Covenant Update

Dear Covenant Family:

We had a great Palm Sunday service at Covenant, with 41 folks in attendance.  Please keep Virginia Phillips and her daughters in your prayers as Virginia is still suffering from seizures after her heart surgery.  Also note that the YAH group will meet at Covenant on Tuesday April 12 at 10:30 AM.  Covenant will also hold a Good Friday service on April 15 at 5 PM.  The service will be led by Pastor Don and Tina, and will include communion.

Pastor Don’s sermon was about Palm Sunday and he focused on the scripture in Mark chapter 11.  Don shared that most of Jesus’ teaching was done during Holy Week, and he will show some of that teaching to us today. 

Mark 11:1-6 – And as they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, He sent two of His disciples, ² and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. ³ And if anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he will send it back here.” ⁴ They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they untied it. ⁵ And some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” ⁶ And they told them just as Jesus had said, and they gave them permission.

Why did Jesus ask for the colt?  The reason is that it was spoken in the old testament that the King is coming to you on a colt, so Jesus knew it was predestined.  See below for the scripture predicting this event:

Zechariah 9:9 – Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion!  Shout in triumph, daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; He is righteous and endowed with salvation, humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Jesus knew that the disciples would not be turned away, God’s plan as it was predestined is described in Zechariah.  We need to understand that God predestines much in our lives also, if we listen for Him and follow Him. 

Mark 11:7-11 – They brought the colt to Jesus and put their cloaks on it; and He sat on it. ⁸ And many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. ⁹ And those who went in front and those who followed were shouting: “Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; ¹⁰ blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!”  And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late. 

Jesus may not have had a large crowd when he arrived in Jerusalem, but this activity would have certainly generated a large crowd to follow Him into the city.  ¹¹ And Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple area; and after looking around at everything, He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late. 

Mark 11:12-14 – On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. ¹³ Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

We see that Jesus, although the Son of God, also took human form and had human feelings like hunger.  This was a teaching moment for the disciples where Jesus used the fig tree to illustrate its potential for greatness without providing it, similar to the Jewish nation in much of its history.

Mark 11:15-19 – Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves; ¹⁶ and He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple grounds. ¹⁷ And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” ¹⁸ And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they began seeking how to put Him to death; for they were afraid of Him, because all the crowd was astonished at His teaching.  ¹⁹ And whenever evening came, they would leave the city.

According to Jesus, the temple was meant to be a place of worship, not for greed.  Jesus did what needed to be done, He said all the right things, and the priests and scribes became afraid of Him. 

Mark 11:20-26 – As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. ²¹ And being reminded, Peter said to Him, “Rabbi, look, the fig tree that You cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. ²³ Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted to him. ²⁴ Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you. ²⁵ And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you for your offenses. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your offenses.”

Jesus is now preparing for the end.  He tells His disciples that whatever you truly believe can come true!  Pray, and forgive, and believe was His message.  This was another teaching moment for His disciples.

Mark 11:27-33 – And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to Him, ²⁸ and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” ²⁹ But Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” ³¹ And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But should we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all considered John to have been a real prophet. ³³ Answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.”

Here the church leaders question Jesus as to His “authority” to say such things.  Jesus’ answer (His teaching !) clearly confounds the church leaders (again) and Pastor Don compared the church leaders to little children who have done wrong and try to make an excuse for their actions. 

Jesus now waits to be arrested and to finish the journey the Father has prepared for Him.  There is more teaching involved throughout His journey during the rest of Holy Week.

Looking forward to seeing you in church on Easter Sunday.  Please bring your friends and family!  Have a blessed week.

Ron