Hosannah, Blessed is the King!

Hello, you're listening to Second City Sermons,

a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg.

This epiphany in Lent, we're back in the Gospels,

specifically the Gospel of Mark. We are seeing

the revelation of God in Jesus. Mark is showing

us the true King becomes a servant for us. He

says right at the heart, the Son of Man came

not to be served, but to serve and to give his

life as a ransom for many. And Mark is nearly

always asking his audience, what do you make

of that? So what do you make of this good news?

We'd love to meet you, and we hope you'll consider

coming and joining with us each Sunday morning

at 10 a .m. in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg.

You can find us online at secondcitychurch .org

and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. We hope

you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Now I'd like

to invite you to open up your Bibles to Mark

Mark 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11. If you don't have a Bible, grab one

in the pew in front of you. If you don't have

a Bible, please take it home. If you have a friend

that you know that might want a Bible, please

take it home, give it to them. You are always

welcome to take those Bibles with you. So we

just heard from the Gospel of Matthew, the events

that are going to take place later on in that

first Holy Week with the events that take place

there in Jerusalem. Mostly we heard of what will

happen on that first Monday Thursday when the

Lord gives them the new commandment that they

love one another and then the events of Good

Friday But of course that week begins with this

entry of Jesus into the into Jerusalem that we've

sort of reenacted in a way together this morning

We've been in the gospel of Mark the last few

months and so I thought this morning maybe we

can spend a little bit of time reflecting on

that entry into Jerusalem from the Gospel of

Mark. So that's Mark chapter 11, verses 1 to

Mark 11:1–11

11. I'm going to read it again for us, read it

for us this morning. on which no one has ever

sat. Untie it and bring it in. If anyone says

to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord

has need of it and we'll send it back here immediately.

And they went away and found a colt tied at a

door outside in the street and they untied it.

And some of those standing there said to them,

what are you doing and tying the colt? And they

told them what Jesus had said and they let them

go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw

their cloaks on it and he sat on it. And many

spread their cloaks on the road and others spread

leafy branches that they had cut from the fields

and those who went before and those who followed

were shouting, 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.

And he entered Jerusalem and went to the temple.

And when he had looked around at everything,

as it was already late, he went out to Bethany

with the twelve. All right. So here is the triumphal

entry that Palms Sunday long ago when Jesus entered

into Jerusalem and would make his way to the

cross that week. This is what we have from Mark.

And I think there's a few things that are happening

that we don't. really quite expect. And since

Mark is actually telling us a few things that

I don't think we would quite expect, I want to

present it to you in a way that you might not

expect. And what I want to do is I want to take

it from the end to the beginning, okay? I'm going

to say three main things and they're going to

begin at the end. You know, Mary Poppins, that's

not the right place. It's supposed to start at

the very beginning. But we're going to start

at the end and we're going to make our way to

the beginning, okay? And I want us to kind of

look at this text a little bit with the idea

of what it's Jesus' perspective. What's Jesus

seeing and hearing and intending? Okay. So first,

what is he seeing? And the first thing I want

us to say is that Jesus is examining our places

of worship. He's examining our places of worship.

Verse 11 seems like a strange little odd detail.

I said that there's sort of some odd things that

are happening here. I thought this was really

interesting as I kind of looked at this passage.

It stood out to me that at the end we're given

this little section. It just says this, and he

entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. When

he looked around at everything, as it was already

late, he went out to Bethany with the 12th. And

we can confidently say that Mark intends for

this to be part of the narrative of the triumphal

entry of that first Palm Sunday. This is an important

detail that Mark wants you to see and wants me

to see. And I can say it fairly confidently because

one of the things that we see in this short verse

right here, is a literary device that Mark has

often used already that we've seen this spring,

this Latin word inclusio, you know, which means

the inclusion, the beginning and the end are

the same thing, which is a clue for you to say,

hey, take this together. This belongs together.

And so there at the beginning of the text in

verse one, we have Bethany mentioned there at

the end of the text, we have Bethany mentioned.

That's why Mark was saying, hey, if you want

to read well, take this as part of this same

thing, which I don't know. That seems kind of

strange. This is a little thing. Jesus goes into

Jerusalem. He goes to the temple and he looks

around at everything. He goes, well, it's late.

Might as well go back. What's going on here?

I'm saying that he is looking and he's examining

our places of worship. He goes into Jerusalem.

He goes to the temple. He looks at everything.

And my guess is that you likely know that the

temple was the center place, the center focal

place, both architecturally and socially of Jerusalem.

It was the main attraction if you were to go

to Jerusalem. It still actually is the main attraction

if you go to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount there.

So of course it would make sense to go there.

It's sort of like our own mountains and things.

The main attractions, they say a lot about us.

What happens there says a lot about sort of what

we do in a given place, where we put our energy

and our time and our hopes and desires and all

this kind of thing. Think of our own city here,

Harrisburg. The capital is the large building.

It's rather beautiful driving across the Harvey

Taylor. seeing it looming large there and how

much it actually influences for good and for

ill our city how our city ebbs and flows with

the capital involvement many of you would not

even live here if it weren't for the capital

being present of course think about the towering

buildings of the financial district of a city

like new york city or think of lincoln financial

stadium in philly how much it gives identity

to the people hopes and aspirations and desires

and dreams right Not just that they're the main

attraction they actually are reflections on us

and what happens in these spaces are reflections

upon In many ways you could actually say in some

regard these are modern houses of worship power

and money strength and beauty The normal things

of desire and hope But think with me, okay, we're

not gonna look at all this but some of you will

know this text Just in just in this chapter alone

mark chapter 11 We could see very quickly if

Mark 11 · chapter mention

we kept reading that Jesus Goes back to the temple

and he turns over the tables He drives the money

changers out mark doesn't tell us this but elsewhere

we can read that he had had the whip, you know

He's driving them out And then actually in the

same chapter, we can see the scribes and the

Pharisees challenging his authority. I think

right there in this chapter, there's a further

engagement at the temple with money and power.

Money and power. If we read the next chapter,

chapter 12, we could hear him give the parable

of the talents, which again has to do with what

you've been given, right? And then be questioned

actually right afterwards. about paying taxes

to Caesar, the coin, the money that's reflecting

power and authority, politics. Jesus isn't just

going to the temple because, I don't know, where

else should I walk around? I guess I've made

it. Let's do some sightseeing. He's examining

our place of worship. Which is to say he is examining

where we place our hopes, right? Where are we

placing our loves? What holds maybe the possibility

of something new to come? We would do well to

allow the Lord to examine our places of worship,

right? Our places where we're placing hope. Maybe

to come into our homes and into our hearts and

into our wallets and into the rest and look around

a little bit Where are they placing their hopes

and their desires and Frankly like it's if truth

be told We are not very different than this original

dynamic, right? It is dealing with things like

politics and power and authority and finances

and all the rest These are actually very easily

the same list that we would write today. Places

where we put our hope, our worship. Seems to

be the world we live in, the air we breathe is

the same air they breathe. The water that we

swim in was the water they swam in. These are

all telling us the same thing that we grab for

our hope and for our worship. Okay, so Jesus

looks and he sees these things. He examines them.

But the previous narrative doesn't have him so

much examining but listening, okay so It's the

first so the last narrative has to do with Jesus

looking the first the middle narrative has to

do with Jesus hearing and I want us to Just title

this little section middle section Jesus hearing

our cries to save which is also coming at actually

our desires right in our hopes so Yeah, this

little section and really this is probably I

mean really if you want to put it down It's it's

more or less just verse 9 and 10 Which is really

kind of odd because we think of the cries of

those Anna as the primary kind of thing that's

happening the text But mark actually just give

us a little bit But I want to give you a little

context because what would have happened really

is that thousands and thousands Thousands of

people would have been surrounding and making

their way into Jerusalem the crowds there in

Jerusalem for any festival would have been significant

We don't really really know an exact number of

how many people lived in Jerusalem at the time

of Jesus a good estimate is around 50 ,000 people

so, you know, by the way, that's largely just

the Exact it's a little bit smaller than the

bound the official boundary of the city of Harrisburg

but about 50 ,000 and we aren't exactly sure

and But we think actually that when these festivals

would happen for any festival that might swell

to twice that But for Passover most people think

that would have that would have swollen to about

three times that So, okay, you've got that city

that's used to having you know, 50 ,000 people

and also most likely There's around 150 ,000

people in and around Jerusalem. It makes more

sense why they would have been out in Bethany,

which would have been about two miles away from

the temple. It'd be like from here to Italian

Lake, about two miles away. People would have

not been able to stay in the city. And so they're

coming in and going out and all this kind of

thing. So it would have been undoubtedly true

that crowds would have constantly been going

out and around the city. But what's also true

and we get the little glimpse of this we actually

heard some of this even in our narrative What

would have also been true because of this is

that we would have they would have been more

police patrolling police Roman soldiers, right?

They would have been wondering because what would

so often happen is that the times of festivals

would have been the times of religious riots

I mean, these are the stories that gave identity

to the people of God. They were the ones that

were brought out from slavery, brought to freedom,

and now they're under the control of another

ruler, Rome itself, Caesar. Anyway, there's little

to no question that when crowds shouted 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. What

they wanted was, well, What was reflected in

the temple? Power. David, a new king. Politics.

Greater authority. Our king. Not these other

would -be pilots and all the rest. What they

wanted was for the kingdom to come in the same

ways that we are all so often desiring. Save

us by these things of strength. finances, and

all the rest. Hosanna is not just a shout of

praise. What I'm saying is that it's actually

a call for hope. It's reflective of our hopes

and our desires. We kind of shout it as a praise

thing. Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna means

save us. Save us. And Jesus has just looked upon

their temple. and seen that the people of God

themselves are looking for their salvation in

the same way that the world has always looked

for. Strength, power, money. So Jesus goes into

the temple to examine their place of worship,

which is their place of hope. Here in the middle,

they are hearing their cries, save us, which

is a cry of hope. And they're all bound up in

this power play. Maybe this will be our time.

Maybe this will be our time and our day when

we get our man on the throne. Fact is that Jesus

knows their inclinations and frankly He knows

our inclinations. He knows their hopes. He knows

our hopes. He knows what they worship. He knows

what we're inclined to worship. He knows that

they are inclined to run after the throne. Maybe

we're inclined to run after the White House.

We're inclined to run after beauty and bank accounts

and all the rest. He knows that they thought,

just like we thought, that the way up is the

way up. Get on the pedestal. Make a name for

yourself. Go viral. Then your life will have

meaning. And yet, no doubt knowing that this

is the way of our hearts, the first movement,

which has actually the bulk of this passage,

is Jesus telling us that the way up is the way

down. Glory comes through humility, resurrection

through the cross. So at the end, I said, he

looks around, right? He examines our places of

worship. In the middle, this little middle section,

He's hearing our cries for salvation, which is

to say our hopes and our desires. But in this

first section, which is the bulk of our text

from Mark, of what happened that Palm Sunday

long ago, he's actually instructing us in the

true way of salvation. Okay, so I said that there

were a few odd things that sort of stood out

to me. When I was reading this passage this week,

one of them was like I mentioned that he goes

to the temple. It's a little detail that seems

So small and easy to go over but actually it's

important for mark And then I thought well another

really strange thing is how short of a time we

are given of the actual Like procession itself

and the cries. It's not a lot of time. There's

two verses here But the other thing that really

really stood out to me Is that mark gives us

so much detail? About getting this cult this

little donkey cult He puts so much emphasis on

this Of course overall what we see is that Jesus

is the one in control and That he wants this

whole procession done in a way that he under

he wants to communicate something content They

say his intent behind it. He's instructing us

in who he is and what his salvation looks like

right? He's orchestrating it That's supposed

to be a big, big theme here. There's a divine

orchestration taking place. The only words in

this whole story from our Lord himself are the

words of how, where to get the donkey. And what

to do about it, which just seems so odd. Why

not speak to all these crowds who are gathered,

who are shouting hosannas? Why not say something

when you're looking around the temple? Hey guys,

I'm gonna be back tomorrow. I'm gonna be flipping

some tables. You better be there. I don't know

something else instead the only words we get

from our Lord in this passage Donkey The details

of course that that do Tell us about his divinity

in a way. He's seeing things that the normal

human would not see He gives us details like

it's tied up outside. That would have been different

actually Donkeys wouldn't have typically been

tied up outside of buildings. I didn't know that

until I read that this week. It hadn't been written.

That was a detail that he said. And his disciples

wouldn't have known that. He knew that. And all

these details, they really, they matter for who

he's trying to communicate himself as. He's trying

to instruct us. The Mishnah, which is the writing

down of the oral Jewish tradition, said that

only kings could ride an unwritten horse. So

an unwritten donkey would have been kind of a

declaration of royalty. Jesus entering into the

great city of David on an animal itself would

have been a declaration of royalty. Jesus just

Jesus response to the questions the men are asking

right? Why are you doing this their response?

What was the Lord has needed? That would have

been a declaration of royalty Jesus Is kind of

through all this he's saying I am the king I'm

the one who actually sees things that you don't

even understand who's orchestrating this in a

way that is going to communicate Here is the

king entering So for all this that speaks to

our hopes for salvation and all the rest, one

thing that he is saying is, hey, this came to

you that you were desiring. This is me. And yet

he's doing it in a way that's also head scratching.

This isn't how it's supposed to be. Not if powers

come the ways that we think power comes. One

of the things that is most intent, one of the

things that Jesus is most intent on is that it

is this donkey, this colt. Matthew and John make

clear for us what Mark only kind of alludes to

here, and that Jesus is making good on this prophecy

of Zechariah that we heard Nicole read for us

earlier from the Old Testament reading. Zechariah

9 says this, say to the daughters of Zion, behold

your King is coming to you. That's what Jesus

is saying, I'm coming to you and I'm the King.

Then Zechariah says this, humble. Everybody else

wants the pomp and circumstance, right? Shout!

Take down Pilate! Do away with Caesar! Come with

fanfare! Jesus says, I'm a king, but fulfilling

Zechariah 9, humble, mounted on a donkey, on

a colt, the full of a beast of burden. inside

cover of your bulletin there's a quote there

from Martin Luther it says this look at him he

rides no stallion which is a war animal and he

comes not with feral pomp and power but sits

on a donkey which is no war animal but which

is ready for burdens of work that will help human

beings There but thereby he shows that he does

not come to terrify people to drive or oppress

them But to help them to carry their burdens

and take them on himself Your king is coming

Now your hope is here what Jesus is saying your

king is coming your hope is here the true object

of your worship is me. But I'm not what you expect.

Zechariah says he's humble. That is more of a

quote from the Greek Septuagint which does use

the word humble, but actually the Hebrew word

actually there in Zechariah is often translated

afflicted. mounted on a donkey. He comes way

down. Not as the beast of battle, the horse,

but the beast of burden, the donkey. Friends,

this is our savior. This is how he wants you

to understand what he is doing. He is not like

the other saviors that you so often run to, that

I so often run to, that we all do. All of those

are saying that the more you have, the more you'll

get. Grab. Take. He's unlike our would -be saviors.

He's unlike the places where we so often go for

worship. And the places of power, the places

of pomp and circumstance, and look at me. Now

Jesus says and he's going to be enacting this

of course throughout the week, but he begins

it right here He says the way up is the way down

The way to glory is through humility of Philippians

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 My throne will come after my affliction

Right here He is setting us. He's setting us

up. This is where I'm headed. I'm telling you,

this is the good news of Christ, but it's also

frankly what God invites you into. He who would

gain his life must lose it. This is the way the

world really works. We think it works the opposite

way. Jesus says, no. I'm coming to you humble,

afflicted. I'm a king that goes low before I

go up. And he says, follow me in it. Follow me

in it. What we're going to see, of course, through

this week as we gather together, as we gather

on Monday, Thursday, is the Lord actually takes

the place of the servant, right? Washing his

disciples' feet. He will make his way to the

cross, the place of the thief and the murderer,

taking our sins upon himself. All over. This

is our Lord telling us, instructing us who He

is and the right object of worship. That the

King of glory comes and He comes humbly, lowly

afflicted for us. Let me pray for us. Lord, we

come to this text in Mark and it's so different

than what we might expect. And yet how consistent

it is. With what you teach us and how necessarily

consistent it is because we so often think the

very opposite Jesus this week would you Through

your humility and live in our hearts that we

might walk in your ways with the humble people

Who glory in the reality that we have a crucified

Savior something that would have been humiliating

For anyone living at the time would have been

an absurd claim And it is today too Lord. I pray

that we would find our joy and our life Not in

the places of power But the place of humility

the person of humility and affliction or Jesus

himself whose name we pray Thank you for listening

to second city sermons podcast We hope this sermon

has encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate

the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing

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bless.