Enters the King

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

ENTERS THE KING

Mark 11:1-11

11:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying 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. 3 If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing this?' tell him, 'The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.'"  4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, "What are you doing, untying that colt?" 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 9 Those 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!" 11 Jesus 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.

NIV

Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, your time has come to receive your king, yet you will not receive him as your Lord, for you will kill him, but for now, he comes to you as a king of peace riding upon a donkey and a colt of a donkey. We have come to what has been called the triumphed entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Mark does not make as much of or give as many of the details as others have, but he does give enough to give us the picture. Having stood on the Mount of Olives and looked across the small Kidron valley that stands between Bethany and Jerusalem it is easy to picture how people would be able to see Jesus and his band of followers coming down from the Mount of Olives and making their way up out of the valley toward Jerusalem. The news would have spread quickly and as it may have taken the better part of an hour to make that journey, there was more than enough time for the people to gather with palms and robes to line the road up to Jerusalem from out of the Kidron Valley. The King is coming was surely on their minds. He was going to overthrow the Romans and Jerusalem would once more be truly theirs. Mark gives us the picture of such joy and excitement the people felt because Jesus was coming to them. Little did they know, the time of their salvation was at hand, and Jesus would soon take all their sin upon himself, on the cross. For now, they were filled with anticipation and enthusiasm because of Jesus. They called him the highest, blessed. Mark tells us they were excited about the kingdom of David returning to Jerusalem. Their thoughts were of the here and now, the material world in which they lived, and that is natural, for we too cannot help to think of our physical conditions, our life in the here and now. It is natural, it is where God created for us, although it was meant to be a paradise and sin caused some change, or at least hide that one perfect paradise within the vast world. However, all the rest of this world is also the creation of God, and Adam and Eve were told to fill it, so even if they had never sinned, the world would still be needed to be filled, so people would be living all over the earth. Maybe it would all have been a paradise, who knows now? Nevertheless, we live in the world, although we are not to be of the world. We still are subject to certain aspects of life that are not spiritual, but physical in nature. So we can understand how the people were thinking about how their lives would change because of Jesus. Our lives have changed because of Jesus. Certainly, our spiritual condition, as we were the walking dead and now we have eternal life. But our physical condition has also changed. Just had Jesus healed so many of their physical infirmities, he has changed us, he has healed us from many things throughout our years. But now, his entrance into Jerusalem would change the world forever. Nothing would ever be the same, for now, whosoever believes will be saved from death and given everlasting life. For now, the people rejoice as He enters Jerusalem, but now we are the ones rejoicing because he has entered our hearts.