Mark Reading Plan – W11D1
Week 11 | Day 1 | Mark 11:1-11
Check out all the previous readings here.
Pray
Ask God to open your heart to His word today.
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,”
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Reflection & Questions
Mark tells us that Jesus is now approaching Jerusalem. Whenever “approaching Jerusalem” is mentioned in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), it is a reminder of Jesus heading to His death. We know from the other gospels that today’s story happens on the Sunday before Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday.
While Jesus has the cross on His mind, the Jews have the Roman occupation on theirs. Just like the Ukrainians are wanting rid of Russia from their land, the Jews wanted Rome out. This passion for liberation would have been heightened during this week because it is Passover, when the Jews were celebrating how God rescued them from the Egyptians in Exodus. The Jews are looking for someone to make war and liberate them from the Romans. They hoped Jesus would be that person. They cried “Hosanna!”, which means, “Save us now!” They believed their conquering King had come to make war.
The King had indeed come. However, King Jesus is riding a colt, which is an animal of peace (versus a stallion which is an animal of war). He was coming to bring peace, not war. And what kind of peace had he come to bring? Peace with God! (Romans 5:1) We can cry “Hosanna!” to Jesus to save us from our sins, because he went to the cross to do just that. And we praise Him because there isn’t any other King like this!
Pray
Thank God for sending King Jesus so we could have peace with God.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship King Jesus today:
Bible Reading
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,”
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Reflection and Questions
Mark tells us that Jesus is now approaching Jerusalem. Whenever “approaching Jerusalem” is mentioned in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), it is actually telling us that Jesus is heading to His death. The story that we read today actually takes place on the Sunday before Jesus would die on the cross, which happened the next Friday. ”
So if Jesus was going to die on the cross, why was everyone shouting ‘Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest heaven’? Oh yeah, and what does hosanna even mean?? Well, hosanna is what they would shout at the time which meant ‘Praise you! Save us!’ Basically, it was the people in Jerusalem shouting praises to Jesus, and hoping that He would save them! And guess what, Jesus would save them! But not from what they were thinking. You see, the jews thought that Jesus was coming to save them from the government, but Jesus was ACTUALLY coming to save them from their own sins! ”
The King had come – King Jesus! However, King Jesus is riding a colt, which is an animal of peace (not a stallion which is an animal of war). He was coming to bring peace, not war. What kind of peace did he come to bring? Peace with God! We can yell out “Hosanna!” to Jesus to save us from our sins, because he went to the cross to do just that. And we praise Him because there isn’t any other King like this!
Prayer
Thank God for sending King Jesus so we could have peace with God.
Bible Reading
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,”
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
Devo Focus
When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Vs. 7
Devo
When you think of a king, you think of a guy riding a strong horse, a stallion, a creature that represents power! But that’s not what Jesus rode in on in this scripture. He chose to ride in on a donkey colt. Not exactly a sign of strength and power, but it was intentional.
Mark tells us that Jesus is now approaching Jerusalem. Whenever “approaching Jerusalem” is mentioned in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), it is an indicator of Jesus heading to His death. We know from the other gospels that today’s story happens on the Sunday before Jesus’ crucifixion on Friday.
While Jesus has the cross on His mind, the Jews have the Roman occupation on theirs. Just like the Ukrainians are wanting rid of Russia from their land, the Jews wanted Rome out. This passion for liberation would have been heightened during this week because it is Passover, when the Jews were celebrating how God rescued them from the Egyptians in Exodus. The Jews are looking for someone to make war and liberate them from the Romans. Their hope was this was Jesus. They cry “Hosanna!”, which means “Save us now!”. They believed their conquering King had come to make war.
The King had come. However, King Jesus is riding a colt, which is an animal of peace (not a stallion which is an animal of war). He was coming to bring peace, not war. What kind of peace did he come to bring? Peace with God! We can cry “Hosanna!” to Jesus to save us from our sins, because he went to the cross to do just that. And we praise Him because there isn’t any other King like this!
Prayer
Thank God for sending King Jesus so we could have peace with God.
