Mark 11:1-11 – Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples 2 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. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” 4 And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. 5 And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. 8 And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. 9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
11 And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
In Mark 11:1-11, it sure seems like the crowd realizes who Jesus is and what he’s there to do. But he knows what is in their hearts; the previous scene with the cloaks and branches and singing was all misguided, false worship. There were three groups highlighted by Mark, if you count the twelve as a separate group along with those who were following from Jericho and those who joined in on the way down the mountain to Jerusalem. However, none of the three groups will remain with him all the way to the end at the cross. Why? Because they all came to Jesus with wrong motives. This is a great follow up text from last week (Mark 10:46-52), in which we stressed the necessity to cry out for God for mercy. Here, the crowd cries out for God’s salvation, but defines it on their own terms and it’s void of any recognition of guilt. “Save us” really meant “Defeat our enemies and make us great in this world.” Once again, they have wrongly identified their main problem as that which exists outside themselves, instead of the hearts. They misunderstand the nature of his salvation in that they assume it’s physical and political. The core of the work of Christ is offering himself as a ransom payment (10:45) for sinners. All of our interactions with Christ must have this truth at the center.