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Why Come? John 12:12-26
A
young lady got lost while driving at night in a snowstorm. Then she
remembered what her dad told her: "If you’re ever stuck in a snowstorm,
wait for a snowplow and follow it."
Pretty soon a snowplow came by, so she pulled behind it and followed for
almost an hour. Then the driver stopped and got out, walked over and
asked the young lady what she was doing. She explained that her dad had
told her to follow a plow if she was lost in a snowstorm. "Okay," said
the plow driver. "I’m done with the Wal-Mart lot. Now you can follow me
over to Kmart."
It is important, when following, to know whom you are following.
Hopefully, you will make a good choice today.
A quick review of last week.
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, some began to scheme for the
death of Jesus.
Jesus had clearly made some people unhappy. The Jewish leaders were
finding Jesus’ popularity as unacceptable. He had to go. In fact, the
high priest, Caiaphas, made it clear that he believed that Jesus had to
die in order for the nation to live. Though he did not realize it, he
was being prophetic. He was speaking the truth even though his purpose
was evil.
Because of the truth in Caiaphas’s statement Jesus stayed away from
Jerusalem until the time was appropriate. The appropriate time was
Passover.
Passover was an annual celebration of the Jewish people. It was at
Passover that the Jews remembered being freed from slavery in Egypt. God
freed them by the vehicle of a devastating plague. It was the striking
of every firstborn. In order for the Hebrews to avoid this judgment, the
Hebrews slaughtered a lamb, took the blood and applied it to the
doorpost of their homes. This acted as a sign to angel of death that the
firstborn were to be saved and protected.
Jesus was waiting for Passover because the lamb that was killed for
salvation of the Hebrews directly pointed at Him. He also was to be a
lamb that would die. He would die so that His people would be saved and
protected. He would die so that His people would live.
So when the time of Passover came, Jesus returned to be worshipped. Yes,
He was worshipped. It was a meal at the home of the Simon the former
leper, and Jesus is having a meal with Simon, Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
And somewhere along the line, Mary decides to do an extraordinary act.
She decides to anoint him with a very expensive ointment. It was worth a
year’s wages, and yet she does it because she loves Jesus so much. It
is, for her, a matter of worship.
And so, as we continue today we find the familiar story known as “The
Triumphal Entry,”.
It’s Time To Follow The King.
But why? Why is it time for each one of us to follow the king...this
king known as Jesus?
The first reason to follow Jesus is He was BROUGHT OUT (12-19).
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."
Jesus was brought out into the open, for all to see, understand and
worship.
He comes as a king. As Jesus was escorted toward Jerusalem, the people
were quoting Psalm 118.
It is a messianic psalm that was being applied to Jesus. The emotion was
taking over. They were shouting, “Hosanna!” They were claiming, “Blessed
is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” It was a time of exuberance.
It was being continually shouted aloud to Jesus.
The word “hosanna” means “Save us now!” It was a word packed with
meaning to those that shouted it and to those that heard it. For the
Jewish people had long been under Roman tyranny and they longed to be
free. They were a proud people who were insulted to have these ungodly
men governing their affairs. When they called “hosanna,” they clearly
were looking for a salvation from the Roman government.
But there was a historical context as well; 200 years previously, Simon
Maccabee and the Jews had entered into Jerusalem victorious, singing
songs and waving palm branches. So when the palm branches were waved, it
was symbolic of a vital nationalistic spirit. In their past, a great
enemy had been crushed. Now, the expectation of the people would be that
Jesus would do the very same thing.
It was, in a way, a call to arms. “Here is our King!” And in a sense,
Jesus is finally being received as He ought to be.
But what the people are not seeing in the midst of all this emotion is
that Jesus comes as a man of peace.
It was the custom of the day that when a city was conquered, the
victorious king would ride into the city ahead of his troops. And the
kind of animal he rode was extremely important. If he rode a horse, it
was a sign that he was a man of war, and it would be bringing a demand
for obedience or judgment would come. But, if he rode a donkey, it was
sign that he was a man of peace, because wars are not fought from the
backs of donkeys. And this is how Jesus came. He was not a conquering
king. He carried no weapons.
It does not seem that the Romans would have been too concerned about the
entrance of Jesus. It would have seemed more like a local concern than
theirs. It was apparent to them that this was not a king waging war and
would have perceived no threat.
The disciples missed the significance of the day, and it was only later
that they understood that Jesus had come to make peace. He was making
peace because we had made war with God. He was the One that was breaking
down the barriers between God and man.
But this excitement was too much for the Jewish leaders. The reaction to
the arrival of Jesus caused the leaders to panic.
They were already determined to kill Jesus, as we noted earlier. But
this entry into Jerusalem was causing them to move earlier rather than
later. For this triumphal entry changed their plans, and they felt they
had to act now.
So now we move to the second reason to follow Jesus is He was SOUGHT OUT
(20-23).
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.
The nationalities of the seekers of Jesus expand. When we use the term
Gentiles, it is a description of anyone who is not a Jew, and the
majority of Jesus’ ministry had been among the Jews.
These were, by the way, sincere people, not some curious tourists. They
were most likely “God-fearers” who had come to Jerusalem for the
Passover. These were men who were attracted by the morality and the
monotheism of Judaism, but were probably not full proselytes in which
they were circumcised.
Jesus understands the meaning of their coming to see Him. It is a sign.
It is a sign that Jesus had not come just for the Jews alone. All along
the Jews were to be a light to the Gentiles, showing them the way, but
they had not always done this successfully. Here it is clearly seen that
Jesus’ mission goes beyond the boundaries of Judea. And these seekers
are perhaps the firstfruit of the great harvest that is about to come.
Jesus understands the meaning of the timing.
It was a sign that showed that the end was near. It was a sign of things
to come. So, there was no more time for miracles. The last one had been
done with Lazarus. It was now time to do what needed to be done. It was
time to deliberately move toward the cross.
But not all the listeners knew this. When He announced that this was
time for the Son of Man to be glorified, they may have thought Jesus was
about to announce his great campaign against the Romans. But no, the
message He was about to teach was going to be much different than that.
Jesus was going to teach something much more valuable!
The third reason to follow Jesus is He TAUGHT ABOUT being a true
disciple (24-26).
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.
For life to occur, death must precede it. Jesus begins with a simple,
straightforward lesson. Unless the single seed falls to the ground and
dies, it remains a single seed. It must die so that will produces more
fruit and more seeds, and keep the cycle of life going.
This was the very thing that Jesus was going to do. Jesus was going to
die. But He was dying so that we might know and have life. He was dying
to produce much fruit.
And so, He teaches us that the way of the disciple is the way of death.
Jesus teaches us about the great paradox of faith. Holding on to that
which we hold most dear is the surest way to lose it. So, Jesus asks us
to give willingly of ourselves, because this is the surest way to gain
life.
We are being challenged, of course, on a core issue…the issue of
selfishness. For the person who lives selfishly for his own advantage,
own comfort, own prosperity, and own pleasure will ultimately lose
everything that matters to him/her.
It is so interesting that those that are asserting their own rights, so
often lose them. Remember that one song Frank Sinatra used to sing…“I
Did It My Way.” Jesus’ message was contrary to that. When you do it your
way, you’ll lose everything. Life will slip through your fingers.
We must learn to practice death to sin and denial of self, and in so
doing, obtain a personal and eternal relationship with Jesus.
APPLICATION:
So let me ask you…
Are you willing to praise the King?
Many times, we are willing for this, aren’t we? We want to praise our
King. We love the excitement of Palm Sunday.
But let us remember that some of the ones that shouted “Crown Him,”
later screamed “Crucify Him!” Some of the ones that shouted “Hail Him,”
would later scream “Nail Him!”
We need to be careful that our belief is not superficial. For it is not
enough to praise Jesus. For our praise only makes sense when we follow
Him too. You see, we know by the example of the Pharisees, that it is
possible to be religious, go to church, pay tithes, live a moral life,
and yet be totally motivated by self-interest.
You see, many of us want to live the power of the resurrected life, but
we do not want to die to our own plans, designs and desires. So, how
about you? Do you need to make a decision today?
Are you willing to follow the King, even if it cancels your plans and
confounds your ambitions?
When we decide to do the will of God whatever it costs and to truly
follow Jesus, we will experience life as it was designed to be. We will
find a quality of life that is beyond description. When we relinquish
control, it is then God’s power and God’s blessings are released. So…are
you willing? It is time to follow the King!
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