Mark 11:1-11
11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “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!”
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
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The significance of our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem should be plain to all who know the Messianic prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, which speaks of the coming Messiah riding upon a colt, the foal of an ass. Jesus was enacting the prophecy, deliberately, with the set purpose of declaring Himself to be that promised King. In the light of our consistent interpretation of Mark's Gospel this comes as a climax. We have seen Jesus proclaiming His kingdom, we have seen Him presenting the credentials of kingship in the miracles He performed, and now the King offers Himself to His people - and, in spite of the enthusiastic welcome He received here, they refused His kingship. He came to His own, and His own received Him not. Their response was unmistakable - 'We will not have this Man to reign over us' - and within a week the voices that echoed 'Hosanna' were crying out 'Crucify Him'. But we must not interpret this as the failure of His ministry. It is true that His people refused Him: it is true that they killed Him. But it is far truer to say that at this precise point He was carrying the war into the enemy's camp. He set in motion the train of events that led to His arrest and subsequent crucifixion, and He did so deliberately. This was the 'hour' in which He chose to die. The divine enterprise of redemption was being fulfilled. That is the drama of the situation. Has its tremendous force gripped you?