What Happened Between Sunday and Friday?: John 12:12-19

We're taking a break from the Hosea Sermon Series.

We're looking at Palm Sunday through John's Gospel, chapter 12, verses 12 through 19.

Hear the word of God.

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 had heard that 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.

This is the reading of God's precious yet powerful word.

Let's ask the Spirit's work in our hearts.

Father, thank you for giving us this text, this gospel, this Bible.

But you not only gave us your Son and your Word, but you gave us your Spirit.

Holy Spirit, would you please open up our minds to see what you want us to see, to believe what you want us to believe.

That we would glorify you.

Even in our response this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

The adjective triumphal is a strong word, having achieved victory or success.

The author John devotes the majority of this gospel to this last week.

Most of John's book is about the last six days of Jesus' life.

That ought to tell us something about the importance, of course, of the events that took place.

Recently, he had raised his good friend Lazarus from the dead.

Therefore, his popularity is swelling.

Lazarus is now a target himself.

Lazarus is going around telling people what Jesus did for him by raising him from the dead, and now he becomes a target.

Jesus' popularity is rising, and yet among the religious leaders in Jerusalem, their anger is just increasing toward him.

They cannot stand to see what's happening with that popularity given to him.

Jesus is on a mission.

He is the king on a mission.

He says just a little bit after Palm Sunday in John chapter 12, verse 27, now is my soul troubled.

John 12:27

You see, it didn't start in the Garden of Gethsemane, which it was, but it started now.

Jesus knew what was coming.

Even as he went down the mountain from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem.

At this moment, at the height of his popularity, he refuses to be seduced or deceived by the crowds.

So we asked the question: well, what happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday to bring about the events of Good Friday?

One of the parallel texts of Palm Sunday is in Luke chapter 19.

Luke 19 · chapter mention

Luke tells us that Jesus was descending from the Mount of Olives, coming down to Jerusalem, and he had this vantage point of looking out over the city, and Luke tells us that he wept.

Why?

Why on this day of supposedly his coronation by the crowds?

Luke tells us.

Jesus knew what was going to happen to the city of Jerusalem.

Within the lifetime of many of that, the people in that crowd, that city would be overthrown.

Many, many Jews would be slaughtered by the Roman Empire.

Jesus knew the people who were lost spiritually.

Jesus knew the people who were lost politically.

And he wept.

That's what Luke tells us.

He's on a mission.

What kind of king is this?

This king is the source of all power, and this king is the source of all peace.

That's what we're looking at this morning.

First of all, this king is the source of all power.

Many would dismiss such a thought in a relatively short time between Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

Many, many people in that crowd switched their song from Hosanna to crucify him.

Why?

Well, he started disappointing them quickly, immediately, and they didn't understand who he was.

They thought that he was going to be their political rescuer.

They thought he was going to relieve them, deliver them from Roman oppression.

But he wasn't that kind of king.

And they also thought he made a tragic, strategic mistake in his mode of transportation.

You see, kings don't ride donkeys.

Back then, kings rode on war horses.

That was symbolic of the empire of Rome.

Many, many within the Roman King Empire would have seen this.

They knew what that looked like.

As a matter of fact, people tell us that the donkeys in the Middle East are different from the donkeys over here, apparently.

I didn't know that until I read it.

This young donkey colt would have been so small that they tell us that Jesus would have to mount and bend his knees to get over.

His feet would have perhaps been dragging on the streets.

Not the most beautiful picture, is it?

Not seated on this big stallion, this horse that symbolized power.

Why would Jesus hitch a ride on a young donkey cult?

I'm glad you asked that question.

Why?

Because he was going for humility, not brute power.

He wasn't trying to flex his muscles.

He was showing the true nature of his heart.

Jesus himself said, Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest for your souls.

For I am meek and lowly in heart.

And when you see that heart, you're going to find rest.

Jesus promises.

No, kings don't ride those kind of animals.

This would have struck many in the crowd as odd, if not ridiculous.

Some of them, no doubt, would have been second-guessing themselves.

Wait a minute.

Is this our king?

We chose the passage that Pastor Josh read earlier from 2 Corinthians chapter 2 for this reason.

2 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

It's a very different word picture.

And here, what the passage that Josh read is the imagery of that of a Roman triumph in which the victorious general would lead his soldiers and the captives in a festive procession, while the crowd watched the air filled with the sweet smell of the flagrant flowers and the spices that were being crushed by the wheels of those Roman chariots, releasing this beautiful aroma.

You see, the Roman generals liked to flex their muscles.

They liked to show off.

And behind them were the captives of the enemy they just defeated.

They were their trophies.

And then the message was clear from Rome.

If you mess with us, this is what you get.

And so behind them, chained, it literally chained, would be these people from whichever country they just conquered, and they would be ridiculed, mocked.

You see, the real focus, the spotlight wasn't on them, the spotlight was on the general in the chariot, the popus, arrogant, proud, general in the Roman army.

So why does Paul use this word picture?

Paul is pointing us after Jesus' death and resurrection, he's pointing us.

He says, You know who those slaves are?

Do you know who those prisoners of war are?

Chained?

Do you know who they are?

I'm asking you.

You.

You and me.

We're chained to the chariot of Christ.

He's the one that liberated us.

He's the one that rescued us.

But we're not there by compulsion.

We're chained by love.

We're there because He's our general, He's our victor.

This beautiful word picture.

And the fragrance, the fragrance, dare we, dare I say this?

Dare you believe this?

The fragrance of your life.

You've been captured by love.

I've been captured by grace.

And there's an aroma that we give off when we live for Christ.

And this aroma just goes out into the streets.

It goes out to your street.

Your neighborhood.

Where do you live?

Where's your neighborhood?

May that aroma be there.

The aroma, the fragrance of Christ.

We are his slaves because he liberated us.

But back to Palm Sunday.

First the donkey and then the chariot.

The chariot doesn't come first for Christ.

Jesus said, I do not come, for the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

It's true.

So what kind of king disarms before the battle?

That's nuts, right?

Nation after nation stockpiles their weapons, but this king disarms unilaterally days before his death.

What did he say to his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane when the Jewish leaders came with the Roman soldiers to arrest him?

Remember, Peter took out his sword, cut off the ear of the servant of Malchus, and Jesus restored his ear.

What did Jesus say?

Put down your swords.

Gentlemen, put down your swords.

The disciples were surprised by that in the garden, and we still are surprised by that today, aren't we?

Doesn't might win?

Doesn't power prevail?

Isn't that what governments think?

Put down your swords.

Shortly after Palm Sunday, John tells us in chapter 12, verse 23, Jesus said this, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone.

But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

You know what he was talking about.

He was talking about his life.

He said, if I march right to the palace and I take over and I set up my administration here on earth, if he did that, you know we wouldn't be here today.

That wasn't the kingdom he came to establish.

It was a different kind of kingdom.

And he wasn't seduced by power, not when he left his home in heaven to become one of us, not when he was tempted by the devil in the desert after 40 days and 40 nights.

Not in the Garden of Gethsemane when he could have called out twelve legions of angels, he says.

He said, I come voluntarily, and right in the midst of his stress and the troubles in the garden, when he's being mocked by the soldiers, by the Pharisees, he says, I can right now, this moment, I can call out 12 angels, legions of angels in heaven.

That's 144,000 angels.

That's a lot of angels.

And they can come down and they can rescue me right here on the spot.

All I have to do is say the word.

Why didn't he say the word?

To fulfill his mission.

To fulfill his mission.

Jesus is saying, in effect, you want me to go right to the palace and set up my administration.

My father's mission is that I go to the cross.

I have to go to the cross before I go to the palace of my Father.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

That word hour is a technical term that Jesus uses in each of the Gospels.

His hour was the hour of his death.

Because he knew apart from his death we would never have eternal life.

That's the hour he was referring to.

For the Son of Man to be glorified.

Is it possible for God to actually be glorified through suffering, even the death of his son?

Yes.

Is it possible for the Father to be glorified through your suffering?

Mine.

Yes.

Yes.

If Jesus listened to the crowds, we wouldn't be here today, as I say.

It seems as if Jesus was always descending, descending from heaven to earth, descending the night before his death, literally taking off his outer garment, taking a towel and a basin of water, and washing his disciples' feet.

They didn't get it.

They said, Jesus, what are you doing?

Important people don't do this.

Jesus said, I came to serve you.

And if you don't permit me to serve you, I can't save you.

Then Peter says, Well, wash my whole body then.

Jesus says, not necessary.

As I wash your feet, so I want you to wash one another's feet.

I want you to learn how to serve each other.

Always descending from heaven to wash his disciples' feet to mounting a young donkey.

Stooping down.

That was not the most graceful thing you would ever see.

This adult male stooping down to sit on this young colt.

But he didn't care about appearances, did he?

He never did?

Never does.

He doesn't care what's on the outside.

It's all about what's on the inside with Jesus.

His power.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

I mean, I asked a question this morning.

Are you among the many?

He came to give his life.

Notice the Bible doesn't say he came to give his life for everyone.

The Bible says he came to give his life as a ransom for many.

Are you among the many?

How would you know?

You've seen it illustrated this morning in the baptism.

You've seen it illustrated many times in different ways in this sanctuary.

Would you consider yourself among the many?

Jesus also said on one occasion, I came not to call the righteous but sinners.

What he was saying was, I did not, I cannot save someone whose heart is so proud that they don't think they need my blood to forgive them.

What he was saying is, I can't save somebody who's trying to save themselves.

I can't save the person who thinks that they're well, they have a great medical report and they don't see the disease within.

I can't save them because of their pride.

But if you see yourself as sick, if you see yourself as needy, and you know that you cannot be your own savior, and you believe that only Jesus Christ can save you from your sin, if you believe that, you will be saved.

That's the message of the gospel.

His power flows out to heal and to forgive.

The Gospels are full of these stories.

Remember in Mark chapter 2, the paralytic, the man that couldn't move, walk.

Mark 2 · chapter mention

So he had four friends that put him on a stretcher and took him to a house, and the crowd inside the house was so great that they had to, his friends had to climb to the top of the roof, dig a hole through the roof, and lower their friend down.

Remember what Jesus said when he saw him?

He said, Your son, your sins are forgiven.

And the religious leaders that were there said, What a minute, did he just try, did he just forgive him?

Who does he think he is?

The Son of God.

Jesus said, I could just as easily say, son, pick up your mat and walk, which he did.

But the first thing he said, your sins are forgiven.

His power flows out.

But it always goes downhill to the humble.

His grace does not flow uphill to the proud.

Are you weak enough to see, to receive his power?

His power not only frees us from condemnation from the gates of hell, but his power frees us to live the kind of lives that we ought to live as we follow him, our Savior.

To live humble lives, to live sacrificially for others.

This week, one of the things I did is I just read a lot of scripture.

And one of the passages I went back to was a Sermon on the Mount is given by Luke, chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

This is what Luke records.

Okay, here's the assignment.

Listen to the words of Jesus.

Then ask yourself, is this the kind of life I'm living?

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

Woe to those of you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

To the one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also.

And from the one who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.

Give to everyone who begs from you.

And from one who takes away your goods, do not demand them back.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do to them.

Wow.

Here's my question.

How do you live that kind of a life?

How do I live out that kind of a life?

We don't have a chance unless that power is given to us by Jesus.

It is antithetical to everything in our old nature.

But isn't that why Jesus came?

Not only to save us from sin, but to save us from ourselves.

To give us a new power, a new way of living.

And he wants us to be the fragrance of Christ when you go home this day.

He wants that fragrance in your house, your apartment.

He wants that fragrance in your neighborhood.

He wants that fragrance in your office tomorrow when you go back to work.

There's not a place you can go that He doesn't want His fragrance in you to flow.

That's who He is.

And He can do it.

I can't work this.

This up, neither can you.

But we can humble ourselves to receive because his power always goes out to those who are ready to receive it.

I think of the woman with the issue of blood.

She came to Jesus and there was a huge crowd around Jesus, and she had this severe hemorrhaging for 12 years that doctors couldn't do anything for her.

You remember what happened?

She sneaks into the crowd, she worms her way through the crowd, and she just touches the fringe of the garment of Jesus, and she is instantly healed.

Do you remember what Jesus said?

Who just touched me?

Remember what the disciples said?

Jesus, you're in the middle of a mob.

Lots of people are touching you.

He said, no, but somebody just touched me because my power went out of me.

Not that he lost his power, but his power flowed to her, and she was instantaneously healed.

Jesus' power still flows out today to people who need him.

Do we?

His power saves, his power rescues.

But in order to do that, there's one thing we all have to do.

We have to climb off of our war horses.

What's your horse look like?

We have to humble ourselves and descend.

We have to get down on little donkeys.

Not to save us, but that's part of the sanctification.

What's keeping you from that?

What's keeping you from humbling yourself is to say, this is the Savior I need.

This is the king I want in my life.

Oh, friends, that the power would flow, but we have to live sermon, Sermon on the Mount kind of lives.

And that's where it gets tough, right?

Who are you?

Is there somebody you haven't forgiven?

Is there somebody that you know you're not forgiving and you think it's okay?

It's not okay.

That's what he just said.

Forgive the people that hate you.

Now that's a whole nother order of magnitude.

You know, there might be the person that didn't really hurt you, it's your perceived slight.

But there might be somebody that really did hurt you.

There might be somebody that hates you.

Jesus says, I, my power can flow into you so that you could actually forgive that person.

This is power.

This is power that Washington doesn't know anything about.

This is real power.

And it's his power.

And he wants you to live this kind of life.

He sent his spirit to free us, to live this kind of life.

But we've got to get off our war horses.

We've got to get off the things that prop us up.

We've got to get off the things that lead us away from depending on Christ alone.

This is the king who's the source of all power, but lastly, he's the king who's the source of all peace.

Turning back in my Bible to Zechariah chapter 9, this is the passage that is quoted in John's gospel.

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

Hear these words again.

This is prophesied centuries before Christ came.

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.

In that day, Jesus says, This will happen.

This is what I'm going to do when I come.

As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

What an amazing prophecy.

What is he saying?

This king fights with weapons that this world does not know of.

He shall speak peace to the nations.

The way Jesus overcomes hate is with love.

Jesus doesn't fight dirty.

He overcomes hate with love.

The way up is down.

This king gives us life by losing his life.

This king gives us true peace by losing his peace.

His peace, however, is not a weak peace.

Don't be fooled.

All those who opposed him in his day now know the truth because they're in hell.

They all know.

Everyone in his day who stood opposed to him, who refused to receive him as Lord and King, they are in eternal punishment today.

And all who have since come after.

Don't take Jesus lightly.

His heart is full of love.

He's humble, but he's just.

And those who refuse to bow their knee before him one day will join others in eternal punishment.

Don't take it lightly.

The victory is his.

Come to terms with him now.

Come to terms with him.

Now, while it is today, the scriptures say.

Jesus said himself in John chapter 14, verse 27 to his disciples again shortly before his death.

John 14:27

He said, Peace I leave with you.

My peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let your hearts be afraid.

I have a question for you.

Are you stirred up inside?

Are you stirred up inside?

Are you anxious?

Are you becoming increasingly anxious with the upcoming political election?

Many people are.

Many people are just getting more and more anxious.

Where are you looking for your peace?

What does it take you to rob you of your peace?

Jesus did not say your peace will come and go as the Roman Empire comes and goes.

I'm amazed at the response of so many Christians today who seem to believe, it's almost like they believe that the state of their soul depends on the state of who's in the office.

It's not true.

Read the New Testament very carefully, read it very carefully, and you will not see one shred of evidence that suggests that your peace ought to be tied to the government of your day.

The Apostle Paul tells us to pray for our leaders, to respect our leaders, to obey our leaders, but don't worship our leaders.

Don't worship the party.

Don't let that rob your peace.

The Apostle Paul and all the authors of the New Testament, they knew.

That's why you don't read it in the New Testament.

What you read is, I want you to learn how to live a Sermon of the Mount kind of life.

So no matter who's in office, no matter which party is in control, you can live a radically different Christian life.

You don't have to live without your peace.

That's not where the power is.

His peace, Zechariah tells us, will rule and extend from sea to sea to the ends of the earth.

And then he says, as for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will free you, all of your prisoners, from the waterless pit.

Are you in a pit?

Are you in a pit?

Are you in circumstances that you can't get yourself out of?

Jesus came to let his power flow into the deepest pits to the people who cry out.

That's where his power goes.

That's where his power flows.

Are you discovering that in your Christian life?

You can still be the fragrance of Christ to those who are being saved from life to life.

You can still be the message of truth to those who won't believe.

But that's not on your hands.

That's not on your butt.

If they refuse to believe, they refuse to believe.

But you'll be the fragrance of Christ.

This is what he's offering us.

This king.

This kind of power, this kind of peace, received by his people, demonstrated in people like us, who are humbled yet bold, becomes irresistible as the Holy Spirit brings this message home to the hearts of the people around you.

This is why the nations are flooding to Jesus today.

The nations are coming to Jesus all over the world.

Why?

Because this kind of love is irresistible when the Holy Spirit is at work.

Is the Holy Spirit working in your heart this morning as we worship?

What's the message that the Spirit has to say to your heart this morning?

Who is your king?

We're looking at the true king, the king worthy of our trust, worthy of our worship.

This is why the more we believe this, the better we sing.

It's true.

Those people were crying out, Hosanna, God save now.

You see, the more confident you are that your righteousness is found in Jesus Christ alone, not your efforts.

You can be at peace no matter what's going on around you.

And you can praise him.

Even when you don't feel like praising him, your eyes can be set on Jesus in the victory.

This is who he is.

Hosanna.

They have never, there are so many people who have never seen this kind of benevolent power that we find in Christ.

So we come to him today to rest in his rule, to accept his peace.

This is the king who calms us, who centers us on eternal truth.

We need this kind of king in times like this, don't we?

Are you finding your peace in this king?

Is his power flowing to you in new ways, day by day?

This is why we worship.

This is why we come to him.

So I last, my last question, what kind of a king do you want?

What kind of king do you need?

Don't be among the crowd on the Sunday of triumphal entry.

Don't be among that crowd who follows him when things are going well.

Don't be that crowd that says, oh, he can be my king as long as.

No.

It doesn't work that way.

He can be my king as long as he does things like I think he should do them.

That's not your king.

Are you kidding?

That's not the definition of a king.

No, Jesus, you can be my king because you are my savior.

You can't have him as savior if you don't have him as king.

He only comes one person.

But a beautiful person.

This is the kind of king.

What happened between Palm Sunday and Good Friday?

More and more people started to see the real king.

Some of them said, crucify him, some of them bowed and worshiped him.

Many in that crowd who shouted, Hosanna on Sunday, would cry out, crucify him on Friday.

It's been said, either you will have to kill him or crown him.

There are no other options.

That's true.

Nobody will be in heaven who simply reveres him and is inspired by him.

Because that person doesn't know the depths of their own enmity against him, that person doesn't know the depths of their own unbelief toward him.

That person doesn't really know their own heart.

The person who thinks that they're just skating by in life, tipping their hat to him, inspired by him, that person's not going to be in heaven.

You either kill him with the crowd, you crucify him with the crowd, or you crown him with many crowns.

And that's why we're here this morning.

To crown him Lord of all.

That we will worship him and serve him in all the ways that are right for a king.

Lord, thank you for this message that you've given us.

Thank you for this king you've given us.

Oh Lord Jesus, nobody is humble like you.

But as we receive you as Savior, as we follow you as King by the power of your Holy Spirit, we're being changed on the inside.

We're learning how to more and more be humble, yet courageous.

Lord, we're learning how to grow in our faith.

We're learning more and more how to be the fragrance of Christ because the world desperately needs that aroma.

Wherever we go, may we go with you, King Jesus.

Amen.