Mark 11
Mark 11
At the beginning of this chapter, we see a clear allusion to a part of scripture that the Jewish audience of Mark would have been familiar with. It comes from the book of Zechariah, a collection of visions, challenges, and prophecies for Jerusalem written after the Jewish people returned from exile in Babylon to their fallen homeland of Jerusalem.
Zechariah chapter nine first describes a prophecy about how all of the evil nations will struggle and fall, and it is followed by a call for the Israelites to rejoice because God will soon redeem their nation and all nations. How does Zechariah describe the coming of this renewed, unified kingdom? Read Zechariah 9:9-10 below:
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Here, we see a king riding in on a colt. He is righteous and victorious, coming not with government or military violence and power but in a lowly manner to bring peace.
Those who honored Jesus as he rode in would’ve understood that by riding in on the donkey, Jesus was signaling that he was this king who would unify and rule all nations. Ironically, when Jesus chose to ride in on a donkey to symbolize his message of peace, it was into the town where he would be violently crucified by a government known for its brutality.
Another notable juxtaposition appears within this chapter. If the donkey symbolizes the peaceful and lowly king, why is the very next portrait of this king one where he’s condemning plants and causing a massive scene in the temple courts?
The author of Mark intentionally put these two accounts together. Perhaps he was trying to show us the multi-faceted nature of Jesus. Yes, he has come to bring peace, but he also brought justice. The people selling in the temple courts were essentially trying to rip off people who just made the long pilgrimage to the temple to make their sacrifices. They were jacking up prices for sacrificial animals to either a) make a buck off of travelers who couldn’t bring their own animals or b) prevent people from other nations from accessing God in the temple.
If anything was going to piss off the prince of peace, this was it. In the Kingdom that Jesus came to inaugurate, there’s no room for this type of disrespect for humanity or God. In God’s kingdom, justice and peace appear to walk alongside each other. As the saying goes, “No justice, no peace.”
Let’s remember again why Jesus came to Jerusalem in the first place. He came so that he could die. In the act of his death, he takes on the righteous justice that humanity deserves for sin. In resurrecting, he brings peace by allowing all people from all nations who trust in Him to live unified with God and humanity within his kingdom. No justice, no peace.
Is there a place in your life where you need to lean into the peace of Jesus? A conflict? Anxiety? Remember, he is “gentle and lowly.” Approach Him and pray for peace.
Is there a situation around you that could use justice? Do you need to repent to God for how you’ve disrespected or taken advantage of someone? Do you need to act on a matter of justice burdening your heart? Take some time to reflect on that now.
