Our Friend, the King! - Mark 11:1-11

Our friend, the King!
April 1, 2012
Mark 11:1-11

Introduction

• It was 30/31 AD
• Jesus had come down the Jordan Valley, and then started the climb up to Jerusalem
• Jesus passed through Jericho, and reached Bethany
• In Bethany he stayed with his friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha
• He was known there as the One who raised Lazarus from the dead
• Then he prepared to ascend the east side of the Mount of Olives
• At this time something extraordinary happened
• Mark 11:1-11

Friendship

• For 3 ½ years Jesus had been with the disciples
• They were with Rabbi Jesus
• The great Rabbi who put the Pharisees in their place
• He had taught them, prayed with them, trained them
• He had become really close with them, closer than we may picture
• Some of the disciples were more close than others
• Peter, James and John were like an inner circle, they were closer to Jesus, and he later used them greatly in starting the church
• John himself became known as the disciple Jesus loved
• They were really close to him

God makes himself approachable

• This was a time when God was intervening in world affairs in a huge way
• Mankind had chosen to rebel and sin and follow the enemy’s ways
• You would think God would give up, allow man to destroy himself and start up with plan B
• But he didn’t
• He was not taken by surprise
• He had planned from the beginning, that he would make himself approachable, and become a human being, without losing his divinity
• And so God became flesh
• Jesus was with the disciples, they were of first name terms
• God showed them he cared
• He cared about the disciples
• He cared about the homeless and the prostitutes and the criminals
• He cared about publicans and sinners
• Because he wanted them to have a chance to get it right
• Mark 2:17
• Jesus offers us this closeness with Him
• John 15:12-17

Yet He is a King

• It is awesome that we have Jesus as our friend
• And yet, Jesus is more than a friend
• He is none less than the ruler of the universe
• He is our King
• When we accepted him into our life as our Lord and Savior, we placed Him on the throne of our life
• We recognized that by ourselves we cannot get it right
• We needed someone bigger and stronger than us, to help us
• That is why God became our friend, a fellow human being, in the form of Jesus
• Jesus is our king
• He now sits on the throne of the universe, and he offers us life instead of death, he offers us blessing instead of curses, he offers us an eternity of fulfillment
• As Jesus ascends the Mount of Olives, and as he enters Jerusalem, the crowds are calling out “Hosanna, hosanna in the highest!”
• These are not the same people who a week later would cry out “Crucify him!” These were friends of Lazarus who had been resurrected
• Bartimaus was in this crowed. Lazarus was probably there too
• These had seen the power of God displayed and they acknowledged Jesus as King

Will we acknowledge Jesus as king?

• Often we are comfortable with the idea of Jesus as our friend
• But when it comes to obedience and following his will, we sometimes draw away from him
• Yet Jesus came as our King as well as our friend
• We should treat him with the respect he deserves

Conclusion

• The story of Palm Sunday is a story of obedience
• It is a story of treating our King as the one who we follow
• Not deciding, I want to obey now, but that thing yesterday, no I did not want to be obedient in that
• Jesus came as our friend but we also revere him as our King