The Text
Mark 11:1-11 (CSB) 1 When they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany near 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.
3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here right away.’”
4 So they went and found a colt outside in the street, tied by a door. They untied it,
5 and some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?”
6 They answered them just as Jesus had said; so they let them go.
7 They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their clothes on it, and he sat on it.
8 Many people spread their clothes on the road, and others spread leafy branches cut from the fields.
9 Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted: 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 heaven!
11 He went into Jerusalem and into the temple. After looking around at everything, since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
The Devotion
We are the people who will rejoice the coming of the Messiah.
Christ came to fix our real problems.
Matthew 1:21 (CSB) She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
Colossians 2:15 (CSB) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
Ephesians 2:1-2 (CSB) And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.
Titus 3:3-5 (CSB) For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by various passions and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, detesting one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, he saved us—not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy—through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
Here’s the kick. Without the indwelling of God in our lives, we are not going to see sin as the problem in our lives. Heck, even with God in our lives, we have a difficult time seeing what really matters versus inconvenient circumstances.
And the people who cheer and shouted, Hosanna! Hosanna for the arrive of Christ, did not have the Triune God dwelling in them because Christ had not sent the Holy Spirit from the Father just yet.
It won’t be but a short time later until these same people will be shouting, “Crucify, crucify!”
That is the sin indwelling.
We need God now more than ever.
The Discussion
1. Have you asked God today to come save you today?
The Prayer from the Psalms
Psalm 9 (CSB)
For the choir director: according to Muth-labben. A psalm of David.
1 I will thank the LORD with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works.
2 I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High.
3 When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my just cause; you are seated on your throne as a righteous judge.
5 You have rebuked the nations: You have destroyed the wicked; you have erased their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has come to eternal ruin; you have uprooted the cities, and the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
8 And he judges the world with righteousness; he executes judgment on the nations with fairness.
9 The LORD is a refuge for the persecuted, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, LORD.
11 Sing to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim his deeds among the nations.
12 For the one who seeks an accounting for bloodshed remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.
13 Be gracious to me, LORD; consider my affliction at the hands of those who hate me. Lift me up from the gates of death,
14 so that I may declare all your praises. I will rejoice in your salvation within the gates of Daughter Zion.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they made; their foot is caught in the net they have concealed.
16 The LORD has made himself known; he has executed justice, snaring the wicked by the work of their hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The wicked will return to Sheol— all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy will not always be forgotten; the hope of the oppressed will not perish forever.
19 Rise up, LORD! Do not let mere humans prevail; let the nations be judged in your presence.
20 Put terror in them, LORD; let the nations know they are only humans. Selah$0
I will not and cannot list what I _think_ you have not done for me. That is preposterous! What you have done for me, in me, and through me is too great to even list. But I thank you so much. I thank you for you are absolutely good, absolutely merciful, absolutely gracious, and absolutely love. These I know of you and know you well.
God, you are high and exalted far above all creation, including any little thing I might create with my mind and my hands. I thank you for those many gifts that you have given me. I thank you for the life that you have given me. I thank you for the loves that you have given me. I thank you all.
God, I thank you for the security of your word. I thank you that you cannot break your promises to me. And those promises apply to me because I am your son, of whom you said you are well-pleased. Your Spirit also bears witness with my spirit that I am your child. Your Son intercedes for me on my behalf. I know you will not reject me but you have saved me to yourself for your everlasting glory and the fullness of my joy.
God, I thank you for your heart that you have given to me. So now, with my voice, my lungs, my mouth, and my heart, I sing. I sing to you, about you, and for you. I sing loudly. I sing because I want you to hear me. I sing because I want you to hear how much I love you. And you hear my song. And you always hear my song.
May my words be a sweet and lovely sound for your ears.
I love you.
I adore you.
Thank you.
In your Son’s incredible name I pray.
Amen.
The Resources
Calvin’s Commentaries.
by John Calvin.
Baker. 2009.
Olive Tree
Mark: An Expositional Commentary
by R.C. Sproul.
Reformation Trust Publisher. 2011.
Goodreads
New Testament Commentary: Exposition of the Gospel According to Mark
by William Hendriksen.
Baker. 1981.
Goodreads
The Gospel according to Mark: The English Text With Introduction, Exposition, and Notes (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)
by William L. Lane.
Eerdman’s. 1974.
Goodreads
Mark (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, NT Volume 2)
Edited by Thomas C. Odin & Christopher A. Hall
IVP Academic. 2005.
Goodreads
Mark (The Story of God Bible Commentary Series)
by Timothy G. Gombis.
Zondervan Academic. March 9th 2021.
Goodreads