I declare your Upon your precepts and your ways, my heart will meditate with awe. Your word shall be my chief delight, and I will not forget your law. God's word is indeed Good, so we turn to our text for this morning. So we continue to march through the Gospel of Mark. We will, I think, be taking a two or three week break. dip into the Old Testament before we charge forward. That would allow us to get some of the context of the city of Jerusalem, of the Feast of Passover, which is the context of the rest of the Gospel of Mark. It would also allow us to come to appropriate texts for Resurrection Sunday, for example. So we will But for today, we are still in Mark. And so we read Mark 10, verse 46, through 11, verse 11a, the first words of 11, verse 11. People of God, this is the word of God. Let us hear what God says to us. And they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man saying to him, take heart, get up, he is calling you. And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you? And the blind man said to him, rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. Now when they were drawing near to Jerusalem, to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 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. If anyone says to you, why are you doing this? Say, the Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately. And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, what are you doing untying the colt? And they told them what Jesus had said and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus, and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before 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 he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. So far the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Dear congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. This event in particular, the life of Jesus Christ from birth to death to resurrection to ascension is full of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, but this event in particular stands out as one where many particular prophecies were fulfilled. And so you may even wish children younger or a little bit older to keep track on your notes. How many Old Testament passages are we turning to? How many Old Testament prophecies are we reading about which are fulfilled in this event, one of the few events recorded in each of the four Gospels for us, this triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. There are many things which are unusual about this entry. There are some things which are usual. It's a Jew, Jesus, son of Nazareth, son of David, entering into Jerusalem, taking the path through Jericho into Jerusalem. John tells us in John 12, this is a week before Passover begins. That's a time when many Jews are making this same walk. In fact, we have that picture of those walking with him from the end of chapter 10 into chapter 11. There were many Jews walking to Jerusalem at this time. but there are also many things which are unusual. Just to speak about one before we begin, the very fact that Jesus would ride on a donkey, that's unusual for two reasons. First of all, most people couldn't afford a donkey. Second of all, it was a usual practice that even if you had one, you took the final steps of your pilgrimage into Jerusalem on foot. are many unusual things, even as there are things which might be expected in these verses. All pointing us to this, the reality that Jesus stands apart, that Jesus Christ fulfills even very specifically the Old Testament prophecies concerning himself, and that these prophecies Indeed, all of Scripture would direct us to this, that we would have right excitement for the King. He is the King, but this excitement would be centered on salvation itself. That is what is going on here. This is not a king at arms riding in upon a war horse. This is the King. He's riding in upon a donkey colt. Royal imagery? Yes. Humble imagery at the same time? Yes. A King who brings salvation is entering Jerusalem. Jesus, Savior, is in Jerusalem. And so we'll consider first how they are nearly there. The last verses of chapter 10, they're in Jericho and then they prepared to enter and then finally entering into Jerusalem. So where are they in chapter 10 verse 46? Well, they are in Jericho. They came to Jericho and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples, Let us note something here that we don't usually pause to note. But again, these things are, the entry itself is recorded in all four Gospels. The healing of the blind man is recorded in three of the Gospels. Luke tells us that Jesus was coming near to Jericho when the blind man came up to him. Mark and Matthew say that he was coming out of Jericho. Again, we don't always pause to note these kinds of things, but what's going on there? What's going on? Is there a contradiction? Well, there are times in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, especially in the parallel gospel accounts and in Old Testament parallels such as Kings and Chronicles together, where sometimes we read something and it seems to be contradictory, but of course we know it is not. In this case, the explanation is actually very simple. It used to be complicated. You used to have to take guesses. Well, we know it's not contradictory, but how, we don't know. And then Oh, we discovered that there's actually two Jerichos. There's the old Jericho, the Jericho which still has inhabitants at this time, the Jericho where the walls came tumbling down. And there is new Jericho, which has been established by the Romans and is built one mile to the south. There's old Jericho and there's new Jericho. So is Jesus coming into Jericho or is he leaving Jericho? Yes, he is leaving Old Jericho, stepping southward toward Jerusalem, and he's coming into New Jericho. You see, sometimes in the Old Testament, maybe we don't have enough details, we don't know the history well enough anymore, and we have to say, well, we know there's some explanation, maybe it's this, maybe it's this, we don't know for sure. Here's a case where We can explain it quite easily. We know what's going on. We know scripture is reliable. And we know, here's another thing to take from this. These are real places. These are real people. Matthew, Luke, they don't record the name of Bartimaeus, an eyewitness account. Mark does record the name for us. Real people. real places. Jesus really walked into Jerusalem one week before his death. It's about 15, 18 miles to get from Jericho to the Mount of Olives. That's why at the end of the day, he steps into the temple and then he goes in for the night. It's late. A person can certainly walk that far. It sounds a little strange to us today, but if you're physically fit, if you're used to walking, as certainly Jesus and the disciples are, walking 20 miles is doable, not an issue. This is the final leg of the journey. Jesus is nearing Jerusalem, going through Jericho, a real place with the cry of a real blind man. Bartimaeus cries out, cries out. The crowds, again, almost certainly those walking along with Jesus to Jerusalem. That's what you do. You walk to Jerusalem for Passover. This is what many Jews do. Maybe they're even thinking, you know, this is the morning. We've got 18 miles to go. We can't stop too many times. They tell the beggar to be quiet. You're too lowly. You're too low of social status. Well, this is something which for those of us who have been here walking through Mark, those are familiar words by now, aren't they? Jesus loves the lowly, calls his disciples to be lowly and to love the lowly. This is a theme. And so we come again. the healing of a blind man again. The last specific healing recorded for us in the Gospel of Mark. For the man, though he is told to be quiet, he does not. He only shouts out all the more. And indeed, this gives us comfort, doesn't it? There are so many voices in the world which would shout out against someone who would seek to come to Jesus. Are there not? I mean, think of the extreme example, those who are Muslims and living in Muslim countries and hearing the gospel and coming to Christ. Opposition, talk about opposition. You're going to be disowned from your family. You're going to possibly be killed. That's the extreme example. There are many other examples. In this day and age, in this culture, it's becoming increasingly popular to forsake religion completely. And so you have all these voices now which say religion is just foolishness and made-up nonsense and this and that. all kinds of voices all kinds of opposition all kinds of do not come to Jesus words but what happens for those who truly are his they will come John 637 all that the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out this this gives us comfort that we would come to Jesus. This gives us comfort as we evangelize that those who are his, they will come despite the voices of opposition from the family or from the culture, from wherever. Those who are Jesus, who are his, who belong to him, they will call out and they will call out again. And so the blind man calls out again. Jesus stops and says, call him. And now disciples at the end of verse 49 do what is most appropriate for disciples to do. Take heart, get up, Jesus is calling you. So he does. He springs up with great excitement. I mean, this reminds us of the woman at the well. After her conversation with Jesus, she goes running into the city to proclaim, I have met him. I have met the Christ. And John records for us the details. She left her water jar. So the blind man leaves his cloak. woman who goes to the well for water, leaving a water jar, well, that's what you came for, isn't it? A blind man leaving his cloak, well, that's a pretty big deal. It's a little bit difficult to find your cloak back. We're not mocking a blind person when we say that. He's running through a crowd. He's running to Jesus. How's he even gonna find it back? Doesn't matter. He knows that he can now come to Jesus Nothing else matters. He springs up with eagerness. And now, of course, for his faith, as Jesus says in verse 52, he's no longer a blind man. What are some Old Testament fulfillments? Well, certainly that very title, Son of David, brings many, many passages to mind. Let's just read two of them from Jeremiah, Jeremiah 33. In Jeremiah 33, verse 17, we read this. For thus says the Lord, David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel. Or a few chapters before that in Jeremiah 23. And what does it say? Well, this is certainly a king. It's one who's the son of David, but there's also language of salvation, of righteousness of justice Jeremiah 23 beginning at verse 5 behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land in this day Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely and this is the name by which you will be called the Lord is our righteousness Again, there are many passages we could turn to, to consider the significance of Son of David, but note, there are those such as Jeremiah 23, which are not focused merely on the kingly aspect of the Son of David, but for the Son of David, righteousness, salvation is in this one. We are taking these verses together. The healing in Jericho and then the moving to Jerusalem? Is there even an Old Testament prophecy which would speak to this very transition? The language of Isaiah 35, which some have said is dripping with language from these verses. Isaiah 35, beginning at verse 3, Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble hands. Say to those who have an anxious heart, be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you. Again, language of salvation. And then what's the next verse? Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion, that is Jerusalem with singing. That is Isaiah 35 verse 10. Certainly, certainly the one who comes to heal, the one who brings his people into Jerusalem, into Zion, the one who saves and brings salvation. Old Testament fulfillment indeed. And so now they prepare to enter because there is something very specific which must happen. Again, we said in the introduction, most people don't have a donkey. Most people cannot afford a donkey or the cult of a donkey. Matthew records for us that they brought both the mother and the colt. It's almost like the mother is walking alongside so the colt doesn't get nervous. It's almost the picture we have from Matthew. This is not the usual way the pilgrim would enter. Jerusalem at the time of Passover. These are things which are clearly being done to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies. But it's not only the colt and the donkey, it's even the very place. They drew near to Jerusalem, 11 verse 1, to Bethpage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples. Now, they're coming from Jericho, which is to the north. They're traveling south. And so We might expect that they would come in through the gate of Jerusalem, which faces north, but that's not what they do. They go around a little bit and they come in through the gate, which faces east. Why do they do this? Is there something significant in even the Mount of Olives and in this gate? Well, this is the gate. This is the place where the Temple is. The Mount of Olives directly to the east of the city of Jerusalem. You can stand on the top of the Mount of Olives and you have a grand view of Jerusalem, including especially the Temple Mount, which is right before you. So they do not go in through the northern gate. wiggle around a little bit to go through this gate. And even this is the fulfillment of prophecies. It's not as direct as the prophecies of the cult, which we shall see, but it is still clear. This is tied to the temple, which is by that gate. This is tied to the place where we would expect the glory of God to come. This is spoken for us, for example, in Ezekiel chapter 43 Ezekiel chapter 43 then he led me to the gate the gate facing east and behold the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east this is one of the few Old Testament prophecies will read which doesn't say something explicitly about righteousness or salvation but it's speaking about the glory of God which comes to the temple that's salvation context the temple the place where sins are forgiven where there is a picture of of sacrifice and of the removal of sin and the vision I saw was just like the vision that I had when I came to destroy the city and just like the vision which I had in the kennel and I fell on my face and as the glory of the Lord entered the temple Ezekiel 43 verse 4 by the gate facing east the spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court and behold the glory of of the Lord filled the temple." And indeed, this is the Mount of Olives. This is the place where you would enter Jerusalem and immediately have access to the temple. And that is what we see in the part of verse 11 which we did not read, and verses 15 and following of chapter 11. This, even the gate, is significant. Zechariah also speaks about this in Zechariah 14. On this day, his feet shall stand. Zechariah 14, verse four. On this day, what day? The day of the coming of the Lord. Zechariah 14, verse one. On that day, his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east. See, even the gate, even the standing on the Mount of Olives and looking down upon Jerusalem before entering into it, even this is fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Even this is where we would expect the glory of the Lord to come into Jerusalem. So now a command is given. They're standing at this significant place standing not at the north gate, but at the gate which faces east. And standing in this place, he gives the disciples this command, go find a colt, which has never been sat on, untie it and bring it to me. Now remember, I said most people couldn't afford a donkey. There are many reasons why the two unnamed disciples might not have wanted to do this, aren't there? Think about it in today's context, right? What's a donkey? It's a form of transportation, an expensive form of transportation, which most people can't afford. So what if you were a disciple of Jesus, and you were told, go find a car in a garage with the door open, and not just any car, but, you know, like the most expensive transportation you can find, and bring it back to me, because we're going to borrow it to enter into Jerusalem. If we state it that way, we could imagine why these disciples might be a little hesitant. What do you want me to do? Hold on a second. Wait. How do you know I'm going to find one just sitting there tied up? How do you know I'm going to find it? I mean, okay, I am physically fit. I'm a disciple. I've been walking with you. Walking 20 miles in a day isn't a huge deal, but I mean, you are asking me to do more walking too. How long are we gonna wander around before we find this thing? There's all kinds of reasons why the disciples could have given to not do this. But instead, we have multiple details from verses two through four, and then they fulfill all these details exactly. They went out, and they found the colt tied at the door, and they untied it. Some of those standing there said to them, but Luke records for this, that this is the owners of the colt, it's not just anyone, it's the owners of the colt, what are you doing? What are you doing untying the colt? And they told him what Jesus had said, and they let them go. This colt. Now, we sang from Psalm 118. We're going to get to Psalm 118. That's actually the only Old Testament passage directly quoted in these verses. Matthew and John quote from Zechariah, though. There's clearly a fulfillment of Zechariah going on with this cult, and we'll turn there in some minutes. But every detail of this cult is tied to something either prophetic or at least a detail about something particular and special. That the cult is tied. Why is that significant? Why does the cult have to be tied? I'm going to turn to a passage which I'd imagine One or two verses will be very familiar to you, and one or two verses, you'll probably say, I didn't know that was there. Genesis chapter 49, Genesis chapter 49. This is when Jacob is blessing his sons. And you may know something of the blessing to Judah. Judah, your brothers, Genesis 49, beginning at verse eight, Judah, your brothers shall praise you Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's son shall bow down before you. And here's the verse which I hope is familiar to many of you. Genesis 49 verse nine, Judah is a lion's cub from the prey, my son, you have gone up. The lion, the tribe of Judah. You know that phrase? That's verse nine. And then verse 10 talks about how the scepter shall not depart from Judah. So we know that's tied to David coming through Judah and then that this is the royal line. So verse 10 may also be familiar. And then there's verse 11. Genesis 49 verse 11. What's going on there? Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. The lion of the tribe of Judah, Prophecy, he's going to hold the scepter. Prophecy, there's gonna be an important cult tied up to something. And the illusion, the illusion in Mark is there. It's not just any cult, it's a cult tied up, which must be untied. What about the detail that it's a cult not ridden? Again, Matthew tells us they had to take the cult's mother with it, perhaps to keep it calm. This is not a prophecy, as many of these other passages are, but there are descriptions in various places in the Old Testament which describe the importance of using an animal for sacred purposes which has not been used for ordinary purposes before. So, for example, Numbers chapter 19. Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded you. Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and on which a yoke has never come. There are a few other examples of this tied to other sacrifices. Also, the animal that would pull the Ark of the Covenant had to be an animal that had never pulled anything before. What is this telling us? Let's take all these details together to where we are so far. Lots of Jews walk into Jerusalem, but they usually don't ride a colt. Jesus stops, they've been walking a lot, they're probably ready to get home, but He knows there has to be the fulfillment of prophecy. He sends out his disciples to get a cult. Not just any cult, a cult which has never been written. Which is important for ritual purposes. To do something important, essentially, is the picture we get in the Old Testament. And it's even to be a cult which is tied up to something which is important in the line of Judah. Now, if these seem to be not completely clear, well, the disciples didn't get it right away either. John 12 records this for us. His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him. And now here's a passage which is very clear as we come into our third point. Jesus is now going into Jerusalem. They performed that task, they prepared for it, they got the donkey, and now Jesus is sitting on the donkey. How's the passage for clarity? It's not quoted in Mark, but it's quoted in Matthew and in John. That is Zechariah 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation, is he. Note again, salvation, that key word. Humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt. the foal of a donkey. This is how Jesus comes into Jerusalem. Prophecies fulfilled. There are then things which are not necessarily tied to prophecy, but they're tied to royal imagery, that they would throw their cloaks down and throw the branches down. We read, for example, in 2 Kings 9, that when Jehu is anointed king by Elisha, that they threw the cloaks down when he came into Jerusalem. It's an image of royalty. And then he comes in and they sing. Verse 9, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And here, for the first time in the Gospel of Mark, we have an explicit quote from the Old Testament, for that is coming directly from Psalm 118, that Psalm which we sang from. Psalm where we had our call to worship from, they are quoting from Psalm 118 verses 25 and 26. Save us, the first words in Psalm 118 verse 25, the Hebrew there is Hosanna. And so in the Greek they kept the Hebrew word, they didn't translate it. Hosanna, save us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. save us. Now this psalm was typically sung at Passover. It was also sung at the Feast of Tabernacles. It was also sung at Passover. And it's been noted that For the Jews, this word, Hosanna, which means save us, talk about salvation being there in the very meaning of the word, it had come to not necessarily be tied to salvation. The people began to just use it as like an expression of joy, like hallelujah, Hosanna, they would use it in the same way. But, What it means is, save us. That's what it means. That's what Hosanna means. Save us. And they come into Jerusalem. Jerusalem, that city mentioned, we're not going to turn to any prophecies here, but It's the city mentioned more than 800 times in Scripture. It is a very significant city. It is the city which is used in Revelation 21 to describe the New Jerusalem. It's called in Matthew chapter 4 the Holy City. It's called in Matthew chapter 5 the City of the Great King. This is the city to which Jesus comes. That's Moral Testament passages that we normally turn to. It is almost overwhelming how many Old Testament details are fulfilled in this single event recorded in all four Gospels. There's one thing that we take away from this run through the Old Testament and its connection to Mark 10 and Mark 11 this morning. Take this away. That as the Apostle said in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, however many promises God has made, they are all yes and amen in Jesus Christ. If you were keeping track of the passages We didn't turn to them all. A couple of them were allusions instead of prophecies. So it's maybe 8, maybe 10, maybe 12, depending on how you kept track, as long as I didn't skip anything that was in my notes. And again, it is almost overwhelming. There is more. If we turn to the parallel account in John, it would record not just that they were branches, but that they were palm branches. And that would make us think about how Jesus not only fulfills all of the expectation of the Feast of Passover, but also all of the joy of the Feast of Tabernacles. And if we turn to the parallel account in Luke, then there would be an explicit quotation from Psalm 8 and details about how it was not just the crowd singing, but specifically the children singing, and how that was a fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 8. And it goes on and on, all in this single event. Every detail. Notice, Jesus intentionally does this. He knows he's the Savior. He knows what is going to happen in this city. He says, go and get me that colt, which is tied up to a vine, which has never been ridden before. That is how I must enter this city because I fulfill every single prophecy, every single detail. I come and I save my people. Jesus saves. Jesus fulfills all of the Old Testament promises and prophecies. He is the one. He is the one. We look to this one alone. Repent. No one is sinless as He is. That's essentially our focus tonight. believe. Every detail, every historical minutia, He did it all. Jesus, save us. You are our Savior. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, God Almighty, You are the king. There are images of a king in this passage. We rejoice that you are king. You will come on a war horse, but first you came on the colt of a donkey. And this was necessary for salvation itself. Make us to stand in awe that you, divine and all-powerful, would stoop down and do all these things, giving sight to the blind, giving sight to the spiritually blind, giving life to your people. So we do pray in Jesus name, amen. People of God, let us stand to sing. 325, let us stand together to sing. To whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring. Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal son. who in the Lord's name comest, the King and Blessed One. The company of angels are praising thee on high, and mortal men ♪ Of the Hebrews with poems before thee went ♪ ♪ Our praise and prayer and anthems ♪ ♪ Before thee we present ♪ ♪ Eternally before thy passion they sang their song ♪ They exalted our melody we raise, Thou didst accept their praises, Accept the prayers we bring, Who in all good delight, Thou good and gracious King. It is time now, people of God, for our morning gifts and offerings. This morning that is for the building fund. Following that, God's benediction to his people and doxology number 567. so so If you would stand, if able, let us receive God's parting blessing. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.