John 12:12-19 April 5, 2009
The King Has Come
Tell the story from Lazarus on – many mourners from Jerusalem at funeral – Many people followed Jesus because of the raising – convergence of crowds at Jerusalem
Crowds were excited because of his miracle.
Psalm 118
25 LORD, save us! (Hosanna!)
LORD, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
From the house of the LORD we bless you.
Jesus finds a young donkey and rides it – the disciple didn’t get this action until after the resurrection
John 6
After the feeding of the 5,000
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself
Both times the crowds hail Jesus as king because of a miracle he performs
Why does Jesus allow the crowds to call him king this time?
Why does he reject the call to the throne at one point and accept now?
When the time had fully come… – if these were quiet, the stones would cry out
He is heading toward his coronation.
What a strange coronation! – this what it looks like
John 19
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!"
But this is a coronation
At the beginning of the Palm Sunday Story, the Pharisees are looking to kill both Jesus and Lazarus , and at the end of the parade, they make a prophetic statement that they did not know was prophetic: 9 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
The people were shouting hosanna, which means “save us!” without knowing their need for true salvation
The Roman Guard crown him, and give him a royal robe in mocking derision, but unknowingly their words were true.
Jesus was being crowned:
(Jesus), being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2
- it is the cross that makes Jesus king. – the reason why God lifts him up.
What kind of king gets this kind of coronation?
Back to the passage that Jesus was referencing by riding a donkey into Jerusalem:
Zechariah 9
The Coming of Zion’s King
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Righteous
Out of all the people that ever hung on a cross, out of all the people who have ever lived, Jesus is the only one who has ever been completely righteous.
Not only did he never do what is wrong, he did all that he could that was right.
It is because Jesus is righteous that he can save.
Saving
When the people shouted “Save us” they were not likely thinking of the meaning – it had been a common shout at festivals.
If they thought about what they were shouting, and to whom they were shouting, they might have thought that salvation looked like kicking the Roman Army out & restoring Israel to its former glory.
Or, if they were thinking about the recent events – the raising of Lazarus, they may have hoped that the new king would save them from death!
They would have been bang on: But not likely the way that they thought.
Jesus had just told Martha, while her brother was still in the grave:
"I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” – John 11:25-26
Not just saved from death, but saved from the things that lead to death as well. – greed, lust, selfishness, other wrongs are killing us – when we believe in these things “Even though we live, we die.”
Jesus saves us from death and sin by dying on the cross as a completely righteous man. He paid the price for our sins, and freed us from their grasp.
Humble
Jesus doesn’t save us by riding in on a great war horse – Zechariah promises us that he will remove the war horses, the chariots, the tanks and the rocket launchers. He does this, not by force, but through gentleness and humility – riding on a donkey colt. This is the way that Jesus works – he does not come in force, he comes in self-sacrifice – he is the radical king.
Bringing peace (Shalom)
Peace with God
The power & possibility to have peace with each other
Within ourselves
With Creation
Covenanting
Refer back to communion – binding agreement, never to be broken – in his blood – he will never let you go.
Freedom to prisoners
And I will sing
my songs of love
Calling out across the earth
The king has come
the king of love has come
And troubled minds
can know his peace
Captive hearts
can be released
The king has come
the king of love has come
Hearts captive to addiction, hate, unforgiveness, atheism, unbelief – Jesus can set them all free
Hope
Hope for life after death
Hope for now – the Holy Spirit
Obama Video
Call
Are you shouting Hosanna! today?
Are you shouting “save us!”
Are you shouting, “save me!”
Save me from myself, my sin; rescue me from the prison; give me hope…
Come to Jesus
