Untitled Sermon (19)

Scripture Introduction:

Today is Palm Sunday. It’s the Sunday before Easter. It is called this because of the triumphal entry which we can read about in all four gospels…when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and they were waving palm branches in front of him and shouting “Hosanna”.

The triumphal entry.

A triumph is a great victory or achievement.

What does it mean for Jesus to triumph? I would almost bet that we have a good church answer for that question. He triumphs by His death on the cross…where he defeated death and hell and canceled the record of our debt.

And that’s a correct answer. But what if we change that question a little bit? What would it mean for Jesus to triumph at your workplace? In your home? What does it mean for Jesus to triumph in our nation? What exactly does that look like?

What does it mean for Jesus to triumph in our educational systems, our media, our arts and entertainment, our businesses? What does that look like? What does such a thing look like?

I know what it looks like in superhero movies. And if we view Jesus as the superhero of all superheros. It looks like him coming in…rescuing the poor and powerless…the helpless victims…and then destroying the bad guy.

What does it look like if you’re downtrodden? If you feel like you’re on a heap of ashes, or your life feels like a big garbage dump, when everything comes up empty…nothing is working out right. Finances, relationships, career...

It looks like superhero Jesus coming through. He fixes all the bad stuff and puts in its place the good stuff…That’s what it means for him to triumph.

If you can’t pay your light bill—triumph looks like being able to pay your light bill. If you are decimated by loneliness—triumph looks like finding a fulfilling relationship. That’s what it means to triumph…right?

I also know how they answered a question like this in the first century. What does it mean for Messiah to reign? What will it look like when he triumphs? They would have taken you to the Psalms of Solomon (that’s not in your Bible…don’t try to look for it). It said this:

21 Behold, O Lord, and raise up unto them their king, the son of David, at the time known to you, O God, in order that he may reign over Israel your servant. 22 And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, and that he may purge Jerusalem from gentiles who trample (her) down to destruction. 23 Wisely, righteously he shall thrust out sinners from (the) inheritance; he shall destroy the arrogance of the sinner as a potter's jar. 24 With a rod of iron he shall shatter all their substance; he shall destroy the godless nations with the word of his mouth.

They believed that Messiah would come at a point when they were in great need and he would deliver them…how would he deliver them?

1. Rule as a David-like king in righteousness.

2. Punish the enemies of Israel.

3. Restore Israel and her temple.

4. Initiate a new age of peace and perfect Torah obedience.

Overall, this Messiah would bring the chaotic world back under the harmonious care of the one God.

He would do it by force. That is what is happening here in John. When they see Jesus doing the things he is doing…and they start throwing around titles like “King of Israel” this is, for almost all of them, what is on their mind. They expect him to come riding into Jerusalem on a war horse…gather an army…and then go kick in the teeth of Rome…take every person with Roman blood in them and expel them from the Promised Land. Rule and reign king! Mount your war horse! Take back this land!

Listen to John’s account of what transpires:

John 12:12–19 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, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 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!” 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. 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. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

We will pick up more of this text in just a moment but we need to understand what is happening here.

The way in which Jesus triumphs is radically different than how we think of triumph. And it is a radically different understanding of how triumph happens.

What would it look like for Jesus to triumph in our nation? Let’s take that list they had in the first century. Here is what Messiah will accomplish.

1. Rule as a David-like king in righteousness.

2. Punish the enemies of Israel.

3. Restore Israel and her temple.

4. Initiate a new age of peace and perfect Torah obedience.

Let’s just think about these for a moment. A good king who is ruling justly…that’s good. Punish enemies…by implication it would be those who are evil and unrighteous and opposing God’s kingdom.

So you’ve got a good leader who is following God…the evil people are kept at bay and can’t do evil things anymore...

Now you restore Israel and her temple. That means that religious practices and such are restored. Worship of God, sacrifical system…all of this becomes the center of society once again.

Good leader trying to follow God…the evil people stopped from doing bad stuff…religion is once again the center of our society…And lastly there is a new age of peace and perfect obedience to Torah. People are obeying the 10 commandments…we are doing everything that God calls us to do through His law.

That sounds absolutely wonderful doesn’t it? And in some ways much of this happened during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah and Zerubabbal. That’s what you read about in Ezra-Nehemiah.

But the ending of Nehemiah is interesting. All of the reforms fall flat. They kind of have all four of these things…and it doesn’t bring about the change that they are wanting. Anyone know why?

What is missing from that list? And it’s something that was prominent in Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It’s not like this is a concept that just came out of left field....it was the fundamental problem which the prophets identified.

Their hearts weren’t changed. That’s why Nehemiah ends with him basically depressed, angry that after leaving all those years that nothing fundamentally changed…because it requires a new heart.

Fast forward from Nehemiah to the time of Jesus in the New Testament and they are still playing this same game…if we just had a leader who could beat up our enemies, rule righteously from the throne, put God back in the center of stuff, and teach people how to obey better…and so they’d cry “Hosanna!”

Which was really not much different than throwing up the Bat Signal. We’re in trouble…help us.

Now place yourself in the first century…I get why they thought this way. You’re under Roman rule…you are the poor in the dust…you are needy and on an ash heap...

Now it’s Passover week. A time when you remember God’s deliverance from the Egyptians…when God rescued you from being enslaved…when you cried out…He heard your cry…he parted the waters…he rescued you…and he made you a people for his own possession....

And to celebrate this you’d recite the Hallel. You’d start in Psalm 113…and listen to this…ever heard the phrase “a God who sits high and looks low”…it comes from here.

Psalm 113:4–9 ESV

The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Now how do you hear this? You hear it throw the lens of conquering Messiah…

And you’ve now heard about this Jesus guy…he has been raising the dead…raising the poor out of the dust…lifting up the needy…restoring the broken...

Hosanna!!!! God help us...

And as that procession into the temple continues you get right up to the temple and you close it out with Psalm 118....

This is what is happening in verse 12…large crowd…there for Passover. Josephus…who is probably a bit high on the number estimated that 2.7 million people might be in Jerusalem during this time for Passover. That might be a bit high…but it certainly shows what kind of crowds we are talking.

They took branches of palms…now what is this…A couple things are going on here. First, this is how Psalm 113-118 had kind of morphed over the years…it was used to anoint a Davidic king…one who is going to conquer…it’s kind of like saying. “Here is our Batman…It’s Batman Day…let’s all celebrate...”

But there is also a political edge to this as well. Palm branches were tied to the Maccabean revolt in 141 BC…that is what they carried at his triumphal procession. The shouts of Hosanna then…which means “save us now we pray” are tied to this messianic expectation.

Here is the picture…people in distress…they are using these Psalms to cry out for rescue…to throw up the bat signal...

And this is what you expect here. You expect Bruce Wayne to transform into Batman…to go to his bat cave, put on all of his bat gear, get into his batmobile…and come rescue you from the Joker or the Penguin or some other villain.

What you would expect then would be for Jesus to mount a war horse. You expect him to do something which kings do…to place himself in power…to do ruling stuff. The things that kings do.

But looks what he does…He does the unexpected. But he doesn’t. He gets on a young donkey. It blows up the whole scene for them. What kind of rescuer is this? What kind of king triumphs riding a donkey?

But it’s a fulfilment John says of Zechariah 9:9. It’s also interesting that John tweaks the quote a little…In Zechariah 9:9 it says “Rejoice greatly” but John says “Fear not”. Fear not is there in Zechariah 3…but why does he change this?

It’s because of the way John is telling us this story. This isn’t a time of unbridled rejoicing as much as it will be a traumatic experience.

What we see is that Jesus is the gentle king who comes upon a young colt. This act of riding upon the colt and connecting to Zechariah is a proclamation not of taking up arms to get your way but of a cessation of war. It’s associated with proclaiming peace to the nations—not kicking in their teeth. And it’s associated with the Passover and all that it will mean for a lamb to be slain in the place of sinners.

Jesus pops their bubble. He is the triumphing king but He will triumph differently…He will triumph through death and drawing.

I. Jesus triumphs through death

Let me show you this. As the story continues we see how Jesus will triumph. Verse 16 tells us that the disciples didn’t realize everything that was going on until afterwards. They were probably still caught up in the fervor.

And we know that John was one of the disciples who asked him…hey when you come into your kingdom…when you sit on your throne…could I be one of your vice-presidents? What position of power am I going to get?

One has to wonder how the “son of Thunder” who wanted to rain down fire upon unbelievers would have handled this power.

There seems to be a bit of a contrast in verse 17-18…there are legit disciples who see what Jesus is doing…tie some things together and have belief…but also some who are only following him because they have a fickle faith that is grounded in signs that Jesus is doing. Subtle difference but huge in John. Then in verse 19 we see the Pharisees are losing it…they see how everyone loves Jesus and they see their little kingdom slipping through their fingers...

But we have to see the background of all of this…even those who are kinda following Jesus and really excited. It’s all about ruling and reigning. The people who are excited think it means they’ll get their stuff.

Think about the bat signal again. For the downtrodden it means Batman is coming to save us. For the villain it means…uh oh. Batman is coming. We’d better gear up to defeat him.

That’s why the Pharisees are thinking his rule and reign is a loss.

But both who are looking at the bat signal are still viewing the world through the same lens. We get stuff through being in charge. By flexing. By sitting on the throne. Batman wins by force and gives us help.

And then we read of Greeks coming to see Jesus. We don’t know for sure what they want but I think the narrative would have us believe its something similar. They want rescue…is this the Messiah?

But there is something in this request that causes Jesus to say, “now is the time…this is the hour”. All throughout the first part of John, Jesus has been saying “it’s not my hour…it’s not my time yet...” But here he says… “It’s time...”

Now what do you have here…the world is coming to see Jesus…the nations are being drawn in…Old Testament things are being fulfilled…and it’s time for the Son of Man to be glorified....

Okay…what do you expect here. It’s time for me to receive glory. After all of this…what are you expecting to happen? It’s GO time...

You expect the fight. You expect that moment where the hero comes in and rescues everyone…they all celebrate…we have a Batman Day…put up a statue for him…give him a key to the city…Time for triumph...

No. He says this...

“unless a kernel falls to the ground...”

Death. Heroes don’t die. Heroes live to keep fighting....but Jesus doesn’t triumph that way…He triumphs through death...

In an agrarian society this illustration would have been familiar with this illustration. When you plant a seed it “dies” but that death produces much fruit. If a seed stays in your hand it will remain nothing more than a single seed. But that seed planted into the ground will germinate and produce new life.

This answer is, in part, Jesus’ answer to the Greeks…if you want to “see Jesus” it comes through dying to self and taking up your cross. That is the path of discipleship.

But it is saying so much more. Jesus will triumph through his obedient death.

I know that we give a head nod to that truth. He died for our sins. He was a ransom for us. All very true. But what does this say about our topic at hand. What does it mean to triumph through death?

Is this something which Jesus did and now he calls us to triumph through the exertion of force and power? Verse 25 seems to tell us that this is the pattern for disciples.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me…what does he mean here? He means following in the path of suffering…of triumphing through death…of laying down our life in service and sacrifice for others.

He triumphs through death…but he also will triumph through drawing...

II. Jesus triumphs through drawing.

I don’t mean that he draws pictures for us…though I’m sure they would have been awesome. I mean that He draws all men unto himself through His death.

He tells us in verse 27 that his soul is troubled…but what shall he say “save me from this hour”. No he can’t…this is his very purpose.

Now listen to verse 31...”Now is the judgment..now will the ruler be cast out...” Again do we see this…how is evil cast out…how does Jesus accomplish some of those Messianic expectations from the OT?

It’s not the way they thought. It’s through his death..and then when he is “lifted up” He will draw men to himself.

What does this mean? This is heart change. This is the new covenant. This is heart change. Jesus persuades…he draws…He doesn’t conquer in the same way. This isn’t a superhero responding to the bat signal.

That’s not going to work. You can’t fight that way? You can’t fight evil by laying down your sword? You can see the key question over all of this in verse 34.

We hear that the Christ remains forever...

Superheros don’t die. How can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? If he dies…then who will be left to rescue us…How would the death do anything? How can we believe in a crucified Messiah?

And that, friends, is the key question here. What do we believe about the world which God has made? What do we believe about triumph? What do we believe “works”? What does it mean for triumph to happen in our life?

What does it mean for Jesus to rescue you? What does it mean for Jesus to triumph in our nation? In our schools? In our churches? In our lives?

I think here of this quote from Richard Phillips:

How easy it is for Christians to get so caught up in the so-called culture war—the contest today between policies promoting Christian values and those of pagan unbelief—that we mount a war horse to ride against our sinful neighbors. But the Jesus who rode into Jerusalem on a humble donkey would have his followers likewise minister his truth in loving humility. As Christians face an increasingly hostile secular society, we must resist the temptation to wage war, but instead we must represent the Prince of Peace in his truth and love. As we interact with unbelieving neighbors///we must reach out to them with the same loving desire for their salvation that drove Jesus into Jerusalem to take up the cross.

Triumph on the Jesus way happens through laying down your life, taking up your cross, dying even for enemies. That is the Jesus way.

Now here is where the twist comes. Jesus really does triumph. He fulfills all of those hopes. He really does rescue the downtrodden…he sits high and looks low…even today.

But it’s not in the way of a superhero. I think of it this way. How do you raise the poor from the dust? How do you lift the needy from the ash heap?

One way is to reach down a hand…here…grab my hand…I’ll use my strength to pull you up. And I suppose that might work just fine.

But there is another way…it’s to enter the dirt…the garbage…the muck the mire…the suffering…to enter into all of that with you…but not just to enter into that stuff of death…but to go even lower than it…to get down underneath the downtrodden…I’m going to go deeper into all of that pain…all of that suffering....I’m going to die…plant that kernel deep into the ground...

Get underneath of you…grab ahold…and then I’m going to rise…and when I rise…guess what happens to you…we rise together.

Friends, that is the gospel. The Son of Man…the King of Kings....doesn’t do distant rescue…he doesn’t hold out a hand and say “here let me pull you up”…he doesn’t rescue like superheros…his triumph isn’t that way…his triumphs is through death…and this death will draw…when he is lifted up he’ll draw us up with Him.