John 12:12-16

Do you ever watch the news and feel that the world is becoming more and more unstable?

After reading a newspaper, listening to the radio, or the 10 PM newscast, do you feel better about the state of our society?

We are made aware of trouble that is happening on our doorstep. We see a world that continues to fragment and threaten to destroy itself.

We are encouraged and trained to be cynical, to be suspicious, or afraid. We are all told to have our opinions, but when we do, we are labeled as people see fit—liberal/conservative, legalist or immoral, conceited or immature. Because of this, we are afraid if we let down our guard, we are going to be taken advantage of, left out, or over come. If we’re hit, we want to hit back harder. Instead of wanting to be known and found, we want to be out of sight and unseen.

When there is someone or something that seems to give us a little control over our lives we flock to it, hoping that we will gain back what we’ve lost, or keep us from losing any more. Our greatest fear in life is our fear of....

We fear losing everything.

That’s what I think of when I read today’s passage. That’s why I think it is so easy for me to understand how quickly popular opinion changed for Jesus.

How many times do we see someone catch the public’s attention and they rally around them, only to be found that they can’t deliver on their promises or that the image that they portray is just a mirage?

Jesus was well on his way to Jerusalem. The crowd had been swelling. Along with those following Jesus were those who were headed to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.

What did they see in Jesus?

They saw a leader who would be the one to keep them from losing any more. He would help them gain back what they had lost. They saw Jesus as a conquering king.

They greeted Jesus with Palm branches.

Palm branches were used during the Feast of Tabernacles and other holy days.

Leviticus 23:40 NIV

On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days.

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Leviticus

They had become a nationalist symbol.

We know the power of a symbol. We put out flags during our national holidays. Symbols are important.

They cried out, “Hosanna,” “Lord save us!”

Psalm 118:25 NIV

Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success!

There are some very real connections between what the people wanted and the slogan of our current president’s campaign. They wanted Jesus to “Make Israel great again.”

Get rid of foreign influence in their country—the Romans.

Continue to improve and build in Jerusalem.

Return Israel to the wealth and the glory years that they read about during the reign of David and Solomon.

John 12:13 NIV

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!”

The only difference is that this vision of the kingdom is something that the people promoted, not Jesus.

Jesus was king; is a king, but...

A King we see, but don’t understand.

A King we see, but don’t understand.

Jesus came into Jerusalem as a king. He came as a king fulfilling a prophecy from the book of Zechariah:

John 12:15 NIV

“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

The people were quoting from . These were a prophecy of God’s judgment on the nations that were oppressing Israel. The victorious king would take away the chariots and horses of war and the battle bow would be broken. There would be peace among the nations as the King would rule the earth. Prisoners would be freed.

Follow the king.

Jesus was a king, but a king riding in on a donkey. He was coming in humility and in peace.

Very interesting—John changes the words of Zechariah’s prophecy. John says, “Do not be afraid, “ instead of “Rejoice greatly.”

As John was writing his account of this, he is stresses the fact that Jesus brings relief and comfort, emphasizing the relief and joy of having overcome something rather than being overcome ourselves.

As I think about this, to their credit, their vision of the kingdom was directly related to their vision of the king. They expected return of their nation’s glory and that would be brought about by the Messiah—the king. The problem is God’s vision for the nations was different and the people didn’t understand that. The disciples didn’t understand that.

For us, some two thousand years later, we can see and say how Jesus shaped a different kingdom, an eternal kingdom. It is a kingdom that we are given access through Jesus—who died for sins, but rose again.

What I want us to think about is how our hope for an eternal king should shape our hopes for the kingdom that we are going to live in? It is a kingdom we look forward to in the future, but how should this affect we live today?

God’s kingdom is a kingdom of peace and of justice. It is a kingdom where God reigns everyone and all things fairly. It is a kingdom where our desires and motivations are rooted in God’s desire for our lives instead of our own self interest.

It is a kingdom where we welcome giving God full control of our lives instead of each of us seeking to do only what we see fit. We make God the king.

It is a God who values life from conception to death to eternity. It is a God who values life and offers salvation to all who believe, Jew and Gentile, slave or free, male and female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus ()

And all too often that is not the king we’re looking for. Still, we must....

Follow the King

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The disciples didn’t understand this. It says in vs. 16:

John 12:16 NIV

At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

The crowd didn’t get it either. They followed Jesus because he did amazing things. They called Jesus a king because he did amazing things. They followed him because he had raised Lazarus from the tomb. They heard this and they went out to meet Jesus.

The Pharisees didn’t get it either.

John 12:19 NIV

So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

They saw Jesus—so knowledgeable about the scriptures—not playing into their expectations of who the Messiah was to be. For that, they plotted to kill hm.

Do we understand?

Quite often, I don’t think so. I think we wave our flag, our palm branches for another savior that fits our expectations, and that savior doesn’t seem to be the same Jesus we see in the Bible.

I challenge you to sit down and read one of the Gospels this week as we anticipate Easter. It doesn’t matter which one. Each gospel reveals Jesus, but each does from a little different angle. Many places similar, others different.

Read the gospel by itself, on its own terms, and let it sink in. Follow the King that we read about in scripture. Does he match the King we’re looking for?

Would King Jesus, the one we see in Scripture allow us to talk to or about each other the way we do?

Do we want King Jesus to wake us up out of our spiritual nap? In the way that give of ourselves, of our resources, in the attitudes and habits we hold, are we looking to follow the king, or do we want to listen only to the messages that we want to hear?

I know that sin is powerful and that until Christ comes again we always have to deal with the effects of sin, but sometimes for all of us, I wish we’d struggle against it more. I wish we would love God more. Love our neighbors more.

Loving God is easy when there is a parade and everyone is happy. Loving God is easy when it’s popular. Loving God is easy when he seems to support our biases and preferences.

Loving God is hard when we decide it costs too much or when God’s way asks us to do something that we aren’t inclined to do. Following the King means that—following.

The whole world has gone after Jesus. That same world, led Jesus to the cross. This coming Thursday, it won’t be the whole world, but it will be us, as a church, remembering our part in bringing Jesus to the Cross. As we remember, I pray that we will be lead from Friday’s Cross, to the Empty tomb, and from the Empty tomb to a renewal of faith in the Resurrected King, whose Kingdom will have no end.