're turning there, go
to Zechariah 99 and maybe you'll observe something that is worth
mentioning. And as you're turning there,
think about this. Why didn't Mark include the
prophecy? You may disagree with me, but I
believe there's a strong case for this point that although
Mark is not shy in portraying Christ as the Messiah, as the
Son of God, as being divine, his preoccupation is not like
Matthew and John in wanting to portray Jesus as a king.
You've heard this week after week.
What is Mark's goal in his writings?
To portray Jesus as what? A servant.
A servant? So perhaps that's why he omits
this prophecy, though not denying the significance of the
moment. Here's what the prophet
Zechariah says, and hopefully you remember what Matthew and
John wrote. Zechariah 99 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 full of a
donkey. Matthew and John don't record
the prophecy word for word, and some would be satisfied to say,
well, this is just because they're paraphrasing, and that
happens in the Gospels on many occasions.
They're paraphrasing this prophecy, but perhaps they
omitted something on purpose because they both do it.
The thing that they remove is the first words of Zechariah 99
Look at it again. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Matthew doesn't say rejoice greatly.
John doesn't say rejoice greatly again.
We can just be content to say this is paraphrase.
Or if not, it makes sense why they did not include that part.
The reason why they would not write concerning this audience
rejoice greatly in describing this moment is because they
could not rejoice greatly as long as they rejected Jesus
Christ as their King. In other words, the command to
rejoice does not apply. The experience of true shouting
from the heart is not part of this because they have not yet
truly repented and received Jesus Christ as the Messiah that
he truly is. So yes, Matthew and John say
this is the one that Zechariah promised and prophesied at the
same time. It's a sad thing to see that the
rejoicing was not included because the people did not
receive him as such. Now let me make this as a side
note. You can't know true joy without
repenting and receiving Christ. He will know superficial,
superficial shouting. You'll get excited by trivial
trinkets of this world. But this rejoicing from the
soul, the shouting from your gut, so to speak, can only truly
be experienced when you recognize him, when you repent
of the sin that separates you from him, and when you receive
him as the king on his terms, not your own.
Because they're shouting. Are they not Hosanna?
They're rejoicing, yes, but for what reason?
We're going to find that out in a moment.
But while you're there in Zechariah 99, look at Zechariah
910. You know why many Jews would
discredit this moment and this prophecy being fulfilled in the
person of Jesus Christ? Because Zechariah did not
complete his prophecy in verse nine.
He continues it in verse 10 and the Jew today, who knows their
Hebrew scripture would say you Christians missed it.
How can you say that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when he
hasn't fulfilled verse 10? Look at verse 10.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the War Horse from
Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall
speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to
sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth.
You believe Jesus the Messiah? Oh Zechariah 99 and Mark 11.
Matthew 21. John 12.
Where is his rule from sea to sea?
Where is the peace to the nations?
And so they write this off. But you're a studied servant of
God, are you not? And you understand how even
prophecy works in many places, that you can have a prophecy
declared in one breath and in the very next breath.
It speaks of a different time, a different Advent.
Zechariah 99 is the first coming.
Zechariah 910 is the second coming.
We still believe it's Jesus, just another time.
There's a pause between those verses.
Jesus does that himself when he quotes from Isaiah 61, where he
talks about this being the year of the Lord's favor.
Then he stops there and he closes the scrolls in the
synagogue. Why?
Because the next part is what talking about the vengeance of
our God. He stopped the prophecy there
because it wasn't time for the vengeance of our God that is yet
to come. And the same principle, the same
rule applies here. Zechariah 99.
He's coming on a colt. Well, where's Zechariah 910?
Hold on tight. It's still coming.
And when he comes that time, he ain't coming on a donkey.
He's coming on a horse. And he will speak peace to the
nations and he will extend his scepter and he will have rule
from sea to sea. So you learn something from the
disciples. You learn something, I hope,
from the owners. But now we come to the final
group of people, the crowd, Speaking of the Jews.
Let's read here again verse seven of Mark 11.
And they brought the cult to Jesus and threw their cloaks on
it. And he sat on it.
And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread
leafy branches that they had cut off from the fields.
And those who went before those who follow 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.
So you just heard that this is not true.
Rejoicing. It looks like it.
This is electric. This is jubilant.
More than that, this is not empty praise, though really is.
There's some substance to it because they're declaring
scripture and they are ascribing Christ to Messianic
declarations. Psalm 1, Psalm 118, verse 25 and
verse 26 is what they're quoting from.
And some would say, well, no, Those verses speak about the
pilgrims who would come to the temple during the feast.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
This is not really messianic. Well, OK, when you go to
Matthew, you know what it says? Hosanna to the son of David.
OK, now you can't say anything. They're crowning Jesus with
messianic accolades. This is the son of David.
This is the one who's going to usher in the Kingdom of our
Father David. And we think, well this this is
what we've been hoping for in the ministry of Christ.
Isn't this what Christ himself longed for from his own people,
the people of Israel? No, because you you got to
question why they are getting excited.
You got to question why they are rejoicing.
Like the disciples, they had a skewed understanding of what the
Messiah would do, and they got all excited about the the
miracles of Christ. And this is the best prospect
that we've had in centuries. This is, this is the best
candidate for the Messiah that we've ever seen.
Yet. And here's what they're hoping
as Jesus is entering into the city on a cult, before them is
that side, and behind them is the surveillance and the
oppression of the Romans. And so in these poor minds, what
they believe is about to take place is Christ now is making
his way into the city and he's going to overthrow this
government. He's going to take over.
He has the power to do it. He can command sickness to
leave. He can command demons to go.
He's raised the dead, surely, by the word of his own mouth.
He can relinquish and Vanquish these enemies before us.
And so they're shouting, they're declaring, they're quoting, but
from a wrong understanding, from a skewed understanding.
And how we know that the same crowd here that is hailing
Jesus, crowning him with their praises, are going to condemn
him in a few days. Do you know why they're going to
condemn them? Because they learned that Jesus
didn't fulfill what they desired.
And when they learned that Christ did not overthrow the
government, he did not attack. He did not use his disciples to
advance the purposes of God with the sword.
And now they see him as a poor, pitiful man on trial, arrested.
So let's get rid of this guy. We're done with him.
He didn't meet our expectations. And so Christ here is willing to
absorb this for a reason. But before we get to that
reason, let's think about this truth Today.
You know, you have many people who look at even believers or a
group of believers or ministries, and what do they
see? They see what they saw here.
Excitement, shouting praises even things from scripture being
proclaimed. Excitement is not the evidence
that people are understanding or operating in the truth.
Yeah, it's not. Don't measure that to equate to
these people understanding truth.
Now, if it is fueling the truth, is fueling that excitement, that
joy, then praise God, he's he's worthy of that zeal.
But zeal in itself can be empty. Passion in itself can be
misguided. And so sometimes you look out
and you see that too. And you wonder, what are these
people even getting excited about?
What are they hearing week after week?
How are they living in this way? How do they have such a poor
grasp on the truth? But they can see more passion
than those who have the truth. I can tell you this, it's not
foreign. You have the same thing here
with these people, all the hoopla and the packed place.
And they didn't get it, didn't have a true grasp on the truth.
You know what's so amazing about this?
It's not just what they're saying, but how Jesus is willing
to tolerate it, You know, for so long.
Jesus in the ministry and the gospels suppresses this kind of
stuff. How many times have we read
Jesus not wanting those to spread the news of who he was
and what he did? Christ wasn't prone to allowing
things to be advertised unless he commanded it for a specific
reason. And now you come here and you
see Jesus not only willing to tolerate it, but he almost
provokes it. He invites it, he absorbs it,
and he refuses to deny it. What?
What changed here? How is this so public?
And how is Christ actually allowing this?
I mean, you even read in a different gospel accounts where
the Pharisees says Teacher rebuke your disciples.
Do you understand what they're saying?
And he You remember what he said?
Hey, if they don't cry out, the rocks will.
So this is the Lord now allowing this, not just allowing this.
He's prepared for this. He's in charge of it.
And I believe there are two reasons why.
There's a shift now in how Christ deals with the praises
and the Messianic hailing of the Jews.
One, it's time the Lord Jesus is ready to be arrested, to be
betrayed, to be put on trial, to die, to go into a tomb and to
raise from it. This is the Father's will.
And we know that every time these kind of things were done,
it only fueled the hostility of the religious leaders, and it
would be no different now. And Christ is ready for the
hostility of his enemies to reach a boiling point through
this, because this is the moment that we've been all been waiting
for. Christ is ready to surrender His
life. And so, in perfect Providence,
this parade was necessary. It was permitted.
But there's a second reason. I mean, at all the times that
Christ could have done this, he does it during the time of
feast, specifically the feast of Passover.
We're going to learn that Jesus himself dies the same time when
these lambs would be sacrificed in Jerusalem.
Everything is going according to the prophetic calendar.
And so the Lord chooses to go public in this way.
When you have thousands of Jews in the city, when you have
thousands of people from around the world pilgrims coming to
honor this feast, and here Christ is willing to be
proclaimed as such and to confirm His identity from the
lips of these people, including the lips of babes.
You know why? Because this is his final
massive public testimony of himself to this people.
It would eliminate absolutely all potential doubt or
misunderstanding of what people thought Christ thought of
himself. There's no questioning now.
Everybody's hailing him as the Messiah, and he is riding on a
donkey with a smile on his face. He believes this about himself,
and that would only be accounted to their actions when they would
kill him. You saw me receive these praises
as the Messiah, and you're still willing to kill me.
So this is now going to just add to the guilt of the unbelief of
these religious leaders and the Jewish people as a whole.
This is very strategic, what the Lord is doing here.
And so here it is. You have the praises, you have
the leafy branches, you have the coats, you have the shouts, you
have baby singing, you have boiling red faced Pharisees on
the sidelines. What we're told in another
gospel account where they say to one another, look, the world has
gone after him and with all of this something happens.
Verse 11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the
temple and we had looked around at everything as it was already
late. He went out to Bethany with the
12. I don't know about you, but
that's pretty anticlimactic. You just feel like things are
being built up. You feel like there's going to
be this crescendo. And what you read here is almost
something of a mystery. Jesus comes through the city and
then in one verse everything is hushed and you get the picture
of Christ almost being alone as he enters into the temple.
And there's no follow up to the hosannas.
There's no again on the side of the people.
There's no confrontation with the Romans because you didn't
come to do that. There's no response from Christ
to these crowds. It's just Christ now appearing.
No people around, no word being said.
And if you can, this is what you would see from this verse.
Christ in the temple doing this. I don't know how long he was
doing it for, but Mark is very descriptive in saying that he
looked at everything in the temple that stirred me.
What is he doing here? Why is he looking at everything?
Can I tell you why? He's inspecting, see?
What do you mean, he's inspecting?
He comes into the House of God, and he's evaluating the
condition of the place that pointed to him, at the place
that was supposed to host the glory of God, at the place where
the priests were supposed to serve the people of God.
And he's looking, and he wants to make sure things are the way
they're supposed to be. And if they're not, he's going
to do something about it, he said.
What do you mean? We'll Scroll down here in the
same chapter in verse 15. And they came to Jerusalem and
he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and
those who bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables of
the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.
So when Christ came there in verse 11, that's what he learned
with his investigation. They're making my father's house
into a business, into a money making scheme.
And you know what's so powerful about that?
I can imagine this thought running through his mind because
this is not the first time he cleansed the temple.
He did it in John Chapter 2, near the beginning of his
ministry. You remember that?
Looks like my temple needs to be cleansed again.
Why didn't you do it right there?
And then why didn't you do it in verse 11?
He had the power he could have. It's a picture of how Christ is
slow to bring judgment and before he does bring His
justice, he investigates. It reminds me of what we read
with Abraham when the Lord. The Lord came to Abraham with
the two angels and we're told that the Lord went to go to
Sodom and he expressed this to see if the evil that has reached
the heavens is so. Did God need to come down to
earth to see if the evil of Sodom was so?
No. But he chose to come down,
manifest himself in the flesh, and to walk and make his way to
the city and make a final conclusion.
Not because he is not omniscient, not because he's not
all present, but because he wants to express and explain his
character to us in a way we would understand.
He is slow to judge, and his judgment is absolutely perfect.
It is calculated. And this is how we learn as
people who have been commanded to judge.
No, we haven't been commanded. No, you are commanded to judge.
Well, Jesus said judge not lest you be judged.
Yeah, he told you how to judge rightly in that teaching not to
not judge at all. But as people who are prone to
make judgments, as people who are prone to make assessments
and make conclusions about people learn from Jesus.
He was very slow before he made a judgment.
He's very careful, intricate, mindful, before he executed.
And so here's Jesus at this temple looking around and verse
15 is the verdict. But I see something else here,
and if you're willing to go with me on this brief little journey,
it will be worth it. Because there is, I believe, a
deeper message here, and it's connected to a sequence of
events in the Old Testament that many people are unfamiliar with
because they're intimidated by this book as a whole.
Jesus in this snapshot ends in the Temple.
Where did he begin? Look back at verse one of Mark,
Chapter 11. Now, when they drew near to
Jerusalem to Beth Age and Bethany at the Mount of Olives
and another account we're told that he descended the Mount of
Olives. So he starts at the Mount of
Olives and he finds his way in the Temple.
It reminds me of a series of events that took place in the
days of Ezekiel. Ezekiel is a profound book, and
in this particular part in Ezekiel, God shows the prophet
the climactic consequence of the idolatry of the nation of
Israel. You know what it was the glory
of God would be removed from their midst.
They were removed. The great part of the people of
Judah were moved into exile. But Ezekiel receives this vision
that not only are my people going to be removed from the
land, I myself am changing my address.
Where did God's glory abide for hundreds of years?
In the most holy Place? In the Holy of Holies, where
only one man, one time a year could enter.
But the presence of God being in that very place, though it was
concealed and hidden, it was enough for the people to
understand. God delights to dwell with us,
and God's presence is here is what marks us and makes us
distinct from all the nations. Remember what Moses said.
If your presence does not go with us, how will we be
identified as your people? Everything centralized around
the presence of God, the glory of God.
And that glory represented, yes, his intimacy, his power, his
favour, his willingness to walk in the midst of those who are
sinners. And God says to Ezekiel, I'm so
grieved, I'm so fed up with, after centuries of profits being
sent and my people violating my laws, that would ultimately
violate my heart, that I'm going to remove my glory from my
house. And here's what's so amazing,
the sequence of events of how God does it.
You would think that for God to do that, he would remove his
presence and it would evaporate in that moment.
Not so. And the only way you're going to
see it is if you go with me in this final passage of Scripture
for today in Ezekiel chapter 10. Look at this with me.
There are three verses I want you to see in Ezekiel 10 and in
Ezekiel 11. Look at verse four of Ezekiel
chapter 10. If you have been paying
attention so far, let me give you a hint.
This is a good place to pay attention.
And the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the
threshold of the house, and the house was filled with the cloud,
and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of
the Lord. So the glory of God resided
between the cherub that was upon the ark of the covenant.
But we're told here that the glory of the Lord went up from
the cherub to the threshold of the House of God.
So it leaves the most holy place, the glory of God, and it
parks at the entrance of the house.
And then you come down and you read verse 19.
And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the
earth before my eyes as they went out, and the wheels beside
them. And they stood at the entrance
of the Eastgate of the House of the Lord.
And the glory of the God of Israel was over them.
So it leaves the Most Holy Place.
And now it arrives to the threshold, the entrance into
that sacred house. But in verse 19 we read here
that it now leaves the threshold, and it comes into the
entrance of the complex as a whole.
What are you seeing here? Yes, the glory of God is being
removed, but in stages. Why is this happening?
Because God is reluctant to remove his favour from his
people. God is not quick to turn his
back on his people. God does not delight in removing
his hand from his people. And the fact that this vision is
being portrayed is to explain that God will lift his hand off
slowly so that you would realize it and realizing you would
repent. And you say, no, Lord, keep your
hand on my life. Keep your hand on this ministry.
Don't let your glory be removed. But what happens so often is
like Samson, people don't even realize what's happening.
They play sport with their sin. They they tempt themselves and
they try to see how close they can come to the line.
God is so patient with that man, Samson.
On an individual basis, the Lord is so slow to remove himself and
allow yourself to be exposed to the elements of this Dark World
and your flesh. And we see here on a corporate
level with the nation of Israel, he goes from the most holy
place. This is God I'm talking about.
This is God the one who has every right that every time you
and I sin and do wrong to say you know what, I'm done with
you. People, even Christians, are
willing to do that so quickly. Not God.
From the most Holy place to the threshold of the house to the
entrance of the east. But that's not the final place
you come to. Chapter 11, verse 23.
And this is the final place that we read about the departing
glory of God, Ezekiel 11/23. And the glory of the Lord went
up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that
is on the east side of the city. You know what mountain that is?
The Mount of Olives. It's from the Most Holy Place to
the Threshold to the entrance of the Eastgate, and then it goes
to the top of the Mount of Olives.
And you don't read about the departing of the glory anymore.
It ends there. And there's no indication if it
removed itself from there or not.
But what you do read is later on in Ezekiel 43 that the glory of
God will return to this new temple.
A temple that we have not seen in history yet, A temple that is
for a future time, a temple that will come when Christ comes.
But here's what's so interesting.
You have the glory leaving the House of God, going to the Mount
of Olives. And I'm reminded of something
concerning the person of Jesus Christ.
According to Hebrews One, He has been described as the radiance
of what? The glory of God.
And what do you see about the radiance of the glory of God in
the person of Jesus Christ? In Mark 11 he starts on the
mount of Olives and he descends back into the House of God.
So God, in his grace and mercy, in the glory of the person of
Jesus Christ, returns to where Ezekiel said he left from.
And here he is the glory of God in the temple.
And the people missed it again. Did they honor the glory of God
and the person of Jesus Christ? Did they recognize him as such?
No. They performed the most gross
act of idolatry and apostasy. They killed him.
What happened to this glory in the person of Jesus Christ?
The same thing that happened to the glory of God in Ezekiel.
They rejected the glory of God in Christ.
Where does Christ find himself after his death, Burial.
Resurrection. Acts One?
Let me remind you, go to Acts One and we're ending it.
Maybe. Look at Acts 1.
Jesus in his resurrected state, he ascends into heaven.
A cloud took him from their sight, and in verse 10, And
while they were gazing into heaven as you went, behold 2 men
stood by them in white robes, and said, men of Galilee, why do
you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from
you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go
into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet. That's where he was.
So in the same way that the glory departed from the temple
up to the Mount of Olives, in Ezekiel, here we see the glory,
the grace of God in Jesus Christ starting on the Mount of Olives,
coming back into the temple. They rejected the glory of God.
And where do you find him now? On the Mount of Olives again.
And what's going to happen? Is that it?
No, no, no. Zechariah 14 four says that the
feet of him will come and plant them on the Mount of Olives.
The glory of God in Jesus Christ will return again.
And here's the best part. He's not going to leave after
that. No, no, no, no, no.
Those who would reject his glory at that time will not be able to
remove the glory. They will be removed by his
glory. And you and I will enjoy his
glory forever and ever and ever. If you belong to him, if you
know him, are you like the crowd today?
You like the Christian songs and you like the Christian people
and you like the Christian conferences, but you don't know
Christ. You have this idea of Christ.
He's this fluffy teddy bear up there.
He's a grandfather in the sky that you can just plop on his
lap whenever you need something, and you ignore him for the rest
of the year. But he's there, the smiley
grandpa whenever you come back with treats.
No, he's king. He is ruler.
He is Lord. He is a bridegroom.
He's a shepherd of your soul. He wants what you say with your
lips to come from a heart that has been washed in his blood.
Are you surrendered? Are you a spectator?
Are you a follower? Are you a conference attender?
Which one are you? He wants you today and He wants
you today because he loves you. And in loving you, he prayed a
prayer in John 17 that those who would belong to him would be
with him forever, that they may see His glory, Because in seeing
his glory you will know true fulfillment, you will know true
satisfaction, and you will know why you were created.
Lord, we thank you for this time in Mark 11, we thank you for the
depth of the word of God. We thank you of how rich it
really is. And Lord, we thank you that we
can from redeemed hearts say Hosanna.
Blessed is he who comes. In the name of the Lord.
We can say you have saved us. And as Hosanna means, we can
say, save us now. Save us from our temptation.
Save us from our troubles. Save us from our flesh.
Save us from our unbelief. And so let at this time we
rejoice in you, knowing that you are the one who will come back
in his glory. And we will share in that glory
and enjoy it forever. We bless you and we worship you
today. In Jesus name.
Amen. Amen.
The praise team can come as we worship the Lord.
And I want to invite you. If you're a person here who
doesn't know Christ on a personal level, this is how
glorious He is. That even during this time of
singing, you can engage with him and you can confess with your
mouth that he is Lord. And you can believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead.
And from doing so, you will know justification, you will know
redemption, you will know forgiveness, and I'm telling you
it will change you. It will restore you.
It will be what the Bible says, a born again experience where
you feel like you've just come to life for the first time.
You can't choose whether you're born or not in the physical.
You can choose if you get to be born again spiritually, that's
up to you. And I hope that you would want
to take advantage of a message like this to see the absolute
brilliance of God's mind in his word and say I want to follow
this God, and more than the brilliance of this word, the
brilliance of his humility and his love in his sacrifice and
saying, I want to serve this God who has graciously given his
life up for me. That's your opportunity today.
You can leave here more than just an exciting experience in a
building. You can leave here with life in
Christ. And as they sing, you can cry
out to this God, and he will answer if you do so from faith.