Chapter # 11 Paragraph # 1 Study # 5
February 6, 2024
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: We are yet awaiting "the coming kingdom".
Introduction: In our last study we considered the development of the triumphal entry of Jesus according to the prophecies of a Davidic King. This evening we are going to look at what our expectations regarding that Kingdom should be.
- I. "And When They Are Drawing Near Into Jerusalem Into Bethphage And Into Bethany Toward The Mountain Of The Olives..."
- II. "He Is Sending Two Of His Disciples..."
- III. "He Is Saying To Them..."
- IV. "They Went Away And Found..." (That Every Detail Came To Pass As He Had Said).
- V. "Blessed be the coming kingdom of our father David".
- A. The words...
- 1. The people, in high celebration mood, addressed the setting as that of "the coming kingdom".
- 2. The concept of "blessedness".
- a. Is, first, in this setting, an exclamatory cry (krazo) that expressed both a high and present emotional mood of expectation and a glad declaration of gratitude to God.
- b. The word translated "Blessed be..." in both verses (11:9-10) is illustrated, as to meaning, in the other three uses of it by Mark.
- 1) The first use is in 6:41 in Mark's description of Jesus' action just before He began passing out the pieces of bread and fish.
- a) This is the record of the most impressive demonstration of Jesus' "might" in terms of His ability to provide "life" for the massive crowd, and His "look to heaven" along with His "blessing of the food" were the two elements that preceded this "mighty" demonstration.
- b) It is a deliberate attempt by Jesus to establish, not only His "might", but also an insistence that the disciples "gain a legitimate insight" (6:52) that they missed by reason of a "hardened heart".
- i. This "condition" was rooted, first, in their misapprehension of His true character -- not a phantasm (a demon, intent upon their hurt) but the Mighty Lord Who ever seeks the "good" of those who are trapped in their "inverted world".
- ii. This "condition" is described as men focused upon the "outer man" who not only did not understand the reality of the "inner man", but actively discounted this "from the inside out" approach of Jesus, Who calls their attitude "Fear".
- 2) The second use is in 8:7 where there is a repeat performance (that is wedded to the first in 8:17-21) without the "look to heaven" and is directly tied to His "Do you have a hardened heart?" (8:17) question.
- a) The use of "dialogizomai" in 8:16 and its illustrated meaning in 9:33 compels us to understand that the disciples are absolutely "fixated" upon "outer greatness in the eyes of men" with no care for "inner greatness in the values of The Kingdom".
- b) This "hardened heart" factor is, then, to be understood as "having a totally inverted view of Life".
- c. Thus, "blessed" possesses this meaning: a heart-expression of a highly valued expectation -- illustrated by Jesus' demonstration of His expectation from "heaven" in the face of an "outer man" need.
- 3. "The Coming Kingdom".
- a. This was an entrenched expectation, made so by 2 Samuel 7, and reinforced by the prophecies of Daniel in 2:44, and 7:18-22 and 27.
- b. The fact that the people were focused upon the "outer man" made their "hope" one of the "outer man".
- c. That the focus of the people was "outer man" does not mean that, once the "inner man" issues are addressed and exalted, the "outer man" issues will not be fulfilled; rather, it intensifies the expectation of an "outer man" kingdom once the "inner man" issues are addressed so that the "coming kingdom" will be focused upon "outer focused men" living with one another in the harmony of "inner focused men".
- B. The hermeneutics...
- 1. There is no reason, hermeneutically, to dismiss the promises which were given and taken to signify a physical kingdom.
- 2. Rather, the first "coming" of the One Who "comes in the name of the Lord" was aimed at providing the foundations for the resolution of the "hardened heart" so that men might live in real harmony with one another.
- 3. The hermeneutics of "the coming kingdom of our father David" pretty much require that we take the words at face value and understand that their fulfillment demands that the "inverted men" be first "turned right side up".
- C. The prelude to disaster...
- 1. Jesus' view of "all things" in the temple was that of a "kingdom" so upside down that Mark 11:14-17 was written to show that condition.
- 2. No one but Jesus knew what He was going to do ... or what it would cost Him to do it.
