Ryle on Mark 11:1-11

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 11:1-11.

Source Text

1 And when tliey came nigh to Je- rusalem, unto Bethnhage and Beth- any, at the mount ot Olives, he send- etii forth two of his disciples, 2 And saith unto them, Go your way into the village over against you: and as soon as ye he entered into it, ye shall find a colt tied where- on never man sat ; loose him and bring him. 3 And if any man say unto you, Why do ye this ? say ye that the Lord hath need of him ; and straightway he will send him hither. 4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door with- out in a place where two ways met ; and they loose him. 5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye loosing the colt ? 6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded : and they let them go. 7 And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him ; and he sat upon him. 8 And many spread their garments in the way : and others cut down branches off the trees, and strawed them in the way. 9 And they'that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna ; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : 10 Blessed he the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord : Hosanna in the highest. 11 And Jesus entered into Jerusa- lem, and into the temple : and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. The event described in these verses, is a singular ex- ception in the history of our Lord's earthly ministry. Generally speaking, we see Jesus withdrawing Himself from public notice - often passing His time in the remote parts of Galilee - not unfrequently abiding in the wilder- ness- and so fulfilling the prophecy, that He should " not cry, nor strive, nor let His voice be heard in the streets." Here, and here only, our Lord appears to drop His private character, and of His own choice to call public attention to Himself. He deliberately makes a public entry into Jerusalem, at the head of His disciples. He voluntarily rides into the holy city, surrounded by a vast multitude, crying, Hosanna, like king David returning to his palace in triumph. (2 Sam. xix. 40.) All this too was done at a time when myriads of Jews were gathered out of every land to Jerusalem, to keep the Passover.

We may well believe that the holy city rang with the tidings of our Lord's arrival. It is probable there was not a house in Jerusalem in which the entry of the prophet of Nazareth was not known and talked of that night These things should always be remembered in reading this portion of our Lord's history. It is not for nothing that this entry into Jerusalem is four times related in the New Testament. It is evident that it is a scene in the earthly life of Jesus, which Christians are intended to study with special attention. Let us study it in that spirit, and see what practical lessons we may learn from the passage for our own souls.

Let us observe, in the first place, how 'public our Lord purposely made the last act of His life. He came to Jerusalem to die, and He desired that all Jerusalem should know it. When He taught the deep things of the Spirit, He often spoke to none but His apostles. When He delivered His parables, He often addressed none but a multitude of poor and ignorant Galileans. When He worked His miracles, He was generally at Capernaum, or in the land of Zebulou and Napthali. But when the time came that He should die, He made a public entry into Jerusalem. He drew the attention of rulers, and priests, and elders, and Scribes, and Greeks, and Komans to Himself. He knew that the most wonderful event that ever happened in this world was about to take place. The eternal Son of God was about to suffer in the stead of sinfulmen - the great sacrifice for sin about to be offered up - the great Passover Lamb about to be slain - the great atonement for a world's sin about to be made. He therefore ordered it so that His death was eminently a public death. He over-ruled things in such a way that the eyes of all Jerusalem were fixed upon Him, and when He died, He died before many witnesses.

Let us see here one more proof of the unspeakable importance of the death of Christ. Let us treasure up His gracious sayings. Let us strive to walk in the steps of His holy life. Let us prize His intercession. Let us long for his second coming. But never let us forget that the crowning fact in all we know of Jesus Christ, is His death upon the cross. From that death flow all our hopes. Without that death we should have nothing solid beneath our feet. May we prize that death more and more every year we live ; and in all our thoughts about Christ, rejoice in nothing so much as the great fact that He died for us !

Let us observe, in the second place, in this passage, the voluntary poverty which our Lord underwent, when He tvas upon earth. How did He enter Jerusalem when He came to it on this remarkable occasion ? Did He come in a royal chariot, with horses, soldiers, and a retinue around Him, like the kings of this world ? We are told nothing of the kind.

We read that He borrowed the colt of an ass for the occasion, and sat upon the garments of His disciples for lack of a saddle. This was in perfect keeping with all the tenor of His ministry. He never had any of the riches of this world. When He crossed the sea of Galilee, it was in a borrowed boat. When He rode into the holy city, it was on a borrowed beast. When He was buried, it was in a borrowed tomb. We have in this simple fact, an instance of that marvellous union of weakness* and power, riches and

* I use the word "weakness" in this passage advisedly. There is 229 poverty, the godhead and the manhood, which maybe so often traced in the history of our blessed Lord. Who that reads the Gospels carefully can fail to observe, that He who could feed thousands with a few loaves, was Himself sometimes hungry - and He who could heal the sick and infirm, was Himself sometimes weary - that He who could cast out devils with a word, was Himself tempted - and He who could raise the dead, could Him- self submit to die ?

We see the very same thing in the passage before us.

We see the power of our Lord in His bending the wills of a vast multitude to conduct Him into Jerusalem in triumph. Wxe see the poverty of our Lord in His borrowing an ass to carry Him when He made His triumphal entry. It is all wonderful, but there is a fitness in it all. It is meet and right that we should never forget the union of the divine and human natures in our Lord's person. If we saw His divine acts only, scriptural warrant for it in the text, " He was crucified through weakness." (2 Cor. xiii. 4.) Nevertheless I wish it to be distinctly understood, that I utterly disclaim the idea of there being any moral weakness in the human nature of Christ. The only weakness I mean is that sinless infirmity which is inseparably connected with flesh and blood, and from which Adam, before the fall, was not exempt. Of all such weakness, I believe, our Lord was partaker to the fullest extent. Whether or not our Lord's riding upon an ass instead of a horse, was a mark of humiliation, is a point on which opinions differ widely. Some dwell on the fact that the ass in oriental countries was an ani- mal that even kings rode, and refer to Judges v. 10. " Speak, ye that ride on white asses,"&c. Others think that the choice of an ass Avas purposely made as emblematic of our Lord's lowly nature. Gerhard in his commentary, refers to a saying of Tertullian, that the G-entiles called Christians " asinarii," in ridicule, because they believed in Christ who rode on an ass, and even calumniously charged them with wor- shipping an ass's head ! we might forget that He was man. If we saw His seasons of poverty and weakness only, we might forget that He was God. But we are intended to see in Jesus divine strength and human weakness united in one per- son. We cannot explain the mystery ; but we may take comfort in the thought, " this is our Saviour, this is our Christ - one able to sympathize, because He is man, but one Almighty to save, because He is God."

Finally, let us see in the simple fact, that our Lord rode on a borrowed ass, one more proof that poverty is in itself no sin. The causes which occasion much of the poverty there is around us, are undoubtedly very sinful. Drunkenness, extravagance, profligacy, dis- honesty, idleness, which produce so much of the des- titution in the world, are unquestionably wrong in the sight of God. But to be born a poor man, and to inherit nothing from our parents - to work with our own hands for our bread, and to have no land of our own- all this is not sinful at all. The honest poor man is as honor- able in the sight of God as the richest king. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was poor. Silver and gold He had none. He had often nowhere to lay His head. Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor. To be like Him in circumstances, cannot be in itself wrong. Let us do our duty in that state of life to which God has called us, and if He thinks fit to keep us poor let us not be ashamed. The Saviour of sinners cares for us as well as for others. The Saviour of sinners knows what it is to be poor. 231