The King Comes to Town
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1. Introduction
Morning everyone
Well in life there’s often a big gap between expectations - what we expect to happen and reality - what actually happens.
and this reality hit me when I proposed to my lovely wife Joy. So, I took Joy to this nice little garden, beautiful big leafy green trees, think it was an overcast day, but there were a huge variety of flowers, the scenery was just beautiful. And I asked a few of our friends to help set up the space, you know put a will you marry me sign, so romantic, help me organise the picnic, take photos that sort of thing. One mate put up these photos in photo frames of our memories each stationed a few metres apart. And in my mind I had a story for each photo, each memory. Kind of like a walk down memory lane thing before the big a big will you marry me sign. I had practiced, rehearsed, I was ready. But expectation versus reality right. On the day, I was so nervous, never been more nervous in my life, I couldn’t think properly, I completely mind blanked. So at each photo I forgot everything I was suppose to say. It was quite embarrassing. Oh… I love you.. err…I’m glad she said yes anyway. Expectations versus reality. at least the result was a good one.
This morning we in John 12, there is a big chasm between what the crowd expect of King Jesus and the reality, what Jesus is really on about. Friends we’ve learn in John that Jesus is the Word of God. He is the King. The author and ruler of our lives. He is the key to eternal life or eternal separation, hell. the stakes couldn’t be bigger. So we need to get our expectations right. This matters eternally. I want you to get your expectations about Christianity right. The reality is, Jesus is the wonderfully humble King who came to save us from sin. That’s my big idea this morning.
2. Context
To set the scene. We’re in the final week of Jesus’ life. Everything has been building up to this moment. It’s the first day of the Passover festival. Remember that’s when the Jews all came to Jerusalem for this annual festival. It’s THE most important festival. It’s THE most important time of the year. What was it about? It’s to remember when God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. The key rescue event in their history. When God saved them with his mighty hand.
And to get a picture of how big this festival was, scholars think there are normally 100,000 people living in and around Jerusalem at that time. Never been a very big city. But at the Passover, they think 1 million people came for that week of the year. It was massive. And more than that, word about Jesus had spread like wildfire. Lots of people wanted just to get a glimpse of Jesus. and why wouldn’t they? They had just witness him raising Lazarus from the dead in Bethany. It’s not just word of mouth, people had seen it happen.
And so it’s not surprise a massive crowd gather to get a glimpse of this King. They had big expectations for this King.
3. Jesus is the humble King (12:12-15)
Come to verse 12.
John 12:12–13 (ESV)
The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him.
Now in the ancient world, you wave palm branches for a returning King. Or a general who’s defeated an enemy. Here, they embrace Jesus as their King. This is big big news. They expect Jesus to make Israel great again. They expected Jesus to free them from Roman rule. They expected Jesus to make Israel a great nation again. And this thinking is very clear in verse 13, look there
they kept crying
John 12:13 (ESV)
“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
Hosanna! it means literally ‘save us!’ Hosanna. Jesus save us. Now this comes from Psalm 118 in the Old Testament.
Save us, we pray, O Lord!
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
That’s the Psalm you read when you welcome pilgrims coming into the temple. You read it out loud to welcome people coming in the name of the Lord. But over time, that Psalm came to linked with the Messiah. It’s not just for any blessed one. It was for The coming Saviour. So do you hear what the crowd here are saying?
They’re saying,
Jesus, you are that King.
Jesus you are the King of Israel.
Jesus you are the one God had promised.
Jesus you descended from David.
You will save your people.
You will defeat the enemy.
You will establish God’s Kingdom.
This is a massive.
And we think, this is wonderful isn’t it? Wouldn’t it awesome if the world believed that Jesus was the King?
But here’s the thing, the crowd actually have wrong expectations. Why? Because in a week’s time, this same crowd here waving palm branches, crying out Hosanna, they all desert him. they don’t stand with Jesus. In fact, perhaps some in this crowd were the ones yelling ‘crucify him!’ they mocked him. they cussed at him. they stripped him. they spat on him. they killed him.
How did that happen? how did they go from Hosanna King of the Israel here and then crucify him in a week’s time?
It’s because he does not live up to their expectations of a king. They had wrong expectations. They thought he would be the warrior King who will defeat the Romans. But he didn’t come to bring the sword. He’s not that type of King.
Actually, he flips the script because Jesus is the humble King.
Look at what he does. Did you notice it? King Jesus comes in on a … donkey
A donkey. What sort of King does that? You imagine his feet dragging along the ground as he rides in limply on a donkey. It’s not impressive at all.
See it in John 12:14
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
Don’t know if you watched King Charles the Thirds coronation. All the pomp and ceremony. The who’s who of the world all there walking into Westminster Abbey. All the regalia – crown, scepter, diamonds, gold plates just incredible. But did you notice how King Charles 3 rode in on the gold state coach? (PICTURE). Gilded wood. Gilded tritons. Gold painted panels. Led by 6 beautiful majestic white horses. It was grand. It was befitting for a King. That’s what the world expects of a King coming for his coronation.
But Jesus comes on a lowly donkey. He is the humble King. could you imagine King Charles III coming on a donkey? But this is all very deliberate.
Verse 14 again
And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
“Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
The donkey was planned. It was staged. Why? Jesus was fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy. Come to Zechariah 9:9-10
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.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
What does Zechariah say about God’s King?
What’s should they expect of this King? He doesn’t ride in on a white powerful stallion. He rides on a donkey. And do you notice the key word there. He is humble. Humble, lowly riding in on a donkey.
But he is righteous. He will be victorious. That’s what the crowd should have expected. A humble righteous King.
But more than that, look there at verse 10. He will stop the fighting. He will bring peace. He will get rid of the chariots because that’s what you use for wars. He will cut off the war horse because that’s the kind of horse you use in war. And, He will get ride of the battle bow because that’s what you use to kill others in war.
He doesn’t come with a sword as a military King. No. Instead what will he do?
He will preach peace. A humble King who comes to bring peace. A message of peace. In fact, this message of peace will cover the whole earth.
So how? How will he bring peace? If not by the sword. How is this all going to happen?
4. He comes to die for his people (12:16, 22-24)
He comes to die for his people. it’s incredible. no other King does this. no one expected this. Would you ever expect King Charles the III to die for his people? it’s a ridiculous thought for us. Not even Jesus’ disciples, those closest to him expected it. See there in verse 16?
John 12:16 (ESV)
His disciples did not understand these things at first,
They didn’t get it. I mean, they knew he was the King. They did. Peter says remember ‘you are the Messiah’ Mark 8:29. You’re the Christ. You’re the King. They knew that.
But they did not expect this sort of King. A humble King who dies? No one expected that. That’s what they hadn’t got. So when they get it? look there verse 16 again
John 12:16 (ESV)
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered.
That’s what’s really really important. In fact, skip down to verse 23, When gentiles want to speak to him, it’s like the light switches on. he realises his hour has come.
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
the hour is not yet here. The hour is not yet here. he says that heaps in John’s Gospel. But now it is here.
The hour for Jesus to be glorified. it has has come.
When was his glorification? It’s when he was lifted up.
Where was that? At the cross.
The moment Jesus is glorified is not when everyone’s waving palm branches and says you are the King of Israel.
No. It’s when he goes to the cross to die for the sins of the world.
And when he is proved right in his resurrection.
we might think his death? really? That’s utter humiliation. that’s shameful. we might expect that to be his weakest moment. but that his moment of glory. the wonderfully humble King who died for our sins.
Did you know that? The cross is when Jesus was glorified. That’s the moment when you see the punishment for sin we deserve taken upon him. All the evil, all the wrong, all our sin, he took it upon himself. he died for our sins. not only that, that’s the moment you see God’s grace and mercy most profoundly.
It’s amazing isn’t it?
For the disciples, the lights came on once that happened.
Here's the thing, here’s the reality for us. You only truly know Jesus if you understand the cross.
You only truly understand who Jesus is when you understand he is the humble King who came to die for your sins. you need to believe in Him.
we were at our GTK lunch a few weeks back. lunch for our visitors or newer people to get to know our church. the main thing I wanted to impress is the Gospel. that’s what we’re on about. it’s that Jesus died for your sins. In a sense, it doesn’t really matter if you join epping or not as a member. we would love for you to. come and join be part of our local expression of Christ’s body. serve here. but let’s keep the main thing the main thing. What really matters in God’s Word right here is if you know Jesus. he died for your sins. he rose to give you life. do you know that? do you believe in Him?
It’s not that Jesus came to heal the sick – though he did in abundance
It’s not that Jesus came to care for the poor – though he had compassion and loved them
It’s not that he is a wise and good teacher – he is the wisest and best of them all
He humbled himself onto that cross to die for your sins and my sins. That’s who he is. That’s his purpose. That’s what he did. That’s our King.
Jesus is the wonderfully humble King who came to die for our sins.
5. Different responses to Jesus (12:16-26)
But you know, like our world today, there are many responses to this message. Let’s look at the crowd and then the Pharisees. The crowd. They leave him. they had wrong expectations. why? we get a clue in verse 17.
The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
Why did the crowd come out to follow Jesus that day? It wasn’t because they thought ‘we’re sinners who need a Saviour.’
It wasn’t because they thought ‘we’re facing the judgment of God; we need a King to die for us.’
The reason was because Jesus did a party trick last week. This guy raises people from the dead!
but here’s the thing with signs
As soon as Jesus says something hard, what do they do? They turned around and went home. we’ve seen this throughout John.
And as soon as Jesus said I’m here because you need a Saviour. You are in sin. They turned around and went home.
As soon as Jesus said
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
they turned around and went home. it’s too hard.
They loved the miraculous. the spectacular. it costs them nothing. Who wouldn’t love a Jesus who could raise a man from the dead?
But who wants a man who says you’re a sinner. You are rotten to your core. and you need forgiveness.
They couldn’t put their faith in Jesus who says following me is not the easy path, it’s the hard one. You need to repent of your sin. You need to take up your cross and follow me.
Friends there are lots of people who say ‘I love Jesus’ but the Jesus they love is the one they have made up for themselves. They are not interested in the Jesus who challenges. The one who says hard things. The real Jesus. they can’t face the reality. it’s too costly. They are not interested in the Jesus who says you’re a sinner and the only way to be saved is to trust in my death and resurrection.
I followed pretty intently the Israel Folau saga. Remember that? He put up a post of a Bible verse mentioned a list of sins - drunks, adulterers, liars, thieves. Of course, the big one of our times is homosexuality. after the list it says ‘Hell awaits you. Repent. Only Jesus saves.’ Being a high profile public sports figure. That cause a huge storm. Lost his job. But this daily telegraph – digital paper columnist writes ‘Jesus, in my understanding, wasn’t about sin and hellfire. That’s the wrong testament entirely. The power of Jesus’ message, whether he was a real human or just an extended metaphor, was that love trumps hate every single time.
That’s the Jesus that you make up for yourself. that’s the Jesus of our world. all love, no cost. Jesus loved humanity so much he speaks the truth. is that your expectation of Jesus? He loves us so much that he dies for our sin. we have all rejected God. that’s sin. rejecting God. we need to call it what it is. But he’s our maker. he’s given us everything. everything. everything. but he loves us. like a doting parent. he wants you to come back. trust in Him. he died and rose for you. don’t say, no thanks. i don’t a bar of you. Come back. Trust in him. Friends, we can’t make up what we think Jesus is on about. we need to deal in reality. I reckon the crowds in John’s Gospel help us understand the people we know who say I love Jesus, but they fade away and lose interest, as soon as they don’t like what they hear. they have wrong expectations. That’s the first group.
Now the other group are of course the Pharisees. How do they respond to Jesus? it’s worse isn’t it. they’re jealous. Come to verse 19
So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
They are devastated. They think Jesus has won. He’s the King. He’s going to take over the world. They challenged Jesus over and over again. They called him a blasphemer. A liar. A law breaker. And he challenged their religious hypocrisy. Of course, we know there will always be people who challenge Jesus. Those who hate Jesus. The real Jesus. Because they do not have the right expectations. It’s too costly. they will lose their power as Pharisees. They don’t want a Jesus who says you’re a sinner but I died for you. They don’t want a Jesus who talks about judgment, sin but also forgiveness and grace.
Well I love how often Jesus’ enemies say profound things without realising it. They go ‘look the world has gone after him.’
look how popular he is.
But if you think about it, they were actually being prophets. Because the whole world has gone after him. We think, our world is so against Christianity. But think about it. In 2000 years, people from every nation and tribe and tongue have come to know Jesus. And now you can say the whole world, not every person, bu the whole world in people from every nation and tribe and every language are following the real Jesus. This is wonderful, isn’t it? Unlike the crowds who follow but fade away, the Pharisees who keep challenging Jesus, God’s is faithful. He does the work. He brings people to faith. the wonderful reality is, Jesus is the humble King who saves us from our sin. that’s our expectation. he works by his Spirit.
6. Concluding thoughts
Two concluding thoughts as we wrap up this series, this section of John.
how will you respond to Jesus? The crowds said too hard. The Pharisees hated him. he kept challenging them. The reality is, Jesus is the wonderfully humble King who has come to die for your sins. that’s the heart of the Christian message. He is the loving king, he rules with gentleness and he wants you submit to him as King. For he is coming back. he wants you to believe in Him. That’s why he went to the cross. he holds your eternal destiny in his hands. trust in him. believe and find eternal life. Wonderful free gift. There is no other loving humble King like Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, if Jesus is the wonderfully humble King who died for your sins, then there is more going on to this world than you can see. What you see is a bunch of people studying, finishing school, working, preparing for Christmas, thinking about holidays, weekend activities, for me, it’s often the grind of raising kids, all this is good and fine and appropriate, but under all that is this. God is at work. What’s is his great plan? To save people from their sins. that’s what our King is doing. he wants us to be part of that. not bringing a sword, preaching peace, sharing The Gospel. I often wonder about our church, it could just be me, but are you on board with God’s plan to save people from sin? is that your expectation? That everything God is doing is working to that end. more and more gathered to worship him? making disciples of Jesus? God would save his people from dying under his judgment. He’s the wonderful humble King who’s come to save his people from sin isn’t he?
we need to evaluate our expectations. Work in Gods reality. How many of us expect, actually put on our agenda for this holidays i’m going to pray for my family who i see once a year and then try to share Jesus with them? that’s what’s important. friends, God wants his people to trust him find life to be sure, but the king expects us be on mission. Make our lives about Gospel work. Sharing the gospel. support gospel work. Do you expect that? not that you can save anyone, but you will share Jesus? That’s what’s happening beneath the surface. Is that what you desire? Is that your expectation of your life? Is that how you structure your life? You just want other to come to know Jesus. you work your life around that. If not, why not? oh friends, don’t waste your life. lets live it in line with Gods reality. Jesus is wonderful humble King who has forgiven us of our sins so that we might share the Gospel to others. Let’s pray.
parents sign kids out during song For Lords supper.