Good News for a New Year

Introduction

It’s a new year!

I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s Resolutions, as I typically break them by around January 4th. But, I do make numerous goals coming into the new year.

I’ve set a couple of personal goals:

Lose 50 lbs. by December 31, 2023.

Clean out my messy garage and organize it by August 30, 2023.

Do something special for my wife for our 25th anniversary on September 12, 2023.

Pay $20 more per month on a debt payment I have in hopes of paying it off by December 15, 2023.

I would recommend making your goals measurable, attainable, memorable, and time-bound.

Goals are a good thing to have, but we also have to be flexible, realizing that no one knows what 2023 will bring.

In 2022, I had heart-surgery, something that was definitely not part of my 2022 goals sheet! We should have our plans, but recognize that only God knows what is ahead of us!

Since we just got through the Christmas season, I thought it would be the perfect time to gear up for Easter!

Actually, we are returning to our study of John’s Gospel titled “These Are Written.”

The entire rest of John’s Gospel focuses on Jesus last week and the Resurrection, so we will be putting a lot of focus on what is known as the Passion Week.

We will pick up right where we left off on July 3rd.

Exegesis: John 12:12-19

Context:

Jesus went Bethany, a town near Jerusalem, and raised Lazarus from the dead;

The religious leaders start to scheme ways to arrest and eventually kill Jesus; later they even start to scheme how to kill Lazarus;

Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anointed Jesus feet to honor Him, but, unbeknownst to her, to prepare Him for death;

Our last sermon in this series was titled, “Valuing Jesus” as we saw ways we can truly value Jesus.

Verses 12-15

This event, known as the Triumphal Entry, is related in all four Gospels.

John’s presentation is the shortest, by far. It is only five verses of narrative and three verses of commentary.

As Jesus enters Jerusalem He is hailed by many of the people as the promised king.

Palm branches were typically used to celebrate conquering Jewish heroes.

They became a symbol of Jewish nationalism during the time of the Maccabean revolt.

In all likelihood, many of the people were not necessarily true believers, but were hoping that Jesus would be a warrior-king, like Judas Maccabeus, who would come to lead the Jewish people in revolt against their Roman oppressors.

This is particularly seen in the use of the word “Hosanna!” which means “save now!” followed by one of the Hallel psalms, Psalm 118.

But, right off the bat, Jesus shows Himself to be a very different king than what they had hoped for.

They wanted a warrior king. They might have expected Him to ride in on a mighty warhorse, or a chariot or something. But Jesus comes in as a shepherd-king, humbly on a donkey.

This fulfilled the prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9.

In fact, this prophecy, written five hundred years before the time of Christ, gives a perfect picture of what kind of king the Messiah would truly be, but the people missed it.

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Verse 16

We learn here that even his disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was doing until after He ascended into Heaven.

After they were commission to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and they were empowered with the Holy Spirit, I imagine they began looking back at the OT, seeing the more than three hundred prophecies that Jesus fulfilled.

Verses 17-18

We learn here something important about the crowds that were there. Most of them were not true followers of Jesus.

They’d heard that He done something miraculous and wanted to see what all the fuss was about; some probably hoped that He would do something else amazing.

Others might have hoped that He was the Promised Messiah, but the Messiah they were looking for, not necessarily the Messiah that He actually was.

All of this made for an incredibly tense situation, to say the least.

Jerusalem was crowded during the Passover, with at least a hundred thousand people in the city;

The Roman’s were on high alert, as they always were during Jewish festivals, since there was always the possibility of nationalistic riots breaking out;

In fact, I’m guessing that they had to put one down recently, spurred on by Barabbas and his con-conspirators.

The Jewish leaders had already marked Jesus for death, and even marked Lazarus for death!

It’s important to bear something in mind: For the Jewish leaders their issues with Jesus were not really theological, though they didn’t agree with Him theologically.

Their biggest issues were nationalistic and politically.

Nationally, they were concerned that Jesus was going to start a revolt that would bring the mighty Roman military down on them.

Politically, while the general populous struggled under the Roman occupation, many of the religious leaders were doing quite well. They had comfortable positions, wealth, and influence. For them, they needed the status quo to continue, least the Romans remove them from their positions.

With all of this going on, Jesus does something shocking, especially when one looks at His ministry thus far.

Before this, Jesus went to great lengths to stay out of the public eye and not to be hailed as king or Messiah.

But now, Jesus does something that clearly is a claim to be both the king and the Messiah. Why?

To fulfill the OT prophecies;

Because He’s following God’s timeline (Jesus must be the Passover Lamb);

Because He’s forcing the Jewish leader’s hand to make their move, again to fit within God’s timeline, not theirs.

It was not beneficial for the religious leaders to arrest and kill Jesus during the Passover. There was too much potential for a riot.

But, now Jesus has forced them to God’s timeline, not theirs.

Verse 19

This is likely part of an argument between the more conservative religious leaders, who wanted to wait until after the Passover to arrest Jesus, and the more progressive religious leaders who believed that this Jesus movement needed to be crushed immediately.

The progressives recognize that they aren’t gaining anything by waiting, and hyperbolically suggest that now everyone is following Jesus!

Their timeline has officially been moved up. In their minds, they must do something because their careers, position, wealth, and authority was at stake, not to mention the limited freedom the people enjoyed. In their minds, this movement would lead to an attempted revolution that would have disastrous consequences for them and the Jewish people.

They had to do something, and they had to do it very soon. Which we will see unfold as we continue in John’s Gospel.

So What?

Jesus fulfills all the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.

There are over three hundred OT prophecies about the coming Messiah. Many others came claiming to be the Messiah. But only one fulfilled all the prophecies perfectly: Jesus.

This means that hundreds of years before Jesus walked the earth, God revealed to godly men that one day He would send a Savior. He revealed to each of them something about that Savior, so these godly men could write it down and tell others about what God would someday do. It gave the people something to pray for, to anticipate, and to hope for. It reminded the people that God had a plan for them.

Even in dark times, God had a plan for His people.

In this case:

“Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey...”

Or, as the people cried out for, “Hosanna!” “Save now!”

All of this should remind us of two important truths:

Jesus is the only One worthy to be called God’s Promised Messiah, and is therefore worthy of being praised, honored, worshiped, and followed.

God always has a plan for His people that He will fulfill perfectly in His perfect timing.

Jesus is not the king that the people hoped for, He is the king that His people need.

The people were looking for a Savior; a hero if you will. But, they had a very limited view of what that hero would be like.

Thus, many of these same people who praised Jesus as the Promised Messiah on Sunday would be shouting “Crucify Him!” by the end of the week.

Today, people often look for leaders who have all the characteristics they deem essential, according to their opinions.

It’s not surprising that people are typically disappointed with their leaders. Because no one can check all the boxes everyone wants them to check.

What is most often missed is vital: what do we really need.

History is a fascinating topic. One of the most interesting aspects of it is that the people we see as great leaders often are extremely flawed people who make major mistakes along the way. And yet, they are often the right person for the circumstances their people will face, whether the people recognize it or not.

Winston Churchill is one such leader. Before World War II, Churchill wasn’t a popular person in Britain. In fact, the Conservative party chose Neville Chamberlain and his policy of appeasement of Adolph Hitler and his Nazi party. However, after this failed miserably, Churchill became Prime Minister of Britain once again, and lead Britain (and in many ways the world) to overcome the evil of the Nazis.

After this, Churchill would be eventually ousted once again, in part for his rejection on nationalized health care. Others considered him a racist, imperialist, warmonger, and a drunkard, despite the fact that he saved his nation in their greatest hour of need.

Churchill was the right man for the time. The man his people needed. And yet, many didn’t recognize that, and even don’t recognize that today.

Even more so than Churchill, Jesus was the king that the people needed, but as we will see, most would reject.

And many continue to reject today.

For many today, they believe they don’t need a Savior;

Others today don’t see Jesus as being worthy to be their Savior;

Still others are unwilling to follow Jesus, not wanting to give over their lives to follow Him.

Still, the fact remains, Jesus is the king that we all need. As we will see in a couple of weeks, Jesus Himself said it best:

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Regardless of what they world around you claims, Jesus is the only way to be saved from your sins. He is the Savior and King that you need.

Jesus is not a passive participant in these events, but is actively bringing about God’s plan of salvation.

I have a confession: I enjoy following national politics. They frustrate the fire out of me, but for some reason they fascinate me at the same time.

And yet, for the most part, I’m a passive observer of national politics.

I live in a deep blue state, so while I vote in every single election, my vote doesn’t really mean much in the grand scheme of things nationally. (My people almost never win!)

I don’t have a voice that moves the needle (as is often said), so even if I did talk politics a lot, it wouldn’t do much good. Few people are listening, and no one in power will listen.

And my ideas of fixing the country are heard by my family and closet friends and that’s about it. No one that has any real impact nationally will be calling me for advice!

Jesus is not like this when it comes to the events happening around Him.

We are mistaken to think that all of the things that are happening within the Passion Week are happening to Jesus and He’s simply reacting to them. Not even a little bit.

Jesus is bringing about all of this; He is setting the timeline because He’s fulfilling God’s plans. In fact, look at the passage we will look closer at next week:

John 12:23–24 ESV

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Later, before Pilate, Jesus says this:

John 19:10–11 ESV

So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Jesus time has come and His sacrificial atoning death will bear much fruit, as it will make a way for people to be saved from eternal damnation.

And God Himself has set this timeline and given authority to those in leadership. To bring about His plan of salvation.

Jesus is bringing this about.

Therefore, we can trust His power and authority even in the days and times of our lives.

Whatever you may be going through, Jesus knows and is at work in and through them, even if you can’t see how.

The disciples didn’t see it until after Jesus ascended. Don’t be surprised if you can’t either.

But, just as He has a perfect plan here, He also has a perfect plan for you. That, my friends, is good news for the new year!