The Triumphal Entry

Mark 11:1-11, 14:3-9

Mark 11:1-2

1 When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it.

1 Kings 1:32-35

32 King David then said, “Call in the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada for me.” So they came into the king’s presence. 33 The king said to them, “Take my servants with you, have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon. 34 There, the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan are to anoint him as king over Israel. You are to blow the ram’s horn and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 You are to come up after him, and he is to come in and sit on my throne. He is the one who is to become king in my place; he is the one I have commanded to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

Mark 11:7-10

7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from 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!

The triumphal entry is a coronation event. Jesus is seen as the King and the people welcome Him as their King.

1.What does Jesus' kingship look like in Mark's gospel?

2.What does Jesus' kingship look like in your life? 

Mark 15:16-20

16 The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the governor’s residence) and called the whole company together. 17 They dressed him in a purple robe, twisted together a crown of thorns, and put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 They were hitting him on the head with a stick and spitting on him. Getting down on their knees, they were paying him homage. 20 After they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple robe and put his clothes on him.They led him out to crucify him.

1.What does Jesus' kingship look like in Mark's gospel?

• Jesus' power is not reliant on man's perception of power, but only on God's power.

Mark 9:35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”

Mark 10:15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

• Power over others is not something Jesus sought. He relied on God's power to use Him.

2.What does Jesus' kingship look like in your life? 

• Who sits in authority over your life? 

• What makes you come alive? What is life-giving? 

"The basic requirement for being a disciple is, as a deliberate act of loyalty and self-denial, to walk in the footsteps of your King toward the cross, trusting that it will be the path to true life for yourself and others."

Matthew Bates

Why the Gospel?

Mark 8:34-35

34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it.

• What is the posture I take as one living under the reign and rule of Jesus?