A Different Kind of King

Good morning and welcome again to this gathering of Hope Bible Fellowship. I am joyful that you have joined us and that we get to dive into the Word of God together. Today is the Sunday that traditionally has been referred to as Palm Sunday in which we remember the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before His crucifixion and resurrection. We are actually going to look at the account of this event from the book of John. Go ahead and open your Bible or scroll over on your device to John chapter 12.

As you read through the Gospel of John and come to John 12:12, there is a corner that is turned where everything moving forward in the account puts us on a trajectory toward the cross. It’s this methodical march toward the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

The next week in the life of our church sort of mirrors this. We start with Palm Sunday and then move toward Good Friday and culminating on Easter Sunday when we celebrate that the tomb is empty.

You have the city of Jerusalem filling with people to celebrate the Passover festival.

Jesus would have been the topic of conversation around the city. The religious leaders had basically put out an arrest warrant for him. News had spread from Bethany that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. He was becoming famous for the miraculous. So here is Jesus approaching Jerusalem. It’s easy to see how the environment was explosive.

READ:

John 12:12–36 (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.”

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.

PRAY

Let me give you a little bit of context to set up what we are going to see today.

A crowd was there with Jesus because they heard about Jesus raising raising Lazarus from the dead. This makes sense to us right? If you hear about a man with that kind of power, you’re probably going to want to catch a glimpse of him if you can. We also read that there were some Greeks among them who had gone up to worship at the festival. Who had they come to see? They had come to see a man who could perform amazing and mighty miracles. They came to see something fantastic. It sort of reminds me of that scene in the movie, The Incredibles where Mr. Incredible gets mad with his car and picks it up and there’s a little kid sitting there on his big wheel trike, staring at him. Mr. Incredible asks, “Well, what are you waiting for?” The little kid replies, “I dunno, something amazing I guess.”

They wanted to see the amazing and fantastical. They were looking for a show.

The Jews were looking to a coming Messiah who would be a political ruler who would come forward and over- throw the Romans and establish a kingdom for the Jews. They would be superior. What they were expecting and what they actually got were two very different things. They did not fully understand what the coming of Jesus was all about.

I. The reception of a king. (v. 12-19)

A. A kind of different arrival

On a donkey no soldiers, no warhorse To fulfill prophecy (v. 15) Zechariah 9:9-10 about the promise of the King who was coming

Zechariah 9:9–10 ESV

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. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.

says a lot about the kind of King that was coming

different than the avg political ruler Even the smaller prophetic details about the Messiah are fulfilled in Christ. This is strong proof of Jesus’s claims about Himself.

B. The cries of the people

- the things the crowd says are biblical and accurate - They quote Psalm 118:25-26 - Hosanna, meaning “Save us, now.”

Psalm 118:25–26 ESV

Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

- One scholar said this was like the fight song of the Jewish Independence Party - They apply the next verse to Jesus. Blessed... - They understand who He is but their understanding of His kingship is too narrow. - What they want from a king and what the actual purpose of Jesus was were far apart.

- the salvation He secures comes through meekness

His disciples didn’t understand these things yet. Later, after Jesus was glorified they would think back and the light bulbs would come on in their hearts.

C. The whole world has gone after Him.

The Pharisees realized Jesus’s popularity and reputation. They make the comment that the whole world has gone after him. This comment comes directly before we discover that there were some Greeks who were in town for the festival and they approached to try and see Jesus.

D. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Some Greeks were there and ask to see Jesus. Once again, for the third time now, we see Andrew bringing people to Jesus. We can learn so much about evangelism from Andrew.

- doesn’t come to destroy but to bring peace to the nations - God’s plan has always been for the nations... - Acts - Gospel spreads to Jews and Gentiles brining into a unique community of faith - the church - The Messiah was never only a king for Israel. - God sent Jesus to be a light for all men, to call both Jew and Gentile to saving faith through His finished work on the cross. - Should fuel us for global missions

II. A different kind of king with a different kind of:

A. Victory (v. 20-36)

By humility

Through death

Charles Ross Weed wrote a thought-provoking poem contrasting Jesus and Alexander the Great: Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three, One died in Babylon and one on Calvary. One gained all for self, and one Himself He gave. One conquered every throne, the other every grave. When died the Greek, forever fell his throne of swords, But Jesus died to live forever Lord of lords. Jesus and Alexander died at thirty-three. The Greek made all men slaves, the Jew made all men free. One built a throne on blood, the other built on love. The one was born of earth, the other from above. One won all this earth to lose all earth and Heaven. The other gave up all that all to Him be given. The Greek forever died, the Jew forever lives. He loses all who gets and wins all things who gives.

B. Focus

(v. 23)

Richard D. Phillips writes,

“Glorifying” always involves “revealing” or “displaying.” We glorify someone’s artwork by displaying it prominently. So what displays the true glory of the Son of Man? Jesus’ answer is his crucifixion: his self-sacrifice in making atonement for sin. All questions about the purpose, character, and glory of God were about to receive their answer. Not only was Daniel’s vision to receive its clearest explanation, but the whole Old Testament would be explained and fulfilled when Jesus took up the cross. What the world sees as the deepest humiliation, Jesus understood as his highest glory. As he put it on the night of his arrest, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31).

(v.25) The focus of a life following Jesus is opposite the world. This King lives for the glory of someone else. (v. 28) For the glory of the Father The difference between empty religion and genuine Christianity

* Jesus glorifies God especially in the cross. Jesus is glorified in the cross most visibly. * God’s love for sinners and His justice were reconciled at the cross.

The clearest distinction between Christians and non-Christians is their views of the cross.

Charles Spurgeon wrote:

Christ’s death is his glory and it ought also to be ours.… To spiritual eyes, the Christ of God was never more glorious than when he was nailed to the cross of Calvary.… A glory, never equaled, shone around the Conqueror of death and hell when he bowed his head, and said, “It is finished.”

C. Kingdom

* Not a political or worldly kingdom. * an already and not yet kingdom * a subversive kingdom * The way of Jesus/The Way is Jesus

He calls every disciple to follow his example (John 12: 25-26). Listen to John Piper’s helpful explanation: Here the destination is eternal life. And you can miss it by loving your life—that is, by making your goal in life to be safe and secure and comfortable and surrounded only by pleasant things. That is the pathway to perishing. Or, Jesus says, you can take another path and arrive at eternal life. That path is called hating your life in this world. Notice that he adds “in this world.” Hating your life in this world means that you will choose to do things that look foolish to the world. You will deny yourself things, and take risks, and embrace the path of suffering for the sake of love. This, Jesus says, will lead to eternal life, not death. (“ Where I Am”)

III. Our different kind of life: How does this change the way we live?

We must be living our lives to glorify Christ.

1. Will you follow Jesus?

There have been those in the recent history who have suggested that a person can be a Christian having Jesus as Savior without receiving Him as Lord. This idea has been perpetuated by many in churches over the years. This idea has taught that one can believe in Jesus and not see any life change and never turn from sin even a little and still be assured of heaven. The problem with this is that it flies in the face of the teaching of Jesus.

Christians must die to self.

A follower of Christ must die to sin.

Jesus tells them that anyone who serves him must follow him. J.C. Ryle said, “As the soldier follows his general, as the servant follows his master, as the scholar follows his teacher, as the sheep follows its shepherd, just so ought the professing Christian to follow Christ. Faith and obedience are the leading marks of real followers, and will always be seen in true believing Christians.”13 We follow Jesus in a life of cross-bearing self-denial. We follow him in a life of service to God and man. We follow Jesus by holding fast the doctrines of his Word and pursuing a holy life through the power of his Holy Spirit.”

Jesus gives a promise. “And where I am, there will my servant be also.” This is our encouragement and promise in Christ. The Good Shepherd watches over His sheep. Those who serve Christ can be assured of His presence in their lives.

2. Will you live for the glory of God? - When you look at the breadth of your life, who are you really living your life for? I don’t mean who you think you are living for. I mean, look at how you make decisions and the actual actions that you take. Who does it seem like you are trying to please? Are you truly worshipping God or are you worshipping yourself with your life? 3. Will you seek to live out the principles of the kingdom of God instead of your own little kingdom created and curated to make you happy and comfortable? 4. Do you truly believe that God loves you? He gave His Son. What more could He give to make you believe and accept that He loves you?