Life is full of surprises. Often, things do not happen quite like we expect them to. We meet people we've heard about and we find them to be different than we thought they would be. A meeting at work or a gathering of friends does not unfold as we had envisioned it beforehand.
Sometimes God surprises us as well. At times, He comes to us in unexpected ways. We may have desired a lightening bolt or at least handwriting on a wall. But while we might have expected God to come to us through some dramatic event, He may come in a quiet way, almost unnoticed and without fanfare.
How do you receive Him when He speaks in the still, small voice instead of in the thunder? At that time, do you recognize that He is speaking to you? We must learn to recognize the Lord as He comes to us in gentle ways, and to receive Him fully in our lives.
Jesus came in an unexpected way into Jerusalem. Some people rejoiced with shouts of praise. But did they really receive Him for who He was? In our text today, Mark describes the reception of the King as He humbly comes into Jerusalem. How Jesus came was both a surprise and a statement about His reign. Here, we see in the distinctions of His coming, great truth concerning His coming to us as well.
When Jesus comes to us, we must receive Him for who He is as He comes. He may not come as we expect Him to. We may be waiting for a certain sign which never appears. But He does come. And today, we will see how He comes. The real question is, "How do we receive Him?"
Today, let us examine the distinctions which marked Jesus' coming as King to Jerusalem, and which mark His coming to us.
"And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. And if anyone says to you, "Why are you doing this?" you say, "The Lord has need of it;" and immediately he will send it back here.' And they went away and found a colt tied at the door outside in the street; and they untied it. And some of the bystanders were saying to them, 'What are you doing, untying the colt?' And they spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. And they brought the colt to Jesus and put their garments on it; and He sat upon it." (vv. 1-7)
The stage is set for Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. In the last nine months, He had traveled throughout Galilee, Samaria, Perea, and finally, Judea. He had ministered during that time in at least thirty-five different places; and now would end up in Jerusalem for the Passover.
Verse 1 says that He was approaching Jerusalem from the side of the Mount of Olives, going through Bethany and Bethphage. No doubt, the news had spread that Jesus was going to attend the Passover. I'm sure expectations were running high. Everywhere Jesus went, He was performing miracles, healings. In fact, He had, at Bethany, raised Lazarus from the dead. Now the crowds were gathering in anticipation of the coming of the King.
It is there Jesus issues a very strange command. As we shall see, it is a part of the King's preparation for coming into Jerusalem in what we know as His "Triumphal Entry."
There Jesus asked His disciples to go into the village and find a colt on which no one had ever sat, untie it and bring it back to Him. This was indeed a strange request -- strange, that is, unless you understand the reasons behind it.
What we see here is a purposeful preparation made by Jesus in order to fulfill prophecy. This was no haphazard event, you see. Jesus understood the prophetic revelation which had been given concerning the entry of the Messiah into the gates of Jerusalem. His life was directed by these prophetic revelations. This one is found in Zechariah 9:9:
"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
Here in Zechariah's prophecy, Jesus received direction for what He was doing in preparation for coming into Jerusalem. It was a purposeful preparation.
Jesus timed His entry into Jerusalem precisely. Almost five hundred years earlier, an angel appeared to the prophet Daniel, and told him that God had marked out a certain amount of time for the fulfillment of certain events concerning Israel. The beginning of this time would be when the Persian King, Artaxerxes, issued his edict for the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. You will find this account in Nehemiah chapter 2. When Artaxerxes issued that edict, unknowingly he set in motion God's clock for the Jewish nation. Daniel was told that four hundred ninety years would run their course before the fulfillment of all of God's dealings with Israel. Four hundred eighty three of those years would end with the arrival in Jerusalem of the Messiah. It is believed that Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding upon a colt, was the fulfillment of those four hundred eighty three years.
Sir Robert Anderson, former director of England's Scotland Yard, and a brilliant lawyer, was also an avid Bible student. He analyzed the book of Daniel and, by his logic, determined the exact date when the decree of Artaxerxes was issued. That date was March 28, 445 BC. By his calculations, making the necessary corrections for errors in the calendar, he determined that on April 6, AD 32, King Jesus rode into Jerusalem. That was exactly four hundred eighty three years later. Now, if a nineteenth century Englishman understood God's timetable, how much more did the Lord Jesus? Our Lord takes great care with details. He has numbered the very hairs on our heads. It was no accident that He perfectly fulfilled all prophecy concerning Himself.
We are not told in our text whether there were any arrangements made concerning this colt prior to Jesus sending His disciples for it. On this the Scripture is silent. In any event, He sent them into town, with a strange command. He told them what to say. When they arrived, they found the colt tied at the door, they told the bystanders what Jesus had instructed them to say, and brought the colt back to Jesus.
An interesting fact about this colt was that no one had ever ridden him. Now, Zechariah's prophecy did not mention that it had to be an unbroken colt. Perhaps it was because any animal devoted to sacred service must not be one that had been put to ordinary use, that Jesus chose an unbroken or unused colt. Certainly there is biblical foundation for this speculation. But when you consider that Jesus' life was marked with other events like these, it becomes very interesting indeed. At Jesus' birth, He came into this world through an unused woman, a virgin. Upon His death, He was put in an unused tomb. Here, the Messiah rode into Jerusalem on an unused colt. Interesting indeed.
But why a colt? It was not merely to fulfill prophecy that Jesus did this, though that would have been sufficient. Jesus rode in on a colt, the foal of a donkey, in order to reveal the character of His coming and of His Kingdom. This, you must remember, was an unusual way for a king to approach a city. The king had to maintain his image of a mighty warrior. Mighty warriors of that day rode on mighty stallions. Years before Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem, Alexander the Great, Son of King Phillip of Macedon, rode his fiery steed, Bucephalus into city after city as he conquered them. But there was no war horse here. Jesus had come proclaiming the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of man. He had come, not for war, but for peace.
So we see Jesus coming in humility and gentleness. And this is also a symbol of the fact that Jesus comes to us now in humility and gentleness. We may want God to speak in thunderous tones, but God chooses to speak to us often in the still, small voice. It is strange that amid the clamor of the world God comes to us in a still, small voice. The world shouts at us on every side, like an obnoxious car commercial, and God chooses to speak softly. The word shouts, "Listen to me!" But in order to hear God, you must really listen. You must quiet all other voices, and in stillness and solitude hear the Master speak.
When He comes to you in that still, quiet voice, how do you respond to Him? How do you receive Him when He comes to you in unexpected ways?
"And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. And those who went before, and those who followed after, were crying out, '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!'" (vv. 8-10)
As Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He encountered a shouting crowd. This was the reception of the King. The people gathered along the way were looking for the Messiah. They were looking for a deliverer. But in fact, the salvation for which they longed was a temporal salvation. They wanted someone to deliver them from their position under the foot of Rome.
As Jesus mounted the colt and began His ride towards Jerusalem, the people spread their garments in the road. Some spread palm branches. And still others cried out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" What we have here is praise and palm branches. And in them we find great significance.
Around one hundred fifty years earlier, Simon Maccabaeus had delivered Jerusalem. On that occasion, which is known as the Second Maccabaen Revolt, a great celebration was held with praise, palm branches, and musical instruments. The palm was symbolic of the Jews' desire for deliverance.
In fact, that is what "hosanna" really means. Literally, "hosanna" means "save us." So, as Jesus was riding along the road, the crowds were shouting, "Save us! Save us!" Save them from what? Well, from Roman oppression, of course. Now, Jesus indeed had salvation to offer, but a far different kind of salvation than the Jews expected. His salvation would run far deeper than that.
As long as Jesus held this expectation for the people, the expectation of salvation from Roman oppression, the crowd would receive Him with shouts of jubilation. As long as He fulfilled their expectation, they would follow Him. But was their reception a reception of Jesus on His terms? Was their reception a commitment to Him and to His Kingdom? It certainly was not. They are shouting now, but in a few days, they would be shouting a different refrain, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" No, they had just received the Jesus of their own expectations. And when He failed to live up to those misguided expectations, they forsook Him and shouted for His condemnation as ardently as they had praised Him and shouted for His coronation before.
How do we receive Him? Do we receive Jesus on His terms as He really is? Do we receive and submit to the commands of Jesus and the claims of Christ on our lives? When our expectations of God are not fulfilled, do we forsake Him? How do you receive Him?
"And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying 'If you had known this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children with you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'" (Luke 19:41-44)
We pick up from Luke's Gospel another distinctive of Jesus'coming into Jerusalem. It is a sorrowful cry, or the King's lamentation, over Jerusalem. In this account we have three things revealed: a broken heart, a blind people, and a tragic end. The broken heart is the heart of Jesus. The blind people are His countrymen, who could not see what God was doing in their midst. The tragic end was the impending judgment which would be visited on Jerusalem because they had not received the King.
Jesus was approaching Jerusalem from the East, coming from Jericho. About two miles from Jerusalem, on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, He came to Bethany. Continuing on His journey around the south side of the Mount of Olives, He passed by Bathphage, which was a little hamlet, almost at Jerusalem. From there, the road descended into a shallow valley, and ascended very quickly to a rock plateau. In a moment in time, the entire city burst into view. And what a glorious view it was! The entire city could be seen from this vantage point. From the East, this was the most spectacular view. Below was the Kedron Valley, which was at its greatest depth as it joined the Valley of Hinnom. The walled city of Jerusalem seemed to rise out of a deep abyss, with the golden Temple occupying center stage. From this vantage point, Jesus could see the entire city - the Temple with its courts, the magnificent city behind, and the gardens and suburbs a little further back on the western plateau. He could see, as well, the thousands of travelers who were camped out on the hillside surrounding Jerusalem, there for the Passover celebration. As many as three million people would gather for this feast. It is thought by historians that almost half of the population of Judea and Galilee may have been there. Jesus saw the multitudes of people and the holy city, and He wept.
He wept because His heart was broken. They were a blind people. Listen to what He said, "If you had known this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children with you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
They were blind to the coming of the King, blind to the significance of that coming, blind to the message of the Kingdom, blind to the day of their visitation, blind to the things which make for peace. And they were going to suffer a tragic end. Jesus said that not one stone would be left upon another, that a tremendous enemy would come and invade them and destroy the city.
This is, in fact, what happened, when the Roman legions under Titus invaded Jerusalem and laid it low. Titus appeared with 80,000 men and laid siege to the city. After several initial assaults and the Jews' refusal to surrender, Titus built a wall around the city, determined to starve them out. The Romans captured almost all of those seeking to smuggle food in. Titus ordered all who were captured outside the city to be crucified. About five hundred were crucified every day. Every tree in the area was cut down for wood, including those on the Mount of Olives.
Famine hit hard. People were dying in the streets. Dead bodies were everywhere. When the people no longer had the strength to bury their dead, they threw them over the wall. Finally, the city fell. And in August of AD 70, the city and the Temple were destroyed. The Jewish historian, Josephus, tells us that 97,000 people were taken captive and that 1,100,000 people were killed during the entire siege. You see there were multitudes who had been trapped duing the Passover in Jerusalem. The number of lambs sacrificed at this Passover numbered 256,500, which easily brought the numbers of people to well over 2,700,000. Josephus records the final destruction. He says,
Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminences; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne, and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison; as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well-fortified, which the Roman valor has subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind.
This was the horrible end, the tragic end, of Jerusalem. This is what Jesus foresaw as the judgment of God for a people who were blind. Jesus said it came because they "did not recognize the time of [their] visitation." They had missed their "day." They had not received Jesus for who He was. Their hearts were hardened, and Jesus' heart was broken.
This is the way the Savior feels about all who are blind. It is no less a tragedy today to miss the time of Jesus' visitation. Jesus still comes today, but people still reject Him. He still weeps over lost humanity. The heart of God is still broken over those who will not see.
There are many in our time who miss their "day." Jesus said of Jerusalem that they did not know "the things which make for peace." There are many still who do not know the things which make for peace, namely repentance from dead works and faith toward God. The Scriptures say, in Romans 5:1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Only as we come to Christ in humble surrender of our lives, in sincere repentance and faith, can we ever experience peace.
Incidently, by the time of Titus' invasion of Jerusalem there were a great many Christians living there. What happened to these people who did not miss their "day"? Eusebius, an early Church father and historian, also the bishop of Cesarea in Palestine writes,
The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella.
God spared those who believed in Jesus. They had received the Prince of Peace and were granted peace on that tragic day of destruction. They received the message of peace.
This is the message Jesus brought to Jerusalem in that day. It is the same message He brings to us today. He does not come with strong-arm tactics. It is not time for that. One day He will come as a mighty warrior. He will trade the docile colt for a mighty war horse, the great white steed we see Him upon on the pages of the book of Revelation. One day, He will lead the armies of Heaven to make war. One day, He will come to judge all humanity. But until that day, we live in the age of grace. Jesus comes to us, not with coercion, but with conviction. He speaks to our heart to woo us to Himself. But we must hear and respond.
Can you hear His voice as He speaks to you today? As He whispers to your heart, "Follow Me." "Follow Me to the Cross where your sins can be forgiven." "Follow Me in sharing the Good News with those for whom I died." "Follow Me in sacrifice." "Follow Me in surrender." The question still remains, "How do you receive Jesus?"
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