“Jesus’ Agenda and
Ours” Mark 11:1-11
SCRIPTURE INTRO:
We are back to our study of the Gospel of Mark after a break of over two months.
We pick up in chapter 11 which is a good place to start again,
because it is the beginning of the last week of Jesus’ life—
the week known in church calendar as Passion Week.
“Passion” is simply an old timey way of saying “suffering.”
This is the Suffering Week of Jesus.
Interesting how much space in the Gospels is about this last week of Jesus’ life.
Matthew 8 of 28 chapters
Mark 6 of 16 chapters
Luke 6 of 24 chapters
John 9 of 21 chapters, almost half of John’s Gospel.
Total of 29 of 89 chapters or almost 33%.
That’s interesting, isn’t it? Four accounts of the life of Jesus.
33% taken up with the last week of his life.
So we have some very interesting and important chapters in weeks ahead.
Today we start with Jesus’ triumphal entry, recorded in all four Gospels.
Story we all know well—Palm Sunday.
Jesus riding into
Before we read, let’s pray that the Holy Spirit would open our eyes
in new ways to this old story.
INTRO: A friend of mine was called right out of seminary to a small church
with an elderly congregation. The church was in a small town, that also
had an older population.
This man and his wife became lonely for people their age.
One day they met another young couple and struck up a conversation.
They really seemed to have a lot in common.
This couple they had met said: We’d like to get to know you better.
Why don’t you come over to our house Friday and we’ll cook burgers on grill.
My friend and his wife were looking forward to this dinner.
As they were getting ready, were talking about how great it was
that they had met this couple their age that they seemed to have so much
in common with.
So they ate supper together, and then sat down in the living room—
and this couple they had met said:
It was so good of you to come over. We want to tell you about a great
money-making opportunity.
And they proceeded to give them the pitch for a pyramid sales scheme.
We want you to get in on the ground floor of this great opportunity.
You are just the kind of people we are looking for, this is going to take off.
My friends left that night very disappointed.
There were two very different agendas at that Friday night meal.
One agenda was friendship, or a least a pleasant social evening.
The other agenda was financial.
Two different agendas that clashed with each other.
That’s a great summary of this passage.
The triumphal entry, as it is called,
is about two very
different agendas clashing on the road into
There was the crowd’s agenda.
They had their own ideas of what the Messiah was going to be,
what kind of king he would be and what they expected him to do for them.
And there was Jesus’ agenda.
Who he knew the Messiah to be, what he thought of his kingship,
and what he planned to do for his people.
Those two agendas clashed.
If you read any good commentary or old sermon on this passage
you will see this theme of the two agendas.
Knowing the whole story of Passion Week makes this theme even more clear.
Because we know, as we read this, that by the end of the week,
many of the people who shouted Hosanna to the Son of David,
would be shouting, Crucify him and give us Barabbas.
The differences between the two agendas becomes very clear.
The crowd wanted one kind of salvation,
Jesus was bringing another kind of salvation—and they didn’t want it.
This is the point at which the story intersects with our lives.
Just like the crowds that cheered Jesus, each one of us has an agenda
for what we want Jesus to do in our lives.
There are things we want him to do for us, things we want him to bless us with.
It’s usually not extravagant stuff.
We just want to live a peaceful life, have good kids, good marriage, good health.
We don’t have to be rich, just comfortable—just the basic American dream.
That’s what we want Jesus to do for us. That’s the salvation we want.
But that is not Jesus’ agenda. That’s not why he came.
That’s not why he suffered and died.
He has a very different idea of blessing us.
Big part of the Christian life is to see more and more clearly,
not just our own agenda, our demands and expectations of Christ,
but his agenda for our lives.
What it means for him to be our Messiah and Savior.
And then to conform our agenda to his.
That’s hard. That’s a life-long struggle.
But it’s a good thing.
So let’s look at this passage under two headings.
1. Our agenda. Will see that our agenda for Jesus is that he would bless us
with temporal blessings, blessings in this world, this life.
2. Jesus’ agenda. Will see that his agenda for us is to bless us with eternal
blessings, that we start to enjoy now, and in fullness in the life to come.
Our agenda, Jesus’ agenda—how, by grace, we conform ours to his.
MP#1 Our agenda
Why did this crowd get so excited about Jesus coming into
There was a lot of history here.
About 200 years earlier a foreign ruler named Antiochus Epiphanes
took control of the
This was in the time period between the Old and New Testaments.
Antiochus Epiphanes was a Syrian, he hated the Jews, hated their religion.
He began to persecute them. Made Sabbath keeping and circumcision illegal.
If he found circumcised baby boys he would kill them and mothers,
and put their bodies on public display.
He hated the Jewish faith so much that he carried out the ultimate insult.
He had pigs brought
into the
He turned the
“The abomination that causes desolation.”
There was an old priest named Mattathias Maccabee, had five sons.
One of his sons, Judas Maccabee led his brothers and other Jews in a revolt.
Judas Maccabee such a fighter, became known as “the hammer.”
He defeated Antiochus Epiphanes, established a free Jewish nation.
And as they went to
the
the people cut palm branches and waved them in celebration.
The feast of Hanukah which Jews celebrate today is a remembrance
of the events of
the Maccabean victory and purification of the
The Maccabean government only lasted about 70 years before it fell to the Romans.
But that time of freedom and national pride was still on people’s minds.
What that they expected the Messiah to be was a bigger, badder version
of Judas Maccabee who would throw out Romans,
and not just restore independence, but bring a glory like time of King David.
That’s why there was such a buzz about Jesus.
This was their idea of the hero who would come in and make a difference.
Kind of like the buzz you heard last year when
He’s going to come and bring back the pride and the glory.
Because that’s what the Crimson Tide deserves.
That’s the way things ought to be.
It was like that with the Jews, only much deeper, nationalistic,
and religious convictions all wrapped up in one.
Up until this time in the Gospel of Mark, do you remember what Jesus
would do if anyone called him the Messiah? Tell them to be quiet.
That frustrated the disciples.
Well, suddenly as they approached
Do you remember the miracle right before this?
Healing of blind Bartimaeus: “Son of David, have mercy on me.”
“Son of David” was a title for the Messiah.
For the first time, Jesus didn’t say, I’ve healed you, now be quiet.
But Bartimaeus joined the crowd, no doubt continuing to shout “Son of David.”
Then Jesus sent his disciples ahead for a colt to ride on.
Where was this colt? In
Lazarus, who Jesus had raised from the dead.
Probably no village in
You can see what happened. The disciples went to get the colt.
People stopped them. Why are you taking this colt? The Lord needs it.
And instantly, word spread through the villages of Bethany and Bethphage.
The crowd came pouring out to meet Jesus, waving palm branches.
This is the new and improved Judas Maccabee coming to throw out Romans.
Spreading clothes on ground—what people did for King Jehu, anointed by Elijah.
Start to shout: Hosanna, which means “Save us!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
Like shouting, God
bless
Very religious. Very patriotic at the same time.
God’s on our side and we’re on God’s side.
We’re the right ones. God’s agenda and ours agenda are one and the same.
The disciples were just soaking this up.
Enough of this talk about betrayal and crucifixion—
finally, Jesus was doing what he should have done all along.
He was getting political power, and that would lead to victory,
and their lives would be good and prosperous as they had hoped.
And they would sit at this right and left in positions of honor.
Most of the people who cheered Jesus that day did so for the wrong reasons.
They knew their Bibles, praised God for the Messiah’s coming.
But they had one agenda, Jesus had another.
They were happy with him only as long as they thought he was getting
them what they wanted. We know that when they realized later in the week
that he was not doing what they wanted—called for his crucifixion.
Even the disciples were certain that he had failed.
Let me ask you a question:
Why are you sometimes disappointed with the Lord or angry with him?
Why do you doubt his goodness?
Because he is not on board with your agenda.
Because he has not given you the blessings you expect here and now.
Jesus has made his agenda clear.
We’re going to look at it in more detail in a moment.
But you know what Jesus came to do:
He came to give you peace with God, forgiveness of sins, eternal life.
His agenda for you is to make you, by his Word and Spirit, more like himself,
to prepare you for life in his eternal kingdom, to make you a conduit of his grace.
But we rarely worry about those things. Rarely in awe of them.
One minister put it this way:
“We think we can handle the salvation part by ourselves,
it’s the good marriage, the better job, the bigger house, the healthy body,
the pleasures of this world—that is what we want Jesus to provide.”
I know a pastor who was counseling a Christian woman who was angry at God.
He showed her all of the blessings she had in Jesus Christ.
All the good things that had come to her through Jesus’ life, death, resurrection.
She said, If God loved me, he would bring give me a husband and make me happy.
This woman was right about one thing, crowds right about the same thing—
Jesus could do all the things we want and expect him to do.
He could have kicked the Romans out and become emperor himself.
He could fulfill every item on our agenda—and they are usually good things.
Often the very kinds of things he will do when he comes again.
But for now he has a different agenda—we see that clearly in this story.
MP#2 Jesus’ agenda
The most significant detail in the triumphal entry is Jesus’ choice of steed.
Not a warhorse or chariot—but a colt, Matthew tells us, colt of a donkey.
So a little donkey that had never been ridden.
What was the significance of this?
Have you ever seen a grown man riding a little donkey?
When I was a boy, there used to be a show that would come to town
called donkey basketball. Schools would use this as a fundraiser.
Varsity basketball team vs. the faculty—play in the gym, riding on donkeys.
Part of the proceeds would go to the donkey owners, part to booster club.
Is donkey basketball still around?
I’m sure the PETA people frown on donkey basketball.
But the reason it was such a hit was how silly grown people looked,
with their legs hanging down the sides, almost touching the ground.
It wasn’t any different for Jesus.
He did not look dignified on this little donkey.
And that was the point of Zechariah’s prophecy.
The Messiah, riding on a donkey, would proclaim that this is a different
kind of king. He would have an agenda different from all the other kings of men.
He would come gently and humbly to his people.
Because his purpose was not to save his people from the Romans,
but to save them from themselves.
He did enter
but as a meek and lowly king without an army.
What happens to a king when he goes to face his enemy without an army?
He is killed. Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for their sins,
not lead them in victory over the Romans in the field of battle.
So the triumphal entry was a declaration by Jesus that the Messiah
would be a lowly, suffering king.
Luke, in his Gospel, tells us that as Jesus rode along, with the people cheering,
he began to weep over their unbelief and hardness of heart.
He knew what they would do to him, and the consequences of their sin.
So his heart was broken at the very moment when even his disciples
thought his greatest day was dawning.
If Jesus had tongue-lashed this crowd, they would have taken it.
If he gave them peace and prosperity, who would mind a little tongue-lashing
now and then? After all, that’s what kings of this world do.
But he wept over them, and made public his conviction that they
had far greater problems than Roman occupation.
They were sinners who had offended God and who desperately needed salvation.
So Jesus comes to us, not on a great war horse, but on a donkey.
He comes, not to impress us with his power, but to love us at great cost to himself.
He comes, not proudly, but humbly.
He comes to us as a suffering savior, a God with wounds.
And he comes as one who weeps over sin.
His agenda for our lives, is to save us from our sins,
and to reproduce himself in us.
He wants us to be like him, agents of redemption
in humility, in sorrow over sin, and in suffering.
I think that most of the time, maybe 90% of the time we see what Jesus
wants of us and we are happy to do it, we know it’s a good thing.
His agenda for our lives is something we gladly follow.
When the Bible says give our money cheerfully and generously—good thing, do it.
Or when it says love one another, husbands love your wives—good thing, do it.
Or calls us to enter gates with thanksgiving, courts with praise—
good thing to come to church on Sunday morning.
But there are other times, maybe the other 10% when it is very hard.
Because we see that his plan for our lives is suffering.
He’s teaching us that the things of this world are not our confidence—
and so he takes them away.
He shows us the ugliness of sin by convicting us,
or letting us suffer wrongs done against us.
We push against this—No, Lord this is not what we want.
We have another agenda—it doesn’t involve this humility, this sorrow—
but he says—Yes, this is where I have you.
Now, follow your humble king.
Follow the one wounded for you.
And I will reproduce myself in you.
Last Sunday I was in a little church on the other side of the world—
that’s hard to believe. But I was.
Panruti
Presbyterian Church in
This was a church that Christ Covenant had a big part in starting.
Our gift of $350 per month supports the pastor who planted this church.
He started with nobody. Just himself and his wife—now 40 converts.
Many things that were very different from Christ Covenant.
Everybody took their shoes off, men sat on one side, women on other—
and they sat on the floor. Some of women had gold rings in noses.
I preached on Mark 4, Jesus calming the storm.
Every time I would say a sentence, pastor translated into their language.
I asked the question:
Why were the disciples in the storm that night?
Why weren’t they home in bed sleeping peacefully?
Because Jesus said, let us go to the other side.
Jesus took them into the storm, because he had things to do on the other side.
It wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t bad luck.
This was Jesus’ plan for his disciples.
As I was preaching, wondering, is this making any sense?
I know the people in Cullman would get this, but what about here?
Then, after the service, man came up to me, started telling me something—
pastor translated—about how he had been in a painful conflict over property
that was hurting his business, really bothered him that God letting this happen.
But what a comfort it was to know that Jesus was taking him through this storm,
that it was not an accident.
Then, as I talked others, eager to talk—wanted to tell me about hard things
Lord taking them through—heard stories about alcoholic, unbelieving husbands,
and couples unable to have children, and cruelties, and persecution—
things that none of them wanted—not part of their agenda.
And yet, as believers, wanted to tell me, wanted me to know—
that they had understood—we serve a Savior who suffered,
sometimes he takes us through suffering too, to make us trust him more,
and so that we can become more like him, a conduit of his grace.
How do you do this? You’re about to come to the Table and eat with Jesus.
He’s invited you—and he has an agenda.
He wants to know you and be known by you.
That’s why the Bible calls this meal “Communion.” It’s fellowship with Jesus Christ.
We all have our lists—the lists we so often bring in prayer.
Not that those are wrong, but sometime we need to fold up those lists, put away—
and simply spend time in fellowship with the Lord.
As we do, as we, in a sense put our agendas away, and focus on him—
we start to see how wonderful he is and how good his plan is for our lives.