Sermon Prep Outline | John 12:12–19

LEFTOVERS

They would sacrifice lambs as a picture of the blood painted over each Jewish door on the night before Israel escaped from Egypt.

Josephus said that one Passover in this era saw 210,000 lambs sacrificed. If there was 1 lamb for every 10 people, there could have been 2 million plus out of town visitors in Jerusalem during the Passover.

And this year was even more intriguing for a few reasons:

#1 - Many people were thinking about Jesus. Chapter 11:56 states that many Jews were talking about Jesus and wondering if He would be in Jerusalem.

#2 - They were talking about Him because He’d recently raised a man named Lazarus to the dead after he’d been in the grave for 4 days.

#3 - The people wanted to see Jesus, but the religious leaders - the Pharisees and Scribes and Sadducees - saw their grip over the people and their position with the Roman government slipping away. So they wanted Jesus dead.

#4 - The irony is this Passover, just 6 days away, is going to be the event in which Jesus is arrested, falsely accused, tried, crucified, and buried.

#5 - While hundreds of thousands of lambs were being sacrificed, one Lamb, Jesus was about to die for the sins of the whole world.

DAVISON

The historian Josephus said that 30 years after this Passover feast in Jerusalem, a census was taken, and 210,000 lambs were sacrificed. Assuming one lamb for every ten people, this means over 2.5 million people overflowed Jerusalem. Even if this is exaggerated, the crowds were immense. There was great interest whether Jesus of Nazareth would enter Jerusalem for the Feast (John 11:56). He does, and on the surface, it is glorious! This is how Jesus should always have been treated—riding a donkey, the coats and garments spread in the way, the waving of palms, the shouts of “Hosanna!” (meaning “salvation, now”), and singing psalms of praise to their Messiah! Jesus said that this is such a stupendous event that if the children of Israel did not declare His praises, the very rocks would cry out (Luke 19:40), simply because the creation is fulfilling His eternal purpose and it is of such magnitude that all of creation will be affected! Oh yes, what a scene! But take a look behind the scenes.

What We See Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes, we see a diverse mob of Jews (v. 12-13). Many in the crowd would merely be sightseers. Some, no doubt, were from Galilee where most of His miracles were done and they were enthusiastic about seeing more. Others were excited, as anticipation of Messiah’s coming was high anyway—to them it meant a political and nationalistic change for Israel; freedom from Rome and a king on David’s throne was their big hope. The fact is that the scene wasn’t as encouraging as it may seem on the surface.

Behind the scenes is a very heavy-hearted Jesus. Luke 19:28-44 gives more details of Jesus’ triumphal entry. As the people came out of Jerusalem to meet Him, and as they shouted praise, He wept. “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it.” (v. 41) He wept because of their unwillingness to believe. He then prophesied of the coming ruin of Jerusalem and the Temple.  Jesus knew that in about four days, the cry of the screaming masses would change from “Hosanna!” to “Crucify Him! Release unto us Barabas!” Yes, He knew, and His heart was heavy behind the scenes.

Behind the scenes, Jesus knew He was marching toward His throne (v. 14-15). That’s right; marching toward His coming coronation. He knew when He departed from Bethany that the die was cast and that the coming events would lead to His glory. “His kingship is of a unique order. To express it, Jesus must disappoint the nationalistic aspirations of his fellow Jews. But King He is, and no confederacy of the powers of evil, whether Sanhedrin, Caiaphas, Annas, Pilate, Rome, Judas and the prince of this world, can wrest that authority from Him. He moves majestically forward in procession to His throne, a throne constructed by His enemies, the throne of the cross!”[1]Don’t let that old, rugged cross of suffering and shame and agony fool you; Jesus is King! For this cause came He into the world, and by this cross, bearing our sins on that tree, He would fulfill His Father’s will. Oh yes, His glory was coming.

What the Behind-the-Scenes Account Reveals About King Jesus

The scene reveals that He was a peace-bringing King. The people saw Him riding into Jerusalem, lowly and humble, on a young donkey (v. 14-15) which had never been ridden (Luke 19:30). William Barclay is clear in describing why Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of an ass: “First, it was a deliberate claim to be the Messiah. It was a dramatic enactment of the words of Zechariah the prophet (Zechariah 9:9)… But, second, it was a claim to be a particular kind of Messiah… With us the ass is lowly and despised; in the East it was a noble animal…The point is that a king came riding upon a horse when he was bent on war; he came riding upon an ass when he was coming in peace.”2Rome was a military machine, and the people were ready for a militant king to deliver them. However, the King appears on a very young donkey and is saying, “I am not a revolutionary leader against a political system you hate. I am a unique King.” His kingship is not just about Israel and her place restored among or above the nations of the world. True, it is clearly prophesied that His reign will cover the ends of the earth (Zechariah 9:10), and in the Millennium, He most certainly will conquer with might and will govern by military force and Israel will indeed be restored (Revelation 19:11-21). But for now, He is lowly; for now, He is the King of peace. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17)

The triumphal entry also reveals that Jesus was a non-conforming King. Recall that the crowd that day was a diverse one; some welcomed Him while others plotted His demise. Remember, in spite of the scene and the cries of Hosanna, Israel was officially in unbelief and rejection of who Jesus was. The Jews previously said, “If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24). He is the Christ, and His action is the claim to fulfill Messianic prophecies, specifically Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” “What we have here is, Christ pressing Himself upon the responsibility of the Jews. None could now complain that they knew not who He was… He was their ‘King,’ and in fulfilment of the plain declarations of their own Scriptures He here presented Himself before them.”[2]He is who He is: The Son of God. He did not come to accommodate all the wishes and whims of the populous. He came to do the Father’s will and fulfill His purpose, and this divided the people. He frustrated their selfish expectations. They expected Jesus to fulfill their purpose and when He did not, hostility and divisiveness resulted.

He was also revealed to be a world-wide King. Once again, the Pharisees speak the truth in ignorance: “… behold, the world is gone after him” (v. 19). The whole world? Well, not quite, but He is going after the whole world! How sad that the Jews could only think of their nation and themselves. We must never lose sight of the fact that Jesus came to save the lost from every kindred, every tribe, and nation (Revelation 5:9). The gospel is not just Western, or American, or Caucasian, any more than it was exclusively for Israel. He will not force anyone to believe, but He is King, and anyone anywhere who understands that can be saved and be a part of His kingdom. This age will pass, and the day will come when He returns again and will reign, and the earth will be filled with Him and His glory!

[1]Milne, 181

[2]Pink, 254

GUZIK

they're not thinking clearly are they alright the cameras gonna fade on our first scene I said you need to

25:20visualize two scenes here going on one was the dinner party and Bethany okay we're done with that now the second25:25scene is when Jesus enters in triumph to Jerusalem John states it very sort of succinctly in just a few verses let's

25:32look at it here starting at verse 12 ready for this the next day a great multitude that had come to the feast25:37when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out

25:42Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the king of Israel then25:48Jesus when he had found a young donkey sat on it as it is written fear not25:53daughter of Zion behold your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt his

25:58disciples did not understand these things at first but when Jesus was glorified then they remembered that26:04these things were written about him and that they had done these things to him so the next day that day after the feast

26:12at Bethany Jesus comes into Jerusalem now Bethany was not very far from Jerusalem so Jesus is making the short26:20journey the friends there's a lot of people around there's a lot of people

26:25because as John mentions here in verse 12 a great multitude why well because26:30thousands upon thousands of people came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast they26:36came because it was commanded they came because it was tremendous party and they came because26:41while it was just the thing to do and so they're all gathered there together thousands upon thousands of people so

26:48can you picture that scene in your mind there's Jesus walking in and there waving palm branches you get that26:54there's Jesus walking in there crying out Hosanna save now blessed be he who27:00comes in the name of the Lord blessed be the king of Israel do you see that as well do you see Jesus riding on a donkey27:07coming in everybody's celebrating I don't know if it's hundreds of people I don't know if it's thousands of people27:12do you have that scene in your mind alright good I see if you nodding it yes you do alright now you got that scene27:18you might I want you to add something to that scene that you've never added to

27:23before at least I never had maybe you have but I never had here's what you're missing in that scene according to the27:32law of Moses and the customs of the Jews at that time all those pilgrims who came27:37to Jerusalem for the Passover had to bring with them lambs because they had27:43to sacrifice a lamb for Passover for every household and so there were27:48thousands upon thousands of lambs now also according to the law of Israel that27:54the lamb had to live with the family for at least three days before it was28:00sacrificed so he couldn't bring it in the day before Passover you had to bring it in several days before and there were

28:09a lot of lambs because there were a lot of people how many lambs how many people I'll tell you this the ancient Jewish28:16historian Josephus he calculated he counted in one year it's not the same year that Jesus died but it was a year28:22of the same period he calculated how many two hundred and sixty and two28:28hundred and fifty six thousand five hundred Passover lambs now I will admit there's some scholars who look at28:34Michael well Josephus is exaggerating okay let's pretend let's pretend he's doubling the real fifty figure okay it

28:41was only a hundred and twenty-five thousand lambs that had to be brought in28:47the day Jesus entered or the next day friends with that many lambs they were28:52coming all day long 24 hours a day almost do28:58you realize that when Jesus entered Jerusalem there were lambs everywhere

29:06coming into the city what do you think that was like for Jesus29:11oh he hears the hosannas he sees the palm branches waving the palm branches29:16were something like a a patriotic symbol going back to the time of the Maccabees and the Jewish liberation under them he29:23hears the cries blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord he sees the children happy and dancing he's riding

29:30on the donkeys doing all those he gets it all and then he sees everywhere around him lambs streaming into the city29:37as well and he says they cheer for me29:43now but in a few days I am the Lamb of29:49God given for the sins of the world and just like every Lamb I see is going to29:57die in a few days so I will die now30:05Jesus came in to the city of Jerusalem not as a lion but as one of those lambs30:13and this is demonstrated by how he came in he came in riding on a donkey on a

30:19Colt a young donkey do you get what that means he did that not only to fulfill prophecy because Zechariah chapter 930:26verse 9 says that the Messiah would come into Jerusalem riding on the donkey but he also did it because he wanted to30:33contrast himself with the way that a general might enter Jerusalem a triumphal general would enter Jerusalem30:40on a big white warhorse sword shield big30:47impressive horse or a general might enter Jerusalem marching with his30:54soldiers on foot you know there at the beginning the big procession he might enter it that way let me tell you how a31:00general would not enter Jerusalem on a donkey about this high your feet

31:07touching the ground coming in on the kind of transportation that a businessman would use coming into a city31:14because Jesus wanted to say I'm coming to Jerusalem I'm coming as Messiah I'm31:20coming as king but I am the king of peace I'm not coming as a conquering31:26general at least not in the way that you think so he comes into the city and what31:33happens look at verse 17 therefore the people who were with him when he called31:39Lazarus out of his tomb and raised from the dead bore witness for this reason the people also met him because they

31:46heard that he had done the sign the Pharisees therefore said among themselves you see that you are accomplishing nothing look the world has31:53gone after him the big crowd because there's so many pilgrims coming into Jerusalem the big32:00crowd because they're so excited that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead the Pharisees the religious leaders they32:07look at all that and they go we're losing we set ourselves out to destroy32:13this man Jesus of Nazareth and look he's winning I love the phrase that it uses32:18there did you catch that in verse 19 they look at one another and say look the world is going after you you're

32:24accomplishing nothing is that a great phrase they just look at each other and go you guys are worthless you're not32:30even doing your job you're accomplishing nothing in this work of trying to oppose32:35Jesus friends I like it when the enemies32:43of Jesus feel like they're accomplishing nothing and I like it32:48when the opponents of Jesus feel like the whole world is going after Jesus and32:54that Jesus is winning don't you like that that's a good feeling isn't it I'm like look I want to be on Jesus's side

33:00and therefore when it looks like Jesus is winning I get all charged up about that yes33:06Jesus you're winning yes I love it this is great the whole world is going after33:12you but which John recording the words of the religious leaders there they33:17spoke an unknowing prophecy because they were just using exaggeration it wasn't the whole world it was a few thousand people in

33:24Jerusalem but John looks at that and sees it was a prophecy of how the whole world would go after Jesus later because33:30friends on this Sunday in the middle of June the Year 2015 there's more than a33:36billion people that name the name of Jesus Christ there's millions upon millions upon33:42millions of people all over this world worshiping Jesus Christ as Savior the whole world has gone after Jesus and

33:47we're grateful for that this is why don't you understand I love this scene33:52because it looks like Jesus is winning but then I think that in just a few days34:02the same crowd that some of them said Hosanna and blessed is he who comes in34:08the name of Lord some of those same people would be crying out crucify him I34:13realized that Jesus even though he's being applauded and cheered by the crowd today in just a few days after this he's34:20going to be on a cross I realized that the religious leaders who thought that34:25Jesus was winning and they were losing in a few days those religious leaders are gonna spit in the face of Jesus and

34:33mock him as he hangs on the cross France nomic make no mistake about it on this34:39day when Jesus enters into Jerusalem it looks like he's winning in a few days is34:44gonna look like he's losing now I can34:50get depressed or I can despair when I feel like Jesus and his cause is losing34:58it's easy to feel like that in the world today isn't it do you hear the news you

35:05hear what's going on in the world today you hear about the confusion there's do you hear about the injustice do you hear35:11about the perversion you hear about the violence do you hear about the chaos do you hear about it ever friends I hear at35:17all and I go Jesus where are you what's going on this this thing is spiraling out of control35:23the world is going mad just like we studied last Wednesday as I'm teaching through the Book of Jeremiah on35:28Wednesday nights it's like God has given the world a cup of judgment to drink and the first thing

35:34that it does is it makes him crazy now look around the Lord the world's going crazy they're all gone mad Lord35:39what's going on here then I realize this but even when it looked like Jesus was35:46losing a few days after this fans he was winning more than ever where did he win bigger than the cross35:54the cross was his greatest victory ever it looked like he was losing at the cross it looked like he lost everything36:01but friends he won everything for us at the cross what I'm just trying to say and I'll just leave you with this it's36:06very simple we like it when Jesus wins but we don't despair when it looks like36:14he's losing don't despair look I love it when we get wins for36:20Jesus when people come to Christ when people are healed when people are filled with the Spirit of God when sin is

36:26overcome when addictions are broke we go yes Lord this is great for friends let me tell you something I do not want you36:32to despair even if you think man God where are you in this where are you in the world where are you in my personal36:38life what's going on around me don't you despair because even when it looks like36:43Jesus might be losing its only appearance Jesus always wins and he'll36:49find a way to pull out a glorious victory even in that father that's my

36:54prayer I pray Lord that you would help37:00us to rejoice when it seems like the cause of Jesus is being glorified and37:05going forward but lord I pray also that you would help us to be filled with a37:11lot of hope and a lot of Fay's faith when it feels like the cause of Jesus is37:18not winning because Jesus we know you are the Conqueror you are the victor you37:25win it all Lord and we're very grateful for it pour out your spirit among us37:30Lord I pray for everybody here this morning that you would bless them and anoint them and give them everything37:36they need to live for you for another week do it more pour out your spirit upon37:43them in Jesus name Amen [Music]37:52you