Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign
[00:00:04] Speaker B: welcome to Hope for Today, a weekly Bible teaching program that will bring you hope for every day.
It is an honor to be with you today as we look into Scripture and with God's help, understand who God wants us to be.
This program is produced by Heralds of Hope and our goal is to use media to make disciples.
Today our lesson in Mark brings us to the beginning of Jesus last week. This passage in Mark 11 is known as the Triumphal entry. And in today's lesson we will look at a few Old Testament prophecies which were fulfilled when Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Allow this to increase your all and faith in Scripture. No other book or person comes close to predicting the future as accurately and precisely as the Bible. For many people this is a major reason they believe in the Bible and it is a truth that needs reckoned with. How can prophecies given five hundred to a thousand years ago just happen to come true down to the smallest detail? This is God at work.
Be encouraged. God's Word is true and all God said will happen.
Pastor J. Mark is here now to share today's lesson.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: There are a lot of things that you and I cannot know about the future.
But we can know some things about the future because the prophecies of the Bible are incredibly accurate.
You know, this is a fact that has convinced many former skeptics that the Bible is true.
What they did was they set out to prove that the Bible was a man made document and that it was filled with errors. But as they studied and researched it, guess what? They came to the opposite conclusion.
It is God's inspired word to us.
Our text today is from Mark, chapter 11 verses 1 to 11. And it focuses on the last week of Jesus life.
It contains prophecies about Jesus, prophecies that were given many years before he came to earth. And so I invite you to join me as we look at several prophecies that were fulfilled in what we call the Triumphal entry.
I've titled our study the King is Coming.
Follow along as I read Mark 11 beginning with verse one.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 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. And if anyone says to you, why are you doing this?
Say the Lord needs it and immediately he will send it here.
So they went their way and they found the Colt tied by the door outside on the street. And they untied it.
But some of those who stood there said to them, what are you doing untying the colt. And they spoke to them just as Jesus had commanded, so they let them go.
Then they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it. And he sat on it. And many spread their clothes on the road. And others cut down leafy branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying, hosanna, uh, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna, uh, in the highest.
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 12.
This text shows us the fulfillment of several prophetic aspects of Jesus ministry.
And these fulfillments should strengthen our faith and confidence in God's promises.
The first prophetic aspect I see is the method of his transportation.
You know, the scriptures prophesied that Jesus would be a king from the beginning. The angel told his mother Mary that he would sit on the throne of his father David.
And you might remember the magi asked, where is he who was born king of the Jews?
And Micah declared that Jesus would be the ruler of my people, Israel.
Now, after 30 years or so, that promised king is about to enter David's royal city. The opening sentence of the text mentions two villages, Bethphage and Bethany. Bethany was the town of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. You might remember they were close friends of Jesus.
And here it is that Jesus gives two disciples a very interesting command.
Go into the village directly ahead of you. As soon as you enter the village, you will find a colt that has never been ridden, tied there.
Untie the colt and bring it to me.
I'm curious. How would you have responded to Jesus command?
Would you please repeat that for us?
Are you asking us to steal the donkey colt?
You know, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament messianic prophecies that said that the Messiah would enter the city riding on a donkey.
Zechariah 9. 9 is very clear. It says, rejoice, Jerusalem, your king comes unto you lowly and riding on a donkey. And that prophecy was well known, even though it had been given about 500 years before Jesus was born.
He was prophesied to come riding on a donkey.
Zechariah's prophecy has its roots in Genesis, chapter 49, verses 10 and 11.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the people's obedience.
Binding his donkey to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes.
And so deeply rooted in the Jewish consciousness was this hope of the Messiah who would enter Jerusalem on a donkey.
Jesus told his disciples that this donkey colt had never carried a rider.
And I learned of a stipulation in Jewish history that no one was ever allowed to ride the king's horse or donkey without special permission.
Jesus knew the disciples would be questioned when they untied the colt. So he told them, if anyone says to you, why are you doing this?
This is what you say. The Lord needs it, and immediately he will send it here.
And that's the way the scene unfolded.
The owners of the colt protested the taking of their property. But when the disciples told them that the Lord needed the colt, then they released it.
I am assuming that the colt's owners had heard of Jesus before. And so they gave their permission.
The disciples took the colt and they went back to Jesus.
Then they removed their outer garments and placed them on the donkey so Jesus wouldn't have to ride bareback.
Those in the crowd spread their garments on the ground for the donkey to walk on.
Other people broke off palm tree fronds and spread them on the ground for the donkey to walk on.
And Jesus is very aware of what is happening.
His conduct on this occasion can only have one meaning.
It was the public proclamation of himself as the Messiah. And so now at, uh, last, his hour, as he referred to it, has come. The message of the prophets is being fulfilled.
And just as the method of his transportation had been prophesied, so too was the message of exaltation that greeted him. And that's the second prophetic aspect, the message of his exaltation.
The unrestrained enthusiasm of the crowd proves they realized what was happening. They expected Jesus to set up his rule and drive the hated Romans out of their land.
Luke's record tells us that the crowds and Jesus got their first glimpse of Jerusalem at this point in the procession.
And at that point, the worshipers burst into loud, messianic praise and acclamation for all the mighty works that they had seen.
Remember Lazarus, Bartimaeus and more.
The adoring crowds of pilgrims are crying out, hosanna. Blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna. Uh, in the highest.
And so this messianic fervor is animating the people. It's fueling their actions.
Recall the incident about a year before this in John chapter 6.
After Jesus fed the 5000, the people attempted to take him by force and make him a king.
In that setting, Jesus left the crowds and went into a solitary mountain to be alone.
It was not the right time for a coronation, but now is the time.
Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is the kingdom of our Father David that comes in the name of the Lord.
This was the loftiest style in which Jesus could be saluted as the promised deliverer. And again, this message had been written centuries before. And now these cries of praise and acclamation are bursting from the lips of the excited throng as Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem.
The meaning of their message was the king is coming.
But I will tell you this, the next time he comes, his acclamation will be genuine and it will be complete.
The final aspect is the meaning of his observation.
In his typical, abbreviated way, Mark says that Jesus entered the city and the temple, looked around, observed all that was happening.
Mark's conclusion seems anticlimactic.
However, there's a crucial detail that's essential to our understanding of this event.
In Ezekiel's prophecy, approximately 586 BC, he saw a vision of the glory of God leaving the Temple, the holy city, and descending upon Bethany at the Mount of Olives.
Now, the one whom the Scriptures define as the brightness of the glory of God comes from Bethany, from the Mount of Olives, goes into the holy city and goes to the temple. In Ezra, chapter three, when the foundation of the second temple was laid, many of the older men who had seen the glory of Solomon's temple were weeping.
However, the prophet Haggai made an interesting prediction in chapter two of his book. During that same time period, who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now in comparison with it? Is this not in your eyes as nothing yet? Now be strong, Zerubbabel, says the Lord, and be strong Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.
And be strong, all of you people of the land, says the Lord, and work for I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts. Now listen, because he made a promise, the glory of this latter temple he's talking about. The temple that Jesus visited shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of Hosts. And in this place I will give peace, says the Lord of Hosts.
And so all along, through our study in The Gospel of Mark We've been waiting for Jesus to arrive in Jerusalem.
We've been looking at that since he announced to his disciples that he was going to the Holy City to suffer and die.
But Jerusalem wasn't His ultimate destination.
His ultimate destination was the cross and eventually his return to the Father.
In 586 BC, Ezekiel saw the glory of God leaving the temple.
Now, in our text, the glory of God temporarily returns.
But only a few understood that the King was the King of glory who was about to meet the destiny to which he was called to give his life as an atonement for our sin.
Today we have examined the method of his transportation, the message of his exaltation, and the meaning of his observation.
The fulfillment of each one of these prophecies should strengthen our faith and give us this confidence that the promises that have not yet been fulfilled will be in due time fulfilled in their entirety.
Yes, the King surely is coming. The question is, are you ready?
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Thanks J. Mark, for showing us how Jesus First Coming was predicted many years before he came.
There were many years when it hadn't happened. But then, on this day, Scripture was fulfilled. Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Now think about Jesus Second Coming.
There are some who scoff at the promises of his return, and so far they have been right. But one day very soon, Jesus will come back and those who are looking for him will be ready. How can we make sure we are ready for his second coming?
Would your life change at all if you knew Jesus was coming next week or next month?
If you have any other comments or questions about this lesson, here are a few ways you can contact us. Our email address is hopeheraldsofhope.org and our website is heraldsofhope.org There you will find Contact us under the Partner tab on the top right.
Click that to message us directly. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
We looked at many passages about Jesus First Coming and it was good. It's encouraging to see how accurate the Bible is. And in closing, here's a verse about Jesus Second coming. I don't claim to know how all of this will happen, but I assure you I can't wait until it does.
This verse is from Zechariah, and in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley.
How incredible. Let's be ready for this.
