What would you give to know the future? If we could see the future, we could prepare accordingly. We’d know which roads are accident-free or how to invest for maximum gains. We might know how to avoid risk and pain in our choices.
Sometimes, when someone predicts the future, we ask, “Are you a modern-day Nostradamus?” He lived in France during the 1500s, and around the middle of that century, he wrote his prophecies in a book called Centuries. He gained notoriety during his lifetime when some of his predictions appeared to have come true. 
Some people believe his prophecies have predicted actual events, such as the death of Henry II, the French Revolution, the rise of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, and even 9/11. Others maintain that because his prophecies are about general events that occur frequently throughout history—and are written vaguely—it’s possible to find one that matches almost any event.
The fulfillment of Nostradamus’ prophecies is debatable. However, the prophecies of Holy Scripture are incredibly accurate. The accuracy of biblical prophecy has convinced numerous skeptics that the Bible is true. They set out to prove that the Bible was a man-made document filled with errors. However, as they researched, they came to the opposite conclusion.
Our text today from Mark 11:1-11 begins the book’s third section and focuses on the last week of Jesus’ life. It contains specific things prophesied about Jesus many years before He came to earth in human form. Join me as we look at several prophecies fulfilled in the Triumphal Entry. I’ve titled our study “The King is Coming.”
Follow along as I read Mark 11:1-11.
This text shows us the fulfillment of several essential prophetic ASPECTS of Jesus’ ministry. These should strengthen our faith and confidence in all His promises.
The First ASPECT is,
The Method of His Transportation
We recently celebrated Jesus’ birth. If you are familiar with the Scriptures, you know He was prophesied to be a King from the announcement of His birth. The angel promised Mary that Jesus would sit on the throne of His Father, David. The magi asked, “Where is He, who was born King of the Jews?” Micah declared that Jesus would be from the tribe of Judah and would be “the Ruler of my people, Israel.”
Now, after thirty years or so, we have the advent of that promised king into David’s royal city. Do you see the connection between His advent into the world and His advent into Jerusalem to fulfill the kingly prophecies of the Christ child? Our text confirms this unique connection.
As noted at the end of chapter ten, Jesus, the disciples, and the crowd are approaching Jerusalem, the goal of their Passover pilgrimage. As they approach the city, the opening sentence of the text references two villages, Bethphage and Bethany. As you may remember, Bethany was the town of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, close friends of Jesus. Its name means “House of Sorrow or Misery.” It was the scene of Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead. Bethphage means “House of Unripe Figs.” This becomes significant in the next section of Mark chapter eleven.
At this point in the narrative, Jesus gives two disciples an interesting command. “Go into the village directly ahead of you. You will find a colt that has never been ridden tied there as soon as you enter it. Untie the colt and bring it to me.” How would you have responded to Jesus’ command? “Would you repeat that for us? Are you asking us to steal a donkey colt?”
Fortunately, the disciples didn’t respond that way. Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament Messianic prophecies, where they said the Messiah would enter the city riding on a donkey.
Zechariah 9:9 says, “Rejoice Jerusalem, your King comes unto you lowly and riding on a donkey.” That prophecy was well-known among the people waiting for their coming king, even though it was given approximately 500 years before Jesus was born. Most kings in the ancient world rode on magnificent horses, often white ones, like Alexander the Great, but not so the King of the Jews. He was to come riding on a donkey. The prophecy in Zechariah has its roots much earlier in the Old Testament in Genesis 49:9-11.
“Judah is a lion’s whelp. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He bows down; he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the people’s obedience. Binding his donkey to the vine, and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine, He washed his garments in wine and his clothes in the blood of grapes.” Deeply rooted in the Jewish consciousness was this future hope of the Messiah who would enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey.
Jesus told the disciples that this donkey colt had never carried a rider. I don’t suppose they had rodeos in Jesus’ day, but a donkey colt or horse must be broken before it can be helpful. I read that there was a stipulation in Jewish history that no one was ever allowed to ride the king’s horse or donkey without special permission.
We have an example of this in First Kings 1:33-35. David instructs Nathan, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have my son Solomon ride on my mule and bring him down to Gihon. There, let the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet and say, ‘Long live King Solomon!’ You shall go up following him. Let him enter and sit on my throne; he shall be king in my place, for I have appointed him to rule Israel and Judah.”
David authorizes Solomon to ride his mule, thereby putting his stamp of approval on the coronation process. We’re told that when a royal or sacred person rode on such an animal, its owners did not usually put it to customary use from then on.
This detail about the donkey colt having never been ridden is part of a larger pattern in Jesus’ life. He occupied a virgin’s womb at His birth, an unbroken colt at His highest point of earthly acclamation, and was buried in a tomb never used before.
We’ll come back to this in a few minutes. Right now, let’s continue with Mark’s narrative. Jesus knew the disciples would be questioned when they untied the colt. So, Jesus told them, “If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it,’ and immediately he will send it here.” And, as we read, the scene unfolded precisely as Jesus said it would.
The owners of the colt naturally protested the taking of their property. However, when the disciples told them the Lord needed the colt, they released it to them. The title “Lord” can be a term of respect, like we would use “sir.” It didn’t necessarily refer to the Messiah.
But evidently, that’s all it took for them to be satisfied. They’d likely heard Jesus was coming. Remember, pilgrims were streaming into Jerusalem from all directions for the Passover. The crowds preceding Him indeed would’ve spread the news. Undoubtedly, the colt’s owners had previously heard of His fame. So, they gave their permission.
Now, the two disciples have the colt and return to Jesus and the crowd. When they arrived, they removed their outer garments and put them on the donkey so Jesus wouldn’t need to ride bareback. Not only did they put their garments on the colt, but those in the crowd also spread their garments on the ground for the donkey to walk over. Picture them laying the garments down; the donkey walks over them; they retrieve the garments and repeat the process. Where might the people have gotten this idea?
Again, we go to the Old Testament for a precedent. It’s the fascinating story of the anointing of Jehu in Second Kings chapter nine. I’ll summarize it for you. Because of King Ahab’s wickedness, God raised Jehu to punish Ahab and his family. So, the prophet Elisha secretly sent one of his servants to anoint Jehu. Following his instructions, the servant performed the anointing, opened the door, and fled. When Jehu’s fellow soldiers found out what happened, “Then each man hastened to take his garment and put it under him on the top of the steps; and they blew trumpets, saying, ‘Jehu is king!’”
So, many people lay their cloaks on the ground so Jesus’ donkey could step on them. Others broke the feathery fronds off palm trees and spread those on the road. This was a fantastic show of Messianic fervor. Jesus is very much aware of what is happening. His deliberate conduct on this occasion could have but one meaning. It was the public proclamation of himself as the Messiah. Now, at last, his “hour” has come. The message of the prophets was being fulfilled.
And just as His method of transportation had been prophesied, so too was the message of exaltation that greeted Him.
Another ASPECT is,
The Message of His Exaltation
The unrestrained enthusiasm of the crowd suggests they realized the significance of what was happening. They expected Jesus to set up His rule in opposition to Caesar and drive the hated Romans out of their land.
Luke’s record tells us that the crowds and Jesus got their first glimpse of Jerusalem at this point in the procession. Scholars tell us this vantage point yields a view of the southeastern corner, the angle of the western walls, and Herod’s castle. Having stood on the Mount of Olives, I can tell you it gives you a magnificent view of the Temple Mount.
At this juncture, the worshippers burst into loud Messianic praise and acclamation for all the mighty works they’d seen – Lazarus, Bartimaeus, and more. Their hearts are ablaze with the immediate fulfillment of the kingdom.
The adoring crowds of pilgrims cry out, “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our Father, David, that comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” This acclimation is similar to the angels’ announcement of Jesus’ birth.
Messianic fervor is animating the people. Recall the incident about a year before this, in John chapter 6, after the feeding of the 5,000; the people attempted to take Jesus by force and make Him King. Then, Jesus left the crowds and went to a solitary mountain to be alone. It was not the right time for a coronation. But now IS the time.
John’s Gospel tells us that many people who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover went out to meet Jesus. So, you have two crowds: the one following Him from Bethany and the one coming from Jerusalem. The ones from Jerusalem cut down branches from the palm trees and lay them on the road. Their cries of adulation and worship blended with those coming with Jesus from Bethany. Caught up in the euphoria of the moment, their cries proclaiming the king’s worth fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah and others.
“Hosanna” means “save now.” To this, the crowd added, “To the Son of David, blessed is the kingdom of our Father, David, that comes in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest.” This was the loftiest style in which He could be saluted as the promised Deliverer.[1] The words of Psalm 118:25 and 26 were understood to refer to Messiah. The angel told Mary that her son would be given the throne of His father, David.
The people were also familiar with the words of Nathan, the prophet, in First Chronicles 17:11-14. “And it shall be when your days are fulfilled when you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up your seed after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son; and I will not take My mercy away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. And I will establish him in My house and My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” This was God’s promise to David of a forever throne for his descendant, Messiah!
This message of Jesus’ exaltation had been written centuries before under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, those cries of acclamation burst from the lips of the excited throng as Jesus made His way toward Jerusalem. In essence, their message was, “The King is coming.”
Yet, within a week, Jesus was rejected and crucified. However, the next time He comes, His acclamation will be genuine and complete!
The Final ASPECT is,
The Meaning of His Observation
There is something extraordinary about Mark’s version of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. In His typical abbreviated way, Mark says that Jesus entered the city and the Temple and observed all that was happening. By this time, it was evening, and he had retired to Bethany with the Twelve. Matthew and Luke provide additional details on the cleansing of the Temple.
Mark’s conclusion is anticlimactic. It’s as though He came into Jerusalem, went to the Temple, looked around, and returned home to Bethany as if nothing significant had occurred. However, a detail here is crucial to our understanding of this event.
At this moment, His destination wasn’t just the city in general. His destination was the Temple. He was going to the temple. He was looking around at the place where, historically, the sacrifices were offered. He was going to the temple that replaced the Tabernacle, which, in its structure and use, was a living prophecy of the Messiah who was to come.
Recall that in Ezekiel’s prophecy, approximately 586 BC, he saw a vision of the glory of God departing from the Temple. Ezekiel saw the glory of God leave the temple, leave the holy city, and come down on Bethany at the Mount of Olives. Now, the One whom the Scriptures define as the brightness of the glory of God comes from Bethany, from the Mount of Olives, goes into the Eastern Gate, goes to the Holy City, and goes to the temple.
In Ezra chapter three, we learn that when the foundation of the second Temple was laid, many of the older men who had seen the glory of Solomon’s Temple wept. However, the prophet Haggai made an interesting prediction in chapter two of his book.
“Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing? Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
He then went on to give this promise. “And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘The glory of this latter temple (the Temple Jesus visited) shall be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord of hosts.”
All along, we’ve been waiting for Jesus to arrive in Jerusalem. He had set His face like a flint toward Jerusalem. We’ve been looking at that since He announced to His disciples that He was going to the Holy City to suffer and die. But Jerusalem was not His ultimate destination. His ultimate destination was His return to the Father.
Do you see it? In 586 BC, the glory of God left the temple. Now, in our text, the glory of God temporarily returns, but no one understood that the king was the King of Glory, who was about to meet the destiny to which He was called and was born. Do you see how Christmas was, in some measure, fulfilled on that day in Jerusalem?
Today, we have looked at the method of His transportation, the message of His exaltation, and the meaning of His observation. The fulfillment of these prophecies should strengthen our faith and give us confidence that the promises yet unfulfilled will be, in due time, fulfilled in their entirety. Yes, the King is coming! Are you ready?
[1] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 120). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
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