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SAVE US! (MARK 11:1-11)
Jesus came to Jerusalem as a King.
REFLECTION
Save us! is the theme for our reflection this morning. Jesus was born in an era when Israel was still under the government of the Roman empire. The common expectation of the Jews was the coming of a Saviour ordained by God to re-establish the King of David hence the shout “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!” (Mark 11:9-10). The Israelites saw Jesus as the Messiah or King that was God-sent to fulfil in their time and age the promise in Isaiah 9:7 where it is written that “Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
When the people witnessed the signs and wonders Jesus was doing among them, they had no doubt in their minds that Jesus was the descendant of David and therefore He is the promised political liberator of Israel. They had the expectation and belief that with the powers Jesus possessed He will liberate them from the Roman government, therefore on this particular occasion “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.”(Mark 11:7-8) In other words, they were already celebrating Jesus as their political King and liberator.
Beloved in the Lord, Jesus was a King and will remain a King but He was not a political King, He is the everlasting King and His kingship supersedes the reign of every human king that has ever lived and that will ever live. Jesus told Pontious Pilate “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:36-37). All that the people said about Jesus from Mark 11:9-10 was perfectly true except that He did not come at that material time to fight the Roman Empire and to politically and economically liberate Israel,“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
The key lesson for the day is to question what you really mean when you pray to Jesus to save you. Do you believe in Jesus because of your economic and political salvation? Do you come to church or pray to Jesus because of material prosperity? If that is the foundation of your belief then you have missed the mark. The core reason for which anyone should call on Jesus to be saved is first and foremost liberation from the captivity of sin and eternal death. Jesus has come to save us from sin and to reconcile us to God, for Paul tells in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 that “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.” When you believe in Jesus and you are saved then the blessing of economic prosperity and political liberation can be prayed for. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus admonishes us to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:33-34). My dear friend, your eternal salvation in the Kingdom of God is more important than any other type of salvation therefore surrender your entire life to Jesus as our King, Master and Saviour. Shalom.
PRAYER
HOLY SPIRIT HELP US TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE OUR ETERNAL SALVATION IN JESUS AND MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE IN OUR LIVES.
^{Jean-Paul Agidi (Rev)}