I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of Mark, chapter 11. And if you don't have a Bible, if you can unfold your bulletin enough, you'll find a handout there where we printed up these verses for you. The Passion of the Christ. Before anyone ever thought of a movie, they thought of the suffering of Jesus on the cross, “passion” coming from a Latin word for suffering. It really became something that people used to refer to the last week of Jesus' life, from when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, to how he died painfully on the cross, to how he rose on the third day from the empty tomb. There's been Passion Week that Christians have been celebrating for hundreds of years. Well, this year here at our church, we're not having Passion Week. We're having Passion Year because we're starting on Easter at Jesus riding in on a donkey into Jerusalem, and we're going to go through the last week of Jesus's life all year long. And so, we're going to have a second Easter this year, everybody. So, make sure you keep this outfit somewhere nice, all right. And if you got invited by somebody and you joined us, they're going to invite you again in like, October, November, or something, and they're going to say, hey, we finally got to the part where he rose from the dead. Because we're going to make this story of the last week of Jesus the story of our year 2026. And just like there's excitement here as we gather together this evening, these people are very excited that Jesus has come to Jerusalem. So, I want to read the first 11 verses of Mark 11. And out of respect for God's Word, I invite you to stand again for the public reading of Scripture. Please follow along with me and try to hear the excitement of the crowd as Jesus comes to town. Mark, chapter 11, verse 1.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus[a] sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it. And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. And I would love for you to take some notes on the handout, if you're able to. And the thing I'd love for you to circle is right there in verse 10, where it says, “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” Now, if you were here at Good Friday, we discussed what “Hosanna” means. It means “save us now.” It's two Hebrew words brought together to mean “save us now.” And shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” That's something they may have regularly done at feast, like the Feast of Passover that's beginning here. That's a quote from Psalm 118 where they would shout “Hosanna,” and they would say, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” But this line in verse 10, this line gives us a glimpse into why these people are so excited, why people are removing their cloaks and throwing them down on the ground before Jesus, why people are running into the fields, cutting branches and throwing them down on the ground. It's like they're trying to create a carpet before Jesus, so that as he rides into town like he's being welcomed every step of the way, because “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.” And then this is not your normal Hosanna. This is Hosanna in the high… What do these people think Jesus is coming to do? Who do these people think Jesus is? See this level of excitement that they have for Jesus, this should inspire every single person here, if you believe in Jesus. Have you ever been excited like these people are excited about Jesus?
They think that the king is coming. He's here. He's arrived, and this is the beginning of something awesome. This is what we've been waiting for for hundreds of years. This is what all the legends and the prophecies have all been building up to, the king is coming. That's what these people think. And this was almost 2000 years ago, and people sit in church today and they see these people excited, and they're like, they didn't even get it. Jesus didn't come to be king. Jesus came… Why did he come, everybody? He came to die on the cross for our sins. And so, we look at these people like they didn't even know what was going on. The irony is, these people know what is going on better than most Christians I know today.
Think about it, 2000 years ago, they were already ready for the king to come and have his reign in Jerusalem. How ready are you for Jesus to come as the king and reign in Jerusalem? Do you even believe that Jesus is going to come back again and that he's going to reign in Jerusalem? And what about your life that you've been living so far in 2026, would make anybody who knows you think that you think the best is yet to come, and you're looking forward to it, because “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David. Hosanna, in the highest.
I want to give you here today, two Reasons to get ready, two reasons to get ready for Jesus’ return, for the coming of the king. I think there are two compelling reasons given to us throughout this last week of Jesus's life, even right here in this text, two reasons that every single person here should be living with this anticipation, this expectation that the king is coming and it's imminent, it could happen at any moment. He's coming soon, if we could only have the excitement that these folks had, because here we are, 2000 years later, we should be ready for his coming.
The first reason that I want to give you is because Jesus is telling us what's going to happen before it happens. He's been doing it throughout the gospel of Mark. I don't know if anybody else is impressed, like I am, that he could just say, if you go to this spot, there's going to be a donkey there that no one has ever ridden. And if anybody asks you why you're taking the donkey, just tell them, the Lord has need of it. Is anybody else impressed by that? Or are we so used to Jesus that we're just like, Yeah, well, he knows. He always knows. He knows, you know. So, it's not a big deal if you call your donkey shot and it's right, if you give people a password and of what to say, and they let you take the donkey away. I'm impressed. I'm buying your In-N-Out Burger. That is awesome, right there, what he does, and this is, like every day kind of stuff with Jesus.
Go over to chapter 14 and look at how he's going to do this same thing again. In Chapter 14, they're going to be like, hey, where are we going to eat the Passover, we're here at the Passover feast. And verse 12, they're like, hey, where are we going to eat the Passover meal? This is a real question here. Where are we going? We've been staying outside of town. We’ve got to eat the Passover meal in Jerusalem. And so, look at verse 13 of Mark 14, “He sent two of his disciples” again. He just sends two of his disciples up ahead. Go into the city, and you'll see a man carrying a jar of water. He'll meet you. “Follow him, and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house. The teacher says, ‘Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples,’ and he will show you a large upper room, furnished and ready there, prepared for us. And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it, just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. Like, let's say I was at this service, and I talked to you after the service, and I'm like, here's what I want you to do, go to this place. You'll see a man carrying something follow him. He'll introduce you to another man to ask him about the secret room, and he'll take you to a room that's ready for us. That sounds crazy if it wasn't Jesus talking. So, Jesus is accurately predicting the future events over and over and over again, throughout the gospel of Mark. This is something we should all be impressed with. In fact, the main thing that Jesus predicted, not once, not twice, but three times, is that he was going to go to Jerusalem. He would be handed over to the religious leaders of the Jews. He would be betrayed by one of his disciples. They'd hand him over to the Gentiles, and they would kill him. But on the third day, he would what, everybody? He said it three times. Let's look at them again. Go to chapter 8, verse 31 if there's something Jesus wanted the disciples to know, it was this one, yeah. I mean calling your shot with the upper room is impressive. The donkey. This is all very interesting. But this one, he kept saying, when we get to Jerusalem, and it's the first time he said it in Mark 8:31, “he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days, he will rise again.” Go to the very next chapter, chapter 9, verse 31 so this is clearly the theme through the chapters we've been going through at our church, 8, 9, and 10. This theme of Jesus preparing his disciples for their trip to Jerusalem keeps coming up. And here in 9:31, he says, “For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days, he will rise.” And then in chapter 10, verse 34 he said it again, this time, giving more detail, he'll be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They'll condemn him to death. They'll deliver him over to the Gentiles. And then look at Mark 10:34, “they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him. And after three days, he will” what, everybody? Okay.
So, he keeps saying this, and they never did it. And you can tell, even the ladies, as we read in Mark 16, even the ladies who went there, they're like, how's the stone going to get rolled away? And they've got spices to anoint his dead body. So even though Jesus was saying it over and over again. It did not become their expectation that should hurt us a little bit. If Jesus says something, do you want to listen to it? Go back to chapter 14 again, because at that upper room and Jesus really poured his heart out on that last night with his disciples, that last supper has become a famous setting. And in that Mark 14 discussion Jesus, he's telling them a bunch of things, but in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 14, look at verse 28. Look, he even tells them not only that he's going to rise, but what's going to happen after he rises from the dead. In Mark 14:28, he says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” So, hey, you're not going to find me in the tomb, but you will find me in Galilee, he says.
Now, go to chapter 16, which we already read. And there's the angel telling these ladies this amazing news, he was crucified, but he is risen. He's not here. And then look at verse 7. “Go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee, there, you will see him just as he” what, everybody? He “told you.” Did he tell them that he was going to die and then rise? Did he tell them where he was going to meet them after he rose? Did Jesus end up meeting the disciples in Galilee? Yes, that's where he gives that great commission to go and make disciples of all nations. In fact, there's a time where five hundred eyewitnesses all see Jesus alive together after he has risen from the dead, just like he told them. Just like he said, he makes an appearance and shows himself to five hundred of his disciples.
So, here's what I want everybody if you're taking notes, write this down for number one: “If he rose from the dead, then listen to what he said.” If he can call his shots like this donkey over here, upper room over there. Three times I tell you on the third day that I will rise, and then we're all going to get together in Galilee for a gathering of eyewitnesses who will testify to the death that Jesus is alive, if he can say all of that before it happens, then if Jesus tells you something that you should think is going to happen before it happens. Should you believe what the resurrected man says? Because he's not just a resurrected man. He's the resurrected Lord of heaven and earth, and what he says goes. The most certain thing in this world is the word of Jesus Christ, whatever Jesus says, that's what's going to happen Jesus, he's the one upholding the universe by the Word of his power. And so, if Jesus has said something is going to happen, you could be like one of those people who's still walking around surprised, or you could, by faith, hear what Jesus is saying and believe it. And Jesus, he said he was going to come in on a donkey. He said what was going to happen to him in Jerusalem. Jesus also said, what's going to happen way after that.
This idea of the Son of Man, which has been a key theme throughout the gospel of Mark, Jesus, said that “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for” who everybody? For “many”. Okay, that's why he came. The first time Jesus told us what it's going to be like when he comes again. Look at Mark 13. In fact, he takes a whole chapter that we're going to go through this year to explain the future. If you're interested in eschatology, if you're interested in the study of end times, how's the world going to end, stop chasing headlines and start studying the Bible, if you want to know how the world, as we know it, is going to end. And a whole teaching from Mark 13 is what? we're going to be able to study through together this year. And in Mark 13, he says many things about wars and rumors of wars and things that are going to happen there in Israel, specifically. And he talks about a tribulation that's going to come. And then he says this, look at Mark 13, verse 26. This would be a good verse to write down if you're taking notes. Mark 13:26, here's something Jesus said about the future. And if he was right about all the other things he said about the future, then you should probably think he's going to be right about this, too. What kind of a man can say I'll rise from the dead and actually have the power to pull it off? Only the God man, Jesus, is able to do that. And look what he says here, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Jesus said he's coming on the clouds, and every eye is going to see him. They're going to see his power and his glory. He's not going to be coming in humble and lowly on a donkey next time. Oh, he'll be riding the clouds in. Go over to chapter 14, after they've arrested him and they've got him in this all night trial they're doing with all these fake accusations, it seems to me that eventually Jesus kind of has enough with all that they're saying here. And eventually the high priest, verse 60 of Mark 14, “The high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, ‘Have you no answer to make?’” Like, Jesus, aren't you going to say anything, “’And what is it that these men testify against you?’ But he remained silent and made no answer. So again, the high priest asked him.” The high priest, this is the head honcho among the Jewish people, among the religious system of the day, and here he is now, point blank, saying to Jesus, “’Are you the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One? Are you the son of the blessed?’ And Jesus said, ‘I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’” Jesus, for the second time, and now in the face of his enemies, he says, “I will come on the clouds.” And this expectation that the king is coming, did not die with Jesus. No. Jesus, even before he died and rose again, was already saying what he would do in the future when he returns.
In fact, go over to Acts, chapter 1. Go over to the sequel to the Gospels in Acts, chapter one, and this is after Jesus died, now, after he's risen, this is one of the glimpses we get of Jesus and his disciples, where they're talking with one another now, after the gospel has happened, and here in the beginning of the book of Acts, right before Jesus ascends into heaven, where he's going to go to the right hand of the Father, where he's going to rule with power and authority as the name above every name the Lord of heaven and earth, until he's ready to return and notice what the disciples asked in verse 6 of Acts, chapter 1. “So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” They're like, is now the time you're going to be king? Now we understand, first you had to die for our sins, then you had to rise to offer us a new life and justification. So, we understand, okay, you had other things to do, but maybe now we'll get to the king stuff, Jesus. Maybe now you'll restore Israel to be your kingdom. And Jesus doesn't say, no. That's a foolish expectation. You guys shouldn't be thinking, I'll come back and do that. You guys are all wrong about that. He doesn't discourage their expectation that he's coming as king. Look at what he says. “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” And then he gives them their mission of what they're going to do in the book of Acts, which is “will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” You're going to spread the message of my death and resurrection all over the world. We're going global. We're making disciples of all nations.
But notice, they asked him, What about the kingdom? And he said, it's not for you to know the time. See, Jesus, he rolled with their assumption that there would be a restoration for Israel, that there would be a coming kingdom. They had the right thought, it was just not the right time. And Jesus says, you don't get to know the time. Fast-forward 2000 years to you. Do you believe that Jesus is going to come riding on the clouds? Is that something that you are actively looking forward to, or are we going to be just like these disciples were when Jesus is doing what he told us he was going to do. We're just all surprised that it's even happening. Or are we going to be people who can learn from the word of Jesus and say, wow, if he said he's coming on the clouds and everybody's going to see him. I mean, you can write down Revelation 1:7, everybody. Revelation 1:7. That's where it talks about every eye seeing him. The book of Revelation, that last prophecy of Scripture, it says they're all going to see him on the clouds. How about Daniel 7:13-14? We've brought up multiple times where one, like a Son of Man, is coming on the clouds. Well, he looks like a Son of Man, but he's got power and glory, and so you should expect that this glorious sight of splendor to see Jesus on the clouds is coming in your near future. You should believe that. Why? Because he said so, and he's been right about everything else he said was coming in the future.
So, we should really listen to what he says he's going to do in the future. From our perspective now, there's a second compelling reason to get ready. Go back to Mark, chapter 11 and this account that we have here in Mark 11 of Jesus coming in on a donkey, right? And it's all very deliberate, where he sends the disciples to get the donkey. The people are shouting as he's riding in on this colt that's never been ridden before. This is in all four Gospels. Okay, so Matthew has this story. Luke has this story. John has this story. Along with Mark. If anybody ever reads the story of Jesus, they're supposed to read about him coming in on the donkey. It's an essential part of the Jesus story to know that the king came in, humble and lowly, to Jerusalem. And the people were so excited the king was coming, but he came in in a way, maybe that they did not expect. You're supposed to know this story. In fact, you're supposed to know that even before Jesus said, go get me a donkey, there was already a prophecy that he would ride in on a donkey. And I printed up this prophecy for you, there on your page.
Zechariah 9:9-10. All right, so this prophecy is quoted in Matthew 21 and John 12, along with their account, words of Jesus, riding into Jerusalem on the donkey. In fact, John, he quotes this passage, Zechariah, 99 John quotes, but John says he didn't even get it when it was happening. It's not like as John is watching the donkey come in. John's thinking, this is in fulfillment of prophecy. John's admitting to us, I didn't even know prophecy was being fulfilled. I didn't even catch that till later, till after the fact. And then I realized it wasn't just Jesus telling us to go get a donkey that Zechariah, hundreds of years before Jesus, had said, the king would ride in on a donkey. Look at verse 9, he says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem,” which is exactly what the people did. “Behold”. Look at this. Can you see the picture in your mind? “Your king is coming to you righteous and having salvation.” Is he humble and mounted on a donkey? What kind of donkey is it, everybody? A colt, the foal of a donkey, like a donkey, a baby donkey that had never been ridden before. It's fulfilling prophecy.
Prophecy is so compelling, and so many Christians are sleeping on how compelling the prophecy is God tells us what's going to happen hundreds of years before it happens. And so, you could see, I drew this on a napkin years ago, the Prophecy Peaks. Can everybody see the picture of the prophecy peaks? Don't blame the graphic department around here on this one. This is my drawing right here. Okay, that's why it looks the way that it does. Right? Stick figures are about as good as it gets with me. And so, this guy is Zechariah. Let’s look at it from Zechariah’s perspective. When he sees a prophecy, he sees that there is most definitely a donkey, and then he also sees that there's going to be this rule of peace that's going to happen. Now, what Zechariah doesn't understand, as he's revealing the prophecy, is he doesn't understand there's going to be time between the “Donkey” and the “Rule of Peace.” See, from Zechariah’s perspective, he's just telling you what's going to happen with the king in the future. But see, there's actually a big valley between those two mountains there, where, where he rides in on the donkey, humble and lowly on the colt, the fall of a donkey. Well, we know that happened almost 2000 years ago, but this rule of peace, look at how it goes on.
Look at the next verse, it goes right to verse 10, I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow shall be cut off. We won't even need to fight war anymore. Why not? Because he shall speak peace to the nations, and his rule shall be from sea to sea. So, see a lot of the Prophets when they write down the revelation that God is giving them, they see it like God sees it, because God sees the end from the beginning. God is not bound by space and time. We are trapped as prisoners of the moment. Our God is eternal. Our God knows all the story all the way from the beginning to the end. And one of the ways that God tells us that he's there, that he's in control, that he's sovereign over the affairs of men, is he drops hints about what's going to happen ahead of time.
Prophecy is God's signature on Scripture, telling you here's what's going to happen. So, notice how, from our perspective, this prophecy has been affirmed. It's been fulfilled to some degree. Did the king come into Jerusalem humble and lowly on a donkey that had never been written before? What's the answer to that? Okay, second question, has there been this king ruling from sea to sea, speaking peace to the nations in Jerusalem? The answer to that would be, no, it hasn't happened. I mean, if you just think from when Jesus dies and rises again and goes into heaven. We know that the Jewish people were under Roman rule all the way until 70 AD, when the Romans came and wiped out Israel. And then from 70 AD, it was not Israel for a very long time, until World War II came, and we know that Hitler especially went after the Jewish people. And then after World War II, there was the reinstatement of the nation of Israel in the 1940s and from the 1940s to this very hour today, has there been peace in the Middle East? Has there been a time where from sea to sea, we're speaking peace to the nations? We want to go to Israel as much as we can as a church, it's been three years since we've even been able to go. We probably may not even be able to go this summer. Why? Because there's always war going on in Israel.
So, this idea that a king is in Israel and he's ruling from sea to sea, and that he's speaking peace to all the nations, this has not happened yet. The donkey coming in, humble and lowly, that happened; the rule of peace to the nations hasn't happened. So, what do we think everybody is it just some kind of fluke that he rode in on a donkey, and we can disregard the second part of the prophecy, or if the first part of the prophecy has been confirmed, should we really expect the second part to happen as well?
See, do you see God's masterful design? This is common throughout prophecy, where there is a short term fulfillment to give credibility validity to the prophecy, and then there's also a long term expectation for the prophecy as well. And so you're supposed to live in the middle of this prophecy saying, Well, I know he rode in on a donkey, so he must be coming to rule with peace. Flip your paper over, and you'll see another prophecy just like this, but this time, instead of it being Zechariah, let's look at it from Micah's perspective. All right. And this is a Christmas prophecy, because what are the two most popular times that people come to church in the United States of America, everybody? Christmas and Easter. What's the biggest one, everybody? We're at it right now. Okay, and so at Christmas time Jesus was born in what little town, everybody Bethlehem. Do you know where it says that? Well, it actually says it right here in Micah 5:2. It says, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” So, Micah, let's get him now on our second little prophecy peaks here, a second napkin drawing that you've got on your page. Micah, he's looking ahead, and what does he see? He sees the birth of the king, even the people talking to King Herod, they know what town he's going to be born in. Yeah, he's going to be born in the city of David. He's going to be born in Bethlehem. Yeah, they know Micah 5:2. Oh yeah. I mean, a lot of people all over the world, even if you just go to church two times a year, you know Jesus was born in Bethlehem. And you know that Micah said that hundreds of years before it happened, and yet, you know that Caesar is like, there's a whole big census going on all over the place, but it takes these two young people, one named Joseph and one named Mary, and they travel from Nazareth all the way down to Bethlehem, and it just happens to be the time where she's about to give birth to someone who would be prophesied to be born there hundreds of years before it happened. The fact that Jesus was born in Bethlehem is one of the most famous prophecies across if you go to Bethlehem to this very day, they will take you to the place where they think it happened. They will sell you all the things they can about Jesus being born there. They are capitalizing on it to this day, if there's not a war going on, they want you to come and see this is where he was born.
Now, can we keep reading what Micah saw? Because he didn't just see where he was born. Look, look at what it says. “Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she, who is in labor has given birth. Then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel, and he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord, his God, and they shall dwell secure.” For now, He shall be great to the ends of the earth, and He shall be there what everybody well, let's put that down for our second mountain. We’ve got this rule of peace. Where that he's going to be? This is why he's the king. This is why they're shouting Hosanna. This is why they're saying “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.” Because they're waiting for this kingdom. They're waiting for this. Peace. They're waiting for this rule. If he's born in Bethlehem and he's riding on a donkey, then they're thinking, we know what comes after that. But here's what's crazy is it didn't come right after that. And then now, hundreds of years have happened. And now when I stand up here and preach God's Word, and I say, hey, Jesus is coming back. You can see people roll their eyes when I say something like that. Church people. If you get church people talking, do you think Jesus is coming back? A lot of them will start saying, I don't think it's going to happen in our lifetime. I don't think it's going to be us. They'll start saying that openly. They'll just say, I don't think he's going, but these prophecies. Do you think he was born in Bethlehem? Do you think he rode in on the donkey? But you're not looking forward to the rule of peace? How did that come to make sense in our minds? How did we come to believe the Bible as a history book, rather than a book that tells us what's going to happen? Do you really believe what the Bible says?
Let's go back to number two and write this down. Flip the page back over. If the prophecies are true, what else do they say? If the prophecies are true, then what else do they say? They say there's a coming kingdom. They say that God has sworn an oath to David that there will be someone who sits on his throne. They say there's going to be a time of peace unlike anything the world has ever known. I bet you could travel to any nation on planet Earth, and if you brought up to them the idea of peace in the Middle East, they would probably think that's not possible. And yet, the prophecies have been telling us there will be a time of peace. There is only one who will be able to unite the nations. There is only one who will be able to bring peace to the world. And his name is Jesus, the risen Lord, and when he comes back, there will be a kingdom. And let me tell you this, everybody, the king is coming. Can I get an amen in the year of our Lord, 2026, does anybody still care about the return of Jesus? I guarantee you we don't care about it like they did in Mark 11. How much do you actually care about the fact that Jesus is coming back? Because I promise you this, that someday you will remember these times as like, what were we even thinking before Jesus came back?
Someday you will not think we had it good. Now you will think living in the kingdom of Jesus is so much better than the life we used to have in Orange County. Someday you will see it, and my question for you is, will it be after the fact, or are you actually going to be one of the few people who see it by faith before it comes and you live ready? You stay awake. You wake up and you think, I'm going to see Jesus and I'm going to see him soon. In fact, every eye is going to see him on the clouds with glory and power. And it changes the way you think about today, knowing that future is coming. Do you live like that?
Go with me back to Mark 13, because Jesus gave us some application here. If you go back to Mark 13, in this passage that we're going to get into that goes through the future in a lot of detail. Look at how that chapter ends this teaching of Jesus on the Mount of Olives, his famous teaching from him about the future, he gets back to this idea of people always want to just make it about the timing. When's it going to happen? When can I put it on my calendar, right? And then it says here, but concerning that day or that hour, no one knows. The point isn't to try to figure out the timing, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Here's Jesus saying, I don't even know when it's going to be, only the Father knows. So then look, here's his application, verse 33, “Be on guard.” And then here's the key word, keep what, everybody? Awake. Are you awake to the reality that the king is coming, for you do not know when the time will come. This isn't the kind of thing that you'll be able to know when it's happening. So, you’ve got to be on guard. You’ve got to be awake all the time. Is the idea, “it's like a man going on a journey, and when he leaves home, he puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and he commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake for you do not know when the master of the house will come in the evening or at midnight, or when the rooster crows or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.” Deep. And what I say to you, I say to all, stay awake, man. And sometimes I think about, what would Jesus preach if he could talk to everybody who shows up on Easter? I think he would preach that “Would I say to you, these guys there with him on the Mount of Olives? I say to everybody, I'm coming back, stay awake. I'm the master, and I'll come whenever I want to come. And I made you in charge of the door. And I might come early, it may be late, but you should be ready when I come.
See staying awake is not something that happens at a moment in time. Staying awake for the return of Jesus is a constant mindset that the Christian lives with. There are people who are still asleep or dead, and then there are those who are awake or ready. Everybody can be broken down into these two groups of people. There are those who are like, yes, if Jesus comes, I'm not going to be surprised. I've already put my faith in him. I already know he died for me. I already know he rose from the dead. I already know he's at the right hand of the Father. I know he's coming back. Then I am awake. I am ready. But if you don't really know all of that, it might just be kind of information that you've heard, but it doesn't matter in your life; you're kind of living like you can get away with whatever today because you’ve got plenty of time you can count on tomorrow, and Jesus is saying you don't know when I'm coming, so be ready all the time. What I say to you, I say to all, stay awake. There are some Christians, even people who call themselves Christians on Easter 2026 they need to wake up.
Go to Revelation, chapter 3, and look at what Jesus says to a church. See in America, somehow, if you go to church on Christmas and Easter, you became a Christian somehow. That's like the United States of America standard for what it means to be a Christian. Do you think the story is true? Do you check it out on Christmas and Easter, then you're a Christian? No, in the Bible, there's whole churches where there are no Christians. And this is one of those churches here. This church in Sardis, in Revelation, chapter 3. Here's something Jesus might preach on Easter. Here Revelation, chapter 3. “This is the words of him who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” Look at right here where he says, I know your works. Here's Jesus saying to this church, I know what you're about. I know who you are. I know your works. And he says, “you have the reputation of being alive, but you are.” What does he call them, everybody? Dead. Oh, you got your Easter outfits on. All of you look pretty in the pastel. I see you guys out there. You've got a name that you are alive, but you are not really alive at all. What does he tell them to do in verse two? Wake up. You're not living like the king is coming. You're not living like we got to stay ready, like we're on the alert, like he could come back. The prophecies are about all to be fulfilled. Today could be the day that I get to tell so and so about Jesus and they believe and he starts coming back. And what if I'm not ready, I'm ready today. You're not thinking like that. “Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard, keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.” Wow, did Jesus just tell a church of people that he's coming like a thief in the night. See, he tells his people like a master who's coming back. He says to his servants, stay awake, stay ready. But then now he's not talking to these people like they're his people. He's talking to this church of people like they don't really know who he is. And he's saying, so I'm coming like a thief for you. Now the thief doesn't tell you when they're going to break in. So, the only way to be ready for a thief is you have to what? Stay ready all the time.
You don't have to raise your hand. But I would imagine some of you have alarms on your homes. Do you set the alarm every night? Or do you think, ah, thief's not coming tonight? You know what? You know what, honey, I'm going to live dangerously tonight. I'm not going to set the alarm. What do you think? In fact, let's leave some windows open tonight. You know what I think we should do? Unlock the door, see what happens. And let's tempt fate a little bit. That would be very foolish. I would not recommend anybody doing that who lives anywhere around here.
So, the thief is not meant to be something that scares Christians into obedience. No, if you're a real believer in Jesus, you're already ready. You need to stay ready. You need to stay awake. When Jesus starts talking like the thief, he's talking to people that he knows don't really know him, and he's calling for them to wake up. He's calling for them to repent and change their mind. He's calling for them to say, if you don't realize that you need to get ready, then I'm going to surprise you, and whenever Jesus surprises someone in all of his stories about the master coming, if the master comes and he finds that the servants are not ready, there's always judgment for those servants.
We are living in the day of salvation. We are living in the era of grace. We are living where there is mercy new every morning, when Jesus comes back, that time is over. When Jesus comes back, he will judge both the living and the dead. Now is the time to wake up. There will not be an opportunity when he comes like a thief in the night. So this is something that you need to hear ahead of time, and you need to believe by faith. You don't want to wait until it's too late. That's what he's trying to say to this church of people.
So, let's get this down for point number three, if you flip your hand out back, over to the back. Don't make the mistake of not staying awake. Don't make the mistake of not staying awake. It's an interesting concept because it brings up this idea that there are people who think they are awake, but they're not really awake. So he says, You’ve got to stay awake, and if you won't wake up, and if you won't repent, then I'm going to come like a thief in the night, because you won't be ready. And so, I’ve got to ask you a personal question. The King is coming. He's already ridden in on the donkey. Next time he's going to be riding in on the clouds. Are you ready to shout, Hosanna? Are you ready to throw your cloak down and wave the branches? Or are you not thinking about something like that? And today is the day that you need to wake up because the king is coming.
There was a husband and a wife that used to go to our church. And the husband, he was friends with this guy that was terminal, that he brought to our church, and this guy was going to die. And before he died, we got to see that man get saved by Jesus. And so later on, that husband, who was Mr. Terminals friend, he got very sick, and I started to hear the report that he was in the hospital and he was going to die, and when you get to that moment where you realize that time is up for someone, it always feels very critical. It always feels very like, oh, there's a sense of urgency, a sense of immediacy. And so, I got in my car and I went down to that hospital where he was, and by the time I got into that hospital room, I was, I'll never forget the sight of going into that waiting room at the hospital. And there were so many people from church already there praying for this man that God would spare this man's life. And there was his wife and you can tell she's not sure if her husband is going to survive the day, and she grabs me and she says, let's go pray for him right now. Now, we're in the room where he is lying there, and he looks passed out or unconscious. And I've never seen a hospital room like this in my entire life, and I've been to a few hospitals over the years, but I've never seen something like this, because there's so many nurses and doctors all in this one room, and they're all looking at the machines. Usually when I go to the hospital, the machines are beeping, and nobody seems to care. But this time, they're all dialed in, locked in, and I'm thinking, oh no, my friend, this lady's husband, he is really going to die here. And this lady. I've been to many fellowship groups with this couple. I've gotten to know them. We got to see his friend get saved. We've shared the life of Jesus Christ together. And this wife, she's one of the quietest ladies I've ever met. And all of a sudden she starts saying to all these doctors and nurses, “Don't you worry about my husband. Y’all, he knows Jesus, and if he dies today, he's going to heaven to be with Jesus. So don't, none of you be worried here, because we know where he's going. And I look at this lady like, who are you? I've never met you before like this. This woman wouldn't even say something in a fellowship group for weeks, and now she's telling all the doctors and nurses that her husband believes in Jesus. And I think I was so emboldened by the crowd of people I saw in the waiting room, and I was so emboldened by what she had just said to these people that I got there in front of her husband, and I started praying for the Lord Jesus Christ to spare this man's life. And I started saying, I know you're able to do it, Jesus. I know because you rose from the dead, and I'm asking you to raise him up here today. Now in my head, I was thinking that eventually, in my prayer, I would say, but if it is his time to go today, I thank you for what his wife just said, that he believes in you. And so, I'm saying, Lord Jesus, will you please heal him and raise him up? And right before I can say but the husband pops up in his bed, and his eyes are like popping out of his head, and he looks right at me and his wife, and he makes from that moment forward, what I heard the doctor call a miraculous recovery, and he does not die that day. In fact, I literally heard the doctor say a few days later. You know, I don't believe in God or anything, but in all my years of medical experience, I've never seen anything like this. I cannot explain why you are alive today, and I'm thinking, I can explain it.
So, here's what happens nine months later. I mean, we celebrated his miraculous recovery. I remember going over to their house on Christmas. We sang Christmas songs like people have rarely ever sung Christmas songs. We were just so happy he was alive, and nine months later he suddenly died. And I'm sitting there thinking, why did God do that so that he… Why did God wake him up that day so that he could live for nine more months? And I immediately text his wife when I hear about his death, and she texts me back so fast, and she says his extended life gave us plenty of time to witness and tell our story to others. It's never been easy for me to evangelize, but this past nine months, God has opened my heart and mind, so the words flow freely, and that was when I realized, who did God really wake up in that hospital room that day? Was it the husband or was it the wife?
Why are so many of us living like the point of life is to stay alive right here, right now? The point of life is not to stay alive right here, right now. The point of life is the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when you are in the kingdom, you will see it so clearly, and you'll be thinking, we should have told everybody about this all day, every day. Remember when we were talking about this. Remember when we thought that was a big deal. Remember when we made this the big issue, when really, the whole time, the thing that mattered more than anything else was the king is coming. Some of us need to wake up. We need to hear what the resurrected Lord said, We need to hear what the prophets have said, and we need to say, Blessed is the coming Kingdom of the father David. Blessed is the King who is coming, and we need to live like he's coming. Now there's this idea. It's called imminence. It means that something could happen soon, that something could happen at any moment, and you will know that you're awake. You will know that you're staying ready when you live like the king is coming. Let me pray.
Father, we just want to confess to you on this Easter service 2026 that when Jesus came into Jerusalem, when he was going to die and rise again, these folks shouting Hosanna and putting branches and cloaks in the street. They were more excited about Jesus coming then than we are today, and we just confess that to you, father, and I pray that at this service, you would wake us up even just that would realize the point isn't, how long can I live right here, right now? But the point is, am I ready for Jesus? And that we would talk like that, we would think like that, that everybody would know that about us, that we believe that not just that he died in the past, and not just that he rose from the dead in the past, and not just that he's in heaven right now, but he is coming, and he's coming soon. And I just think of the last words of the Bible where he says, I'm coming soon, and you would think father that, after all, Jesus has proven to us that whatever his last words are, we would hang on them. And yet, I think many of us don't even think they're going to happen at all. We don't act like they're going to happen at all, not in our lifetime, not to us anyways. And so, God, I pray that we could hear the one who said on the third day he would rise, the one who said, I'll go before you to Galilee, that we could hear him say he's going to come on the clouds, that we could say, Behold, I am coming soon, and that we would stay awake, that we would be ready. Oh, yeah, just like he was born in Bethlehem, and just like he rode in on a donkey, someday I'm going to see Jesus on the clouds, alive and well, in all of his power and all of his glory. And it's not just going to be me seeing him. Everyone will see the Lord Jesus. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, oh, he's the point of life. He's the center of the universe. It always has been, and it always will be, about him, the Lord Jesus. Father, I pray that we could not need to wait for that to happen to believe it, but we could hear it and believe it. Now, let this be a church where people live every day like the king is coming, where people live every day like the clouds are about to break, where people live every day like I just want to see his face, the one who died for my sin, the one who rose again. I've lived my whole life for him, and I've never seen him. I just want to see him. Let us be the people who pray, Lord, let your kingdom come, in Jesus’ name.