WWUTT 2212 Jesus Enters Jerusalem on Palm... Monday? (Mark 11:1-11)

Today, we look at the triumphal entry, commonly referred to as Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered into Jerusalem to the shouts of the people. But are there things about this momentous event we haven't considered before?

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe.

The Triumphal Entry in Mark 11

Thank you, Becky. In our study of the Gospel of Mark, we are entering that last week, leading up to Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. This begins with the triumphal entry in Mark chapter 11, verses 1 -11.

I'll read here from the Legacy Standard Bible. Hear the word of the Lord. And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has yet ever sat.

Untie it, and bring it here. And if anyone says to you, Why are you doing this? You say, The Lord has need of it, and immediately he will send it back here. And they went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street, and they untied it.

And some of the bystanders were saying to them, What are you doing untying the colt? And they spoke to them just as Jesus told them, and they gave them permission. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and put their garments on it, and he sat on it.

And many spread their garments in the road, and others spread leafy branches, having cut them from the fields. And those who went in front, and those who followed, were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David! Hosanna in the highest! And Jesus entered Jerusalem, and came into the temple. And after looking around at everything, he left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.

That's an unusual conclusion to this coronation, of Jesus coming in, celebrated as the one who is coming in the name of the Lord, the one who will assume the throne of David, and yet he goes into the temple, he looks around, and then he leaves, and goes back to Bethany.

So we'll talk about some of the expectations of the people, as we have already considered some of those things, going through the Gospel of Mark here. I'm going to throw a curveball at you though. As we are considering some of these things today, we've already read about the triumphal entry when we were in the Gospel of Matthew, and I gave that to you straight, as we traditionally understand it.

Jesus coming in, on a donkey's colt, the palm branches being laid down in the road, people throwing their coats down on the ground, shouting, blessed is he who is coming in the name of the Lord, and they did all this on Sunday, which is why we traditionally refer to this as Palm Sunday.

I'm going to present to you another view, that maybe this was on Monday. Now I don't know that I share this particular view, but I'm going to present it to you as a possibility. I heard John MacArthur mention it a few years ago, and it looked into some of his commentaries.

Somebody from the Master's Seminary has since written a book, I think this was published around 2020 or 21. In that book, written by William Varner, he presents that possibility as Palm Sunday happening on Monday, rather than Sunday.

He doesn't simply present it as a possibility, that's the case that he lands on. I'm going to provide an alternate theory, and this is going to carry us through, even as we go through the events of Holy Week.

I'll bring this back up again periodically. Let's come back to the start of this, with Mark 11, verse 1. Mark doesn't give us a whole lot of backstory leading up to this day. We really kind of jump into it rather suddenly, but we're used to that kind of storytelling from Mark.

You know, he loves that word immediately, so we finish one event, immediately we go to this other thing. We've just read about Jesus restoring Bartimaeus' site outside of Jericho, and suddenly we're from Jericho all the way up to Jerusalem in the triumphal entry.

We don't have the account like we have in John's Gospel of Jesus going into Bethany and staying there with Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and then the next day coming into Jerusalem, and then that's the triumphal entry.

There are other events that happen immediately before this. See, now I'm using that word too, immediately. There are other things that are happening here in this weekend, but Mark just jumps right to Jesus coming into Jerusalem.

So here we've entered what is like the home stretch of the ministry, the earthly ministry of Jesus, with this final week leading up to his death on the cross, and then of course his resurrection from the dead.

And Mark, without any kind of prologue, he's just right into it. As they approached Jerusalem at Bethphage and Bethany, so he does mention Bethany there near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.

So he mentions Bethany, but doesn't say that he had stayed there. It does say at the end of this section that he ends up going back to Bethany. So we have Bethany mentioned in the first verse and in the last verse of this section that Mark mentions or tells his account of the triumphal entry.

So Bethany was where he was staying, and in fact, Bethany was where he stayed during this whole week with Jesus coming back into Jerusalem to teach in the temple. And then when the day got late, well, then he walked back to Bethany, which was on the other side of the Mount of Olives.

So that's where he was staying in between with Mary and Martha and Lazarus in their home. So now as they're up on the Mount of Olives, Mark even mentions they're near the Mount of Olives. According to John's gospel, that's where the triumphal entry started.

It started on the Mount of Olives with the people shouting, laying down their coats and palm branches, went all the way down the Mount of Olives and then into Jerusalem. And what we have in Matthew's account is that it even attracted the attention of people there in Jerusalem.

Not everybody knew what was going on. And so some other people were saying, well, who is this? Why all this commotion for this guy? And then those who had been honoring him said, this is the prophet Jesus of Nazareth.

So not everyone knew who he was, even when he comes in with this triumphal entry. It's not some sort of coronation that all of Jerusalem was partaking in. It was just a particular group of people. And we know from John's account that a good number of these people were stirred up by the fact that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the dead.

And there were many people who were there and saw that. So this miracle is really what has them stirred into a fervor to want to celebrate this Christ, this Jesus who is coming in as the Christ. They exalt him as the promised Messiah.

He is the one who is coming to the throne of David. But of course, as we see, Jesus doesn't go into the palace and sit on David's throne. He goes into the temple, doesn't do anything, and then goes back to Bethany.

And that surely would have been perhaps a disappointment in the eyes of the people who had just been singing his praises. They're expecting this is the guy, if he's got the power to raise the dead, then he's got power over these Romans who are occupying us.

And maybe finally he's here to release us from the tyranny of Rome. And that's the expectation that the people have, along with the disciples who have had this expectation leading up to this particular event.

But this is not what God had intended with this particular coronation. Now it is a kind of coronation. There are some similarities between this and the way that Solomon was announced as David's successor to the throne.

Now if you'll remember, it was one of David's other sons that had tried to exalt himself to the throne, Adonijah. But this was not the one who was supposed to assume the throne. It was going to be the son of Bathsheba.

And Nathan the prophet even was behind this. That it had to be Solomon. It could not be Adonijah. And so they arranged this coronation in which Solomon would be seated on a donkey, and he would be paraded into the city, and the people would shout his praises as the one who would be king to assume the throne after his father David.

So Jesus comes into Jerusalem in a very similar fashion, seated on a donkey's colt. And that would have been to the fervor of the people. They would have loved to have seen this, because what are they expecting?

They want a kingdom that's like David's kingdom, or even Solomon's kingdom in the richness and the wealth that Israel had enjoyed under his reign. And they're thinking a king is going to come that's going to make things even better than that.

So here's Jesus entering into Jerusalem in the same way that Solomon was coronated. And so the people think this is it. Finally our Messiah has come. The one that we were waiting for in the line of David has finally arrived.

And they are saying that very thing in the things that they praise him for. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. That's in verses nine and 10.

So they think this is finally the fulfillment of all that had been prophesied about in the Old Testament. But of course what they are expecting is the same thing that we have been talking about with regards to the disciples and what they were expecting.

They thought they were getting an earthly king. They thought this was going to be an earthly kingdom and an empire once again. It's going to overthrow the Herods and the Romans. We're going to get them out.

And Israel is going to be a great nation in the earth. That's what they expect to happen. They want an emancipator not the heavenly kingdom. Jesus had told his disciples though that when he went back to Jerusalem he was going to be hated.

He was going to be turned over to the chief priests and the scribes who would turn him over to the law and he would be put to death. Jesus said they're even going to kill me. And this of course was what prompted Peter to say far be it from you Lord I would never let this happen to you.

And Jesus has to rebuke him saying get behind me Satan for you are not thinking with the mind of God but with the mind of a man. So the disciples are expecting this kind of a thing. They want the same thing.

This earthly kingdom. This superpower. Sure Jesus has said heavenly kingdom. Fine. It's going to be a heavenly kingdom. But they still expect it to be a kingdom on earth. So when they are up on the Mount of Olives Jesus says go into the village opposite you and immediately as you enter it you will find a cult tied there on which no one has yet even sat untie it and bring it here.

And if anyone says to you why are you doing this you say the Lord has need of it and immediately he will send it back here. So all of this plays out exactly as Jesus said they found the cult tied at the door outside in the street and they untied it and some of the bystanders were saying to them what are you doing untying the cult and they said what Jesus told them to say and then the people gave them permission and perhaps those people to whom the cult belonged were expecting this very same thing.

And so now when it's said that it's going to belong to the Lord and all of this is happening in Passover week right this is happening at the time that the Paschal lambs are being chosen that are going to be sacrificed for Passover and here during their most festive occasion when so many people are gathering into Jerusalem for this feast in the month of Nisan they are excited to hear that the Lord has arrived that the one who is the descendant of David is going to enter into Jerusalem to the shouts of the people and so these people who own this donkey they may be all about this hey we're coming with you because we want to see him and we want to praise him as well.

And they brought the cult to Jesus and put their garments on it and he sat on it and many spread their garments in the road others spread leafy branches having cut them from the fields. Now it says cut them from the fields.

It probably wasn't grasses it was probably from the trees of the field more particularly if they were palm branches and those who were in front and those who followed were shouting Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord that is quoted from Psalm 118 26.

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David Hosanna in the highest. And of course this this is just like what is prophesied about in Zechariah 9 9. Rejoice greatly o daughter of Zion shout o daughter of Jerusalem.

Behold your king is coming to you. He is just and having salvation lowly and riding on a donkey a cult the fall of a donkey and the people know this as well. That's what's been prophesied. That's what Jesus is fulfilling.

He is entering in on this donkey's cult. And the donkey's cult by the way was a symbol of peace. Jesus is not entering on a great horse as a conqueror would or one who is just conquered. That's when Jesus returns the next time.

Right. That's what we have in Revelation 19 Jesus returning on a white horse. But in this case he comes on a cult because he is the prince of peace. And Jesus entered Jerusalem came into the temple and after looking around at everything he left for Bethany with the twelve since it was already late.

Now in Matthew's gospel Matthew has it written as Jesus comes in in the triumphal entry he goes immediately into the temple and drives out the money changers. Mark puts that on a different day. And it's not that there's a disagreement.

It's just that the way that Matthew is presenting it. He is trying to show that when Jesus comes into Jerusalem he doesn't go into the palace like all the people expected him to. He went straight into his father's house which was his true house and drives out the money changers and cleanses the temple which is like his first act after this coronation as king to cleanse his father's house.

So that's what Matthew wishes to convey. He's not trying to be specific regarding days. Mark seems to be more detailed in that respect. So Jesus goes back to Bethany. Then we have the cursing of the fig tree that happens the next day.

That's the account that we will get to tomorrow. So like I said I'm going to present to you an alternate theory here that this is not on Sunday but it's on Monday and I don't know that I necessarily agree with that but I'm going to present the theory to you anyway.

I am going to make an argument for perhaps Jesus crucifixion was on Thursday rather than on Friday. We'll get to that later as we continue in Mark. Now I want to read to you a review here. This is of William Varner's book passionate about the passion week a fresh look at Jesus last days.

This review was published in the master's seminary journal in the spring of 2021 and the author is Michael Grisanti and so he says the following. Varner is professor of biblical studies and Greek at the master's university in Santa Clarita California where he is taught for almost three decades.

His varied degrees and ministry experience have given him a thorough knowledge of the old testament and new testament. He is well acquainted with biblical and geographic details of one of the biblical lands Israel having led over 50 trips there that's amazing.

Also he has taught the life of the messiah for over 30 years. Through this modest volume Varner does not present a thorough exposition of the entire passion week from triumphal entry to resurrection. He seeks to explain key aspects of the passion week offering better ways to understand certain elements of that important week that ended Christ's life on earth.

I'm going to skip down a little bit time and space prevent me from highlighting all of Varner's insights so I will just summarize several of them. In chapter one Varner points out that the Via Dolorosa the way of suffering does not begin at the same place proposed by most tour guides but about 150 miles north of Jerusalem at Caesarea Philippi it was the region of this city that Jesus began to explicitly tell his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem suffer be killed and raised on the third day Matthew 16 21.

And of course we've read that here in Mark's gospel as well. In chapter 2 Varner proposes that the triumphal entry occurred on Monday rather than the conventional view Sunday hence Palm Monday. He suggests this for at least two reasons.

First if you piece together the events of the passion week with Palm Sunday setting the events in motion there are no events detailed for Tuesday evening after the Olivet discourse through Thursday afternoon the Passover and Lord's Supper takes place that evening.

Second in the Jewish celebration of the Passover Monday Nissan 10 would be the day when the lamb was selected for the coming Passover on Nissan 14 with Palm Monday the triumphal entry was the day that the Messiah presented himself as Israel's paschal lamb.

All right. Let me stop there for just a moment and then I'm going to continue with this review. So these are the reasons why Varner would propose that Palm Sunday was actually Palm Monday and I'm going to say that these problems are also solved if you move the crucifixion from Friday to Thursday.

So I would actually hold contrary to this. I'm going to continue reading the review but but not sharing Varner's view. I would say that Palm Sunday is still Palm Sunday but perhaps the crucifixion occurred on Thursday rather than Friday.

And what evidence do I have for that. Why would I make that proposal. Especially if you've been with my teaching for a long time. You know that I've traditionally taught that the crucifixion happened on Friday as we traditionally recognize it.

Good Friday. After all I'm gonna I I don't know if my views are changing on that a little bit here and some of the things that I have studied it came about when I was reading through the uh the the Torah once again the Old Testament law Genesis through Deuteronomy when I was doing that for the podcast hear the word of the Lord.

When I was reading about when Passover occurred it just occurred to me that maybe the crucifixion was not really on Friday as we typically recognize it anyway like I said we'll talk about that when we get there in the narrative in Mark's gospel but I'm just presenting this counter theory to Varner's proposal.

Let me continue on. Varner provides a brief overview of the key distinct groups in Israel during Jesus life and ministry Pharisees Herodians and Sadducees. Varner's key point is that the Sadducees took the lead in the quest to put Jesus to death in the middle of the Passion Week.

The Pharisees drop into the background and do not participate in the actual condemnation and crucifixion of Jesus. In chapter eight Varner correctly dismisses the commonly preached idea that the Jews were totally fickle welcoming Jesus as their promised deliverer at the start of the week and then calling for his crucifixion on Thursday or Friday.

Now I'm going to agree with that and we'll talk about that more too as we continue on in in Mark's account. Skipping down a little bit one of Varner's most significant insights comes in chapter nine and deals with two of Christ's sayings on the cross.

First he contends that God the Father did not forsake the Messiah when Jesus said my God my God why have you forsaken me. He supports this view by considering the context of Psalm 22 where that statement also occurs.

Psalm 22 1 Varner regards Jesus statement as a victory cry rather than a reference to divine abandonment. Second when Jesus cries out it is finished Jesus does not declare that the provision of redemption has been completed but that the prophecies of his suffering have been fulfilled.

In the next chapter Varner explains when Jesus finished his provision of redemption for humanity. One of the issues Varner addresses in chapter 12 focuses on when slash where he finished providing redemption after the pattern of the day of atonement Leviticus 16 15 to 16 and considering Hebrews 9 11 to 12 and 9 24 and 26 he states that atonement was begun on the cross and finished in heaven.

Throughout this volume Varner writes with clarity and warmth. He causes his readers along the way to smile at some of his asides. Besides focusing on the events of the Passion Week Varner consistently highlights various examples of clear intertextuality between the Passion Week narratives and various Old Testament passages enriching our understanding of that important week.

Varner has accomplished one of his desires in writing this book. He has passed on his passion for the Passion Week to his readers including this reader. And that concludes the review of Varner's book.

But I read that so that you would hear that theory regarding Palm Sunday actually being on Monday instead of Sunday I'm for the time being I'm going to sit on Sunday as being that day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the shouts of the people.

But maybe he was crucified on Thursday. And we'll examine that possibility and that theory when we get there. Jesus entering Jerusalem in this fashion to the shouts of the people did not come with the kind of fanfare that the true king deserved.

It's really quite similar to the way that Jesus entered the world in the in the nativity when he was born in Bethlehem instead of born in the palace Jesus is not recognized royally when he comes into Jerusalem the Sadducees and the Pharisees are not there to welcome their king and high priest as he comes into the the city that was the very dwelling place of God that was referred to as Zion in the Old Testament.

Jesus did not get the coronation that he truly deserved. It was still a humble celebration just like when he entered the world in the first place. But Jesus value as king the exaltation that he deserves is so great and so high that if you were to have taken all the world's leaders in the history of the planet and you were to pile them on top of one another they would not even be worthy to touch the him of Christ's garment.

He is so much greater a ruler than any ruler on earth will ever be. And even in these days when we see so much political unrest and things happening in the world with such fickleness and confusion it is especially in these days that we hold fast to our true king who is still seated on his throne and no one is going to unseat him.

And he has promised for us a kingdom. For all who believe in him and trust in his name we are made fellow heirs with Christ. So believe in him trust in him. And if we conquer as he has conquered as said in the book of revelation we will sit with him on his glorious throne.

Christ Our True King and the Coming Kingdom

Heavenly father we thank you for what we have read here today being reminded of a very common story that has been taught to most all of us our entire christian lives. It's good to have our thoughts about these things challenged so that we don't get into a too common a place in regarding this.

But we still see it with wondrous eyes that christ is our savior and king that what he was entering into jerusalem to do was to die on the cross for our sins and rise again from the dead so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life in his eternal kingdom.

May we exalt him as king of kings and lord of lords in our lives and even in this world today. May the message of his kingdom continue to go forth and many other people turn from their sin to the lord jesus christ and live.

It's in his glorious name we pray amen. For more about our ministry visit us online at wwutt .com.