A Different Kind of King - John 12:12-19

John 12:12-19

© May 23rd, 2021 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John

Every four years, when we inaugurate a new president, expectations run high. Everyone has their idea of what this new person will do for (or to) our country while they are in office. Some are excited, believing that somehow this individual will solve all the problems that exist in our nation. Others are filled with a sense of dread, believing the person being inaugurated will bring about the ruin of our nation. No matter who is in office, however, inauguration day is always a day that is celebrated by many. Thousands upon thousands come out to greet the new president and cheer him or her on. Millions more watch the festivities on television. The celebration is a symbol of the hope of the nation; a hope that this new president will bring about the changes needed in our country to move us forward and make us better.

In our passage this morning, we see a similar kind of celebration for Jesus. Jesus enters Jerusalem and receives a welcome normally reserved for royalty or a conquering hero. The people cheered in eager expectation that Jesus would accomplish all they hoped he would. They were expecting a particular kind of king, but Jesus was a different kind of king. Jesus wasn’t the king they wanted, so many ultimately turned away from Him.

That is our challenge today—to see Jesus for the King He truly is, rather than the King we want Him to be. As we look at one of the most well-known stories in scripture, we will unpack it to try to understand why the people did what they did, where they went wrong, and what we can learn from this whole encounter.

The Crowd

We turn our attention this morning to John 12, in the story of what is commonly known as the Triumphal Entry, or sometimes just called Palm Sunday. It is a well-known passage because the Church commemorates Palm Sunday each year on the Sunday before Easter. If you’ve been in the church for a while, you’ve surely heard the story of the triumphal entry many times. Because it’s a familiar story it is easy to gloss over it, but this morning I want to slow down a bit so we can take in the scene and have a deeper understanding of what was going on.

Most likely, this took place the day after Jesus had his meal at Lazarus’ home and was anointed with perfume by Mary. After this event, Jesus headed toward Jerusalem, knowing full well that the religious leaders were there, hoping to kill Him.

12 The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13 took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” (John 12:12-13, NLT)

John tells us that Jesus was heading into Jerusalem at the time of Passover. Passover was one of the most significant feasts in the Jewish calendar, and devout Jews would make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate there. Even today, devout Jews desire to celebrate the Passover feast in Jerusalem.

As a result, the population of the city would swell tremendously during this week. A famous Jewish historian named Josephus said that in the years of 64 and 65 AD (which would have been a few decades later), during the week of Passover, there were around 2.7 million people in the city. Most people think that number is exaggerated, but even so it gives you a sense of how packed Jerusalem was at this time. So when John says that a large crowd of worshipers came out to meet Jesus, we need to realize that if even a small percentage of the people came out, this “large crowd” could have easily numbered in the thousands.

John says the people took branches from palm trees and waved them as they cried, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hail to the King of Israel!” To be honest, though we are familiar with this story, most of us probably don’t really understand the significance of the people’s words or the palm branches.

The word the New Living Translation translates as “Praise God” is the word hosanna. If you grew up in church, you probably learned at a young age that the crowds shouted hosanna on Palm Sunday...but you probably don’t know what that means. The New Living Translation’s choice to translate it as “Praise God” is probably not the best translation of the word. Though the people were praising God when they said hosanna, the word literally means “Save us now!” The crowd was praising God while asking (and expecting) Jesus to save them. They quoted from Psalm 118, which was a psalm of praise about the Messiah, and they cried “Hail to the King of Israel” as Jesus came into town.

On the surface, this all seems great and wholly appropriate. Jesus did save the people and He was (and is) the King of Israel. But what they meant by these statements was different than what we mean when we say those things about Jesus today. They were asking Jesus to save them from the rule of the Romans. They called Jesus their king because they imagined he would lead them in battle against the Roman empire, overthrow their rule, and set up a new rule in Israel. They envisioned that not only would Jesus set the nation of Israel free, but also make them into a world power. This is why they were praising him.

The palm branches are further evidence of their belief that Jesus would overthrow the Romans. Palm branches were symbols of nationalism in Israel at that time. When the Jews defeated the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes (which we talked about a few weeks ago as the origin of the Hanukkah celebration) they welcomed their leaders back to Jerusalem by waving palm branches before them in a grand procession. Palm branches came to represent national pride. This idea ran so deeply that when the Jews rebelled against Rome in the 60s AD, they minted their own coins which bore the image of a palm branch.

The vast majority of the people who gathered and welcomed Jesus (possibly even the disciples) were praising Him because of what they thought He was going to do. Verses 17-19 tell us that the people who saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead had been talking about it (as you might imagine), and this was why the crowd came running out to see Jesus. They knew he had raised Lazarus and had done many other miracles, and they hoped this was a sign that he was the one with the power to overthrow the Romans once and for all.

But Jesus had a much bigger plan in mind. Unfortunately, the people became disenfranchised when Jesus didn’t do what they expected. So later in the week, the same people who were greeting Jesus as their great conquering hero were calling for his execution at the hands of the Roman government. Jesus didn’t do what they wanted, so they no longer had any use for him.

If we’re honest, sometimes we treat Jesus the same way. Many people come to church for a while, even seeming to show genuine faith, only to later walk away from the faith entirely. They become disenfranchised because Jesus didn’t give them what they thought He would.

We must be careful, because this is a subtle trap we can all fall into. We must make sure we are seeking after the true Jesus, and that our worship is not based on us getting what we want. There are lots of things people think Jesus will give them,

· Happiness—If I go to church, I will suddenly be happy all the time.

· Comfort—If I follow Jesus, my life will get better and everything will go well.

· Wealth—If I follow the Lord (or give money to the church), he will bless me by giving me more money or making me “successful”.

· Health—If I follow God, he will provide healing for me and keep sickness at bay.

Many times, we imagine these things are part of the deal of faith in Christ—some churches even teach that—but it’s not the truth. You may not think that you think this way, but what thoughts go through your mind when difficult times come? Often, we start to turn away from God because we think He owes us! We run through the list of ways we have tried to be faithful and conclude that if this is how God repays our faithfulness, then clearly it isn’t worth the effort! This kind of attitude shows us we are not worshiping God at all. We only do what we think will get us what we want. We’re not much different from the people gathered on the road to Jerusalem that day. We are fickle followers—people who follow Jesus only when we think He will give us what we want. But that’s not how it should be. We should worship Jesus for who He is, not for who we think He should be.

The Symbolism

So that raises an important question, if Jesus was not coming to Jerusalem as a conquering hero who would overthrow the Roman government, what was He doing? The rest of the passage gives us some insight.

14 Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said:

15 “Don’t be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look, your King is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt.” 16 His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into his glory, they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about him.

(John 12:14-16, NLT)

You might be tempted, reading John’s gospel, to think that Jesus just saw a donkey by the side of the road and decided to ride it. But there’s more to it. As we look at the other three gospels, we get a little more detail on where this donkey came from. In Matthew, we read this,

As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.” (Matthew 21:1-3 NLT)

Jesus chose to ride a donkey into the city and had orchestrated events to make that happen. This was all part of his plan. He sent two of the disciples on ahead and told them about a specific donkey to go and untie. Apparently they were supposed to do so without asking anyone, and if anyone asked they were to tell them Jesus needed it. I’d love more detail on this part of the story, but all the gospels tell us is that when the owners asked the disciples what they were doing, they said what Jesus told them, and the owners let them take it.

This shows us Jesus had planned in advance to be riding a donkey. Clearly he felt it was important. Why? We aren’t told that any of the other disciples were riding donkeys. Why did it matter that Jesus did? John tells us the disciples didn’t understand the reasoning for this at the time either, but later they remembered the prophecy from the book of Zechariah that was fulfilled by Jesus coming into Jerusalem on a donkey.

This prophecy speaks of a deliverer, a king who brings peace riding into the city on a donkey. Typically when you think of a king riding into a city, you think of him riding on a mighty steed. But usually when a king rides a horse into a city, it’s because he is coming in battle. Jesus was not coming in battle, so he did not ride a horse. In the ancient world, a king riding on a donkey was a sign the king was coming in peace. Jesus was making it clear he was coming to make peace, not war. Clearly this symbolism was lost both on the disciples and on the crowd gathered that day. They still believed Jesus was coming to do battle with Rome.

There is further symbolism that is even more rich. One of the hallmarks of the Passover celebration was that each family was to sacrifice a lamb and eat it together as a family. Part of the ceremony of Passover was when they would drive the lambs up into the city to be slaughtered. According to Josephus (the same historian who said there were millions in Jerusalem for Passover), they sacrificed over 250,000 lambs during the Passover celebration. Again, this number is likely exaggerated, but it still gives us the sense that there were a staggering number of lambs that were brought into the city and then slaughtered.

It is possible that the day Jesus was entering Jerusalem was the same day they were bringing the lambs into the city. If so, you can imagine the hustle and bustle of the city. There would have been lambs everywhere. And there, in the midst of all the lambs about to be sacrificed, was Jesus, the lamb of God. At the end of the week, when all these other lambs would be sacrificed to remind people of God’s past faithfulness and to remind them of a future deliverer, Jesus proved himself to be the lamb they had all been waiting for. He laid down his life, and in so doing provided a victory and freedom greater than anyone there could have imagined.

Jesus may not have been the king they were expecting, but He was a greater King than they could have possibly known.

At the end of the passage, we read about the frustration of the Pharisees at this turn of events,

Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look, everyone has gone after him!” (John 12:19, NLT)

Their statement is fascinating because it is both correct and incorrect at the same time. They were correct that there was nothing they could do. They could not thwart God’s plan, even though that’s what they were trying to do. Their fear was that they would not be able to go ahead with their plan to kill Jesus, because the crowds simply wouldn’t allow it. But they were wrong about that as well. By the end of the week, the crowds went along with their plan and demanded Jesus’ death. Yet God’s plan was never in danger. Despite their best efforts, these men were doing exactly what God had planned. God was going to use their sinful attitudes to accomplish His ultimate purpose.

Conclusion

As I mentioned at the outset, this story is very familiar, and familiar stories are easy to overlook. It is easy for us to simply hear the story and never allow ourselves to process it too deeply, because we assume we already know it all. That’s a dangerous place to be. So I’ve got several lessons I think we can draw from this account and apply to our lives.

First, we must see Jesus for who He really is.The people lining the streets that day in Jerusalem were cheering for Jesus, but the Jesus they were cheering for was not the real Jesus. They were cheering for an idea of Jesus that existed only in their heads. In their minds, Jesus was coming to Jerusalem to give them what they wanted most—deliverance from Roman rule and a position of power once again. But they were wrong, and as a result they missed out on the real Jesus.

People today believe all sorts of things about Jesus. One of the most important questions you can ask when someone tells you they believe in Jesus is to ask them what they believe about Him. I’m amazed how often the Jesus they describe sounds an awful lot like themselves. Their Jesus thinks like they do, he approves of the behaviors they approve of, he views them and their perspectives very positively, and rarely does he make any demands on them or challenge them. Unfortunately they are worshiping a Jesus of their imagination, just like the people who lined the road to Jerusalem.

Some of you may be doing the same thing. My challenge to you is this: base your beliefs about Jesus on the scriptures, not on what you think He should be or what other people tell you He is. I should caution you, if your god, or your idea of Jesus never challenges you, never shows you that what you are doing is sinful, if he never seems to disagree with you and simply exists to make you feel good, then you are worshiping a god of your imagination. Such a god cannot save you. Look in the scriptures to find the true Jesus, because He actually exists, and He can and will deliver on His promises.

Second, recognize the value of what Jesus offers.Jesus offers us forgiveness and reconciliation with God. Jesus makes it possible for sin to be paid for and erased once and for all. He does not promise us wealth, health, happiness, or ease of life. But those things are not nearly as valuable as the forgiveness He does provide. There are many people who look at this and say, “That’s it? If that’s all I get for being a Christian, then what’s the point?” But these people underestimate the value of forgiveness and new life. The alternative is condemnation and God’s wrath. Jesus makes it possible for us to have a restored relationship with God, both in this life and in the one to come. That is far more valuable than any of the other things people chase. So recognize that what Jesus offers is worth far more than anything the world can offer to you. When you see how great the gift He offers is, it will change the way you approach Him.

Third, choose to follow Him (rather than trying to lead Him). Much of the time we are more interested in getting God to sign off on what we want than we are on following Him wherever He leads. This is a dangerous thing to do. We are far better served to follow God’s leading. The Pharisees’ example reminds us that trying to force God’s hand or trying to oppose Him never works. It is far better for us to recognize Jesus for who He is and to submit to His rule in our lives, rather than trying to fight Him. Sometimes it’s scary and hard, but as we submit to Him, we get a front row seat to see God’s perfect plan play out.

The people in Jerusalem had the greatest gift of all time right in front of them, but most of them missed it. They were too focused on their own expectations and desires to see what God was doing. We must be careful not to make the same mistake. Humble yourself before the Lord. Sit before His Word. And follow Him wherever He leads. See the value of following Jesus—I can assure you if you follow the Jesus we see in the pages of scriptures you will not be disappointed.

© May 23rd, 2021 by Rev. Rick Goettsche SERIES: John