SF065 - ISRAEL BEHOLD YOUR KING (John 12 12-19)
Israel, Behold Your King
John 12:12-19
Introduction
The message of Palm Sunday is the message of the King!
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He offered Himself as King to the nation of Israel.
Ø But He was rejected—so much so that He sat upon that mountain and with a loud voice cried,
Matthew 23:37-38 (NKJV) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate
Ø In a.d.70, that city was razed to the ground, thus fulfilling the prophecy of our Lord.
He came to the temple, and He found not only those who were rejecting Him, but those who were robbing Him, their King.
(Matthew 21:13 NKJV) “And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a den of thieves.”
God has called each of us to be His temple.
Ø He will never be satisfied until He is crowned as undisputed and unrivaled King in our lives.
In the text before, let us notice three things; the prophecy, the purpose, and the people.
1A. The Prophecy (12:12-13)
1B. The importance of the day (12:12)
This was the day that was foretold by Daniel 483 years earlier. (Daniel 9:24-27)
Arthur Pink provides a clear explanation in his commentary. “We turn next to that remarkable prophecy given through Daniel respecting the ‘seventy weeks.’ This prophecy is found in Daniel 9:24-27. We cannot now attempt an exposition of it, though it is needful to make reference to it. This prophecy was given while Israel was captive in Babylon. In it, God made known the length of time which was to elapse from then till the day when Israel’s transgressions should be finished, and everlasting righteousness be brought in. ‘Seventy weeks’ were to span this interval. The Hebrew word for ‘weeks’ is ‘hebdomads,’ and simply means septenaries; ‘Seventy sevens” gives the true meaning. Each of the “hebdomads” equals seven years. The ‘seventy sevens,’ therefore, stood for four hundred and ninety years.
The ‘seventy sevens’ are divided into three unequal parts. Seven ‘sevens’ were to be spent in the rebuilding of Jerusalem: the books of Ezra and Nehemiah record the fulfillment of this. After Jerusalem had been restored, sixty-two more ‘sevens’ were to run their course ‘unto the Messiah the Prince.’ And then we are told, ‘After-threescore and two sevens (added to the previous seven ‘sevens’, making sixty-nine in all), shall Messiah be cut off.’ Here, then, is a definite computation, and a remarkable and most important Messianic prophecy. ‘Messiah the Prince’ (Revelation 1:5), was to present Himself to Jerusalem (note ‘thy holy city’ in (Daniel 9:24), after the expiration of the sixty-ninth “seven,” or more specifically, precisely four hundred and eighty-three years after God gave this prophecy to His beloved servant.
Now, it is this prophecy which received its fulfillment and supplies the needed key to what is before us in John 12. The entry of the Lord Jesus into Jerusalem in such an auspicious manner, was the Messiah formally and officially presenting Himself to Israel as their ‘Prince.’”[1]
2B. The implications of the deed (12:13a)
It was Christ’s coronation day.
As Jesus began to ride into the city, most of the multitude spread their garments in the road. It was an ancient custom (see 2 Kings 9:13) for citizens to throw their garments in the road for their monarch to ride over, symbolizing their respect for him and their submission to his authority. It was as if to say, “We place ourselves at your feet, even to walk over if necessary.”
While those people were putting their clothes in Jesus’ path, others were cutting branches from the trees, and spreading them in the road. From John 12:13, we learn that the branches were from palm trees, symbolic of salvation and joy and picturing the magnificent tribute that the “great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” one day will present “before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches…in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). There was great excitement and ecstasy as the multitude proclaimed praise to the Messiah, to the Rabbi from Galilee who taught with such authority and who had healed their diseases and even raised the dead.[2] (McArthur, Matthew 16-23; Chapter 24)
3B. The importance of the declaration (12:13b)
This is a quote from Psalm 118:25-26.
Psalm 118:25-25 O LORD, do save, we beseech You; O LORD, we beseech You, do send prosperity! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD; We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.
“Hosanna” means “save now” or “give victory now.” It is a cry of triumph, not petition.
They were celebrating the coming of the Messiah.
3A. The Purpose (12:14-16)
1B. The donkey (12:14-15)
Jesus riding on a young donkey first fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy recorded in Zechariah 9:9. It also demonstrated His humility that He has set aside His glory (John 17:5; Philippians 2:5-8). It also fulfilled the law God gave to His kings not to multiply horses, again Pink provides an excellent commentary.
“Now, one thing that marked out Israel as God’s peculiar people was the absence of the horse, in their midst. The ‘ox’ was used in plowing, and the ‘ass’ for riding upon, or carrying burdens. An express decree was made forbidding the king to multiply horses to himself: ‘But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses’ (Deuteronomy 17:16). Thus the king of God’s separated people was to be sharply distinguished from the monarchs of the Gentiles — note how Pharaoh (Exodus 14:23; 15:1), the kings of Canaan (Joshua 11:4), Naaman (2 Kings 5:9), the king of Assyria (Isaiah 37:8), are each mentioned as the possessors of many horses and chariots. But the true Israelites could say, ‘Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God’ (Psalm 20:7). It is remarkable that the first recorded sin of Solomon was concerning this very thing: ‘And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen’ (1 Kings 4:26). It was, therefore, as One obedient to the Law, that Christ purposely selected an ‘ass’!”[3]
2B. The disciples (12:15)
Notice it does not say they did not believe but that they did not understand. Often, we are called on to believe the Lord even when we do not fully understand all that He does. This is the essence of faith (Hebrews 11:1).
3A. The People (12:17-19)
1B. The cheering crowd (12:17-18)
Two groups
Ø The witnesses (12:17)
These people gave testimony to what they had seen. We are to do the same.
Ø The seekers (12:18)
These people came because of the testimony of the witnesses. If we bear witness to Christ, some will come to see Christ.
2B. The jeering Pharisees (12:18)
The Pharisees in their criticism of the way the chief priest had handled Jesus gave a wonderful commentary on the drawing power of Christ. Indeed, “the world has gone after Him.” By this, they meant that all manner of people were going out to see Christ. Certainly this is true today, all manner of people are coming to Him.
Application
How will you respond to this King of Glory?
Will you reject Him?
Will you rob Him?
Will you worship Him?
Preparing for Next Week
1. Read John 12:20-36.
2. Why did the Greeks seek out Philip, verse 21?
3. Why did Philip first tell Andrew, not Christ, verse 22?
4. What is meant by “glorified” in verse 23?
5. Why did Christ say verse 24 at this time?
6. What is meant by verse 31?
7. What is meant by “draw,” verse 32?
8. Why did Jesus “hide” Himself, verse 36?
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[1] Pink, Arthur W., Exposition of the Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 556-57.
[2] MacArthur, John, Matthew 16-23, Chapter 24.
[3] Pink, 665-66.