Who is your Hero?
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Turn to John 12:12
In the 1980s, Bonnie Tyler came out with the song, “I need a hero.”
Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the streetwise Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss, and I turn and I dream of what I need
I need a hero.
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night.
He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight.
I need a hero. I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light.
He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon and he's gotta be larger than life!
I need a hero.
Even though this is more of a “love song,” the concept is universal - because everyone wants a hero. Everyone wants someone to come and rescue, or to change the circumstances, to make life the way we think it should be. Just look around our world today - people are calling out for a hero – we want someone who will fix this mess!
The desire for a hero is nothing new. And we see this very clearly in John 12. Jesus is about to enter Jerusalem for the last time (except for His next return). It was the Passover festival – anywhere from 2-3 million people.
Remember, the political climate was very volatile. Israel was under Roman occupation – which was getting old. Many Jews were eagerly looking for a hero - a Messiah-King to arrive and take care of business and run the bad guys out of town. Of course, with the Roman Empire – Caesar was king – the ultimate hero. To publicly support another king was treasonous and dangerous. And mixed in their society was the Greek and Roman gods and demigods – many of whom were heroes in the culture. Hero worship ….
Now, the day before entering Jerusalem, Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. News like that travels fast – so there is a lot of anticipation for Jesus arrival – leads to verse 12.
The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 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!”
Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
“Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
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.
Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Everyone needs a hero, but …
1) Some people only want the ideal hero
Ideal here is an adjective describing what kind of hero. The majority of Jews had a preconceived idea of the ideal hero. They had a concept of what they wanted their hero to do – all based upon their personal “cause.” Their “cause” was national freedom. Their “cause” was not necessarily God’s “cause.” They wanted a hero who would fight for their “cause” and rescue them so they could have what they wanted. They wanted a hero on their terms.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem, they acknowledged Him as their hero and king. The laying down of palm branches were symbolic of victory and were often used to welcome returning kings or military heroes from their campaigns. Furthermore, the crowd was shouting Hosanna – which literally means “Save now.”
Again, their ideal hero would fight for their “cause” – national freedom (restoration of Israel) and He would do it now. But as the week went on, Jesus didn’t fit their concept of the hero they wanted - so they turned on Him and yelled, “Crucify Him!”
People are still searching for the ideal hero who will fight for their “cause” and save them. People still want a savior on their terms. Our culture is frantically looking for the ideal hero who will fix their problems, and the problems of the world.
We can’t blame people outside the Church for wanting a hero. They know something is wrong in the world and it’s going to take a hero larger than life to fix it all. It’s our job to tell them who the Hero is.
However, we have to ask ourselves, are we doing the same thing? It is easy for Christians to attempt to force Jesus into our ideal hero. We can easily present Jesus with our box of problems and expect Him to jump in our box and clean it out, and fix it up. It’s easy for us to give Jesus our agendas and our “causes” expecting Him to the Savior on our terms.
Doesn’t work that way. God is YAHWEH - the Great I AM. He doesn’t conform to our ideal image of a hero. He doesn’t cater to our desires and whims. Jesus Christ is Lord.
Verse 20
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
Some people want the ideal hero, but
2) Some people only want to know a hero
We don’t know all the details here - we don’t know their motive - all we know is they wanted to see Jesus, and not from a distance, but face to face. Anything beyond that is speculation. So, I’m going to speculate. This is just me, and not hard Biblical truth. It’s possible that all they wanted was to meet a hero and have some bragging rights. If they got to meet the man who could raise the dead, heal the sick, cast out demons - they could brag a little bit.
What do I mean by that? There is something about us humans that makes us feel significant when we’ve seen or met someone famous. “Guess who I saw today? Oh my - Dwayne Johnson - the Rock. IT was like 3 seconds and he was like a mile away but ...!” For some reason that makes us feel good. For example, when I was a boy, my dad and I met Pete Rose from the Cincinnati Reds. I shook his hand and I haven’t washed it sense. I’m special. Later as a teenager, I saw President Ronald Reagan – for about 7 seconds – he waived at me from the back of a train. I haven’t bathed since.
Just because we’ve seen someone famous doesn’t make us any more or less special. Yet, a lot of people are doing that with Jesus. They’re not interested in Jesus for who He is – not interested in the fact that He is the Son of the Sovereign God, or that Jesus is the Lord and King of all. Too many who simply want bragging rights – they’ve seen Him, been near Him, been in church a few times and they call it good. Because of that, they convince themselves they’re on their way to eternal life in Heaven.
Jesus isn’t interested in giving anyone bragging rights. Jesus is interested in cleansing us from our sin and from idolatry (worshipping anything other than God). He’s interested in making us right before God. He wants to declare us “not-guilty” on the day of Judgement! He’s interested in saving people from eternal damnation and giving them eternal life. Remember, Jesus said, unless a person is born-again, they will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
I challenge you to read Matthew 25, and you will see a group of people who thought bragging rights were enough to save. “Lord, didn’t we do these things in your name?” And Jesus will say, “No, you didn’t. Depart from me.”
Now, I suppose there are many heroes who would be satisfied with groupies - but not Jesus. True, He desires followers, but not followers who just follow.
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Some want an ideal hero, others want to know a hero - but Jesus wants us to know that
3) Jesus is the Hero of the World
One of major themes in John’s letter is that Jesus is the Savior - not just to a particular group of people - but to the world. He is the Hero who is larger than life! For example -
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
There are more Scriptures we could look at, but know that this man, who is God in the flesh is the ultimate Hero - Jesus is the Messiah, King, the Savior! As you let that soak in, it is important to keep a few other things in mind.
a) There is only One Hero
- Believe what you want, but there are no other Saviors in this world.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Jesus is either lying through His teeth, which makes Him a very bad person, or He’s telling the truth.
b) There is only One Way
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
c) There is only One Cause
Each person has something they would like Jesus to fight for - and sometimes He fights for our “cause,” but in the end, Jesus only fights for one cause - and that is the Father’s will. Remember Jesus said, “Not my will, but your will be done.”
And of course, the Father’s will is to reconcile humanity to Himself.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
d) There is only One Lifetime.
Jesus said, “If I go away, I will come again.” He also said, “Be prepared. Be ready. Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will return.” We have one lifetime to receive Christ. No one is guaranteed that tomorrow will come, and no one knows when Jesus will return - but when one of those occur - when this life is over there are no more chances.
Are you ready? The stage is set!
One final thought - Most good heroes have sidekicks. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Batman and Robin. Andy Griffith and Barney Fife. Pastor Chad and Ed. Sidekicks are important - they are a part of the success of the mission.
I know this is a little tongue-in-cheek here, but there is a sense here where Jesus calls us into that sidekick role.
Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Again, Jesus does not call us to be groupies. He calls us to make a decision:
Acknowledge that we are sinners
Repent
Confess that He is Christ
Surrender to His name, His authority and His cause. And follow.
“If people decide that their lives are more important than God’s will, then they will forfeit the type of life God wants to give them - a life of relationship with Him now and in eternity.” ~ Warren Wiersbe
Heroes. We all need them. Who or what is your hero? In whom or what are you trusting to be the hero that will change everything and fix all your problems? Career? Money? Government? Self?
To receive Christ: