The Hour

Intro:

John 12:12-36.

The King is here and is calling you.

The King has Come

This story is called the triumphal entry, it’s when Jesus enters in to Jerusalem.

There’s a lot of symbolism throughout the account.

The way that Jesus entered was the exact way a reigning ruler would enter a city.

Everyone would gather and shout about how great the king was, they would parade through the streets to show how powerful they are!

“Hosanna” points to a King

Hosanna is a Hebrew word that means, “save us.”

It was a way to praise God (Psalm 118), and it had been used to greet different kings of Israel.

The crowds are crying out for Jesus to save them because He is their King.

Palm branches

Palm branches were laid down in celebration in Israel.

It was also a national symbol: whenever a rebellion happened in Israel against Rome, they would put palm branches everywhere, and they’d even stamp their coins with palms as a symbol of national pride.

In the triumphal entry, we see that Jesus is King, and He is here.

he enters in Jerusalem like a King because He’s making a point!

Vs. 16: People don’t even realize until later, but He’s making a claim to be King and everyone is following suit!

Jesus is King!

He said it in the triumphal entry and He’s saying it now!

We have a King that reigns and rules forever, and His name is Jesus.

But, remember who these crowds are.

These are the same people in John 6 who wanted to make Jesus king because they wanted free bread.

These people loved signs: they loved the feeding of the five thousand, and they loved the raising of Lazarus.

They wanted to beat Rome, never be hungry, and never die.

And so, we have a King, but He is not a King who does whatever you want Him to do.

We can’t just assume He’s always on our side in every matter, we have to be on His side.

It’s like in the book The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The character Aslan, who is supposed to point to God, is a lion.

When one of the characters asks if he’s safe, one of them says, “Safe?Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you. He's wild, you know. Not a tame lion.”

God isn’t tame, He’s not a political or cultural idea, He isn’t safe. But He is good, and whatever He wants is the right thing.

Then, in the next section, Jesus tells us what to do because He’s the King.

Serve the King

When a King shows up, you would expect him to have something to do, right

If you work for a king, you don’t want to be caught slacking on the job.

So, what does Jesus tell us?

The hour has come

The first time I read this passage when I was prepping this sermon I got chills.

Do you remember what Jesus is talking about when He says, “my hour?”

And, so far, what has he said about His hour?

It hasn’t yet come.

Now, Jesus says that it’s come!!!!

So, Jesus says that this is it! It’s time! He tells the disciples that this is the fulfilment of all that He’s ever promised, all of what they’ve talked about to this point is coming to fruition right then. It’s as if Jesus tells them, “Buckle up, it’s about to go down!!”

Jesus then points us to His death!

The “grain of wheat” that dies is Him!

He says that if a true change in the world is supposed to happen, if sin is truly to be beaten, then He has to die!

Only when the “seed” dies can it produce fruit, and that fruit is a new Kingdom and a new creation.

What do we do?

Now that the King is here, Jesus tells us what we are to do.

Hate your life

Does this mean become depressed and suicidal because your life is meaningless? NO!!

Think back to what Jesus has promised all along.

One thing Jesus has done from the beginning of His ministry is to invite others to a “new life”

So, Jesus isn’t saying, “hate your existence,” He’s saying give up your life.

Give up our sin, give up our pain, give up this way of living that ruins us.

We have to stop following what culture tells us is right so we can start following God.

Notice that phrase, “in this world?” He’s saying, hate the life of the world.

In response, we get eternal life.

It’s what Jesus promises all along, life, and life abundantly.

Jesus trades His life for ours, and so we trade our lives for His.

Serve and Follow

What comes with this new life is a life of following Jesus and serving Him. V. 26

What does it look like to follow Jesus?

What does it look like to serve Jesus?

We are to live different lives when we are saved by God.

The King Calls

At this point we get a weird break in the story.

Jesus reflects on His death and then God the Father talks to Him.

It’s not like Jesus was excited to suffer, but He wants to be with us and glorify God the Father, so He suffers.

And then He starts talking about judgment and the light.

Judgement

Jesus says that judgement has come and the ruler of earth will be cast out. vs. 31

First, let’s talk about the judgement.

Keep in mind that the “hour” Jesus talks about is His death on the cross.

So, what does v. 31 mean?

The world thought it was passing judgment on Jesus, not only as it perpetually debated who He was, but climactically in the cross. In reality, the cross was passing judgment on them. - F.F. Bruce

The world was fundamentally different when the cross happened, it was a moment where all created stood under the wrath of God, and Jesus took it on Himself. It proved the point from the very beginning of time when God said that sin broke the world and was evil, and so in response God the Father broke God the Son, and in that we see the judgement of the world.

Along with that, we see the casting out of the “ruler”

It seems like the “ruler” in vs. 31 is Satan (or evil incarnate, or whatever)

Evil thought that it had won on the cross, and yet in that victory was Satan’s greatest defeat. Christ might suffer, but sin was destroyed.

Judgement has come and will come, but Jesus covers sin.

The Light

Finally, Jesus talks about Himself.

He says that He must be “lifted up” and that He is the “light.”

Typically when we hear the term lifted up, it’s a positive one, but even the Jews know He’s talking about death (34)

Jesus tells us that when He’s lifted up (when He sacrifices His own life on the cross), He will draw all people to Himself.

Jesus, when He died, was calling for His people, and He’s calling for you.

That’s why He uses this symbol of the light.

It’s not a picture of a flashlight that you hold, it’s a picture of a lighthouse that guides you.

Jesus dying on the cross is the perfect guiding light that can lead you to Him, which is everything you were created for.

vs. 36 is awesome, but it’s also scary.

It means that there will come a day when you don’t have the light.

If you don’t come home and be with Jesus, then one day you will lose access to the light.

It means that God’s calling you, but if we keep rejecting Him, He’ll let us leave.

It also means that God’s calling you, and if you follow Him, He calls you His child.

You can be a child of God. You are called to be God’s children, don’t abandon that call.

The King is calling you to be a child of the King, so follow.

Questions:

If you could have a walk in song every time you entered a room, what would it be?

Read vs. 27-28. What do you think the Father means?

Can you define what Jesus meant in vs. 25?

Why do you think Jesus calls you?