The King of Peace, Not a War Horse

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened Mark 11:1-19, the start of Holy Week, on a Monday evening with the congregation at First Baptist Jackson. He walked through Jesus' triumphal entry, his cursing of a fig tree, and his clearing of the temple, showing how all three moments point to the same thing: Jesus' deliberate, costly commitment to go to Jerusalem and give his life as a ransom. The passage does not arrive...

Read together

1. Romans 8:31-32 read aloud as good news: 'If God is for us, who can be against us?'
2. Mark 10:45 quoted as a key verse: 'The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many'
3. Mark 11:1-19 the main passage preached, covering the triumphal entry, cursing of the fig tree, and clearing of the temple
4. Zechariah 9:9 cited as the prophecy fulfilled by Jesus riding a donkey: 'Your king is coming to you, humble, riding on a donkey's colt'
5. 1 Peter 2:24 quoted: 'He personally carried our sins in his body on that cross so that we could be dead to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds, we are healed'
6. Acts 2:24 referenced to say that death could not keep Jesus in its grip
7. John 18:36 paraphrased: Jesus said 'my kingdom is not an earthly kingdom; if it were, my followers would fight'
8. Mark 1 recalled that people were amazed because Jesus taught with real authority, unlike the teachers of the religious law
9. John 15:5 used as application verse: 'I am the vine, you are the branches; if you remain in me you will produce fruit; apart from me you can do nothing'

Talk about it

1. The pastor pointed out that Jesus walked toward betrayal, suffering, and death knowing exactly what was coming, because the Son of Man came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. What does it do to you personally when you sit with that, that he kept walking toward it anyway?
2. The disciples were simply told to go ahead and untie a donkey, and their small act of obedience ended up fulfilling an Old Testament prophecy. Can you think of a time when a simple act of obedience turned out to matter more than you expected? What makes it hard to take those small steps when we cannot see the bigger picture?
3. The crowd shouted praises to Jesus on Sunday, but many of them expected an earthly king who would defeat their enemies and fix their circumstances. The pastor asked whether we sometimes bring our own expectations of what Jesus should do for us. What does that look like in your own life, and how has getting to know who Jesus really is changed those expectations?
4. Jesus cleared the temple because the religious leaders had turned a place meant to be an open door to God into a barrier that kept people out. In what ways can a church or individual believer become a barrier rather than an arrow pointing people to Jesus, even without meaning to?
5. The pastor closed with John fifteen, the image of the vine and the branches, and said that remaining in Jesus is where real fruit is produced. What does remaining in Jesus actually look like for you day to day, and what tends to pull you away from that?