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,v15 “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.”
Dear fellow redeemed: Which witness are you most likely to credit with the truth, someone who is invested in the narrative or someone who had no idea, but came to be convinced? Let me illustrate. Let’s say that someone has always said that they believe in bigfoot. Lo and behold, they go on a camping trip and come back saying that they’ve seen bigfoot. Not convinced, right? But let’s say someone who has always ridiculed the idea of bigfoot comes back from a camping trip and they and their whole family have reports of seeing bigfoot. A little more convincing, right?
In our series on the witnesses to Christ we have had a series of uninterested, embarrassed, or even hostile witnesses. The picture of Barabbas, Simon Peter, Pontius Pilate, or Malchus, for example. John includes many such witnesses in his gospel, from the Steward of the Feast who approved unknowingly of the wine Jesus created from water to the blind man who didn’t know who Jesus was, but just said, “I was blind, but now I see.”
Here, too, we have witnesses who weren’t looking for what actually happened. 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.
What were they looking for? To answer that, we need to understand the role of processions much of history and in the ancient world particularly. To lead a huge number of people was to demonstrate command. Pilate, for example, would travel from his palace in Caesarea along with a huge procession of Roman soldiers. There was something intimidating about thousands of men under arms marching along to the cadence of a drummer, following dozens or hundreds of cavalry on horses. This was a sign of Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. Nobody would dare rebel against the overwhelming power of the empire.
There were even different kinds of processions. The “Triumph,” for example, was a pro-cession with the victor king in the lead, followed by wagonloads of booty taken from the enemy, and hundreds of conquered prisoners led in chains behind.
The expectation here is that Jesus was making his move and his bid for power. We see that in our text in several places. First, 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!” Palm branches were the symbol for the Kingdom of Judea, as well as the symbol for victory. Besides that, they called out Jesus as even the King of Israel.
Second, 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. The sign was the raising of Lazarus. By this, Jesus had shown the divine power that marked him as the Messiah King.
Third, the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” This was confirmation that their plan to kill both him and Lazarus was necessary if they were to, as Caiaphas put it in the previous chapter, following Lazarus’ being raised: “So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”” (John 11:47–50, ESV)
I think a modern equivalent is when Donald Trump held a rally on January 6 to make the argument that the election was invalid. Some people expected him to do more than give a speech, maybe to seize power by force.
That gives us some idea of the expectations people had for Jesus on that first day of Passover week, what we call Palm Sunday. Here comes Jesus to lead His followers, His disci- ples, to challenge the power of Rome. That’s what we would expect people to say.
But that’s not what happened.
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!”
“Lord Save! Even the King of Israel. That was the expectation. But… 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!”
What actually happened was far more powerful than that. What Jesus did had roots far back in history over 500 years to the prophet Zechariah, who preached to the exiles returning from the Babylonian captivity. He proclaimed a message of returning, of turning away from the idols of the past, and ultimately consummating in the coming of the Messiah: “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 Jeru- salem; 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.” (Zechariah 9:9– 10, ESV)
The rule that Jesus is establishes courses throughout time down to the present day, and from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
What actually happened was unexpected. 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 had been reading these words and hearing these words in the synagogue for years, and now they had come to pass before their very eyes. This meant that the words they had read were really foretelling the future, what God would do to save us. We get the same feeling when we read that “from sea to sea and … to the ends of the earth.” We here in Oregon witness the power of this king in our very pres- ence here, and our worship, and in hearing His promises to us.
God is a hidden God, we often say. He was hidden in Jesus’ state of humiliation. He was hidden in his humble birth, in his poverty, and in his suffering. He was hidden in death.
But what so many saw as failure and weakness, tragedy and death was His taking on the failure, weakness, tragedy and death of all the world because of our sin. The witnesses didn’t expect that kind of Savior, so their testimony is all the more compelling, considering that it would have to be fore someone who has lived out our righteousness, atoned for our sins, and was raised to declare our innocence. As Paul put it, “He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.” (Romans 4:25, EHV)
So there is hope for you and me. Think about that.
The world has all kinds of expectations as to what is good for us. More stuff. More love. More acceptance. More health. More government. More freedom. More self-esteem. More self-actualization. All blind alleys or unobtainable. All weaker than death, our enemy.
But now there is Christ, mighty to save. He wrapped up sin and death in his own suffering and death, and brought out light and life.
Nobody expected it. But now it is done.
Our observance of His passion begins. The end is the resurrection.
Now in life we have trouble, but because of Christ our king, the end for us is our own
resurrection.
Hosanna! Lord Save!
AMEN.
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Lent 5 - 2023