The Triumphal Entry
Notes
Transcript
Good morning Valley Church Clinton!
It’s so good to be back with you all, and I’m especially excited about this season.
Because today is what’s known as Palm Sunday, we have Good friday coming up, and Easter next Sunday.
It’s just so good to have this concentrated season and Holy Week where we can focus on our walks with Christ.
Today, we’ll be in John, chapter 12, verses 12-19
And if you would, please join me in a word of prayer.
Introduction
So, there are these days in our lives, I’m sure you’ve experienced them, that are burned in your memory for the rest of your life.
You know what I’m talking about?
Days where you can picture exactly where you were, who was with you, what was around you.
This happens mostly with major historical moments, and especially tragedies like the Challenger explosion, or the September 11th attacks.
Occasionally though, it’ll happen with extremely good news, maybe fun vacations, key moments with your mom or dad where the memory lasts a lifetime.
Well, back in 2022, I had a moment like that.
It was a warm spring day, kind of like this season where the weather was turning, my family was living in Terre Haute pretty close to our mega church campus.
And at that time, my wife and I were foster parents. And this day, I got home from work, and we had a little girls dropped off to take care of for the foreseeable future.
So already, the stress was a little high, but nothing we weren't used to.
And I think we had to go somewhere, or we were going out for dinner, so we loaded this little girl up in the car, along with Jordan and our one year old Lydia, Emily my wife closes all the car doors, and she says “hey, I need to tell you something”.
Okay?
I’m pregnant.
A mixture of panic, joy, elatement, fear, and happiness all washed over me.
If you gave me 1000 guesses on what Emily was going to say to me, I wouldn’t have guessed it because we had such a hard time getting pregnant with our daughter Lydia.
Sometimes, life takes a turn. You envision your life going a certain way, we make plans, we have a vision of what it’s gonna look like,
But God has other plans. I’m sure not a single person in this room, if I asked you 10 years ago where your life would end up, could guess exactly where you are right now.
You might be able to get close, but I’m confident your expectations haven’t been fully met, you’ve been surprised, and disappointed, and off course.
And I think this is the summary of the Christian faith. This is the summary of the Scriptures - mismatched expectations.
This is ever present, especially on a day like today, Palm Sunday, where the people welcomed their messiah, but in a few days time, would see that same messiah hanging on a cross, suffering, dying.
Their perceived king, the person they wanted and formed in their minds, He wasn’t who they thought he was.
Jesus didn’t meet their expectations.
And thank God he didn’t, because the Jesus we form in our own heads is far inferior to who he is in reality.
And this is the setting we see here in what’s called the Triumphal Entry which is described in detail in all four of the gospels.
And John starts our story today by discussing the chaos that is Jerusalem.
Crowds and Chaos
Crowds and Chaos
So, there are a few details that we find in verse 12 here, because John mentions the large crowd that came to the festival because they heard Jesus was coming.
Now, the festival at hand was known as the Passover.
It was the premier festival in the Jewish religion, extremely important, in fact - all males under the Jewish law, if at all possible, were expected to make this pilgrimage to Jerusalem each year.
Now, scholars estimate that the population of Jerusalem during the first century AD was around 50k people, and during the Passover celebration, it swelled to 100-120k people.
So, in the span of a week or so, the population of Jerusalem doubled.
Imagine, a town smaller than Terre Haute, doubling in population overnight.
Population that included families trying to find a place to sleep, moms trying to find meals to feed their kids.
People coming from different regions, with different dialects and languages, different cultures, different lines of work, different clothes,
It would have been absolute chaos.
This is just like Jesus’ entry into the world - a small, crowded Bethlehem where there was no room in the inn.
Now Jesus, just like everyone else, is trying to shove his way with his 12 disciples into this crowded mess to celebrate the Passover festival,
To celebrate the Lord bringing them out of Egyptian slavery and into the promised land,
But more importantly, to celebrate the Lord passing over each home marked with the blood of the unblemished lamb, and saving their first born child from death, the final plague of Egypt.
So, you can feel the tension and irony John is building here, right?
And in the midst of all this chaos, celebration, what do the crowds do?
13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord —the King of Israel!”
Jesus clearly had the attention of the people. But it might not be for the reason you’d expect.
As we say around here, the 3 most important things in Biblical interpretation is context, context and context, so let’s take a look a bit before our starting verse today starting in John 12:9
9 Then a large crowd of the Jews learned he was there. They came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, the one he had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests had decided to kill Lazarus also, 11 because he was the reason many of the Jews were deserting them and believing in Jesus.
Turns out, raising a dude from the dead makes waves. Big ones.
Jews saw this and were leaving their religion to follow Jesus.
Of course, the Pharisees, they did not like this. They could not allow this, so they not only decided to kill Jesus, but now to kill Lazarus.
Poor fella, he just came back to life, and they’re already hunting him down.
But, the Pharisees, who were staunchly trying to follow the Law of Moses, they had their hands tied a little bit. They had a couple of big problems, both revolving around the Roman government.
First - the Caesar declared the Jews unable to carry out capital punishment. This greatly undermined the authority of Rome, and they had gotten out of hand with the stonings apparently.
So, they couldn’t just walk up to Jesus or Lazarus and take them out, as it was illegal. And Rome handles disobedience swiftly and painfully.
Their second problem - the crowds.
If Rome hated disobedience, they doubly hated riots. Again, they handled riots the same way - swiftly and with great milita force.
And with the passover chaos, there was already a hot bed of disagreement and tension, and a public execution would have unleashed something fierce, which would force the Roman government to essentially ban Judaism and destroy the temple, which would actually end up happening about 40 years later.
For these reasons, the Jews had to work in secret, and plot against Jesus very carefully.
And it sure doesn’t seem like the Pharisees have the popular opinion of the crowds, because they see Jesus, and praise erupts.
The people seemed to love Jesus.
The People Loved Jesus
The People Loved Jesus
And we can see their opinion in what they bring to the street to exalt Jesus - palm branches.
Now, palms were extremely important to Palestine in Jesus’ day.
I mean, even today they represent oasis and prosperity, luxury. They line Holywood bvld, imported of course because those palm trees around native to California.
Similarly, in first century Palestine, they meant victory and prosperity and peace.
See, about 200 years prior, a guy named Judas Maccabee and his brothers launched a revolt against the king of Syria who had invaded Jerusalem, desecrated the temple, and terrorized the Jewish people.
To make a long story short, after many years of battle, the Maccabees finally won the war, which liberated the Jewish people both politically and religiously,
And after this victory, the Jewish people spontaneously started waving, you guessed it, palm branches and celebrating in crowds.
And after that, to remember this victory, something called “The Celebration of Light” aka, Hanukkah, each year around our calendar’s month of December.
So now, during this passover festival, they see this man who raised his best friend literally from stinky death, they see him come into town. They’ve witness this, they’ve heard the miracles, they’ve heard teachings from this man Jesus who came from a nobody family, a carpenter,
They hear this man teaching as if he has some higher authority, even higher than the Pharisees and Scribes, some kind of supernatural knowledge.
And in their minds, they’re thinking about Judas Maccabee.
After all, it’s same situation, except instead of Syrian invaders, it’s Roman rule. As Ecclesiastes says, there’s nothing new under the sun,
The Jewish people are still under oppression and their religion is stifled and repressed, even after a major revolution and two centuries.
What the people saw was their way out. Their way to once again be on top.
Wealth, prosperity, political rule, world power, or at least the opportunity to practice their religion in a God-given Holy Land.
They saw their king. It was the best day ever. They picked up palm branches on the passover,
Which by the way, is kind of like hunting easter eggs, dressing up like a ghost for trick or treating, and opening presents under an evergreen tree all on the same day.
This was a big deal.
Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!
This is a clear reference to Psalm 118:25-26, which says this-
25 Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! 26 He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you.
Lord, save us. This is what they were saying to Jesus. They knew they needed a savior, a messiah figure.
And Jesus could have come to the crowds, wowed them with more miracles, taken on the praise of everyone.
But again, Jesus continues to be different. Jesus continues to keep us in suspense.
Because what Jesus does next is shocking:
Jesus rides in on a donkey.
Jesus Rides a Donkey
Jesus Rides a Donkey
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: 15 Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.
See, the expectation of a mighty military king, of the next conquerer, would have been to ride in on a blazing stallion. Perhaps a horse drawn chariot.
But no, Jesus finds a donkey, a colt nonetheless, which denotes an unbroken, untrained, work animal.
This donkey wasn’t sacred, wasn’t reserved for nobility, it was a work animal of meager means.
And John specifically mentions that this is from a prophet named Zechariah.
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
See, John wants to clearly make the distinction that Jesus absolutely is fulfilling Old Testament prophecy very directly.
And interestingly, Jesus actually rides in on the wrong animal, at least according to the people.
Because the Jewish Messiah, he was meant to bring peace. He was supposed to end war.
Like the Maccabees, the Messiah was a conquerer.
And for thousands of years, God’s chosen people, the Israelites, they yearned for this kind of king. A powerful king that would defend them, make political alliances, make Israel great again.
But Jesus rides in on a donkey.
And the people were actually right about one thing - Jesus did come to end war. He did come to be their king. He did come to be their final ruler.
But it wasn’t through military might, or force, or even being a wonderful mediator to make everyone get along.
It was through being a suffering servant.
Don’t be afraid, daughter Zion. Aka, God’s people.
What the prophecy in Zechariah is saying, even more so than confirming Jesus is the Messiah, the prophecy is asking a question.
Israel, aren’t you tired of war? Aren’t you tired of sending your money and crops to a king, aren’t you tired of sending your daughter to be concubines, aren’t you tired of sending your sons to be killed on the front lines of battle?
Rejoice, because one day there will be a King that is not of human origin.
That is truly righteous and victorious. Incorruptible. Without the greed and envy of a normal king.
A King that will be humble and riding on the colt of a donkey.
This is a king that the Israelites had never experienced before or witnessed in any culture before.
No, this new King will be better. And he’s quoted as saying something no other king has said before:
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
This is the King our souls yearn for, yet it’s rarely the king we want to submit to.
Because it means we have to follow in that humility.
But we want to maintain our own image. We want to be the kings in the eyes of our peers, maintain our respect within their minds.
But Jesus didn’t seem to care so much about image. Or outward appearances.
Let’s take a look back at a pretty famous story on the day before Palm Sunday about two ladies named Mary and Martha:
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot (who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He didn’t say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of the money-bag and would steal part of what was put in it. 7 Jesus answered, “Leave her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial. 8 For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
Now, you may not catch it here, but Mary and Martha are sisters of Lazarus. So, they’ve had a busy week planning a burial and a funeral, and now planning a party where the dead guy is the guest of honor.
Quite the whirlwind.
And you’ve probably been used to the stories picking apart Mary and Martha, and how Mary chose the better thing while Martha was a busybody.
But John takes a little bit of a different spin on things.
Rather than pitting Mary and Martha against each other, he compares Mary and Lazarus.
See, Mary breaks open the jar of perfume, which was worth 300 denarii - and entire year’s worth of wages for the average laborer, and pours it on Jesus’s feet.
Already, this was completley out of character for a woman to do, not only because of the cost, but because perfume was generally saved for burials to hide the stench of death.
Then, Mary let’s her hair down. And no, that’s not a metaphor, she literally let’s her hair down and wipes Jesus’s feet with it.
Not only does that give me the heebie jeebies, it tells us something about Mary.
Because women in that day, the only person who saw their hair, was the husband. No one in public, no men, maybe some other women, but for the most part, the hair was kept and under a head dress of sorts.
Mary was unashamedly breaking cultural and religious barriers because she knew who was in front of her.
She knew Jesus was someone different. And no, maybe she didn’t know he would die in less than a week’s time, but though some divine power, she was anointing Jesus for his burial.
And John uses this beautiful display of pure adoration against Judas.
Now, Judas, he wasn’t doing anything. He was reclining. Enjoying the day.
And instantly, he jumps into critical mode. You know these kinds of people - I believe they’re called armchair quarterbacks.
Not doing anything of significance, but willing to offer their 2 cents. Pretty much describes most people online.
But Judas, who John is sure to note is stealing from the money bag, he says “well, Mary is wasting that expensive perfume, she should’ve sold it and given the money to the poor”.
What Judas though he was doing was keeping up his appearance. But what he was actually doing was revealing his true self to Jesus.
Mary displayed pure adoration to Jesus, while Jesus showed empty concern to maintain his own image.
This is a dangerous game and an exhausting way to live.
Jesus himself addresses this type of life:
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
And I can’t help but think this is exactly what Jesus felt as he rode that donkey through Jerusalem.
He sees all these people, with all their hopes and adorations, their longing to be saved from Roman oppression.
Jesus’s chosen people, waving palms in the air, chanting Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna.
And knowing this entire celebration will end in death. Knowing that not a single person is going to be there on Friday when he needs them the most.
Knowing none of them, even his closest friends, truly understand what being a follower and disciple ends with.
What Jesus was seeing was empty praise and worship on a mass scale with an absence of adoration for a humble king.
And if we aren’t careful, we can end up the same way.
And in view of Palm Sunday, we need to make sure we follow Jesus everywhere.
Follow Jesus Everywhere
Follow Jesus Everywhere
Man, it’s so easy to want to live in Palm Sunday, right?
Everything’s good, Jesus is awesome, there’s hopeful expectation for the future. Celebration.
But the hard part about claiming Jesus as Lord, the almost impossible thing, is to fulfill our calling…
Which is to follow Jesus to Good Friday.
The cold hard truth about the cross is that Jesus was alone.
56 But all this has happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and ran away.
So, the question we have to ask ourselves, are we willing to follow Jesus to the cross?
Or, are we content with waving our palms, living in bliss.
Because what we’ve done is we’ve created a version of Jesus in our minds that doesn’t line up with Jesus in reality.
This is what the Bible calls idolatry. Creating a god that isn’t the one true God, and worshipping that god.
This is what the people of Jerusalem did as Jesus was riding a donkey through the streets.
And this is what we do now.
We create a Jesus that stoops down to our level. That’s gives us our biddings. That leads us into a life of comfort, and contentment, and prosperity.
But the Jesus of reality is so much better. He’s so far superior.
Our Jesus, our humble King, he didn’t fight. He didn’t push back, no…
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
Our King doesn’t need to show His power by conquering his enemies, or by becoming the ruler of the land, by having riches, by having women, by having power,
Our King shows his power by going to the cross, only to show the entire world that he has power over death.
Our King raised his friend Lazarus from the grave.
Our King calmed the storm, fed the multitudes, forgave sin, spend time with sinners,
Our King hold the keys to death and hell.
Isn’t that a better Jesus than the one we create in our heads?
So, get through Palm Sunday and celebrate, but don’t forget to grab your cross and walk with Jesus up the hill of Calvary on Good Friday.
Because following Jesus costs everything.
And following Jesus, we need to pay careful attention to our Adoration of Him.
Adore Jesus
Adore Jesus
Don’t be like Judas, be like Mary.
Don’t build up this facade, this image that you want everyone to see. Don’t become a religious hypocrite.
Adore Jesus. Hilariously. Uncultured. Unironically. Without shame.
David, when the prized Ark of the Covenant returned to Israel,
14 David was dancing with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod. 15 He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the trumpet.
Let go and fill yourself with adoration of our Lord.
Because let me tell you, God sees through your mask. Empty praise and worship fall flat to our God.
We cannot truly follow someone we do not love and adore. If we want to truly follow Jesus,
We must dance from pure joy in his presence. We must start braking open our jars of perfume and kneel at his feet.
As one of my favorite songs by My Epic goes, You're not a memory we celebrate. You're not a martyr that we venerate.
Jesus is not an institution, or an imagination, or an ideal,
Jesus Christ is our risen Lord and one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is alive.
So, treat Him like he is.
Sit at his feet, and worship from your heart.
Pray with expectation, don’t limit his power. After all, He raised Lazarus from the dead.
Imagine what he can do for you, with a little faith.
Adore and Follow. This is the way.
1 Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving; let’s shout triumphantly to him in song. 3 For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods. 4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, and the mountain peaks are his. 5 The sea is his; he made it. His hands formed the dry land. 6 Come, let’s worship and bow down; let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker. 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice:
