Mark 11:1-11 - Homiletics

The triumphal entry.

Christ was a King, but his royalty was misunderstood during his ministry upon earth. The devil had offered him the kingdoms of this world, and he had refused them. The people would have taken him by force and have made him a king, but he had hidden himself from them. Yet it was right and meet that he should in some way assume a kingly state and accept royal honors. The triumphal entry interests us, because it was the acknowledgment and reception of Jesus with the joyful homage due to him as King of Israel and King of men.

I. THE OCCASION OF THIS HOMAGE . Our Lord Jesus knew well what was to be the issue of this his last visit to the metropolis. He foresaw, and he had foretold in the hearing of his disciples, that he was about to be put to a violent death. Notwithstanding his clear perception of this his approaching sacrifice, he had come cheerfully to the city where he was to share the fate of the prophets. It is absurd to draw from this narrative the inference that Jesus was now looking for popular and national acceptance; he was not so misled. But it is remarkable that he should choose to receive the homage of the multitude almost upon the eve of his betrayal and condemnation. In his apprehension, the Priesthood and the Kingship of the Messiah were most closely connected. And to our minds there is no discordance between the sorrows Jesus was about to endure and the honors he now consented to accept. The occasion was well chosen, and brings before us our Lord's independence of all human standards and preconceptions. Ours was a King whose royalty suffered no tarnishing of its splendor when he rode in majesty, although he rode to death.

II. THE SCENE OF THIS HOMAGE .

1 . It was the scene of his ministry. In and near Jerusalem many of Christ's mighty works had been wrought, many of his discourses had been delivered, many of his disciples had been made. It was becoming that for once, in this scene of his labors, his claims should be publicly recognized and his honor publicly displayed.

2 . It was to be the scene of his martyrdom and sacrifice. It has often been noted, as a witness to human fickleness, that the same roads and public places should within a few days resound with the incongruous shouts, "Hosanna!" and "Crucify him!" How true was the language of Pilate—they crucified their King! On the one hand, it could not be that a prophet should perish out of Jerusalem; on the other hand, it was fitting that the city of David should openly welcome and acknowledge David's Son and David's Lord, and the establishment of the predicted kingdom.

III. THE OFFERERS OF THE HOMAGE . There were, amongst those who welcomed Jesus, his own attendants and disciples, the villagers from Bethany, the citizens of Jerusalem, and the Galilean pilgrims who had come up to the feast. The multitude was a very varied and representative crowd; including Israelites of many classes, and doubtless differing from one another in the measure of their knowledge of Jesus and their appreciation of his character and his Claims. As is often the case when Christ is extolled and praised, some were drawn into the general enthusiasm and rejoicing by the force of example and under the inspiration of feeling. The general welcome was an anticipation of the honor which shall be rendered to Jesus, when "every tongue shall acknowledge him to be Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

IV. BY WHAT ACTIONS THIS HOMAGE WAS EXPRESSED . The simple circumstances of this entry, so natural and almost childlike, are all significant of our Savior's dignity and majesty. In the bringing of the ass's colt for him to ride, there was a fulfillment of an ancient prediction; and the act itself, according to the usage of the East, was becoming to royalty. In the spreading of their garments upon the foal's back, the strewing the road with their clothes and with the branches of trees, there was a picturesque, if very simple, expression of their admiring reverence and loyalty.

V. THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH THIS HOMAGE WAS UTTERED . The unpremeditated shouts and exclamations with which Jesus was greeted were an expression of fervid, popular sentiment. Yet they were also to some extent a confession of Jesus' Messiah-ship and an acknowledgment of his royalty.

1 . Notice the character in which they hailed him: he came "in the Name of the Lord;" he brought in" the kingdom of David." Drawn from Hebrew prophecy, these appellations could not be used without a very special significance.

2 . Notice the joyous language in which they hailed him. They called him Blessed! they greeted him with the cry, Hosanna in the highest! It was enthusiastic and lofty language; but meaner terms would have been inappropriate, unworthy, and unjust.