Mosaic Teaching 146 - Mark 10:46-52, 11:1; John 11:55-57, 12:9-11

Mosaic is an in-depth teaching discovering Jesus through all four of the Gospel accounts in the Bible. This teaching is led by Rev. Dr. Chad Foster, reaching into the Hebraic roots, Jewish roots, Torah references and messianic fulfillment of Jesus to find truth and life.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Good morning, everyone. Bo Koto. Welcome to the Mosaic Teaching Service today. This is teaching number 146 in our time, looking at the four gospels of Jesus of Nazareth. And as I indicated as we got started a little bit ago, uh very important juncture because as we are leaving Jericho today, uh when Jesus leaves Jericho, uh as the narrative takes us in those Gospels, he leaves Jericho and enters into Jerusalem. So after Jericho is what we will know as the triumphant entry and Palm Sunday and all of that. And so that is uh the final time Jesus goes into Jerusalem, and so the passionate is uh imminent and so forth. And so it's a critical time in the ministry, and so things begin to really shift in the narrative. Uh, the focus becomes different, uh, and the the um the tenor of everything uh becomes different as well. Uh and so we will wrap things up in Jericho today and probably maybe possibly get to the cusp of uh at least maybe Bethany on the um other side of the Mount of Olives, uh, just as Jesus is about to enter into Jerusalem. But first let's uh bow our heads and open with prayer. We pray. Blessed Lord, who has caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, and grant that we would so hear them. Read, Mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, so that by patience and comfort of your holy word, we would embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given to us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In Mosaic, we value our Bibles, cherish your Bibles, always encourage you to bring your Bible with you to the Mosaic Teaching service. But if you need one today, not a problem, just grab one in the pew or the chair around you. And if you need to take that and take it home with you and make it your own personal Bible, please accept that as a gift from us to you. But if you will, please take your Bible, hold it up, and repeat after me. This is my Bible. Jesus is who it says He is. Today I will be taught the Word of God. My mind is alert. By God's grace, my heart is receptive. The Bible is the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living word of God. My encounter with the Bible today will transform and grow my faith. And we say together, in Jesus' name, Amen. So let's open up our Bibles to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 46, about where we will pick it up. And again, our context where we've been the last couple of weeks in Jericho. Uh, we've been at Zacchaeus' house, and we've had that transformation with Zacchaeus. We've spent some time understanding the importance of the context of Jericho and uh the Herod background of that and the journey parables about uh a person of power, of influence, of prestige goes away on a journey, uh, but at some point comes back to but while he's away, he entrusts certain individuals to take care of things. When he comes back, he either has reward or punishment based upon how things went. And in many ways, that would have resonated with Zacchaeus, because remember, both Herod and Herod's sons were people of power and prestige that had to go away. They went away to Rome to get their title of power, more power and influence. And so they would have put people like Zacchaeus in charge, and then they would have returned. And so that's how one of the ways Jesus had that impact with Zacchaeus. But Zacchaeus, in his transformation, uh, you know, becomes a disciple of Jesus. And uh as Jesus then is ready to continue on his way to celebrate Passover in Jerusalem with his large entourage from not only his family and his extended family, uh, but many from the Galilee making their way. Uh, he's gonna be uh leaving Jericho, and so that's where we are going to pick it up today as we look at Mark chapter 10, verses 46 and 47, and let's read these verses together. As he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. So no sooner had they left Jericho than they saw a blind beggar or two sitting beside the road. So chances are it wasn't just Bartimaeus by himself, but probably a group of them. And Mark identifies this particular one by the name Bartimaeus. It's kind of in English you may not catch it, but it's kind of redundant, which probably to me indicates the original language of Mark is Aramaic and not Greek, because Bar Timaeus, Bar is Aramaic for son and Timaeus, so Bar Timaeus means son of Timaeus. So it says son of Timaeus twice, uh, but you have the person that's translating from Aramaic into Greek translating it for you. Uh, but so because Mark is probably, or whoever translated it, is doing so for an audience not familiar with Aramaic or Hebrew, explains that Bartimaeus means son of Timaeus. Many scholars also point out that Bartimaeus must have become well known within the early church and must have become well known within the apostolic community. Otherwise, Mark would not have provided his name. And you'll find that time and time again, not only in the Gospels, but especially when you're reading the book of Acts. For us, it's kind of like name-dropping, right? You only mention people by name if you expect the readership to know the name. Otherwise, you're not going to give their name. And so Bartimaeus must have become known somehow in the early apostolic community. Ordinarily, the gospel writers leave characters like Bartimaeus unnamed. But Bartimaeus and his beggar companions sat beside the heavily traveled road, maybe hoping for a few coins from those who passed by. Bartimaeus sat on a portion of his cloak, probably one of his only few possessions, with a fold of it wrapped over his legs, so that people might drop a coin or two in his lap. That's kind of how they would do things. They would, uh beggars would sit on a blanket or a cloak and fold it up over their legs and kind of create uh kind of like a purse. And people could kind of drop money or change into that and it would catch it. As Jesus' large entourage approaches, Bartimaeus heard the voices and the movement of the people, and maybe he inquires, you know, who's coming, what's the rustling? But somehow he hears that it's Jesus of Nazareth. When Bartimaeus heard that it was this miracle worker from the Galilee whose reputation had preceded him, he no longer is interested in getting a few coins, but he cries out and says, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. Now, obviously, Bartimaeus had heard the stories about Jesus. He had heard the stories about Jesus' miraculous powers, and by addressing him as son of David, Bartimaeus is making a messianic declaration. That is, he is saying that he believes Jesus is the Messiah, or he at least believes Jesus is a very good candidate for the Messiah, or he is at least trying to appeal to Jesus, saying, if you are the Messiah, but Son of David is a messianic title, and Bartimaeus is clearly invoking it, hoping to get a messianic response. And so the other blind men join in, and together they cry out in Matthew's version, Matthew 20, verse 30, Lord have mercy on us, son of David. And as the blind men cry out, it says in Luke 18, verse 39, those who led the way were sternly telling them to be quiet. You see, the disciples had grown accustomed to running interference for their master, and they attempted to shield Jesus from the constant crush of the crowds. They tried to hush the blind men, but Barnamaeus cried out all the louder, Son of David, have mercy on me. It's interesting whenever I read the story of Barnamaeus, it always reminds me of a story from history in the Reformation, or pre-Reformation. You may have heard of an individual known as John Hus, who lived about a hundred years before Martin Luther in, you know, what was then, you know, Bohemia, and he, you know, started teaching justification by faith and so forth. And so he was branded a heretic and he was burned alive at the stake. And it was said and recorded that his final words were he continually chanted like Bartamaeus, son of David, have mercy on me, son of David, have mercy on me, until the smoke finally choked his voice out. Um, and so uh that always goes through my mind whenever I read this from Bartimaeus. It's a it's a very bold confession of faith in who Jesus is, and it's a bold uh plea for Jesus to truly uh enact mercy on the individual. And so Bartimaeus is is pleaing for this, he's pleaing for Jesus to change his life, to transform who he is. And so Jesus hears this, and Jesus stops, and he says, Um, call him over. So Jesus tells the disciples, call him over here. And so the disciples call out to the blind man. This is in Mark 10, verse 49, take courage, arise, he is calling for you. And so immediately Barnamaeus casts aside his cloak, jumps to his feet. You can imagine, you know, casting aside the cloak, the coins bouncing out or whatever. He's not concerned about any of that anymore. And they lead him to Jesus, his companion, the other blind man, follow along as well. And Jesus asks him, What do you want me to do for you? And this is a lot like uh back at the pool of Bethesda, right, when the man has been there for 38 years, hoping uh who can't walk, hoping to touch the water that's been stirred by the angels so that he can be healed. And Jesus comes up to him and is like, do you want to get better? Right? It seems like an obvious question, but it's not. It wasn't an obvious question to the guy at the pool of Bethesda, and this isn't an obvious question here either. And it's something that should cause us to pause as well. Uh and it's a it's a good method for Bible study, also, uh, and that is whenever you're reading Jesus and you're reading his words, whenever he asks a question, it's a good idea. I learned this when I spent time in a monastery. Uh it's a good idea to have like a piece of paper and just write that write his question, and then spend time meditating on that in your own life. And so here, Jesus says, What do you want me to do for you? And so, like this week, something good for you to do would be to write down Jesus asking you, What do you want me to do for you? And see if you can answer that. What do you want Jesus to do for you? How would you answer that? Like, what do you really want him to do for you? You know, does Barnamaeus just want to see, or does Bartimaeus want something more? Right? What do you want Jesus to do for you? And then why do you want him to do it? What do you what are you wanting to accomplish? And so always kind of think through that whenever you're reading Jesus in the Gospels, and he because he asks a ton of questions. As a rabbi, that's what he does. Read it as he's asking you those questions. What do you want him to do for you? Barnabas does reply, he says, and this is uh from Matthew's version, chapter 20, um, and verse 33, Raboni, I want to regain my sight. The blind men were not asking Jesus for coins or anything like that. They pleaded, Lord, we want our eyes to be opened. According to Matthew's telling of the story, Jesus was moved with compassion. And literally, the the Greek word there is that his guts stirred. It's like literally his stomach churned. So he has this uh his deep compassion from within for these men. And he touches their eyes, and immediately they regain their sight. And in Mark's version, Mark 10, verse 52, Jesus says, Go your way, your faith has made you well. And Barnamaeus began to glorify God with blessings and thanksgiving. The Galileans with Jesus saw the miracle, and they all began to give praise to God as well. And then Jesus resumes his journey. As the crowd began to pull away from the two healed men, Barnamaeus fell in behind Jesus, and says in verse 52 of Mark 10, following him on the road. And so you think about that. Bartimaeus clearly responded by more than just wanting a sight, right? He left everything. And this is going to be an important context for us. And sometimes we miss this, I think, in Mosaic, because we're here for like 45 minutes, and we're then we're gone for a week, and then we're here for 45 minutes, and we forget that all of this that we've been doing for the last four weeks has really happened in real time like this. Right? So remember all the way back like four weeks ago, the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said, Good teacher, what must I do? You know, to have eternal life? Remember that? That seems like forever ago? Well, in the storyline, that was like a day ago, right? And so, and if you're reading the narrative and if you were just reading it, it was like five minutes ago. And so it's still part of the context. And so, for us as readers of the gospel, um, we're supposed to be drawing that contrast. So you had the rich young ruler who asked Jesus and he was sincere. Remember, we were very adamant to take him seriously and to respect him and to, you know, give him honor that he meant what he said and he wanted to do these things and so forth. But when Jesus finally told him what he needed to do, he goes away sad because he isn't willing to leave it all behind. And here you have Bartimaeus, who at best has a cloak that he's sitting on and a few coins that people have chunked at him as they passed by on their way to Jerusalem, and yet he's willing to leave it all behind to follow Jesus. So we're going to put this in its recent context with the rich young man Jesus had encountered en route to Jericho. In Mark's gospel, the story of blind Barnabas comes shortly after the story of the rich young man of Perea. The two stories illustrate different approaches to Jesus. Like the rich young man, the blind man was also zealous to meet Jesus. So both had that in common. They both were excited to meet Jesus, they both wanted to see Jesus, they both understood Jesus had something that Jesus could offer them. And so they approached Jesus with this great zeal. And like the rich young man, Bartimaeus had a request for Jesus. So they wanted to meet Jesus, excited to meet Jesus, and they both had a request for Jesus. So from a literary perspective, when we're reading Mark's gospel and we're reading this account going to Jericho, we're supposed to be contrasting this in our mind. But unlike the young man who owned much property, Bartimaeus sat by the road begging. The rich young man addressed Jesus with the very polite, respectful, good teacher. Bartimaeus calls out urgently, son of David. Unlike the rich young man who asked, What good thing must I do? Barnamaus merely cries out, Have mercy on me. Notice the contrast. What must I do? To, I already know I can't do anything. Have mercy on me. Unlike the rich young man who could not leave his wealth behind to follow the call of discipleship, Bartimaeus willingly cast his cloak aside and follows Jesus. The rich young man who was accustomed to buying and paying for whatever he needed or whatever he wanted approached Jesus with an attitude of self-reliance. He wanted to know what good thing he had yet to do. He saw basically everything that's been asked of me, I've done, and I've done faithfully. I've gone to the right schools, I've had the right teachers, I've done the right things. And Jesus saw that, remember, and Jesus loved him because of it. Jesus knew he was serious about it. But he still felt, what else is left for me still to do? The blind man, on the other hand, was accustomed to the humility of dependence. And so he had no qualms about begging and simply saying, Have mercy on me. When we depend on our own adequacy and our own righteousness, we go away sad, like the rich young man, who found that the cost of discipleship was more than he could afford. At least at that point. I told you to keep him in mind because he does make a comeback tour and he does get a name in the book of Acts. When we humble ourselves enough to ask for mercy, like the blind son of Timaeus, we are rewarded for our faith in the Son of David. We have little to offer other than our faith, but the Master has everything to offer us. Again, this reminds me of a story from the Reformation when Dr. Luther was on his deathbed. It is recorded that his final words were we are beggars. Every one of us, we are beggars. Those were his final words. So the scene closes with the no longer blind Bartemus following Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. He's a new disciple. The healing of blind Bartimus has symbolic significance in the Gospel of Mark with opened eyes. Throughout his narrative, Mark uses the healing of the blind, the deaf, and the mute to symbolize Jesus' struggle with the spiritual impediments that beset his generation. Those impediments prevented the people from repenting and recognizing the Messiah and obtaining the kingdom. In other words, the physical blindness, the physical deafness, the physical muteness were really symbolic of spiritual blindness and spiritual deafness and spiritual muuteness. And so the story of blind Bartimas is the last healing story in the gospel of Mark. And therefore it makes it significant. Although he was physically blind, Bartimaeus saw Jesus clearly. Mark is a gospel of irony. And you'll see that time and time again, and you see it again in this final healing. It's the blind guy that sees Jesus. It's not the people who have eyes that see Jesus. It's not the people who know the scriptures the best. It's not the people who are serving in the temple. It's not the priests, it's not the Sadducees, it's not the religious elite. It's not all those who should see Jesus that see Jesus, but it's the blind that see Jesus. It's the deaf that hear him and respond to him. It's the mute that end up speaking and proclaiming his name, right? That's the irony of Mark's gospel. And we see it one final time here. And Barnabas addresses Jesus again by that title, Son of David, foreshadowing the messianic acclamation that will follow Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. So it's a little bit of foreshadowing about what is soon to happen as Jesus makes his way into Jerusalem. The eyes of the people will be opened, at least some of them, when they welcome their Messiah into Jerusalem. And that is where we will go now. So if you will on your Bibles, flip over to John chapter 11. John chapter 11, verse uh 55. Little bit of purification and anticipation. Let's read this verse together. The days of the Passover for the Judeans drew near, and many people went up from the land to Jerusalem before Passover to sanctify themselves. So again, the goal is not to arrive at Passover on the day of Passover, right? If worship's at 11, don't arrive at 11.01. Okay. So they're going to get there early. They're going to get there well before Passover because they got to do a lot of things. They've got to pick out their lamb. And, you know, there's going to be hundreds of thousands of people wanting a lamb. So there's going to be a lineup for that. So they've got to get that taken care of. They, along the journey, you know, they're going to know they're going to be going up to the Temple Mount. Along the journey, they could have encountered something that would have made them ceremonially unclean. And so they might need to purify themselves, which is a seven-day process. So they would need to give themselves time to get that done as well. And so that's what it's meaning by saying that they would go up to Jerusalem before Passover to sanctify themselves. And so Jesus is going to arrive in the vicinity of Jerusalem before Passover, right? And that's why. So it's uh it's find a place to stay, which is going to be for a little while. It's going to be at its good friend's house, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and Bethany, and then it's going to be on the other side of the mountain on Gethsemane. And then you need to get your lamb ready. You also got to pick that out by the 10th of the month. And then you got to inspect it, and then you sacrifice it on the 14th. And you know, you got a lot of stuff to do, all right? And so they're making their way up there. And you got to factor in some travel time. Uh, there might be delays and so forth. So they're now leaving Jericho. How you need to picture where you're at in the narrative, leaving Jericho, heading to Jerusalem. Uh, so about 30 days before the Passover, the Sanhedrin, the religious leadership in Jerusalem, they would send out road crews to repair the roads that would lead up to Jerusalem in preparation for the max, you know, the massive influx of pilgrims. Uh, but the the way they would repair the roads is probably not the way we would think. Uh, well, maybe it is. They don't because they don't fix potholes around here either. They didn't send out the road crews to fix potholes and all of that kind of thing. Rather, they sent out the road crews to make sure all of the ritual immersion pools were fixed and repaired so that as people went along, in case they got defiled, they could immerse themselves in the pools so that they could begin the process of becoming clean so that they could enter into the temple grounds. They would also go out and clearly mark tombs. They would paint them white. This is where you get the phrase in the Gospels, you are like whitewashed tombs. That's because in their culture, they would whitewash the tombs, so that you would know not to get near them, because if you come into contact with them, you're ceremonially impure, and for the next seven days, you would not be allowed to go up onto the Temple Mount. Therefore, you couldn't participate within the seven-day period of that, anything on the Temple Mount. So if you're in seven days, you would have to miss Passover. So imagine you've walked for a month from North Africa, and then right before you get there, you stepped on someone's tomb. Well, you're done, right? It's kind of like, what was it? Who who watched the Kentucky Derby yesterday? Anyway? Did you see right before the race when they were putting the horses in of the gates? That one horse kind of got a little rowdy and he rolled over and they pulled him and he didn't get to race. Now you imagine all of the time, the training, the Monday, and he got all the way to the gate, and then they were like, nope, out, sit it out, right? So because of that, the Sanhedrin sent out these road crews to whitewash all the tombs, and even if you go to Israel today, uh they're still whitewashed, and sometimes they're baby blue now. Uh, you'll see baby blue on tops of tombs and things like that. But they still do that uh for this reason. So you would see clearly identify them, and there would be all these ritual pools everywhere so you could immerse in them. And so a full week before Passover, everything starts getting ready, uh, and the city begins to swell with pilgrims, people seeking ceremonial purification, they arrive first because the Torah forbids a person who has come into contact with any kind of cemetery, grave, or anything like that from going up onto the temple. Anyone contaminated uh couldn't participate with Passover unless they went through this ritual that's described in Numbers chapter 19, and it would take a week to do that. It required the uh application of a small amount of living water mixed with the ashes of a burnt red heifer. Uh the red heifer was burnt on the Mount of Olives, and they would take some of his ashes and mix it with some water. All of that's described in Numbers chapter 19. But again, it would take seven days before you were considered good to go again. As the pilgrims sought their purification and congregated in Jerusalem, they would have begun to inquire about that prophet from Nazareth. John 11, verse 56. What do you think? That he will come to the feast? Will he come to the feast or not? They asked. They speculated that Jesus might avoid the festival because the chief priest and Jesus opponents among the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees had previously, at the earlier festival, six months earlier, had tried to arrest him. The religious leaders had circulated orders stating that anyone knowing Jesus, that they were to report his location. And they wanted to know when he could be found alone without people around him, so that they could arrest him out of public view. The young prophet had become a favorite of the masses. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize him by stealth so that they could kill him. For they were saying in Mark 14, verse 1, not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot. The festival of Passover is the festival of redemption, the anniversary of the redemption from Egypt, and Jewish tradition anticipated the arrival of the Messiah, a second Moses, the ultimate Redeemer at Passover time. Most of the people arriving in Jerusalem for Passover, they hadn't seen Jesus for six months. But remember, six months earlier they had heard him speak in the temple, and many believed in him. And they hoped that they would see him again at Passover. And so they said to one another, What do you think? Do you think he's going to come? John chapter 12, verse 1. Let's read this verse together. Six days before the festival of Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the place of Lazarus, whom he had awakened from the dead. So in the year that Jesus died, the day of Passover, which is the fourteenth day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, it fell on a Friday. To arrive in Bethany six days before the fourteenth day of Nisan meant that he arrived in Bethany for what was known as Shabbat Hagadol. That would be Friday, the eighth day of the month of Nisan. So Jesus actually arrived on a holiday. It's just a small holiday, but it's the great Sabbath before the Passover festival. It's called the Great Sabbath, Shabbat Hagadol. All right, so he would have arrived in Bethany just in the nick of time to celebrate the Sabbath with Lazarus. The small village of Bethany, again home to Mary Martha Lazarus, was on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives. It's about two miles outside of Jerusalem proper, at least in Jesus' day, Jerusalem proper. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus would have provided Jesus with hospitality, not only then, but probably any time he came into the area. It would have offered an ideal location for spending festival days, while he could go to the temple during the day and have some respite in the evening. The text says in John 11, verse 5, that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And Jesus and his disciples spent that Sabbath day, Shabbat Hagadol, the eighth day of the month of Nassan in Bethany. And as the Gospels tell us time and time again, it would have been Jesus' custom to go to the local synagogue and be part of the service of the word, and it probably would have caused a stir. He had become famous because, after all, not only was he this miracle worker from Nazareth and gotten that kind of fame, but what he had done earlier in that year in that exact same town? He had brought Lazarus back from the dead, right? And so you can imagine Jesus coming back into town would have caused quite a stir. And so on Saturday evening, when the Sabbath is ending, the people of the community, it says in John 12, verse 2, made him a supper in his honor. Martha, Mary, Lazarus hosted the meal, and just as in Luke 10, 40, Martha was serving. Her brother Lazarus reclined at the table among the other disciples. One scholar of the Gospel of John says, Quote, We have here a clear indication of the Saturday evening meal, that is, the Havdalah meal, the service that denotes the end of the Sabbath and the beginning of the new week. In the days of Jesus, people would celebrate the conclusion of the Sabbath by lighting candles. They would pass around aromatic spices and smell them, share a meal, and pass blessings that separate the Sabbath from the work week. And then they would begin their week. So it's a kind of a communal meal. It was very traditional. And so this is clearly being hosted at Mary Martha Lazarus' house, and the community's all gathering around. And so you can imagine kind of the buzz and the celebration. And so these are, if you've ever wondered where, like, how in the world on Palm Sunday did so many people know to welcome Jesus and so forth? This is where the crowd's coming from, right? They're coming from Bethany, right? Bethany knows who Jesus is. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. They'd certainly know who Lazarus is. He's a hometown guy. And if someone from your hometown, that's a very small town, comes back from the dead, he's going to be a hometown hero. And you're certainly going to remember the guy who did it. And so when the guy who did it comes back to town and you have a big party for him, and then the next day you're all going to head into Jerusalem to begin celebrating the Passover, there's your crowd. That's your Palm Sunday crowd, right? That's why they believed in him. That's why they're able to say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. That's why they're going to be waving their branches. That's why they're going to believe he's the king. All right. They've witnessed it. But not everyone is not only a fan of Jesus, but if you're not a fan of Jesus, chances are you're probably not going to be a fan of Lazarus, right? So let's keep reading in John here. John chapter 12, verse 9. Let's read the verse. Many people in Judea heard that he was there, meaning Bethany. They came not just on his account, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had awakened from the dead. So again, word of Jesus' presence in Bethany reached nearby Jerusalem. It's just two miles, it's up the mountain, down the mountain, into the city gate. Bam. People from the city start coming to Bethany. They want to check it out. Some because they're believers, some because they're curious, and some because they're not believers, right? They're antagonistic, but they're coming. The eager and the curious come to see the miracle worker and the man he brought back from the dead. Here was the man that had come back from the other side, and plenty of witnesses could verify it. Who would not want to see him? Imagine. Tell us, Lazarus, what was it like? And the next day people arrive, and Lazarus had become a strong testimony to Jesus' power, including Jesus' power over death itself. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus stated in Luke 16, verse 31 if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, that is, if they don't listen to the Bible, they're not even going to be persuaded if someone comes back from the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus provides the opportunity to put that statement to the test. Someone now has come back from the dead. John 12, verse 11. On account of Lazarus, many of the Jews were going away to Bethany and were believing in Jesus. So some did believe. Those who did not listen to Moses and the prophets, however, had a different reaction. The Sadducees were more interested in the politics of power than they were in the work of God. The Sadducees denied the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead. They didn't even believe it existed. And so they certainly would have been threatened not only by the politics of power, they would have been threatened by the politics of doctrine. And Jesus and Lazarus pose a big threat to their credibility. Caiaphas and the chief priest understood that it was no longer sufficient that Jesus alone be eliminated. Now they would need to eliminate the chief witness to the power of Jesus as well. And so John 12, verse 10. The chief priest's plan to put Lazarus to death also. Now let's flip back over to the Gospel of Mark. I think we got time to click into just a tiny bit of it. Jesus leaving Bethany, getting to the top of the mountain. Let's read Mark 11, verse 1. When they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples. So the next day, Jesus and his Galilean followers set out from Bethany. They had only a short two-mile trek over the top of the Mount of Olives. Today, a stiff uphill, I'd say 20-minute walk up from modern day Al-Azairah brings one to the location of Bethphage, a sister village to Bethany that sat near the top of the Mount of Olives. Bethphage means in Aramaic the house of the unripe figs, a name for a certain type of fig that grew there. There is this day a Franciscan church located on the Mount of Olives that preserves roughly the location of the first century village. On Palm Sundays each year, Christians will follow the path of what they believe is what we call the triumphal entry, with the procession from Bethage to Jerusalem. So Jesus sends two of his disciples into the village with instructions to untie and bring him a donkey that they find. He says, if anyone objects, they're to explain simply, the master has need of it. And supposedly that phrase alone, the master has need of it, it's going to be enough for them to go, oh, okay, take my donkey. So the two disciples did as Jesus told them. Luke 19, 32. They were sent away and they found it just as Jesus had said. They go into the village of Ethage, and they find the young donkey tied at the entrance, and it's tied next to its mother. They untie the donkey, and some of its owners and bystanders object, ask them what they're doing, and they do what Jesus said. The master has need of it. And they immediately consent and tell them to take it. Now, had Jesus made earlier arrangements with the owners, and that was the password? Maybe. Maybe, or maybe it's miraculous. And Jesus knows that the disciples are going to find the donkey just as he said, and the owners are going to consent when the disciples say these words. But nonetheless, they find the donkey and they retrieve it, and now they're going to bring it back to Jesus. And that is where we will pick it up next week with the Messiah's donkey and Jesus entering into Jerusalem for his faithful final time.