One Triumphant Week

One Triumphant Week John 12:12-19 We’ve all heard the expression, “What a difference a day makes.” A new day can bring endless opportunities. Some people long for one more day. Some people never want the day to end. A lot can change in a day. It’s only 24-hours, but so much can happen in that short amount of time. If you’ve ever read anything about Napoleon, there’s a story about the time Napoleon’s horse got away from him. One of his soldiers, a private, watched as his general lost his horse. As the horse was running away, the private immediately rushed into action. He jumped on his own horse and chased down his general's horse. When he returned, he gave the reins back to Napoleon. Smiling at his faithful private, Napoleon took the reins and said, “Thank you, Captain.” The soldier's eyes immediately widened at what he just heard. And he quickly straightened up, saluted, and said, “Thank you, sir!” In one day, the soldier went from private to captain because the one who had the power to make it happen made it happen. The new captain didn’t doubt or argue with his new rank because when the one with the highest authority said something, he listened. If only we could have the same faith as that captain. To not doubt, waver, or even disregard something said by our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. 2000 years ago, if you were standing in the crowd, praising Jesus as He rode by, you could also say, “What a difference a day makes.” But like that young captain, would you doubt, disregard, or accept Christ as Messiah? In Hebrew, Messiah means “anointed one” or “chosen one.” As the crowd shouted and cheered for the Messiah, many of them were excited because they were watching the chosen one ride into Jerusalem to set them free from Roman oppression. Jesus did come to set them and us free, just not in the way many of them thought. Instead of a warrior king riding in on a majestic horse surrounded by guards and servants, a servant king rode in humbly on a donkey surrounded by a few friends. Now, I want you to really think of the crowd for a minute. Here’s a crowd who lived every day hoping for freedom. They wanted to be free from Roman rule and persecution, and many of them thought Jesus was just the guy to overthrow their Roman oppressors. Place yourself in that noisy crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of onlookers. Think of who is in the crowd with you. Some people are believers in Christ. Others came for political reasons. Many people were there because they knew about Christ’s miracles. Still, others wanted healing. Verses 17 and 18 say, “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.” Earlier, Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, and a large crowd was there to watch. Now, this same crowd not only followed Jesus, but are continuing to spread the word of this miracle Jesus recently performed. You know, we are a curious people. When something sparks our curiosity, we want to find out more. And the Bible says that many people in that crowd were there to see more of who Jesus was. So here’s this huge crowd, filled with people who came to cheer Jesus on for different reasons. O what a difference a day makes. But you know, it's easy to shout and praise Jesus when we think He’ll do what we want. “Free us from persecution!” we cry out. “Perform a sign. Do a miracle. Give me this, take away that,” we shout out to God. But far too often we’re only thinking temporarily, while God is thinking eternally. We think about what we want, but God knows what we need. Jesus knew we needed to be set free, and being set free from sin and death is the eternal freedom He came to give. There’s a church in a large city with a huge sign on its roof that reads, “It Does Make A Difference What You Believe.” It’s what you actually believe, not what you think you believe, that shapes your life. The crowd was filled with people who believed Jesus was coming for different reasons. But Jesus came for only one reason, the cross. Jesus isn’t hiding who He is, and it’s up to us to believe why He came. What a difference a day makes. Jesus was becoming well-known, but he still had a smaller group of followers. And when He raised Lazarus from the dead, the large crowd that was there now followed Him. And today’s Scripture says in verse 12, “The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem.” In one day, Jesus went from a few followers to a great crowd. He went from the small village of Bethany to the epicenter of Jewish belief. And when Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, He didn’t show up on a regular day. People from all over were going there to celebrate Passover, and when everyone arrived, Jerusalem went from around 50,000 people to hundreds of thousands. When this great crowd heard that Jesus was coming, Scripture says, “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!” Hosanna is Hebrew for “Save us.” The crowd's cheers came from Psalm 118:25-26 which says, “LORD, Save us! Grant us success! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.” And the palm branches represented independence for the Jewish people. Anytime they really started feeling Rome’s oppression, they would wave palms as a way of saying, “We’ll be free one day!” So when the crowd waved palm branches and shouted “Hosanna,” they were expressing their hope that Christ would be the Messiah to make them free again. They hailed Him as their King, and Jesus visually announced that He was indeed the Messiah, by the way he entered. Scripture says that “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it,” thus fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 which says, “Rejoice, greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The colt was so young that no one had ever ridden it, therefore fulfilling prophecy while affirming Himself as the humble Messiah. What a difference a day makes. Jesus’ entrance was so noticeable that in Matthew 21:10 the Bible says, “the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’” The Greek word Matthew used for “stirred” in English means “Seismic.” In other words, the whole city was shaking as they asked, “Who is this?” Remember, the crowd who watched Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead was spreading the news about Christ’s miracle. So naturally, people began to ask, “Who is this?” “Who is this?” It’s the question everyone must ask themselves. Who is Jesus? You can look at all the prophecy Jesus fulfilled. You can follow Jesus through the pages of the Bible and read about His miracles. You can read how He transformed lives and forgave sin. You can read who Jesus claimed Himself to be. But in the end, you must answer the question, “Who is this?” Who did Jesus claim to be? In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Some people come to the knowledge of Jesus and saving faith right away, while others take some time. Just like the disciples, when Jesus called them to follow, they dropped everything to follow Him, but it still took time for them to better answer the question, “Who is this?” John 12:16 says, “At first His disciples didn’t 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 cross and empty tomb bring everything into focus. It once and for all answers the question of Who is Jesus, but Jesus left it up to us as to whether we accept or reject that answer. Some of you might be wondering, how in the world could the disciples have followed Jesus around for 3 years and still not understand? Well, let me answer that question with a question: How many of you have ever learned something after the fact? If you’ve been a Christian for a length of time, how often do you look back and thank God He was there even when you didn’t realize He was? Whether you’re a Christian or not, how many of you know that your answer doesn’t come at the beginning of something, but at the end. You don’t know the math answer until you work the equation. But if you do, we need to talk because I’m terrible at math! Jesus worked the equation because God solved our problem! He sent His only Son to die in our place, to restore our broken relationship, and to provide the forgiveness we needed by the atonement of Christ’s cross. When Adam and Eve sinned, humanity and the world had a problem that we couldn’t fix. So God worked the equation and Jesus solved our problem. The last verse of today’s Scripture is about the Pharisees talking and saying, “Look how the whole world has gone after Him!” If only they knew how right they were. Here we are, practically 2000 years later, and the world is still going after Christ. Oh, what a difference a day makes. But the story isn’t over yet. It’s the tale of 2 Triumphs. Today is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. I called this sermon “One Triumphant Week” because Palm Sunday is also known as The Triumphant Entry. But the triumph is not just in the entry, but also in the exit. Palm Sunday is the Triumphal Entry because Jesus entered Jerusalem as King. Easter Sunday is the Triumphal Exit because Jesus exited the tomb as Lord and Savior. Oh, what a difference a week makes! AMEN