Palm Sunday

John 12:12-19

John 12:12–19 ESV

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 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!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 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 crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Josephus estimated the Passover crowd at 2,700,000, suggesting they would have been driving over a quarter of a million lambs into Jerusalem for this Passover feast.

The palm branch had become a national symbol during the time of the Maccabees, and the nationalism and liberation of this occasion would certainly fit the scene.

He does not ride into Jerusalem on a charging stallion, the emblem of war; He comes on a donkey, the emblem of peace.

Only after the crowd has expressed its nationalistic conceptions does Jesus react by getting the donkey and sitting on it (v. 14). Verse 15’s quotation from Scripture tells the hearer the meaning of Jesus’ reaction. The first line is probably from Zephaniah 3:16, a passage whose context is universalistic (to Jerusalem will stream people from all over the earth to seek refuge, 3:9–10); the second line is from Zechariah 9:9, a passage emphasizing universalism and peace (a colt was ridden by a monarch when he came on an errand of peace; a horse was used in time of war, 1 Kings 4:26; Isa 31:1–3). Jesus’ entering Jerusalem on a donkey, then, is an act of prophetic symbolism designed to counteract the crowd’s nationalism (remember 6:15) with a message of universal kingship (12:32) and peace (18:36). The Evangelist notes that the reason the crowd went to meet Jesus was because they had heard about the raising of Lazarus (cf. 2:23; 4:45; 6:14; 10:21). The note of universalism continues with the Pharisees’ response: “the world has gone after him” (v. 19).

A. The palms signal a welcome to Jesus as a national liberator.

B. The expression they “came out to meet him” reflects the normal Greek practice involved in the joyful reception of Hellenistic sovereigns into a city (Josephus, War 7.5.2 §100 103).

C. The exclamation, “Hosanna” (= Save/deliver us now) was used in addressing kings (2 Sam 14:4; 2 Kings 6:26). The crowd’s initiative, therefore, is an appeal for Jesus to accept the role of a nationalistic deliverer.

“Well-done is better than well-said.”

Benjamin Franklin

Jesus defines true followers to Jews and Greeks alike.

John 12:20–36 (ESV)

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.

1. This knowledge saves. There is no salvation without it. It is saving knowledge. In knowing the true God we are saved.

(2. This knowledge gladdens. False knowledge of God, or the knowledge of a false god, imparts no joy; this does. It is joy to know the true One.

(3. This knowledge purifies. Error or falsehood cannot deliver from sin, cannot purify the soul. All error is impurity, unholiness. All truth is good, and alltruth respecting God sanctifies, expands, elevates.

(4. This knowledge makes us useful. It is like a light or a fire within us that cannot be hidden. It is like a power within us which cannot but work. It is irrepressible.