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Mark 11:1-6 Veni, Emmanuel

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, December 13, 2021

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

11 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples 2 and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here without delay.’”

This day was Sunday, the Tenth of Nisan. Christians need to remember that for the Jews, Sunday was the first day of the work week, not a day for worship as it is for us. So there were plenty of people coming and going along the roads. Why so many? It was the day on which everyone in Israel was to select a lamb for the Passover (Exodus 12:3). Travelers were coming for the Passover Feast, one of the annual celebrations that brought almost everyone to Jerusalem (Leviticus 23:4,5). And many of these people had to find a place to stay in addition to a lamb that they would prepare for the feast.

While Jesus was heading toward the city, he sent two disciples ahead to fetch a colt, the foal of a donkey. Here he shows his omniscience and his omnipotence. Not only does he know all, but everything is under his power, “under his beck and call.” He foresees even the question that would be asked when they untied the animal, and gives his men the answer. Mark says that they were approaching a village. Since Bethany is the last village before the crest of the Mount of Olives (heading west toward Jerusalem), Jesus was probably at Bethphage or just leaving that village when he said these words. (Bethphage is a word of three syllables, and it rhymes with Bethany. Put the accent of both names on the first syllable and you have it). The Shepherd of Israel was going to come at last. He was on his way to rescue the lost sheep of Israel. Seated between his servant-messengers, the Lord was about to approach.

“O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us!” (Psalm 80:1-2).

4 They left and found a colt on the street, tied at a door; and they untied it. 5 Some who were standing there asked them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” 6 The disciples answered them just as Jesus had instructed them, and the men let them go.

The foreknowledge of Jesus reveals his divine nature. His desire for an animal to ride displays his human nature. Then there is the difference between a horse and a donkey. Still in his state of humiliation, Jesus is content to ride a donkey, and even a donkey’s foal. But the time is coming when he will come astride a white horse as a victor, bent on conquest (Revelation 6:2). For now, a lowly animal, small and even ridiculously small (the foal of a donkey would leave the Lord’s feet just about dragging on the ground) was enough. In the days of the kings of Israel, donkeys or mules (the cross between a donkey and a horse) were the mounts of Israel’s great men (2 Samuel 18:9; 1 Kings 1:33).

The words of Jesus were enough for the men responsible for the donkey colt to let it go without any more questions. Obviously they knew Jesus, and one can easily imagine an exchange at some earlier time, such as when he raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44): “If there’s anything you ever need, Lord Jesus, just say so.” When he created light, “He said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). He spoke and brought land out of the water (Genesis 1:7). He spoke again and brought plants, stones, and precious gems out of the ground there in Eden (Genesis 1:11; Ezekiel 28:13). With nothing but his spoken command he strew stars across the heavens, and set the sun and moon in their orderly places (Genesis 1:14-16). Now the Lord God, Jesus Christ, spoke again, and this time an animal would be brought just as he commanded. It was no less miraculous; no less a use of his divinity, but cloaked beneath his humble human nature, like a powerful muscle relaxed to caress rather than crush, command or create.

In Matthew’s account, there is the colt (a male) and its mother (obviously a female). Sometimes readers become confused when Matthew 21:7 says that Jesus “sat on them,” but the “them” isn’t a reference to the donkeys. The disciples actually brought both animals to Jesus. Not knowing which one he would sit on, and without the usual tack or saddle, they put their own cloaks on the animals in place of saddle or blanket. When Matthew says that Jesus sat on “them,” he doesn’t mean the animals, but the cloaks. It’s clear from Mark’s account that the colt was the one Jesus rode upon.

The season of Advent is named for the Latin term adventus, “approach.” Malachi said, “Who can endure the day of his ‘advent’?” (Malachi 3:2). Another Latin word meaning the same thing is veni (venio), which some will recognize from the Latin title of the four-commad 12th century hymn “Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel” (Veni, Emmanuel).  The coming of the Savior was long-expected. Hosea said: “It is time to seek the Lord, until he comes (venerit) and showers righteousness on you” (Hosea 10:12). Here was the King, coming to Jerusalem at long last. He would indeed shower the world with his righteousness, but not in a way that people were expecting. He was not coming to ransom his people from Roman captivity, but from the ultimate captivity of sin, death, and the power of the devil.

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel, vs. 1

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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