Mark 11:8-10 Hosanna, Jesus Is Coming!

Mark 11:8-10 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.  Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “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!”

As Jesus enters the city on the colt miraculously provided for him, another Old Testament prophecy is fulfilled as the people lining the road praise Jesus: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.  From the house of the LORD we bless you.  The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.  With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.  You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (Psalm 118:26-29)  Throughout Jesus' ministry, the Lord made sure that no one could deny Jesus was the One they awaited for so long, the One who truly came in the name of the LORD.  He was the holy and anointed Son of God who would stand in the temple and declare that He had come to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.  (Luke 4:18-19)  Indeed, He was worthy on that day of days of the cries of "Hosanna!"  But too soon the same people who gave him praise would turn upon him as an angry mob, demanding his death, forgetting their blessing of the King of Kings.  But on this journey into Jerusalem, God gave the people a sign, a triumphal entry into the city, saying, "This is my Son, honor and bless him.  Give him the glory due the Messiah."  Picture yourself standing by the roadside, crying out blessing and praising, placing a branch you had cut in the field before him, shouting, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."  Would you have seen the glory of God in him?  Would you have sought the coming kingdom of your father in heaven?

Sometimes it is easy for us as believers to read the Bible accounts, looking back at the events of history without placing ourselves in the difficult situations described in the Bible.  It was not easy to survive in the world that the gospel writers describe to us.  The Jews were a captive people under Roman rule.  They had lived for many years, looking for a deliverer, One who would free them from oppression and bring in a new kingdom ON THIS EARTH.  They were not so much yearning for the spiritual release described by Isaiah where a Savior would come who would carry their sorrows and be led to the slaughter like a sheep where He would be poured out to death for the sin of many, making intercession for the transgressors.  (See Isaiah, chapter 53)  No, this was not their desire.  They looked for a strong leader to defeat their enemies, regain their political status, and make them a powerful country.  This Jesus who came to save sinners was a disappointment to people who did not want to deal with their sins but wanted to deal with their enemies.  They needed eyes of faith to see what God had provided for them.  How like mankind in general their faithless response was.  We often do not want to line up with God's will for our lives.  God has a great eternal plan that is perfect for each person who chooses to follow him, yet we are caught up with small, worldly issues that that have no lasting value.  Jesus was concerned about freeing captives and giving sight to blind people, but his own did not receive him.  Speaking of Jesus, John writes, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  (John 1:10-11)  The people were prisoners to their selfish desires and blind to God's miraculous power.

Every one of us must beware of spiritual blindness.  We might think we are seeing clearly when our sight is actually skewed towards the world.  The things of this world glitter and attract us, leading us astray.  Paul describes the temptations of the world that cause people to stumble, and he warns the church, So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  (1 Corinthians 10:12)  We cannot rely upon our own strength or think because we have been strong so far, we have got it made.  We must depend upon the Lord and trust in the resurrection power of the risen Lord.  As we fellowship with him, study his Word, and sing praises to him, we will grow in grace and the knowledge of his purposes for our lives, and He will strengthen us from within with his mighty power.  John talks about loving God and obeying him.  When we really love the Lord, our obedience comes from our heart of love and our faith, not because we are following some law.  The people who put the branches before Jesus that day and cried out, "Hosanna," did not have the inner change that was needed so they could become his disciples, his followers.  To follow Jesus, one must believe in him, have faith in who He is and what He stands for in this dark world.  He is the Light in the darkness where we sometimes stumble without a purpose.  But when we find Christ, we find a reason for living, freedom from sin, and a new life.  John writes: This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.  (1 John 5:4-5)  With a new life in Christ, we are rooted and grounded in him, no longer tossed about by the enemy of our souls, no longer fearful of death and eternity.  We now look forward to serving God in this life and spending eternity with him.  Before He left this earth, Jesus told his disciples, I am going there to prepare a place for you.  (John 14:2)  Although we all look forward to that blessed day, we have the opportunity to work for him now, to bless others in his name, to serve.  May your day be filled with opportunities to give forth the love of the Lord! 

Mark 11:1-7 Obey the Voice of Jesus!

Mark 11:1-7  As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 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.  If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ tell him, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”  They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway.  As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?”  They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go.  When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.

The above scene fulfills Zechariah's prophecy about the coming Messiah: Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!  Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  (Zechariah 9:9)  According to this word and other prophecies, the coming king would release Israel from the threat of war and bring peace to the land.  Messiah himself would free the Israelites by defeating their enemies.  He would establish peace in the land of the living.  As we see in the above verses, Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, riding on a colt, fulfills this prophecy.  He enters Jerusalem riding on a colt, not a warhorse.  The colt symbolizes that the Messiah has come to establish peace, not war; reconciliation, not judgment.  Of course, Jesus's presence in Jerusalem at this time led to his crucifixion, a seemingly adverse event to this mission of peace and reconciliation, but as we know, Jesus' death and resurrection brought peace and reconciliation between mankind and God.  No longer would God's fallen creation have to experience eternal death as a consequence of their waywardness and the loss of God's righteousness.  This Jesus riding on the colt truly fulfilled God's plan as Isaiah foretold it so long ago: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  (Isaiah 53:5-6)  He came to take upon himself the sins of all to bring true peace to the hearts of men and women.

In the today's passage, we see two disciples following Jesus' orders very closely.  And they found the circumstances of the colt and his environment just as Jesus had told them.  Think of the trust these two men put in Jesus when they willingly placed their own well-being in jeopardy by implementing Jesus' orders to them.  They could have been accused of stealing this animal.  They could have been beaten up or even arrested when they untied the colt.  But rather than questioning Jesus' instructions or asking him for money to give to the owner as a reimbursement for taking the colt, they simply followed Jesus' request.  They believed in the words of Jesus and his integrity more than they believed in their personal understanding of the situation.  We do not know if they understood anything about the prophecy or that they were key participants in fulfilling Zechariah's words of long-ago, but we do know they were willing and obedient servants.  They obeyed Jesus rather than following their own instincts.  This, of course, is faith.  True faith in Jesus is more real than our instincts, our rational thinking.  In the natural, we deal with the world according to our past experiences or knowledge, but faith in God and the power of the Holy Spirit surpasses those realities.  When Moses followed God's orders to touch the rock in the wilderness for water, he had to perform that act by faith.  Moses had to believe that in that arid waterless land, there was a rock where water would gush forth as living water for the people's survival.  The disciples went forth on Jesus' command, literally believing there was a real colt somewhere ahead to untie and bring back to him.  Faith, unlocks the door to God's work.  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  (Hebrews 11:1)  Without faith, we cannot please God, and we will receive nothing from him.  

How many times do we stop God's hand of blessing because we do not believe He is telling us what to do?  How many times do we think the unction in our souls to help someone is just a natural concern or emotion of ours?  How many times do we fail to pray because we see the situation as impossible to overcome?  How many times do we not discern the voice of God, allowing the self-talk of doubt and disbelief to drown out the still small voice of the Holy Spirit?  Recently, Dad was praying for our grandson who is a composer of classical music.  He was experiencing some difficulties in his life at the time.  As Dad prayed for him, he heard the Spirit's still voice in his inner ear say, "I have given him music to sing my song."  Dad has always told our grandson that he is playing and writing the music of God, a statement of faith, of course.  When Dad heard that voice, he quickly wrote the statement down so he would not forget it.  As he wrote it down, he thought, "God, songs have lyrics; my grandson is composing classical music, not lyrical pieces?  Then he remembered that somewhere the Bible says the stars sing, so he got his iPad out and looked up where that verse is found.  He discovered it was in Job 38.  He wanted to read it in the Bible, so He grabbed one of his many Bibles to look up the verse to read it in context.  When he opened the Bible he selected, the Bible opened directly to Job 38, not a page near it, no, directly on Job 38.  God was telling him, his prayers were being answered.  Yes, we can say there was a chance, a tiny probability, for that Bible, of the many he could have selected, to open on Job 38.  But we believe it was no random accident: it was a direct answer from God to tell Dad that his grandson is writing God's music, his song!  God wants to lead his dear children along.  But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.  (2 Corinthians 2:14)  The Lord is speaking to you, "Yes, go get a colt in the city, you will find it exactly as I say."  Can we believe that in our daily lives?       

Mark 10:46-52 Receive Sight and Follow Jesus

Mark 10:46-52 Then they came to Jericho.  As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”  So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet!  He’s calling you.”  Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.  “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Jesus, having just told his disciples, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, was leaving Jericho with his disciples accompanied by a large crowd when they heard a blind man crying out to Jesus.  He was seated along the roadside, begging, but when he head that Jesus was passing by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”  Even though many people told him to be quiet, he called all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!"  Hearing this persistent cry, Jesus stops and says to his followers, "Call him."  So they bring the good news to the blind man: “Cheer up!  On your feet!  He’s calling you.”  With this, he throws down his coat, jumps to his feet, and comes to Jesus, the One he has heard holds the power to change his life.  He comes quickly to Jesus, fully expecting a life-changing experience, and when Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” he answers without hesitation, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  In this blind man's heart is the faith to believe Jesus can give him the one thing he has longed for these many years, the ability to see clearly.  Seeing Bartimaeus' faith, Jesus simply says, "Go, your faith has healed you."  Mark relates that the man was immediately healed, and he followed Jesus along the road.  He will no longer be a beggar at the side of the road.  Bartimaeus will go through his life telling everyone, I met Jesus as a blind man, but He healed me, and now I can see.  When Jesus came near, Bartimaeus was ready; and he called out in faith, accepting the miracle Jesus had for him.  He was never the same.  James says, Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.  (James 4:7-8)  

The Christ in us, our hope of glory desires to meet our needs and to empower us to live victoriously over the enemy of our souls.  He does not want us to live as beggars, beneath our privileges as his children.  God has blessed us with resources in Christ our Lord.  We are filled with the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit, so we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.  We have the privilege to read God's Word, to pray, and to fellowship with other believers.  Our churches are full of brothers and sisters in Christ who will join with us in prayer and encourage us in our faith walk.  People are there who need our help and our words of faith.  Paul talked to the Romans concerning what Moses said about the righteousness that is by the law and the righteousness that is by faith.  He said the righteousness that is by faith tells us, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  (Romans 10:8-10)  The King James version says we believe the word is nigh us.  Since Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, we have a great confidence in him for He truly is in our mouths and in our hearts, and He is what we confess to a hurting world.  Understanding this relationship moves us forward as soldiers in the army of the Lord.  Just as with Bartimaeus, after we have been saved and made whole, after we have confessed Christ as Savior and Lord, we are ready to follow Jesus wherever He leads us.  Just as our Lord came to serve and to save the lost, we identify with our brother Paul who said, Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  (1 Corinthians 9:19)

Doubt, fear, and unbelief often prevent us from going forth as a strong force for the Lord.  We need a clearer image of who we are in Christ.  He did not leave us as powerless and fragile creatures.  The scriptures contains hundreds of verses, confirming our position of strength in the Lord.  Paul told the Ephesians: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Then he goes on to specifically name each piece of armor: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes made from the gospel of peace, the shield of faith to stop the devil's flaming arrows, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is God's Word).  Now to make all this work, Paul instructs them to pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and to be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.  (See Ephesians 6)  We must take advantage of what God has provided for us if we are to overcome.  The victory is already ours: Christ has won.  Paul told the church in Rome: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  (Romans 8:35-37)  We read in Revelation 12:11 this beautiful sentence describing believers when the enemy is finally defeated, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Today, we stand with the saints of all the ages, declaring, Christ has come!  He has set us free, and with Bartimaeus we will follow him! 

Mark 10:41-45 Love and Serve God and Your Neighbor

Mark 10:41-45 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.  Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,  and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This week we continue to study the results of James and John asking Jesus if He would let them sit at his right and his left when He was in his glory.  When the rest of the disciples heard what their comrades had done, they became upset with such a request, perhaps because their brethren were trying to put themselves in the forefront.  Knowing James and John did not understand what they asked, Jesus has already told them if they want to be close to him, they must drink the cup that he drinks and be baptized with his baptism.  Of course, they immediately answered, they could go where He went and do what He would do.  Jesus tells them they will drink this cup of suffering, but He knows they are not ready to embrace what lies ahead for them.  Now He calls the disciples together and stops their dissension by pointing their attention to the Gentile rulers who harshly hold authority over those under their control.  Not so with you, He says.  If they want to be great in his realm, if they want to show forth his attributes to the world, they must serve as a slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Jesus is not talking about who will sit beside him in glory, for that is not his concern.  He tells his closest companions, if you follow me, you will walk where I am walking even now as I head toward Jerusalem: you will give your lives to meet the needs of a hurting and lost world.  You will minister to the bruised, the broken, the outcast, and the sick among you, for the Son of Man came not for the healthy because it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  (Luke 5:31)

Jesus knew that it was the way of the flesh to want to rule and to reign, to have a place of authority or a position of importance.  He knew that James and John's desire to sit beside him in his glory did not arise from pure hearts and a desire to serve others.  They were not looking to advance the kingdom of God and his righteousness but their own position.  They were thinking of how they would look, seated beside the Lord.  And what of the indignation of the other disciples?  Were they concerned for the spiritual welfare of James and John or were they afraid that James and John were trying to move ahead of them in their relationship with Jesus?  Were their motives pure or was jealousy behind their frustration?  We do not know, but we do know that Jesus chose this moment to teach all of them about serving others, so He must have looked upon his chosen ones and decided they were lacking in this area.  They were not making appropriate requests.  Sometimes Christians find themselves in a similar situation.  We present the Lord with petitions that are not in line with his will for our lives.  The Bible describes our situation well: You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.  (James 4:2-3)  People sometimes say they stopped praying or stopped believing because God did not answer their prayers.  God is not a machine where we put in the right request, and He gives us back what we desire.  He is our heavenly Father: He is the beginning and the ending.  We must put my faith in him with everything, saying as Job did when all is chaos, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.  (Job 13:15)

This is the faith and trust Jesus was seeking from his disciples when He told them if they wanted to be great, they must follow his example.  He was trying once again to prepare them for his death.  He says, I did not come here to set up a kingdom.  I did not come here to prepare you to rule over people, as you sit at my right or my left.  I am going to give my life as a ransom for all, and I have called you to work in that harvest field.  I have made you my disciples.  He wants them to think back to when they were first called, to when they left everything to follow him.  He wants them to remember when they put down their fishing nets, their tax collection records and left their families and their friends to follow him wherever He would lead.  If they will remember the call that burned in their hearts, they will continue to follow him to Jerusalem.  They will keep their eyes on him.  They will wait until the Holy Spirit comes.  Paul wrote: But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 2:7-11)  Paul knew nothing held any value except his relationship with Jesus Christ his Lord.  Knowing and serving Christ is the greatest thing we will ever do on this earth.  Today, may each of you 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and 

Love your neighbor as yourself.  (Matthew 22:37 & 39)