John 12:12-16

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

13 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!"

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,

15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." 

16 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 they had done these things to him. NIV

No matter what happen, Jesus always met a greater expectation than what the people expected of Him.

Let me if you will sight some cases where this happen.

Here is the case of the paralyzed man whom his friends lowered him down through the roof of place where Jesus was speaking. They did this after they could not get in through the door.

 Look what Jesus said and did in Mark 2:9-12

9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?

10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic,

11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home."

12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" NIV

This man and his friends where only expecting Jesus to heal him, but not only was he healed, but his sins were forgiven.

We see another case where a woman was on her way to bury her only son, but when the crowd met Jesus an unexpected happing happened.

Look if you will as recorded in the gospel of Luke in a town called Naim;

Luke 7:12-16

12 As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out-the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her.

13 When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, "Don't cry."

14 Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

15 The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

16 They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." NIV

When the religious leaders wanted a miracle, Jesus offered then them the Creator of miracles.

Matthew records;

Matthew 12:38-42

38 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

39 He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here.

42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

In another case when they (Jesus His disciples and a large crowd) was on the far side of the Sea of Galilee and the disciples wanted to send the crowd home so they could get a meal. Look what Jesus did.

John 6:5-11

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"

6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,

9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. NIV

Here we find where the disciples expected Jesus or they thought the crowd should be sent home because there was no food, but Jesus fed them.

The disciples wanted to eat the Passover meal with Jesus their Master, but instead Jesus washed their feet, showing that he was also their servant.

John 13:2-7

2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.

3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

7 Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  NIV

The last case we will look at this morning. This is the case or theme that one will find throughout all of the gospels.

The crowds looked for a political leader to set up a new kingdom to overthrow the Roman Empire. Take back what the Jewish Nation had at one time.

But Jesus offered them not control of an earthly kingdom, but He offered them an eternal, spiritual kingdom to overthrow sin’s control.

We see here this morning in our text how the people laid palm branches along the route that Jesus was traveling into Jerusalem. Not only that but they laid their coats also as He went. They shouted;

John 12:13

,

"Hosanna!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Blessed is the King of Israel!" NIV

(Finish with the two notes from bible on verse thirteen)