April 29, 2025; Mark 11:1-11

Daily Dose of Hope

April 29, 2025

Day 2 of Week 5

 

Scripture – Mark 11:1-11

 

Prayer: Holy and Almighty God, We come to you today in humility but also with expectancy.  We need to hear a word from you.  We need to sense your presence and be reminded of how you walk alongside us.  In these next few moments of silence, help us settle our mind and gather our scattered thoughts, focusing on you and you alone...In Your Name, Amen.

 

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, a Deep Dive into the Gospels and Acts.  Today, we begin Mark 11.  This is what we call Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and it is typically referred to as the Palm Sunday passage. 

 

As a little girl going to Sunday School, I can remember making palm branches and waving them on Palm Sunday. Jesus’ triumphal entry was described kind of like a parade. Think about parades with their marching bands, large balloons, and dancers. They are often about celebration and national pride. But Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem this wasn’t that kind of parade, especially as the book of Mark describes it.

 

The disciples have been on a journey toward Jerusalem and they are almost there. They have come to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives.  Jesus tells two of the disciples to go on ahead and fetch a colt that has never been ridden. He tells them exactly where to find the colt and what to say if anyone questions them. Jesus may have known the owner of the colt and set it up ahead of time or he may not have.  We know that Jesus is also God, all-powerful and omniscient, so how this happened exactly, we don’t know. Regardless, they get the colt, put their cloaks on the animal, and Jesus rides on it as he enters the city. Others spread branches on the road. Others run ahead and shout, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the coming of our father David.”

 

What’s interesting here to me is all the themes of royalty we see in this short passage. Some of us may think it’s strange that Jesus rode on a donkey rather than a horse but at the time, horses were only used for battle, specifically for warfare.  In the Old Testament, new kings would come riding in on the donkey or mule of the previous king. We see this in 1 Kings 1 when King David puts his son Solomon on his own mule, the trumpet is sounded, and the people rejoice and shout.  Then, the priest and the prophet Nathan anoint him as king of Israel. The mule is like the presidential limo, a sign of power and prestige that says this is the new leader.

 

What is different in this case is that Mark specifically states that Jesus is not riding on a previous king’s colt or donkey. He is riding on a colt that has never been ridden before. This is a sign that God is doing a new thing. Jesus is king but a different kind of king.

 

Then, we see Jesus being given a royal welcome. The people are laying cloaks and branches down for him. They are running ahead in the streets to give him this royal kind of treatment. This is the kind of welcome that the emperor or a high official of the Roman government would have r