Mark 11:1-11
Years ago, I attended a conference with a friend who was serving alongside me on church staff. We were excited about the lineup of speakers, especially one theologian whose books had occupied a fair amount of space on our bookshelves. As we walked through the conference center, we suddenly spotted him in the hallway. Naturally, we stopped to introduce ourselves, express our appreciation, and ask a few questions. We did our best to demonstrate our Texas charm, but the response was, shall we say, less enthusiastic than we had hoped.
As we walked away, I remember feeling disappointed. I had imagined that meeting someone I admired would go a certain way, but the reality didn’t match my expectations. I expected one thing and got another.
Something similar happens in Mark 11, only on a much grander scale. After years of anticipation, Jesus finally arrives in Jerusalem as the long-awaited King. The crowds welcome Him with shouts of praise, spread their garments along the road, and celebrate the coming kingdom of David. They are right to recognize that the King has arrived. But many of them have misunderstood what kind of King He is and what He has come to accomplish.
We can make the same mistake. We can believe that Jesus is King while quietly expecting Him to rule according to our preferences. We want Him to solve our problems, improve our circumstances, defeat our enemies, and give us the life we imagine we ought to have. But what happens when Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations?
Mark 11 invites us to look again at the King who enters Jerusalem. Because Jesus came as the long-awaited Servant King to conquer sin on the cross, we must receive Him for who He is instead of who we want Him to be.
Let Jesus Show You What Kind of King He Is
As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, He takes the initiative. He sends two disciples ahead with detailed instructions about finding a colt and bringing it to Him. Everything happens just as He said it would. Jesus isn’t being swept along by somebody else’s coronation parade. He is deliberately arranging His own royal entrance.
That matters because Jesus has been moving toward this moment throughout Mark’s Gospel. Three times He has told His disciples that He will suffer, be killed, and rise again. He isn’t stumbling toward an unexpected fate. He is steadily walking toward the cross, willingly fulfilling the mission for which He came.
But pay attention to the way this King chooses to arrive. The Lord of all creation says that He has need of something. The One who possesses everything borrows a colt. Jesus has the authority to direct the procession, yet He chooses a posture of humility. He is absolutely a King, but He will not establish His kingdom in the way earthly rulers establish theirs.
His entrance also fulfills the expectation of Zechariah 9:9, which describes Israel’s coming King as righteous, victorious, humble, and riding on a donkey. Jesus is revealing Himself as the promised Messiah, but He is also showing us what kind of Messiah He is. He doesn’t arrive on a warhorse surrounded by military strength. He comes humbly, riding a colt, on His way to lay down His life.
The crowd doesn’t get to define Jesus’ identity. Jesus identifies Himself.
That’s an important distinction for us. We often approach Jesus with a list of expectations about what a good King should do. We want Him to protect us from suffering, make our plans succeed, and keep the people we love safe. And there is nothing wrong with bringing those desires to Him. But before we tell Jesus what kind of King we need, we must pay attention to the King He has revealed Himself to be.
Jesus doesn’t promise to fit into our expectations. He calls us to trust Him as He truly is.
Look to Jesus for the Salvation You Actually Need
As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, the crowd spreads its garments and leafy branches along the road. They shout words from Psalm 118: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” They also celebrate the coming kingdom of their father David. The message is unmistakable: Israel’s King has arrived.
The word Hosanna means “Save now!” Imagine the excitement of people who have lived under foreign rule and longed for deliverance. Many likely hoped Jesus would become the political and military leader who would finally drive out Rome and restore Israel’s national glory. They were looking for a deliverer, and they believed Jesus might be the One.
In one sense, they were right. Jesus had come to save. Their mistake was underestimating how much they needed to be saved from.
They wanted freedom from Rome. Jesus came to bring freedom from sin, condemnation, and eternal death. They wanted a King who would change their circumstances. Jesus came to change their standing before God. Their words were more accurate than they understood, but the salvation they expected was far smaller than the salvation Jesus came to accomplish.
We still struggle with this. We pray, “Jesus, save my marriage. Save my job. Save my health. Save my child. Save our country.” Those aren’t necessarily wrong prayers. We should ask Jesus to heal our marriages, protect our children, provide for our needs, and give wisdom to those who lead us. But beneath every other cry must be this one: “Jesus, save me from my sin. Reconcile me to God. Make me Yours.”
Jesus didn’t come merely to rearrange the circumstances of your life. He came to redeem your life.
This has implications for the way we think about the world around us, too. We should care about our communities, participate responsibly in civic life, and vote with wisdom. But no political party, president, or earthly kingdom can do what only Jesus can do. No election can forgive your sin. No Congress can reconcile you to God. No president can raise you from the dead. Jesus is King before an election, and He will still be King after the votes are counted.
Earthly kingdoms rise and fall. Political victories come and go. But the kingdom of Jesus endures forever.
So don’t put a political Hosanna where only Jesus belongs. Don’t ask earthly rulers to give you the ultimate hope that belongs to Christ alone. Our hope is not ultimately found in the success of our nation, the security of our circumstances, or the defeat of our opponents. Our hope is found in the Servant King who gave His life to ransom sinners.
The crowd wanted Jesus to climb a throne. Instead, He would climb upon a cross. They wanted glory without suffering, victory without sacrifice, and salvation on their terms. But the way of the kingdom is the way of the cross.
We must learn to trust Jesus not simply to give us what we want, but to provide what we truly need. And once our hope is firmly anchored in Him, we can face the uncertainties of life without demanding that He prove His goodness by giving us the outcomes we prefer.
Let the King Confront What Needs to Change
Mark ends this scene in a surprisingly anticlimactic way. After all the excitement, the royal procession, and the shouts of praise, Jesus enters Jerusalem and goes to the temple. He looks around at everything, and then He leaves for Bethany with the twelve because it is already late.
That’s it. No revolution. No grand speech. No throne.
But this quiet ending is more significant than it first appears. Jesus hasn’t come to fulfill the crowd’s agenda. He has come to accomplish His Father’s mission. And when He enters the temple, He isn’t simply sightseeing. The King is inspecting His house, preparing for what He will do the following day.
The crowd expects Him to confront Rome. Instead, Jesus goes to the temple. Before He deals with the political powers the people resent, He will confront the worship of God’s own people. They are looking for a King to change their circumstances, but the King has come to expose what is wrong much closer to home.
That should make us pause. We often want Jesus to change the things around us while leaving the things within us untouched. We want Him to deal with our difficult circumstances, our frustrating relationships, and the people we believe are standing in our way. But what if the first thing Jesus wants to confront is something in our own hearts?
What if our expectations of Him need to change? What if our worship has become hollow, our priorities disordered, or our allegiance divided? What if we’ve been asking Jesus to bless an agenda He never promised to advance?
When Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations, it is tempting to assume that He has failed us. But Jesus is not the one who needs correcting. Our expectations may be.
I began with a story about meeting someone I admired and walking away disappointed because he didn’t respond the way I had imagined. But there is a profound difference between that experience and our encounter with Jesus. Jesus is not obligated to become the King we would design for ourselves. He is the King we desperately need.
A week after this triumphal entry, Jesus would stand before Pilate, mocked and condemned. The crowds who had celebrated His arrival would not see the kind of victory they expected. Jesus would not lead a revolt or destroy Rome. Instead, He would give Himself to the cross and defeat something far more devastating than any earthly enemy: the consequences of our sin.
That was the unexpected victory of the unexpected King.
So receive Jesus for who He is, not merely for what you hope He will do for you. Ask Him for help with your circumstances, but trust Him for the salvation your circumstances cannot provide. And invite Him to confront whatever needs to change in your own heart.
The King has come. He is humble, sovereign, and full of mercy. He may not always meet our expectations, but He has done something infinitely greater than we could have imagined: He has given His life to bring us back to God.
Don’t settle for a King who simply makes your life better. Receive the Servant King who came to make you new.
