WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.320 We are working our way through Mark's Gospel, and the past couple Sundays Jesus had started 00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:12.000 to walk towards Jerusalem. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.960 And in the passage, Miriam just read for us, he actually enters Jerusalem. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:20.960 And so this moment, chapter 11, is the beginning of the Passion Week, so the week that will 00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:24.879 inaugurate Jesus' march all the way to the cross on Friday. 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:31.599 So today, this day in Mark 11, is Sunday, and this is typically called the Triumphal 00:00:31.599 --> 00:00:35.399 Entry passage, often known as Palm Sunday. 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:40.439 So some people will preach this text or look at this text on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:43.120 Easter every year. 00:00:43.120 --> 00:00:47.719 And it's called Palm Sunday because the other Gospels were told they lay down palms here, 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:51.000 it says they lay down leafy branches before him. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:56.679 And the people shout, before he enters Jerusalem, Hosanna, which means, that's a direct just 00:00:56.679 --> 00:01:02.560 transliteration from Hebrew, and it just means, save us, I pray, or save me please, something 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:04.159 like that. 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:08.760 And the question of this passage, which is the rest of, really the question of the rest 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:16.920 of Mark's Gospel is, how can people on Sunday say, Hosanna, save me? 00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:21.760 And then on Friday, say, crucify him. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.760 How do you get from Sunday to Friday? 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:25.519 The very same people. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:26.519 That's the question. 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:30.079 Well, the rest of Mark's Gospel tells us how that happens, but it's actually all right 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:31.719 here too in this passage. 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:33.079 It's a shout out. 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:35.480 And so let's think about it together. 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:38.240 And to see it, there's really three things to see. 00:01:38.240 --> 00:01:39.439 There's always three, right? 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:40.439 Of course. 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:45.240 There's three things to see here, and it's the irony of his entry. 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:50.280 And then the praise of the people, and then the untamed cult. 00:01:50.280 --> 00:01:54.479 All those things help us to see how we could move from Sunday to Friday. 00:01:54.479 --> 00:01:59.519 Okay, so first, the irony of his entry. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.759 Mark tells us that they come to Bethpage and then Bethany near the Mount of Olives. 00:02:04.759 --> 00:02:08.719 Now the reason for that, that they're telling us, he's telling us about the geography, exactly 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:11.840 where they are on the map, is a number of things. 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:16.280 One of the things is that the Mount of Olives becomes Jesus' home base during the Passion 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:17.280 Week. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:22.520 So most days, Jesus is going to go into Jerusalem and then come back out and stay at the Mount 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:23.520 of Olives. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:25.640 This is now home base for the end of his life. 00:02:25.640 --> 00:02:28.920 It's about a kilometer away from Jerusalem. 00:02:28.920 --> 00:02:34.520 And another reason, a theological reason, is that Ezekiel had had a vision in Ezekiel 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:41.520 chapter 11 that one day the glory of the Lord would leave the temple and rest on the Mount 00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:43.120 of Olives. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:46.880 And so in the first century, people have an association that there's a messianic promise 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:51.160 that when the Messiah comes, you will see the glory of the Lord move from the temple 00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:53.280 to the Mount of Olives. 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:55.960 Well, here it is. 00:02:55.960 --> 00:03:00.439 And that sets the tone for the rest of the passage in the details. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:06.800 When you look at the details, Jesus is different in this passage than he has been so far in 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:08.680 Mark's Gospel. 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:09.680 Look at what he says. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:14.879 Go into the village in front of you and immediately as you enter, you will find a cult. 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:21.360 Now he's saying here that there's a village, Bethany, that we have yet to come to. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.800 And when you two disciples, whoever they were, go, you're going to find this cult. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:26.240 He's going to be tied up. 00:03:26.240 --> 00:03:28.719 Now Jesus knows where the cult is. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:30.600 They've not seen the cult yet. 00:03:30.600 --> 00:03:32.400 But he knows the cult is there. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.120 When you get there, you will untie it. 00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:38.360 He probably knows what the knot they used is to tie the cult up. 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:41.480 And people are going to even say to you, why are you taking this cult? 00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:45.680 And you just tell them the Lord has called for it. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.440 And the people are going to say, okay, what Lord? 00:03:48.440 --> 00:03:49.440 I don't know. 00:03:49.440 --> 00:03:50.440 The Lord has spoken. 00:03:50.440 --> 00:03:51.440 Whatever. 00:03:51.440 --> 00:03:52.440 He's spoken. 00:03:52.440 --> 00:03:59.160 You see, Jesus here comes to us in a different way than he's come in the rest of Mark's Gospel. 00:03:59.160 --> 00:04:03.640 When he says, tell the people that the Lord has asked for it, he's talking about himself 00:04:03.640 --> 00:04:05.880 all of a sudden. 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:12.439 And this is a self-reference that he's not really been openly using throughout most of 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:13.439 Mark's Gospel. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.399 So in the beginning of Mark's Gospel, you might remember he heals a paralyzed man. 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:19.000 This is one of the first things he does. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.040 And he tells the man, do not tell anybody. 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:26.079 And yet the man goes into the village and tells everybody, and Jesus is not able then 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:27.399 to enter the village. 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:32.000 And so the whole of Mark's Gospel, he's been keeping what we call the messianic secret. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:34.800 Don't tell anybody who I am. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:41.079 And now all of a sudden, when he sets his face to enter Jerusalem, he says, I'm the 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.960 Lord and when you go and use my name in front of people who have no idea what's happening, 00:04:44.960 --> 00:04:47.600 they will know, they will obey. 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.240 He's got this moment here where he takes control. 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:53.240 He unveils in a way. 00:04:53.240 --> 00:04:58.480 Maybe you've had the experience, many of you will have, where you play sports with children. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:02.560 And when you play sports with kids, you do the responsible adult thing. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.560 You hold back. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.759 You're playing football maybe with a child. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.480 And no matter how good the kid thinks he is at football, this may or may not have happened 00:05:13.480 --> 00:05:15.519 at my house. 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:19.959 Eventually, you let them take the ball. 00:05:19.959 --> 00:05:21.000 You trip over the ball. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:22.279 You fumble the ball. 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:26.079 You mess up and you let them run with it and score a goal. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.000 But then all of a sudden, if you've been playing for a little while, there's that moment where 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:33.279 you do the Maradona turn. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:35.719 You rainbow flick. 00:05:35.719 --> 00:05:40.119 You volley into the upper right 90 if you're able. 00:05:40.119 --> 00:05:45.759 And the people, they see, the jaws drop. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:47.639 They see, wow, look at that. 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:49.079 Look at the ability. 00:05:49.079 --> 00:05:50.359 The glory is unveiled. 00:05:50.359 --> 00:05:51.879 You've been holding back. 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:54.679 And it's sort of like this. 00:05:54.679 --> 00:05:56.119 That's a poor illustration. 00:05:56.119 --> 00:06:02.599 But Jesus Christ has concealed his glory so far in Mark's Gospel. 00:06:02.600 --> 00:06:09.120 From the children, from the disciples, from everybody around him, and now he's not hiding. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:10.520 And he says, the Lord needs the cold. 00:06:10.520 --> 00:06:11.520 I know where the cold is. 00:06:11.520 --> 00:06:12.680 Go get the cold. 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:14.360 This has been my plan. 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.160 And they go and they get it. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:20.720 You can imagine that when you go and say to somebody, you know, I'm taking this cold. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:25.480 This, by the way, it's a donkey, Matthew tells us, a baby donkey that belongs to somebody 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:26.480 else. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:28.120 And you just say, well, the Lord needs it. 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:29.520 And there's no explanation here. 00:06:29.520 --> 00:06:30.520 They don't have a choice. 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.319 They just say, OK, OK. 00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:35.639 He's externalizing his authority. 00:06:35.639 --> 00:06:36.919 He's unveiling. 00:06:36.919 --> 00:06:39.199 He's showing who he really is. 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:40.719 And a few other details. 00:06:40.719 --> 00:06:44.799 We're told here that this cold was never ridden upon before. 00:06:44.799 --> 00:06:46.000 It's untamed. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.399 And James Edwards, one of the commentators who was actually in Edinburgh this past week, 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:57.879 lecturing, he talks about how in Numbers 19 and Deuteronomy 23, there's a reference that 00:06:57.879 --> 00:07:03.480 a animal, a beast of burden like a donkey that's never been used before, has a particular 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:04.959 purity about it. 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:10.600 And that's why in the temple sacrifices that were made needed to be at their best, unused 00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:15.360 animals, animals that had never really been used. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:22.319 And there's this Hebrew idea, this Old Testament idea, that this untamed cold has a purity, 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:24.560 a purity that's fit for a king. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:28.920 But even more than that, the tradition develops, and across the whole ancient Near East in 00:07:28.920 --> 00:07:33.639 the culture, this is recorded in rabbinic literature in the Mishnah, it said that no 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.600 one can ever ride a king's horse. 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:39.959 So if anybody ever sits on a king's horse, that horse has to be gotten rid of. 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:42.199 A new horse has to come. 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:46.639 Only the king can ride on the king's horse, and only the king can ride on the king's donkey. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:48.879 It has to be unset on before. 00:07:48.879 --> 00:07:51.279 And you see this image just gathering. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:52.560 Jesus is unveiling. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:54.360 It's saying, Jesus is king. 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:55.720 Jesus is king. 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.720 You keep going, verse eight, they then lay down their cloaks and their leafy branches 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:01.520 and their palms. 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:05.040 And this is not the first time this has happened in the Bible. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:08.960 They did this for Jehu in the Old Testament and the book of Second Kings. 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:15.439 They lay down their cloaks and branches for Jehu, the king to walk on in Israel. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:20.879 But even more significant than that is the historical moment that every person in this 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:21.960 time knew about. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:27.479 So if you went to school in the first century, you learned about your history. 00:08:27.479 --> 00:08:34.720 And your history included that 175 years before this, a man by the name of Simon Maccabees 00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:39.799 had defeated the Syrians when they occupied the land here. 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:42.799 And he had marched his army back to Jerusalem. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:47.919 And when he did that, they blew the trumpets, they laid down their cloaks, they laid down 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:50.319 palm branches. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:53.200 And he entered Jerusalem on a mighty steed. 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.400 And this was a great moment in their history and they remembered it. 00:08:56.400 --> 00:09:00.160 And every single commentator says there's no doubt that everybody's thinking of Simon 00:09:00.160 --> 00:09:03.280 Maccabees as Jesus enters the picture here. 00:09:03.280 --> 00:09:04.680 It's on their mind. 00:09:04.680 --> 00:09:09.480 And that's when you realize the distinction. 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:10.680 He is unveiling himself. 00:09:10.680 --> 00:09:11.680 He is a king. 00:09:11.680 --> 00:09:16.400 And every thing about this passage says that they're thinking again, Simon Maccabees, he 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:24.279 rode in in power with a great army blowing the trumpet on a mighty stallion. 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:29.759 And it's been pointed out by others that this passage, the triumphal entry, has a connection 00:09:29.759 --> 00:09:36.519 or is at least maybe being thought of in Revelation chapter 5, verses 5 to 6, where we've got 00:09:36.519 --> 00:09:43.679 this dichotomy put together where it says in Revelation 5 that Jesus Christ is the lion, 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:50.239 the lion of the mighty tribe of Judah, and he's the lamb who came to be slain and that 00:09:50.239 --> 00:09:52.120 those things go together. 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.319 John puts it like that before us in Revelation 5. 00:09:54.319 --> 00:09:59.120 And you see here, Jesus Christ is clearly saying he's coming into Jerusalem as a king 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:02.519 as the mighty lion of the tribe of Judah. 00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:09.240 And then you realize he enters not on a mighty steed, but a baby donkey. 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.719 And this baby donkey, have you seen a baby donkey? 00:10:11.719 --> 00:10:13.240 A colt. 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:19.320 They are steeds actually fit for hobbits. 00:10:19.320 --> 00:10:23.600 If you were to, a full grown adult, you drag your feet. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:26.759 If you ride on a baby donkey, your feet are going to be dragging the whole way along the 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:27.759 road. 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:32.039 This is not an appropriate animal for Jesus' entry. 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:35.519 They're reminded of Simon Maccabees, but he is not like Simon Maccabees. 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:41.840 He is truly greater in himself, yet visibly lesser as he enters. 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:47.519 Simultaneously, there's two things being fit together at the same time here. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:49.759 Simon Maccabees came in on a mighty steed. 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:51.399 He would have never ridden a donkey. 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:56.120 Yet at the same time, Simon Maccabees could have never told his followers in the next 00:10:56.120 --> 00:11:01.000 town, there is a donkey tied up that I know about even though I've never seen it before. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:06.800 He comes in true power, and yet at the same time, he's visibly lesser. 00:11:06.800 --> 00:11:08.519 And those two things are being put together. 00:11:08.519 --> 00:11:16.319 Now, Matthew, Luke, these other gospels that talk about this, they make this really apparent 00:11:16.319 --> 00:11:23.360 and visible for us because they say that this moment is the fulfillment of Zechariah 9.9. 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:31.919 And in Zechariah 9.9, Matthew quotes, it says, here comes a rider, the king. 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:37.720 But when Matthew and Luke quote from this prophecy, they cut a sentence out. 00:11:37.720 --> 00:11:45.480 So in Zechariah, the original prophecy says that the king comes to you righteous and bearing 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:50.120 salvation, riding on a donkey. 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:51.120 That's the original prophecy. 00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:56.519 But in Matthew, Matthew says, the king comes to you riding on a donkey. 00:11:56.519 --> 00:12:01.480 He cuts out the middle bit that says righteous, full of salvation, visibly. 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:06.000 And because Matthew's trying to show you the two things that go together, that Jesus Christ 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:09.559 is the lion and the lamb. 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:13.720 He's the king, and yet he comes in humility. 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:18.159 This is a kingly processional, a triumphal entry, but it's not triumphal at all. 00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.759 He's coming in on a baby donkey. 00:12:20.759 --> 00:12:24.960 And actually, there's probably not that many people gathered around him, not nearly like 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:27.840 the memory of something like Simon Maccabees. 00:12:27.840 --> 00:12:34.080 It's striking in verse 11 that as soon as he enters the city, he goes up to the temple 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:39.240 and Mark very deliberately gives you a tone that everything's just quiet now. 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:41.360 There's no more fanfare. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:46.520 As soon as he crosses the threshold of the gate, there's nobody celebrating anymore. 00:12:46.520 --> 00:12:48.120 It's gone quiet. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:52.440 He's not being celebrated as the king when he actually enters into the heart of Jerusalem. 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:57.879 Now that means we're being told something very simple, incredibly obvious in a way that 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:02.360 Mark's been saying the entirety of Mark's gospel. 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:12.440 And it is this that Jesus Christ is majestic and royal and kingly and gentle and lowly and 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:14.519 meek and mild. 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:19.279 He is the lion and he is the lamb simultaneously. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:27.399 And there is no other person in all of human history that can be both, except the God-man, 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:30.080 the exalted one who made himself low. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:35.240 And what Mark is telling you is that the heartbeat of the Passion Week, and we've said this 00:13:35.240 --> 00:13:42.000 50 times already in this gospel, is that he enters into the city in a way that is telling 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:44.200 us exactly why he's come. 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:49.879 He enters into the city in a way that says the king has come to humble himself all the 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:52.600 way to the point of death. 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:54.680 That's the pronouncement of his triumphal entry. 00:13:54.680 --> 00:13:56.840 It's not really that triumphal. 00:13:56.840 --> 00:14:01.120 And the reason is because in his triumphal entry he's coming to say that he's coming 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.680 to die. 00:14:02.680 --> 00:14:03.680 He's coming to humble himself. 00:14:03.680 --> 00:14:08.480 He's riding on a donkey to pronounce that he's come for Friday. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:09.480 That's the very point. 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:13.040 You see, the irony of his entry is the irony of the whole of Mark's gospel. 00:14:13.040 --> 00:14:16.840 And it's that the way to glory is death. 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:23.480 And the way to kingship for him to be exalted is to go down as a slave, to go down as a crucified 00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:29.200 criminal, and it means that this entry is not all that triumphal. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.720 Here's the lesson for us. 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:39.159 The lesson for us is that we're being asked here to really look at, to really look at, 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:43.240 no matter how long you've been sitting in the church, to really look at today, the infinite 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:52.879 God who became a finite human, the king who came to be so low, the true king who came to 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:56.720 ride on a little donkey. 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:06.399 We're being asked to see that the way of the cross is actually for us also the way of salvation. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:10.360 In that in the same way that Jesus Christ came to be exalted by going all the way to 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:17.960 the bottom, by becoming low, that's exactly how we receive salvation. 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:22.840 If you want to receive the power that he came to give to be exalted, to be glorified, we 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:28.280 saw in the last couple of weeks to become great, truly great, you've got to humble yourself 00:15:28.280 --> 00:15:29.280 too. 00:15:29.280 --> 00:15:35.960 See, that his entry actually tells you the condition of the acceptance of his power, 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:39.560 that you've got to become humble, you've got to become low, like he came, he came riding 00:15:39.560 --> 00:15:44.480 on a donkey, and he got to say, I don't belong on a great steed, I know who I am, I belong 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:45.480 on a donkey. 00:15:45.480 --> 00:15:51.480 I've got to go low like he went low to receive the power that he claimed when he went all 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.720 the way to the bottom of the cross. 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:59.560 So it not only preaches the fact of the cross, but the way of salvation as we receive it. 00:15:59.560 --> 00:16:04.680 In other words, his entry is telling us, I'm not, I know, I have to know that I'm not today 00:16:04.680 --> 00:16:06.800 accepted by my works. 00:16:06.800 --> 00:16:09.000 I'm not accepted by my greatness. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:10.920 I'm not accepted by my accomplishments. 00:16:10.919 --> 00:16:17.519 I'm not accepted by anything that I could do that the only way to glory is actually the 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:24.479 path of humility, to humble yourself in a similar way that he did, except when he did 00:16:24.479 --> 00:16:27.599 it, he went to claim all the power. 00:16:27.599 --> 00:16:32.159 His lowliness becomes his exultation, and that's power for us. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:36.120 Now, secondly, let's make that more specific. 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:37.759 That's pretty general. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:43.519 And the more specific way you can see that is by looking at the praise of the people here. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:51.480 Secondly, and much more briefly, the people say from verse nine, Hosanna, remember that's 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.799 a Hebrew word that means save us please. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:16:57.200 So they cry out, Hosanna, save us please. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:03.559 And we're told here that they came, they said, you are the one, blessed is he, Jesus, who 00:17:03.559 --> 00:17:06.920 comes in the name of the Lord. 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:12.920 Blessed is the one who brings or blessed is the coming kingdom of our Father David. 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:21.080 Now these are tricky sayings, because when you read the commentators, and they seem to 00:17:21.080 --> 00:17:27.080 largely agree about this, the suggestion is that they are not saying anything in these 00:17:27.080 --> 00:17:33.000 statements that show that they think he is coming to save them from their sins. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:40.680 Instead, the commentators say that actually they are praising him because they have hopes 00:17:40.680 --> 00:17:47.359 for either a military conqueror or just another great prophet that is signaling the coming 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:49.000 of the end. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:54.480 And so when they say things like, Hosanna, save us, it's possible that they have in mind 00:17:54.480 --> 00:18:01.059 the history of Simon Maccabees, or when they say, a blessed is the coming of the kingdom 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:02.680 of our Father David. 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:07.279 It's not that they're attributing this lineage to Jesus himself in this moment. 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.120 They're just saying at this moment we think this could be a person who might signal the 00:18:11.120 --> 00:18:14.840 end for us, a coming of salvation of some way, shape, or form. 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:18.000 And so the commentators will say that you realize actually when you read the details 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:23.039 and you read it in the light of the other gospels that this was not as big of a deal 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:25.080 as it first comes to us on the surface. 00:18:25.080 --> 00:18:30.759 And the reason we know that is because the Romans aren't triggered by it. 00:18:30.759 --> 00:18:32.039 The Pharisees aren't triggered by it. 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:33.720 The Sadducees aren't triggered by it. 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:35.680 Nobody comes out upset. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:36.799 Nobody's angry. 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:42.759 They will be a couple of days later after they realize the claims he's actually making. 00:18:42.759 --> 00:18:45.480 But at this point, nobody's mad. 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.879 And it's because there's a recognition here that most of the people probably don't realize 00:18:49.879 --> 00:18:52.000 why he's coming. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:56.319 And so they're attributing to him something that maybe he did not come for. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:00.799 He came for something so much bigger and they can't yet see it. 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:05.480 And so you see that when he goes to the temple in verse 11, there's a juxtaposition here. 00:19:05.480 --> 00:19:06.559 He goes to the temple. 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:08.799 That's the very first thing he does. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:15.440 And James Edward says that Mark is here suggesting that he doesn't go in and go straight to the 00:19:15.440 --> 00:19:18.000 Roman fortitude, the Roman garrison. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:23.159 He goes to the temple because he's coming to pronounce the precise reason why he's coming 00:19:23.159 --> 00:19:24.159 to the city. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:31.360 In other words, Mark is signaling for us that Jesus Christ has come to be the temple. 00:19:31.360 --> 00:19:34.840 He's coming to fulfill something, his entry, but what is it that he's fulfilling? 00:19:34.840 --> 00:19:39.120 And we're being told here that what he's fulfilling is that he's come to be the fulfillment of 00:19:39.120 --> 00:19:40.720 the temple itself. 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:42.240 This is the place of sacrifice. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.000 This is the place of atonement. 00:19:44.000 --> 00:19:45.720 This is the place of worship. 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:47.880 And that's why he goes straight there. 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.400 And that's where people are going to get so mad at him. 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:56.120 That's how we move from Sunday to Monday because they realize that he begins to teach later, 00:19:56.120 --> 00:19:59.080 I've come to be the temple. 00:19:59.080 --> 00:20:00.800 I've come to be the object of worship. 00:20:00.800 --> 00:20:05.600 I've come to be the fulfillment of the entire sacrificial system. 00:20:05.600 --> 00:20:11.440 Something so much more than what they thought when they were saying, Hosanna, the coming 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.160 of our kingdom through the lineage of David. 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:16.080 Here it is that they couldn't see yet what he had really come for. 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:20.160 Now let me give you three practical things that that means for us. 00:20:20.160 --> 00:20:22.200 The first is this. 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:25.120 That means that it is very possible that you can praise him. 00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:30.040 We can praise him and not understand him. 00:20:30.040 --> 00:20:36.640 We can shout Hosanna and not really see who he is and what he came to do. 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.600 And let me say it this way. 00:20:40.600 --> 00:20:44.720 Another way to say it is they are shouting this because they are crying out for help 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:48.040 in the midst of heart circumstances. 00:20:48.039 --> 00:20:52.839 And one of the ways that you can praise him and not really see the whole of what he came 00:20:52.839 --> 00:21:01.079 for is by examining whether or not in your life you have maybe an on again, off again 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:06.480 relationship to Jesus and the on again, off again switch. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:13.319 The reason it's on again and off again is because we often approach him only when we 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:17.960 have deep needs because our circumstances are really hard. 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:23.559 So a lot of times in life we are off from him until the need, that moment, that issue, 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:27.840 that relationship that's broken, that job that fails comes into our life and then all 00:21:27.840 --> 00:21:31.400 of a sudden we enter back into prayer. 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:38.000 And if that's the case then that means we're struggling in a similar way with saying Jesus 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:44.039 exists to meet my needs in the midst of hard times. 00:21:44.039 --> 00:21:48.639 Another way of saying this is that it's a type of relationship you can have with Christ 00:21:48.639 --> 00:21:54.519 where we treat him more like a genie in a bottle rather than the Lord of the cosmos, 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:57.039 rather than the fulfillment of the temple. 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:04.480 And it's where we call upon him and use him for our three wishes whenever it's time, whenever 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:09.000 we really need a genie to get us out of something hard. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:15.319 And that's one way that it's possible to follow him and yet not see him for who he 00:22:15.319 --> 00:22:22.599 really is, that he came to be the fulfillment of the deepest, deepest things that we need 00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:25.079 and to be the Lord of the cosmos for us. 00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:27.519 Now let's get more specific, secondly, than that. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:33.000 One way maybe this works out is that what we're being asked here I think is to see that 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:37.119 what we want is not really what we need. 00:22:37.119 --> 00:22:41.199 And we've said this several times in this series, but our strongest desires as human 00:22:41.199 --> 00:22:44.119 beings are not our deepest desires. 00:22:44.119 --> 00:22:48.399 That what we want on the surface to get out of the circumstance that we might be in is 00:22:48.399 --> 00:22:52.839 not, is probably not, maybe not the deepest thing that we need. 00:22:52.839 --> 00:22:57.599 It doesn't correspond to our deepest needs and our deepest desires, our desires underneath 00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:59.919 the surface. 00:22:59.919 --> 00:23:05.319 They shout, they shout, save us, I pray. 00:23:05.319 --> 00:23:10.480 And when we come to God in prayer, we can say, save me, save me from this, save me from 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.799 this circumstance, save me from this. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:18.639 I had a plan, I had a plan and I've never gotten the relationship that I wanted. 00:23:18.639 --> 00:23:23.159 I had a plan and the job ladder that I had hoped to climb has not worked out and I'm 00:23:23.159 --> 00:23:25.319 completely unfulfilled. 00:23:25.319 --> 00:23:29.599 I had a plan and I got a cancer diagnosis at age 40. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:32.439 I had a plan, save me from this, right? 00:23:32.440 --> 00:23:36.960 We can shout that and then we can turn and say on the flip side, why is God answering 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:38.920 my prayers like that? 00:23:38.920 --> 00:23:42.200 Or why has he not answering my prayers? 00:23:42.200 --> 00:23:45.880 It feels like he's not answering the prayers I've been praying for my circumstances to 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:51.400 change and he goes to the cross here. 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:55.840 They're shouting Hosanna, but they're not shouting it because they know the reason he 00:23:55.840 --> 00:24:00.759 came or even the need that they really have. 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:07.039 When he goes to the cross, the king become humble and gives us what we need even when 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:11.160 we didn't ask for it. 00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:14.759 It's been said like this, I'm not sure who originally said it like this, but it's a 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:18.160 very famous quote now that you hear from preachers. 00:24:18.160 --> 00:24:23.559 When we pray and we ask the Lord to help us, he gives us what we would have asked for if 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:26.279 we knew all that he knows. 00:24:26.279 --> 00:24:29.039 You say, why aren't you answering my prayers? 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:30.359 Why aren't you changing things in my life? 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:31.959 Why has my life turned out this way? 00:24:31.959 --> 00:24:40.119 He gives us what we would have asked for if we knew everything that he knows. 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:46.119 He comes to meet the need we actually have even when we don't know we need it. 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:48.199 That's exactly what he did when he passed through the gates of Jerusalem. 00:24:48.199 --> 00:24:50.719 They didn't know the need that they had. 00:24:50.719 --> 00:24:53.839 They think he's come for a different reason, but he goes to the cross. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:56.359 They are crucified, criminal. 00:24:56.359 --> 00:24:59.159 This could not be the plan. 00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:02.080 But he came to meet the need that they really had. 00:25:02.080 --> 00:25:05.480 Now one more thing, even more specific. 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:10.400 What we learn here is that that means that there is nothing more fickle, one very specific 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:11.400 application. 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:16.400 There's nothing more fickle than the praise of human beings. 00:25:16.400 --> 00:25:20.400 He enters into the city and they shout, Hosanna in the highest. 00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:22.920 Hosanna in the highest. 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:29.080 On Friday, the same people are going to say crucify him in deadly anger. 00:25:29.079 --> 00:25:34.319 That has to tell us that one of the things we don't need, even though we think and we 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:41.720 feel like we do, is the consistent praise of other human beings. 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:48.000 In other words, we learn here that we cannot build our life on people's opinions. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:50.000 You can't build your life around what people think about you. 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:53.159 This is a hard saying and a hard, hard lesson. 00:25:53.160 --> 00:25:59.519 That if Twitter, ex formerly known as Twitter, has taught us anything, it's that you can 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:06.560 be king or queen on this day and be canceled and thrown out the next day. 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:09.800 That people's opinions are always changing. 00:26:09.800 --> 00:26:14.120 And that following the opinion of the crowd, the opinion of the populace is never a good 00:26:14.120 --> 00:26:16.240 idea. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.360 And you can't build your life on it. 00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:18.759 You can't rely on it. 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:24.599 And Jesus Christ was loved and he was hated the very next day, and that's always the case. 00:26:24.599 --> 00:26:27.879 That's the problem of the allure of celebrity. 00:26:27.879 --> 00:26:31.640 As the deep, deep desire, we all have to be praised by other human beings. 00:26:31.640 --> 00:26:32.920 And it's fickle. 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:35.160 Matthew Perry died yesterday. 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:36.640 Very famous actor. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:37.640 Maybe you haven't seen that yet. 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:40.160 In the news, many of you will know who he is. 00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:44.879 Matthew Perry died yesterday and they posted on the New York Times an interview that he 00:26:44.879 --> 00:26:47.319 had done some years ago. 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:48.319 And this is what he said. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:52.000 He was a guy who wanted to become famous. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:56.480 There was steam coming out of my ears because I wanted it so badly. 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:57.879 I wanted the attention. 00:26:57.879 --> 00:26:59.519 I wanted the money. 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:03.079 I wanted the best seat in the best restaurants. 00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:04.679 And I did not know the repercussions. 00:27:04.679 --> 00:27:08.000 I did not know what it would cost me. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.439 We all desire the praise of the praiseworthy. 00:27:10.439 --> 00:27:12.879 That's the reason celebrity exists. 00:27:12.879 --> 00:27:17.240 And then we desire it in a thousand degrees less underneath the level of celebrity. 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:18.240 We want to be praised. 00:27:18.240 --> 00:27:21.680 We thought well of this passage shows us where we need it. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:24.000 We need the praise of the praiseworthy. 00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.000 We need it. 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:30.480 We can't live without it actually, but it's not in the crowd. 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:37.720 Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, he had become a person through all his trials who could 00:27:37.720 --> 00:27:42.640 say, I don't care what people say about me. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.839 He writes, I don't care what the court says about me. 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:49.919 I don't even say, I don't even care what I say about me. 00:27:49.919 --> 00:27:51.839 That's what he says in 1 Corinthians 4. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:52.839 That is not my identity. 00:27:52.839 --> 00:27:57.639 And he says, all I care about is what Jesus Christ says about me. 00:27:57.639 --> 00:28:00.199 The praise of the praiseworthy is above all reward. 00:28:00.199 --> 00:28:01.720 And we need it desperately. 00:28:01.720 --> 00:28:08.000 But listen, go to Jesus Christ, the King who became so humbled for you to hear the praise 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:09.720 of the praiseworthy. 00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:12.359 To say above you and before you, you're mine. 00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:13.599 I'm not going to let you go. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:17.679 You're a child, you're a brother, you're in the family of God. 00:28:17.679 --> 00:28:21.439 It's better than all the rewards of the praise of the crowds. 00:28:21.439 --> 00:28:27.959 Now lastly, we need then, that means very briefly, the preaching here that we're being 00:28:27.959 --> 00:28:33.519 given in the message of the untamed cult. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:34.639 There's a cult here. 00:28:34.639 --> 00:28:36.759 Remember a donkey, a baby donkey. 00:28:36.759 --> 00:28:38.759 And that cult has never been set upon. 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:41.159 It is untamed. 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:44.720 This tells us a couple things as we close, and this gives us all the strength we need, 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:46.880 I think. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:47.880 This is what it tells us. 00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:52.600 James Edwards, again, he says the overwhelming feature of this text is one thing. 00:28:52.600 --> 00:28:59.519 When you read verses one to six, that there's an unveiling of Jesus' precise foreknowledge 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:01.279 of everything that's about to take place. 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.279 Now that's what we saw at the beginning. 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:07.040 Everything that happens, Jesus knows and he's planned. 00:29:07.040 --> 00:29:10.279 And this is the point of this story, the triumphal entry. 00:29:10.279 --> 00:29:11.920 It's all to plan. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:14.879 Jesus knows, Jesus is not passive in this. 00:29:14.879 --> 00:29:16.799 This is what Jesus has decided. 00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.839 This is what Jesus has come to do. 00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:19.960 He's made the plan. 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:23.599 Now he's doing it and he's unveiling that plan before us. 00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:30.079 When you come later in the week, this passion week to Thursday, the Roman soldiers are going 00:29:30.079 --> 00:29:32.160 to come and arrest Jesus. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:35.200 And when they do, he speaks his name before them. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:42.559 They fall down on their faces and he has to tell them, come on, this is the time. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:44.240 It's your time to arrest me. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:45.240 Get on with it. 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:47.559 Jesus Christ is not passive. 00:29:47.559 --> 00:29:48.680 He has planned all this. 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:50.360 He's decided how this is going to go. 00:29:50.360 --> 00:29:52.360 He's the one that's chosen to be this. 00:29:52.360 --> 00:29:58.720 He is the lion that has decided to become the lamb who would be slain. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:01.559 That's what we see across the board in this passage. 00:30:01.559 --> 00:30:08.079 Now here's one very specific thing that that means when Jesus calls for the untamed colt, 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:11.200 a colt that has never been ridden upon a baby. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:12.200 Let me ask you a question. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:17.919 Have you ever been around baby horses, colts, baby donkeys? 00:30:17.919 --> 00:30:24.559 I've done a stint in a season of life where I was around this. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:31.319 And if you've ever tried to get on a horse or a colt of any kind that is not tamed, do 00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:32.319 you know what happens? 00:30:32.319 --> 00:30:36.679 They're going to throw you off in a heartbeat and they're going to kick at you and it's 00:30:36.679 --> 00:30:41.720 dangerous and you have to be a professional wrangler to be able to deal with this. 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:43.119 This is very difficult. 00:30:43.119 --> 00:30:44.119 And D.A. 00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:49.399 Carson and his commentary on Matthew's account, he points out that a colt that's never been 00:30:49.399 --> 00:30:52.639 ridden upon cannot be ridden upon. 00:30:52.639 --> 00:30:57.599 A colt that is untamed cannot be immediately tamed, not at all. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:02.439 And in the beginning of Mark's gospel, it says that Jesus, when he was tempted, he was 00:31:02.439 --> 00:31:08.359 driven into the wilderness and he was there, Mark adds this one little line, with the wild 00:31:08.359 --> 00:31:10.919 animals. 00:31:10.919 --> 00:31:14.559 And here he is again at the end, the beginning of the Passion Week and he's with a wild 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:17.279 animal who has not been tamed. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:18.959 Why? 00:31:18.959 --> 00:31:23.079 The reason for this is Mark is trying to help us to go all the way back to the beginning 00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:29.639 and remember that in Genesis chapter two, Jesus, Jesus, God, God the Father, Son and 00:31:29.639 --> 00:31:36.679 Spirit gave Adam and Eve dominion over all of creation. 00:31:36.679 --> 00:31:42.379 And that meant that Adam had the ability to call all the animals to him and name them. 00:31:42.379 --> 00:31:44.839 And that act of naming was an act of authority. 00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:45.839 It was an act of control. 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:50.399 It was that the animals were for him and with them and underneath them and there was perfect 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:54.960 harmony and peace between them and as soon as Genesis three comes around, it's all broken. 00:31:54.960 --> 00:31:57.840 And now we have, for the first time, wild animals. 00:31:57.840 --> 00:32:01.960 And you can go through the Old Testament and read the very specific stories of the wild 00:32:01.960 --> 00:32:02.960 animals. 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.600 It's a real motif, like the bears that come out of the woods. 00:32:05.600 --> 00:32:06.600 Why? 00:32:06.600 --> 00:32:07.600 Why is that there? 00:32:07.600 --> 00:32:08.600 Why is that in the Bible? 00:32:08.600 --> 00:32:13.280 You come to Mark and Jesus goes and he lives for a season with the wild animals. 00:32:13.280 --> 00:32:17.680 He comes to the end, the beginning of the Passion Week and he sits on the donkey that 00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:22.200 was never tamed and yet it serves him beautifully. 00:32:22.200 --> 00:32:28.720 And you see that it's saying that Jesus Christ has not only planned this, every bit of it, 00:32:28.720 --> 00:32:30.680 but he is the Lord over everything. 00:32:30.680 --> 00:32:33.440 He is the second Adam. 00:32:33.440 --> 00:32:35.480 He has come to be what Adam never was. 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:38.320 He has come to be what every person in the Old Testament never could have been. 00:32:38.320 --> 00:32:40.240 He has come to fulfill every promise. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:45.440 He has come to be all that humanity needed, but never could have had a part from God become 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:46.880 human being. 00:32:46.880 --> 00:32:51.840 The King who became humble, the King who went all the way to the bottom, Jesus Christ's 00:32:51.840 --> 00:32:58.000 entry on this untamed cult that was immediately tamed when he sat on it says to you, God 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:02.720 is holding all things together for your good, no matter what's going on. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:07.240 It says that he is the King of new creation and it's coming, the time when the animals 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:09.800 will stop kicking at us. 00:33:09.800 --> 00:33:14.520 He's the one bringing that about and that means today whatever is going on in your life, 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:21.039 you've got to remember that he is the God who came to this world and told the storm 00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:24.920 to cease and turned around and then fed the hungry. 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:27.440 He does both. 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:30.799 He will stop all the storms and all the conflicts and he will turn around and he will feed the 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:32.359 hungry. 00:33:32.359 --> 00:33:40.639 He is in charge of everything, every conflict and there is nothing out there, but the hope 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:46.000 that all things are really, truly working together for the good of those who love him 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.240 and are called according to his purposes. 00:33:49.240 --> 00:33:50.920 He really is that powerful. 00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:52.759 He really does have that much authority. 00:33:52.759 --> 00:33:57.680 Your hope is not in your circumstances. 00:33:57.680 --> 00:34:00.759 Your hope is not in the praise of people, the crowd. 00:34:00.759 --> 00:34:03.360 It's in him, his power. 00:34:03.360 --> 00:34:06.960 I'll leave you with Job 1315. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:09.760 One of my favorite hymns is written from this text. 00:34:09.760 --> 00:34:20.640 Job 1315, Job says, though he slay me, though he slay me, I will trust him. 00:34:20.640 --> 00:34:22.200 Let's pray together. 00:34:22.200 --> 00:34:31.160 Lord, whatever is going on in our lives, whether it's a deep longing for better circumstances 00:34:31.160 --> 00:34:39.480 or a deep sadness, we turn today to look upon the rider on the donkey. 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:44.880 The one who entered Jerusalem to become the lamb who would be slain. 00:34:44.880 --> 00:34:49.920 We really do today ask, Lord, that you would break through our cold and hard hearts and 00:34:49.920 --> 00:34:57.320 give us a real hope and a real victory and a real promise that you are for us all the 00:34:57.320 --> 00:34:59.559 way to the end. 00:34:59.559 --> 00:35:05.119 We need that so much right now as we look out and see the pain that so many people in 00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:07.480 our world are experiencing. 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:08.480 This is our hope. 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:09.840 We pray this so much. 00:35:09.840 --> 00:35:10.840 So teach it to us. 00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:12.679 Help us to really believe it today. 00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:13.920 And we pray this in Christ's name. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:41.920 Amen.