Mark 11:1-10, Zechariah 9:8
Just Enough
Chapter 10 ended with Jesus leaving Jericho. Chapter 11 begins with
Jesus entering Jerusalem. Let’s read Mark’s account of that event.
Mark 11:1 And when they came nigh to Jerusalem,
unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of
Olives, he sendeth forth two of his disciples,
2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the
village over against you: and as soon as ye be
entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied,
whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him.
3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this?
say ye that the Lord hath need of him; and
straightway he will send him hither.
4 And they went their way, and found the colt
tied by the door without in a place where two
ways met; and they loose him.
5 And certain of them that stood there said unto
them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had
commanded: and they let them go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast
their garments on him; and he sat upon him.
8 And many spread their garments in the way: and
others cut down branches off the trees, and
strawed them in the way.
9 And they that went before, and they that
followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he
that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David,
that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in
the highest.
Let’s consider this event with three thoughts:
I. \\#1-6\\ A King Was Recognized
A. Let me explain when this is taking place.
This event is called the Triumphant Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It
took place on Sunday, the Sunday immediately before Resurrection
Sunday. So, seven days from this event, as the sun rises, Jesus will
be leaving the tomb. As Jesus was making this entry into Jerusalem
AFTER the sun has risen, there is now less than seven full days until
Jesus will rise from the dead. The week between these two Sundays is
referred to as the Passion Week, and we are now reading the events
that took place during the last five days of Jesus’ earthly life.
B. Let me spend a few minutes describing the location.
The distance from Jericho to Jerusalem is a straight walk of around
14 miles, all of it up hill; but since Jesus entered Jerusalem from
the Mount of Olives, it would seem He circled further south and came
up the backside of the Mount of Olives, passing through Bethany and
Bethphage while doing so. That would make the journey several miles
longer.
Jerusalem is built on a mountain, Mount Zion, with both Mount Zion
and the Mount of Olives being about 2500 feet above sea level. The
distance between the two mountains is only a mile and a half, but I
don’t recall that much distance between the two. That might be
because the slope off of the Mount of Olives decreases as you walk
through a cemetery at the bottom of it, then I believe we crossed the
lowest point of the valley on a bridge and began walking up a gentle
slop toward Jerusalem. So the distance between them may seem less
than it actually is, but you probably need to send me back over there
again to make certain.
There were twelve gates into Old Jerusalem and the one Jesus likely
would have entered would be the Easter Gate. Today’s Eastern Gate is
sealed so you cannot enter it. Although today’s gate stands in the
same location as the original, it would not be the same Eastern Gate
that stood there when Jesus walked through it, but one rebuilt by the
Muslims some 850 years ago. However, I believe the present Eastern
Gate will be the one standing when Jesus next walks through it.
Muslims placed a cemetery in front of the Eastern Gate around 500
years ago. They did that thinking Jesus, a holy Man, would not defile
Himself by walking among the dead, thus they think they have stopped
the return of the Jewish Messiah. I am afraid that is just another
one of the many lessons they are going to learn when Jesus coms back.
C. Notice three strange things that happened:
1. Jesus gave some strange instructions.
a. Jesus was going to come down the Mount of Olives,
cross the Kidron Valley, and into Jerusalem through,
we suppose, the Eastern Gate.
b. He sent the disciples to get a new colt while He was
still on the top of the Mount of Olives, probably
into Bethany or some other small village on the top
of that mountain.
c. But Jesus did not tell them to find the owner, tell
the owner that the Lord needed his colt, THEN untie
the colt and bring it.
d. He told then to untie the colt and IF they get
stopped, tell the man that the Lord had need of the
colt.
e. It is almost like the disciples were trying to hot-
wire the donkey and make off with it.
f. I just find it strange.
2. But then the man, we are never told who he was, allowed
the disciples to take a his new colt.
a. I have to tell you they did not fill out much of a
rental application.
b. Somehow, the Holy Spirit prepared that man’s heart so
that he would allow strangers to take that valuable
animal with no more explanation than that.
c. Compare that to someone asking to take your brand new
$5,000 riding lawn mower with such an explanation.
d. Would you let them do it? Probably not. Me either.
e. This man had been touched by the Lord.
f. How we do not know, but on that day God prepared his
heart, and I am sure it was and will be rewarded for
what he did.
3. As soon as Jesus mounted the colt, people started behaving
strangely.
a. Some, probably the disciples, took off the outer
layers of clothing for a make-shift blanket and
saddle for Jesus to sit upon.
b. Others started laying them on the ground for the colt
to walk on.
c. These actions caused more to start participating.
d. Soon, some were cutting down palm branches and laying
them and hay from nearby carts in the pathway.
e. Obviously, Jesus was not going fast. He wanted to give
the people time to come.
(1) The news spread.
(2) Perhaps many were going into Jerusalem on that
day along the same path as the Passover was that
Thursday; but it still seems as though Jesus
would have had to have been stopped, waiting for
the crowds to assemble.
(3) Eventually, people even from Jerusalem heard and
came out of the city to greet Jesus, likewise
with their branches.
(4) Some began to shout "Hosanna," meaning "Save us!"
(5) Others began to call Jesus the Son of David and
"the One who had come in the name of the Lord."
(6) All three of these were meant to acknowledge that
Jesus was God’s Messiah, the Deliverer promised
in the Old Testament, and the King that God
promised to send.
(7) The crowd swells to such numbers that
\\#Luke 19:39-40\\ tells us that the religious
leaders told Jesus to quieten them down to which
Jesus said, "If they hold their peace, the rocks
would immediately cry out!"
(8) Mark, being the gospel writer who summarizes
events, simply tells us \\#11\\ that Jesus went
inside of Jerusalem, looked around in the
temple, and then left to go back up the Mount of
Olives to Bethany—all of which was very anti
climactic to what the people thought was going
to happen.
4. But what happened, and why, and what did it mean? To
understand, we need to go to the next point.
II. A Prophecy Was Fulfilled
Zec 9:8 And I will encamp about mine house
because of the army, because of him that passeth
by, and because of him that returneth: and no
oppressor shall pass through them any more: for
now have I seen with mine eyes.
9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh
unto thee: he is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt
the foal of an ass.
A. Bible prophecy is one of the most amazing proofs of God.
B. Some Bible prophecies are tucked into sections so that you
don’t realize they are prophecies.
C. To be honest, they sometimes just seem like difficult Bible
passages.
D. That is kind of the way this one is.
1. The part that was easy to understand verse 9, God’s King
would ride into the city on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
2. Jesus, sending for a new colt and riding it into
Jerusalem, triggered the people’s memory of this Bible
passage.
a. The people knew of the prophecy that said their King,
their Messiah, would ride into Jerusalem on the back
of a new colt.
b. They started lining up, proclaiming their King had
come.
3. The part that was confusing was what was to happen when
Jesus arrived in Jerusalem.
a. Zechariah 9:8 was talking about a day when God would
deliver Israel.
b. It spoke of an enemy army encamping around God’s house
(the Temple), and then… verse 9.
c. God’s King will come riding through the gates on a new
colt, the offspring of a donkey.
d. By knowing the remainder of that passage, the Jews
assumed that if the King had come, a deliverance
would be coming with Him.
4. There was no enemy army outside the gate of Jerusalem the
day Jesus rode the colt into Jerusalem, but the Jews
regarded the Romans as their enemy.
a. They assumed that Jesus was going to deliver them from
the Romans, not just because that is what they
wanted; but also because that is what the prophecy
seemed to indicate.
b. I can’t say that I blame them.
(1) This is another instance where I am glad I was
not there.
(2) I would have probably said, "If there is no
deliverance, He can’t be the King; but I would
have been wrong just like they were wrong.
E. Jesus brought no deliverance—not on that day.
1. In fact, He did not go to the palace as the Jews were
anticipating, but to the temple.
2. And Jesus did not start a purging of the Roman army as the
Jews desired but of the temple money changers.
III. A Judgment Was Served
A. Mark does not even mention this event.
Matt 21:12 And Jesus went into the temple of
God, and cast out all them that sold and bought
in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold
doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house
shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have
made it a den of thieves.
14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the
temple; and he healed them.
15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw
the wonderful things that he did, and the
children crying in the temple, and saying,
Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore
displeased,
B. As far as the people were concerned, Jesus went to the wrong
place, and He judged the wrong people.
1. To them, Jesus should have gone to the palace to judge the
Romans; but He went to the temple to judge the Jews.
2. To them, this was became a FAILED Bible prophecy.
3. To them, perhaps even to Judas himself, this became proof
that Jesus was NOT the Messiah.
C. I have said this before and I will say it again. About the
time you THINK you have God and the Bible all figured out, He
will throw a monkey wrench into your figuring.
1. The only way to read the Bible is in faith and humility.
2. I fear that if I had been that day, looking for proof that
Jesus was the Messiah, I would have followed Judas and
not Jesus!
3. In order for that not to have happened, you would have had
to have been there that day already believing that Jesus
was the Messiah—not looking for any proof at all.
4. Why? Because although this passage was partially
fulfilled, it was not being completely fulfilled that day.
a. Why do you think Jesus is returning to the Mount of
Olives instead of Jerusalem or the temple?
b. It is because He has another Bible prophecy that He
will completely fulfill when He returns.
c. Jesus will again ride a colt down the side of the
Mount of Olives, across the Kidron Valley, and
through the Eastern Gate.
d. I don’t know that the horse’s feet will actually touch
the ground or not, but it will happen.
e. And when it does, there will be an army outside of the
gates of Jerusalem, the anti-Christ’s army, and they
will be running like an angry God is behind them!
D. You ask, "But what about this day? What was Jesus doing
riding into the city on a colt on this day?"
1. The answer is that Jesus was doing "just enough."
2. He was fulfilling just enough Bible prophecy to tell the
Jews who He was.
3. He was their Messiah, their King, the promised Son of
David, but He had not come to deliver—not at that time.
4. He had come to present Himself to the Jews as their King—
and on that day, that was all.
a. Did Jesus leave questions unanswered? Yes.
b. Did Jesus give impressions that weren’t going to
happen at that time? I’d have to say YES.
c. Why?
(1) Because Jesus did not just come to prove Himself.
(2) He also came to present Himself, and there for
that, there is some faith involved.
d. It does not matter how much evidence God presents that
He exists, that He has revealed Himself through the
Bible, or that Jesus is the living, eternal God, the
last step for man and salvation will always be a step
of faith.
e. At some point, even though everything may not fit
perfectly together in your mind, you will have to
believe by faith or reject due to a lack of evidence.
f. On that day, the people who proclaimed Jesus their
Messiah at lunch, would doubt it by dinner.
g. Even Judas, a man who had followed Jesus for 3 1/2
years, decided against Jesus and turned against Him,
selling him for thirty pieces of silver—probably
within the next 24 hours!
h. And why? Because to Judas, Jesus’s "just enough" was
not enough to finish his faithless journey.
What about you? Are you still looking for the final piece of
evidence to convince you without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is
Who He said He was? If so, you will eventually do what those people
did. What Judas did. You will reject Him, because the last leg of
your journey will have to be by faith. I pray that you will have the
faith to make it.
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