| Mark
11:1-33
"Let's turn in our Bibles to Mark chapter
11. I'd just like to welcome the new faces this morning...But
we're gonna continue in Mark chapter 11. Let's say a word
of prayer. 'And Father, as we enter this time of just looking
together upon your Word, give us eyes to see Lord, what you
have here for us Lord. Give us ears to hear, heart to understand
and receive. But we thank you for your Word. And Lord I do
pray that all of us would be doers of the Word and not hearers
only. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.'
Let's begin in verse 1, "Now when they drew near Jerusalem
to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives..."
Now, as you remember last week, it was just a few weeks before
the crucifixion. Now we're about a week before Jesus is crucified
on the cross. [To read a complimentary study on this subject
Click
Here ] And they've come to the area of the Mount of Olives,
and if they just transverse over the Mount of Olives they'll
begin to descend upon the city of Jerusalem. Whenever you
come to the area of Jerusalem, even today on a tour, anytime
of history God's eyes have been on that part of the world.
It's just a very emotional, powerful experience. Many religions
look to Jerusalem. And this is just about Passover time, so
there are many people who have come from around the world
and have just centered and focussed on this city. Josephus,
a Jewish historian, tells us there were millions and millions
of sacrificed lambs this particular year, it's recorded. And
with that you can kind of get a guess of the number of people
[one sacrificed lamb was supposed to be used to feed 10 to
20 people as recorded in Exodus]. Some say with taking into
account Josephus number of lambs recorded as being sacrificed,
there's nearly three million people that converged at this
time upon the city of Jerusalem [normal population for then
of 300,000, so the population has been multiplied times 10!].
So there's a lot of energy, a lot of anticipation, a lot of
excitement. [And this is just part of the normal Jerusalem
Passover cycle of those times, without even going into the
stir Jesus was creating.] [For another very interesting study
on Passover and it's meaning to Jew and Christian alike as
told by a man who grew up a Jew and is now a Christian pastor,
Click
Here .] As we studied last week, when Jesus was going
this last time to the city of Jerusalem, his disciples just
began to get a sense to them, to see what was ahead of them,
a face like flints set for the city of Jerusalem. And he walked
ahead of the disciples and they began to sense that something
was going down, and just, you know, as you remember last week.
There was even fear in their hearts, so it's been this time
of emotion. And now as they come near the city of Jerusalem
with all that's going on, man it must be a very emotional
time for these disciples and for Jesus. Especially, Jesus
knowing just days away what is going to take place. I would
think just every time Jesus woke up and got that much closer
to the cross, all the more that just as a man, the emotion
and the sense in his heart that just knowing that he was going
to be betrayed and be crucified on a cross, and to endure
that. So that's where we find ourselves here. And now they're
converging upon the city of Jerusalem, but they're at this
area of Bethany and here it's unique, just a tremendous time
for the disciples. He says to the disciples, he says to them
specifically, 'Go to the village opposite us here and go in
and I want you to get this colt. You're gonna find a colt
when you get there, a foal, the foal of a donkey, and I want
you to bring this donkey (and it's foal), and I want you to
bring them to me. When you get there, if anyone sees you there
taking this colt, you're gonna...You're gonna find this colt,
it's gonna be near the entrance to the city--but when you
take this colt if anyone has any questions just tell them
that the Lord has need of it. And when you tell them that,
they're gonna let you take them.' So the disciples, as we
read in a moment are gonna go and do that. Let's continue
reading. I'm getting a little ahead of myself, aren't I. We
haven't read these verses yet.
Mark 11:2-6, "He sent two of his disciples, and he
said to them, 'Go into the village opposite you, and as soon
as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which
no one has sat. Loose it and bring it. And if anyone says
to you Why are you doing this? Say The Lord has need of it.
And immediately he will send it.' So they went their way and
found the colt tied by the door outside the street, and they
loosed it, but some of those who stood there said to them,
'What are you doing there, loosing the colt?' And they spoke
to them just as Jesus had commanded, so they let them go."
Just as I told you, as we now read, these are the
things that begin to happen. Jesus instructs his disciples,
and they go and do accordingly.
Now when you and I are pursuing paths that Jesus has led us
on, when we're going down a road that we feel God has led
us on, we're gonna see that God has prepared the way before
us. Wherever I go, if I believe God is leading me, God's gonna
prepare the way. What that means is, when I go down a certain
path, I'm not gonna have to strive, I'm not gonna compromise,
I'm not gonna need to manipulate people for things to take
place. When I'm going somewhere God has led me, he's gonna
prepare the way, without a doubt. No need to force doors open,
just simply to do as he says and to walk in faith, because
he wills, he's just gonna prepare the way. It'll never ever
require that I manipulate people, it'll never require that
I compromise, just simply that I walk and step out in faith.
The Psalmist stated in Psalm 85, "Righteousness will go before
him and shall make his footsteps our pathway." It says 'Righteousness
goes before God and his footsteps will prepare my pathway',
meaning the footsteps of God. If I'm going the way that God
desires me to go, his footsteps are going to prepare the way,
and that's a way of righteousness, of right doing. Therefore
there's no compromise if I'm going the way God wants me to
go, or no manipulating. If you think you are in the will today,
the will of God, but you find yourself in compromise, it's
clear that you're not in God's will. God didn't lead you into
compromise. If you feel you are pursuing a path that God has
led you on, but yet you find yourself manipulating people,
a relationship that maybe you have, you're not going the way
that God desires you to go, because God will prepare the way
before you. That's one thing we know, that when we go in the
will of God, God has spoken to me to do something, I'll know
that he's prepared the way. I'll see that he's prepared the
way as I go. Are God's footsteps your pathway? Would Jesus
be doing what you're currently doing? If not, it's a good
chance that you've not gone on a route that God has led you
to go on. Where God guides God provides, where God leads he
prepares the way, as we see here in these verses.
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