Indirect Declaration of Deity (12:12-19)

On what do you rely? I would imagine most of us would want to admit that we rely on Christ, not only for our salvation but our daily strength and wisdom. But on what, in reality, do you rely?

On what do you rely? I would imagine most of us would want to admit that we rely on Christ, not only for our salvation but our daily strength and wisdom. But on what, in reality, do you rely?

On what do you rely? I would imagine most of us would want to admit that we rely on Christ, not only for our salvation but our daily strength and wisdom. But on what, in reality, do you rely?

Purpose statement. Jesus destroys everything on which we rely, and in so doing brings us salvation.

It will take a little bit to get to that point. To get there, we first need to understand the three different interwoven scenes or frameworks taking place in this passage.

The crowd is excited but confused about Jesus, and Jesus corrects them.

The religious leaders are already provoked with Jesus, and Jesus stirs the pot.

Jesus indirectly declares his deity and reveals his purpose for the moment.

To get back to our purpose statement let’s first understand this story in light of John’s broader gospel, better understand these three interwoven scenes, and then dig deeper into Jesus fulfillment of Old testament prophecy (ie. ).

Broader context: Jesus a witness to himself. Considering the big picture of John’s Gospel, John offers another witness to the deity of Christ.

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. ().

John proves the deity of Christ by means of three sets of seven: seven witnesses, seven I Am statements, and 7 signs. This event unfolds one of the seven witnesses. Jesus testifies to his own deity.

Three Frameworks

Crowd excited and confused; Jesus corrects them. What is the significance of the laying down of palm tree branches in front of the path of Christ? Significance of the donkey?

Palm branches reveal the crowds view of Jesus. One might say that the icon of Jewish independence was the palm branches.

While the palm branches became an icon of Jewish independence, the branches didn’t begin with that symbolism. First, they held religious significance with little political significance. Going back to Leviticus, God directs His people to use the palm branches in their worship during the Festival of Booths.

And you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. ().

Only many years later (presumably) would the palm branches become an icon for political liberation. In 164 BC, after Judas had cleansed the temple following Antiochus Epiphanes’ defilement, palm branches were used as part of the triumphal processional at the temple’s rededication. It was this event that would become an annual festival of dedication or hannukah.

Therefore they now carried boughs and green branches and palms, for him that had given them good success in cleansing his place.

Only a couple of decades later (141 BC), Simon Maccabeus cleansed the citadel from the defilement of the Syrian troops, and once again at this triumphal processional, the people used palm branches in celebration.

And they entered into it the three and twentieth day of the second month, in the year one hundred and seventy-one, with thanksgiving, and branches of palm trees, and harps, and cymbals, and psalteries, and hymns, and canticles, because the great enemy was destroyed out of Israel.

Therefore, it is likely and probable that the palm branches became a common presence during this festival season. While under Roman control, the Jewish people probably regularly longed for a Maccabeus type character to once again come into Jerusalem, conquer, and cleanse the temple and the city. For this hope, the Jewish people were always prepared to celebrate with their palm branches. In this way, the palm branches took on much more significance than simply being one element of religious worship and became much more a symbol of icon of Jewish patriotism.

Jesus corrects the crowd’s perspective by use of a donkey. (Robert Massey) Now notice that Jesus was riding a donkey, just as the prophet had said. One of the customs of the ancient Mid-east, was that, whenever a city was conquered, the victorious king would ride into the city at the head of his troops. The type of animal he chose to ride was extremely important. If he was seated upon a horse, it was a sign that the city would be put to the sword for the king was riding his “warhorse” as a sign of judgment against the conquered people. However, if the king chose to ride a donkey, the city could breathe a sigh of relief, it meant that the king was coming in peace (you can’t fight a battle on a donkey).

Leaders provoked; Jesus stirs the pot. Jesus understands that He must die for the sins of mankind. To do this, the Jewish leaders needed some provocation. This scenario is a little bit different than Jesus interaction other times with the religious leaders.

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John . . . he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. ().

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. ().

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. ().

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. ().

So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. ().

Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. ().

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. ().

So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. ().

Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. ().

So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews . . . ().

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ().

This time He puts Himself right out in the public eye and in so doing provokes the religious leaders to quickly pursue dealing with Him.

Jesus indirectly declares his deity. There are a couple of places in this Gospel where Jesus affirms or states that He is divine. (1) In , when the women at the well speaks to Jesus about the coming Messiah, Jesus says, “I who speak to you am he” (). (2) In , Jesus heals the lame man and then declares God to be his father. “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because . . . he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (). (3) In the midst of a conversation with the religious leaders in , Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (). (4) In chapter 10, Jesus acknowledges that he considers himself to be the Son of God. As a result, they once again seek to arrest him ().

His indirect declaration. When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem in this way – fulfilling biblical prophecy – he was indirectly declaring Himself to be the King of which Zechariah prophesied. The people, while they obviously misunderstood Jesus intent, acknowledged Him as King or at least the hope of Him becoming King.

Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. ().

Michaels. In v. 13, the word "Hosanna" is "an Aramaic expression meaning ’Save now!’ used either literally as a petition for deliverance or as a technical term ascribing praise to God.[1]

The people were ready for deliverance—but from what? Jesus had come to save them from their sins, not from their political situation.

Jesus fulfilled prophecy.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. ().

Zechariah Texts Quoted in the New Testament Regarding Jesus' Ministry. (1) The King comes to Zion humble and riding a donkey (; ; ). (2) Thirty pieces of silver thrown into the house of the Lord (; ). (3) Looking on him whom they have pierced (; ; ). (4) The shepherd is struck, and the sheep scattered (; ; ).

Two purposes accomplished with the coming of the King. In oversimplifying , two purposes emerge, (1) the coming King will destroy all that stands in his way and (2) He will both “set prisoners free from the waterless pit” (9:11) and “on that day the Lord their God will save them” (9:16).

God also declares that he will liberate the prisoners from “the waterless pit.” The metaphor recalls the waterless pit in which Joseph’s brothers threw him (). Similarly, Jeremiah’s foes sought to rid themselves of God’s faithful, weeping prophet by casting him into a pit without water (). . . . For Zechariah, the metaphor “waterless pit” refers to the Babylonian exile, and the “prisoners” symbolized, at least in part, those Judahites remaining in exile. . . . the metaphor of the “waterless pit” refers to those prisoners of sin who longed for the release that only the righteous Judge could decree.[2]

Zechariah only acknowledges war horses, battle bows, and chariots. Micah adds to this list.

And in that day, declares the Lord, I will cut off your horses from among you and will destroy your chariots; and I will cut off the cities of your land and throw down all your strongholds; and I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes; and I will cut off your carved images and your pillars from among you, and you shall bow down no more to the work of your hands; and I will root out your Asherah images from among you and destroy your cities. And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance on the nations that did not obey. ().

Barker. The successes of his people are always achieved by dependence on him, not on military power and religious objects of faith (cf. ).[3]

Trusting in things other than the Lord has always been a problem for the people of God.

For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are full of things from the east and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made. So man is humbled, and each one is brought low— do not forgive them! Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendor of his majesty. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. ().

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD! ().

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. ().

Barker quoting P.H. Kelley from his Layman’s Bible Book Commentary. Because it involved people in the worship of that which their own hands had made.… The temptation to worship the work of our own hands is as real today as it was in the time of the prophet. Our forms of idolatry may be more sophisticated than those that Micah encountered, but they are basically the same. We trust in our own skill and ingenuity to lead us through our problems. We feel more secure trusting the works of our own hands rather than trusting God supremely. And this is what idolatry is all about.[4]

Not all this happens at the Triumphal Entry. John connects Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem with . “Quite appropriately, none of the Gospel writers cite v. 10 when explaining how Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry fulfilled the prophecy of . Only after Christ’s second coming will creation see v. 10 fulfilled.”[5] Yet, the triumphal entry and following death on a cross, begins a process in which Jesus defeats all that stands in his way and frees prisoners.

Next time, at his future triumphal entry, he won’t come in peace. His arrival on a donkey is in great contrast to His future “Triumphal Entry”

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. ().

“Yahweh will be satisfied with nothing less than a world-wide kingdom.” He will be the omnipotent Sovereign over all.[6]

Purpose statement. Jesus destroys everything on which we rely, and in so doing brings us salvation.

[1] Michaels, The Gospel of John, 222.

[2] George L. Klein, Zechariah, vol. 21B, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2008), 278.

[2] George L. Klein, Zechariah, vol. 21B, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2008), 278.

[3] Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 105.

[3] Kenneth L. Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, vol. 20, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 105.

[4] Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 106.

[4] Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 106.

[5] Klein, Zechariah, 275.

[5] Klein, Zechariah, 275.

[6] Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 106.

[6] Barker, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 106.