John 12:12–19 Sermon

Sermon Text

John 12:12–19 ESV

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Introduction

Last week we covered John 12:9-11.

In verse 9 we saw a large crowd of the Jews following Jesus because of what He had for Lazarus.

Lazarus was raised from the dead because of Jesus calling Him out.

The crowds learned of this and so they wanted to see Lazarus and Jesus for themselves.

Seeing that the crowds were following Christ the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus who was just raised from the dead.

Again, this showed us how blind they were in that they wanted to kill someone who had died and was raised from the dead.

The proved to have a love for self. They were preoccupied with keeping their positions and status among the people.

They were more about the praise of men.

In verse 11,

John 12:11 ESV

11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

This was the motive. They wanted to kill Christ because of a love for their own position and status.

They wanted what Jesus would get in our passage today. Which is praise.

Outline

1. The Praise (v.12-13)

2. The Prophecy (v.14-16)

3. The Popularity (v.17-19)

1. The Praise (v.12-13)

Read Verse 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

In verse 12, we see a large crowd.

We remembered from last week that large crowds or crowds followed Christ throughout the gospels.

This crowd John writes were the crowd that had gone to the feast to see not only Jesus but Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead.

The feast John is referring to is the feast at Simon the Lepers house where Jesus sat with Lazarus as He was being served by Martha, Lazarus’ sister.

Lazarus’ other sister Mary was also there and she had anointed the head and feet of Jesus with expensive ointment. Which was a sign of His worth and burial.

It’s important to note that this was a Jewish crowd. This would mean that they had heard about the Messiah promised.

They had heard of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead which was a Messianic act. So it must have created this great excitement for those who were there when Jesus was entered Jerusalem.

We have to also remember the times in which the Jews lived here in our text.

There was much oppression of the Jews. They longed for freedom from Roman rule.

And to have Jesus come to Jerusalem where the temple was, this must have had the people filled with excitement and expectation. Especially because they were in waiting for a King who could take on their oppressors.

The event of what people have called “the triumphal entry” is recorded in the other gospels but the details of what took place focus on what happened before entering into Jerusalem (the acquiring of the donkey) and it has at the end some details that will explain what was going on with Jesus and how He thought about what was taking place here.

What is clear in verse 13 is that the crowds were filled with excitement. So much that...

Read Verse 13 [So] They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

The crowds here were those that went before and those who followed (Mark 11:9 and Matthew 21:9).

This meant that more people followed Him there. The crowds that followed from the feast and crowds that were there in Jerusalem.

Mark’s account has some of them saying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-10).

Matthew’s account has some of them saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9).

Luke’s account records that a whole multitude of disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen.

Then they said in Luke 19:38, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Our account today has them crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

I want to focus on the word Hosanna since it is used in three out of the four of the gospel accounts.

Hosanna is used 6 times in the New Testament.

It is worth noting that it is only used in the account of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.

Scholars are not sure as to the origin of the word but some have said that it may have come from words that were doxological. Meaning that the word may have come from words used to speak of praise or even power from the Aramaic.

Using it only here seems to indicate a special term meant to convey praise to Jesus as He was entering Jerusalem.

Luke’s account helps because of using the word blessed when saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Blessed here meant: to ask God to bestow divine favor on, with the implication that the verbal act itself constitutes a significant benefit. It would mean that a person is asking that the person would benefit by being favored by God.

Hosanna which seems to be doxological (praise worthy) and blessed (to ask God to bestow divine favor), both are favorable expressions of praise.

They are acknowledgements of Christ being praiseworthy and one in whom others would want God to have favor on.

They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and were crying this out to Jesus.

Calvin noted that:

The palm was a symbol of victory and peace in antiquity. But it was also normal to use branches of palm trees when they conferred kingship on anyone or when they humbly asked pardon of a conqueror. But these men seem to have taken up branches of palm trees as a sign of joyfulness and happiness at welcoming a new king.

The palm branches were again a sign of favor and blessing.

They were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

But Jesus was thinking and feeling differently about what some have called, “His Triumphal Entry.”

Question: What was going on in His mind?

People were giving Him props. They were giving Him shout outs.

Everyone was about Jesus entering into Jersualem and they were crying out blessed, hosanna. The King of Israel, the Son of David!

They wanted a King! They wanted the promised Messiah to come and free them.

Question:But what was going on in His mind?

I don’t know about ya’ll but if it were me, I would say that its a pretty good day. If it was me.

Jesus was thinking differently.

The praise of man here was loud, public, full of praise. But there was something missing.

What was missing was knowledge about who Jesus actually was.

The prophecy that was fulfilled here helps us to see what was missing.

2. The Prophecy (v.14-16)

Read Verse 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

Read Verse 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

Read Verse 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

The disciples here were giving Him praise but they did not understand at first what was written about Him.

Luke 19:37–38 ESV

37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

But they didn’t understand the prophecy about Him. We see this in verse 16 of our text.

This prophecy comes from Zechariah 9:9.

Zechariah 9:9 ESV

9 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.

The disciples and the crowds were indeed rejoicing greatly. But what was missing?

In Luke’s account the disciples said, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

In Mark’s account they were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”

In Matthew’s account they were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” The whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.”

Question: What was going on in His mind about what everyone else was saying?

By the way in the synoptic gospels, after He had entered Jerusalem, He would go into the temple and drive out all who were selling and buying in the temple for a second time.

John records this at the beginning in chapter two which would have been the first time and a separate event.

Luke’s account shows us what happened when Jesus drew near. It answers the question of what was going on in His mind.

Luke 19:41–44 ESV

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

In the midst of the noise, the praise, the eruption of shouts; they did not know the time of their visitation.

They did not know why Jesus came and visited them.

The prophecy in Zechariah 9:9, spoke about His humility. He didn’t come on a white horse. He came humbly.

He came to die. They missed it and Jesus wept over them because they did not know the time of their visitation.

Jesus said in tears, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace!” He would follow this by knowing what would happen.

The ruin of their destruction which happened later.

He didn’t come to be crowned with the praise of men. He came to be crowned with thorns.

Maybe what we are seeing is a people who wanted their deliverance more than their deliverer.

Jesus was and is a King. He is the King of kings. But what He came to do on that day was to be the suffering servant.

Their praise was loud and celebratory but questionable at this point.

Question: Did they know who was visiting them and what He came to do?

I argue that the answer was no. The praise here turned into something else when He didn’t look like the King they wanted.

John 19:14–15 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

Jesus wept over them because they did not know the time of their visitation. The disciples did not know at first what these things meant.

The triumphal entry here wasn’t because of the praise given to Him by all the people there. But it was triumphal because Jesus would conquer sin and death. Which is what they did not know and what they needed most.

It is easy for us to look here and say, “that was jacked up.” But how many times have we forgotten about what Jesus had done. Especially when things are not what we think they should be.

Its easy to call Him a King on a good day but what if He was allowing suffering?

What would we say then? Do we love Him more than what we want and just doesn’t seem to be what we will get.

Are we full of praise apart from real love for Him? Love that is not based on external circumstances?

Are we loud but shallow?

Are we wanting deliverance more than the Deliverer?

What is the condition of our praise? Is it compromised by what we want God to do or do we truly, genuinely love Christ?

Jesus wept because they did not know the time of their visitation.

While all the crowds and the disciples were praising, Jesus wept.

Not that He didn’t deserve it.

Afterwards in Matthew’s account the chief priests were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

“Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise?”

It was right for them to praise Him.

In Luke’s account the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Jesus was worthy of the praise given to Him. But He wept for them. Because their praise was void from knowing why He came.

They missed the importance and purpose of His visitation. Which tells us the condition and reason for their praise.

He came so that they would believe that He was the Son of God and that by believing they would have life in His name. But they could not see it.

He was popular. Known for all that He had done. But what was missing was knowing what He had come to do.

Jesus was very popular among the people. But His popularity was never what drove Him to the cross.

3. The Popularity (v.17-19)

Read Verse 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

Read Verse 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.

Read Verse 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Jesus had the crowds and the praises of men. And rightfully so.

But what they were missing was what Mary had done at the feast given to Him.

John 12:3 ESV

3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

She knew of His worth and that Jesus would be buried.

This is what the crowds did not know. We know that the disciples did not know of the significance of Jesus entering Jerusalem according to verse 16.

John 12:16 ESV

16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Seems that the disciples came to know as Mary knew. Which caused her to do what she did!

The Pharisees didn’t know and didn’t want to know.

John 12:19 ESV

19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

The Pharisees wanted the praise of men. They wanted the crowds and Jesus had it.

But it wasn’t what He came to do.

He came to die, to be buried and to rise on the third day. Proving Him to be the Deliverer that we all needed from our sin and the wrath of God.

They saw a King who could do signs. But He came as a Lamb. As John said, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the whole world.

He came to set the captive free. But freedom was never about the external pressures and issues of life. The Son came to set us free from sin and the wrath of God.

Which He did when entering into Jerusalem and dying on a tree.