Word Live: Daring Discipleship
Use some of the titles of Jesus to help you praise him: for example, Good Shepherd, Messiah, Light of the World.
Bible passage
Mark 11:1–11
Jesus comes to Jerusalem as king
11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, 2 saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.”’
4 They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, 5 some people standing there asked, ‘What are you doing, untying that colt?’ 6 They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. 7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. 8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in 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!’
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Explore
I’ve always found the start of this story a little disturbing. Jesus asks two of his disciples to go and help themselves to someone else’s donkey, giving them a story to tell if they get caught (vs 2,3)!
Why did the disciples obey? Well, they trusted him. They had walked with him for a few years now and seen the power of his words. They were getting used to him doing strange things. The more we obey Jesus, the more we see his faithfulness and his power, the easier it becomes to obey.
When was the last time Jesus asked you to do something that seemed scary or weird? Perhaps it was offering to pray for a colleague or speaking up for what is morally right. Or maybe it was something specific, like giving a particular gift or calling someone at just the right time. It probably wasn’t borrowing a stranger’s donkey!
If you think about it, Jesus’ ‘triumphal entry’ – the only time in his earthly ministry that he was publicly praised for who he is – depended on the obedience of two ordinary disciples who were given a daring commission. As his disciples, it is our obedience – sometimes in ways that surprise or terrify us – that allows others to see who Jesus really is and to begin to praise him.
Author
Alison Allen
Respond
Ask the Lord if there’s anything he wants you to do for him this week.
Deeper Bible study
‘Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.’1
Picture the scene: crowds are flocking to Jerusalem, the festival season is upon them and word gets about that Jesus is on his way.2 Jesus, the one who restores sight to the blind, even raises the dead, is coming. Excitement is palpable. Here he is! Jesus, atop a donkey, rides into Jerusalem. Spirits running high, the crowd greets him like a king: they make a carpet for him from cloaks and branches and shout their praises to him.
Indeed, he is a King. He is the King that has long been prophesied: the one who would come to Jerusalem ‘righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey’.3 He is the King who comes in the name of the Lord, who is of the line of David, to whom the crowd could rightly shout ‘Hosanna’, or, ‘Lord, save us!’4 And yet it’s doubtful that the crowd truly recognised who Jesus was. It’s doubtful, despite their words and actions pointing towards it, that they understood in all fullness that Jesus was the Messiah – the one who would indeed save them; save them from their sins.
It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, to join in with the crowd and shout praises to Jesus. It’s easy to get caught up in church, Christianity, religion. But do we really know Jesus as King? Is he really on the throne in our lives? Are our praises meaningful, personal? Let us not be those who honour Jesus with their lips, but whose hearts are far from him.5 And, mindful of Jesus’ journeying towards Calvary, let us be filled with praise for that most wonderful victory that he won for us on the cross – salvation from our sins.6
‘Jesus is King and I will extol him; give him the glory, and honour his name. He reigns on high, enthroned in the heavens; Word of the Father, exalted for us.’7
1Ps 24:7 2John 12:1,12,17,18 3Zech 9:9; Matt 21:4–8 4Ps 118:25 5Matt 15:8 6 Hendriksen, 1975, p439 7 Wendy Churchill, 1982
Author
Fiona Silley
