Scripture | Mark 11:1-11 (NIV)
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
11 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?’ say, ‘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 heaven!” 11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Sermon | Who Jesus Is
Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Happy Holy Week! Today we’re taking a break from our spiritual workouts to take a closer look at the stories and witnesses that happen during Holy Week. We begin by looking at the beginning of the story as Jesus enters into Jerusalem. There are twists and turns throughout this story, but before we dive in, let’s practice our memory verse: “Trust in God at all times you people pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge.” Psalm 62:8
Have you ever had something for years only to find out it has a hidden purpose or that it has a fuller potential you’ve been missing out on? Here’s a great example that most Americans have experience with. If we look in our kitchens, most of us have a stove with a drawer at the bottom. The majority of Americans use this drawer for storage, but its designed purpose is actually as a warming drawer meant to keep hot foods at serving temperature. So, the next time you need to keep dinner warm or don’t want your delivery pizza getting cold while you pick a movie to watch, simply turn on the oven and pop your feast in the warming drawer. There are many things in life which we might not recognize the full potential or purpose of and this was certainly the case for the people of Israel and Jesus.
In the scripture for today, Jesus enters into Jerusalem which is the Holy City – the Capital of God’s people. As He enters, people hear that He’s coming. Word spreads quickly and they begin to line the streets. They cut down branches and take off robes to create a pathway for the King. They shout things like: “Hosannah! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of David! Hosannah in the Highest!” In case you’re wondering, Hosannah means “Lord Save Us!” So, as Jesus enters into this important city, the people show their belief of who He is and what He is going to do.
The people believe that Jesus is going to be the next king but that His kingdom would be like the one of David – one which is a physical kingdom with land, armies, and fortresses. As Jesus is heading down the road into Jerusalem, everyone is expecting Him to head right to the Roman fortress. The people don’t know how yet, but they know that Jesus is going to go there and topple the oppressive Roman Empire by God’s divine wrath. Then Israel will be its own nation again and could make rules to follow the laws of God, live free of oppression, and be the people God wants them to be. But, this is not who Jesus is or what Jesus is doing. To everyone’s surprise – including the disciples – Jesus turns away from the Roman fortress and heads to the temple which is the mighty fortress of the one true God.
In many ways, we are those people. We are the people who line the streets shouting Hosannah! Praise be to God! Let His kingdom be formed here on earth! But we expect so little of Jesus. For many Christians, and for most people in our world, we expect God to want us to be good people. We expect God to be proud of us for being Good. Whether we believe in Jesus or not, whether we do what He wants from us or not, it is all okay so long as we are good people. What do we mean by good? We mean looking after others, not being selfish, giving when you can, basically doing the right thing most of the time. But this is diminishing who God is and who He has called us to be.
Imagine if Jesus was what the people in Jerusalem – His own disciples as well – wanted Him to be. What if He had gone marching to the Roman fortress and toppled their empire? What if Jesus formed the new Kingdom of Israel? I imagine that He would have reigned, and peace and justice would flow through the lands. Maybe the entire Roman world would have been conquered and the whole world would be brought under the reign of Jesus. Then the whole earth would be under the rightful rule of Christ. Doesn’t that sound good?
But then Jesus would die, as all humans must. Maybe He would reign for a good 70 years but after that time, someone else would take the throne. What would happen then? Would the people continue on in their own ways? I think it would be likely that what we see in the story of the Bible would continue to happen and the people would turn from God – as they always do. The kingdom would end in ruin because the people would no longer run things as God had led them to. But now, because Jesus did not die on the cross, there is no life or redemption and because Jesus did not resurrect, there is no hope. There is no way for God’s people to be made right before God and all is completely lost – all because Jesus was who the people wanted Him to be instead of who He was.
In the same way, God has made us for a reason. God says through Isaiah: “The people whom I formed for Myself that they might declare My praise.” We are made, from the beginning, to praise and love God. This is our true purpose! This is what Jesus says is our highest call. In Matthew 22:36-40, He says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
We are not called to doing good things and we are not called to be good people. God does not want our goodness. Think of it, our goodness compared to God’s goodness is nothing. It’s like a little toddler who’s made you breakfast and when they give it to you, the eggs are moving, you definitely heard them sneeze a few times while making it, and the waffle has at least three flies in it. Though they used all of their abilities to cook for you and it was done with the greatest intentions, it is ultimately inedible. So too is our goodness compared to God. Instead, what God wants is for us to live into our true call and purpose – to live into and be what we were created to be.
We are created to be more than good; we are created to love and worship God. From this love and worship comes works of faith and love towards others. These things can look like being good people, but these are still actions intended to love God and follow His teachings. Paul says that “faith without works is dead” – we’ve all probably heard this. It means that having faith means living out that faith through works. But the opposite is also true. Works without faith is pointless.
So this week, as we enter into Holy Week and begin remembering the passion of Christ Jesus, let us also begin to live into more than what the world thinks is right and live into what we were made to be. Just as Jesus had to ignore the crowds around Him, begging Him to take the path they wanted, we too have to ignore the shouts and screams of others who want us to think and do as the world wants. We are made for much more than that. As we look to the cross, as we remember the great importance of Jesus’ choice to enter the Temple and walk to the cross, so too do we walk towards our own cross and live into what we were made to be. Let us go forth and do. Amen? Amen.