The World Has Gone After Him (John 12:12-33)

If you were able, would you please remain standing for the

reading of God's Word this morning?

I'll be reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 12, beginning

John 12 · chapter mention

in verse 12. The next day the large crowd

that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to

Jerusalem. They took branches of palm

trees, 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 who was from Basaida 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.

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 my servant will be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Now is my soul troubled? What shall I say, Father, save

me from this hour? But for this purpose I've 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 and 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 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. This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated 1 of the most incredible things about the New

Testament books of Matthew, Mark and Luke and John if they give

us not just one, but four different eyewitness accounts

about the life, death, resurrection of Jesus.

With each gospel, we're given not simply a different

eyewitness testimony that tells us that everything we read here

is true, but it also gives us a different window, a different

vantage point through which to behold the person and work of

Jesus. Several weeks ago on Palm

Sunday, we looked at the story of the triumphal entry of Jesus

into Jerusalem from the Gospel of Luke.

And this morning we're going to look at that exact same story

from the Gospel of John. Now you might be asking, why are

we doing that? We just made our way through

Easter tide. We haven't even made it to

Pentecost, and we're already going back to Palm Sunday.

Well, the reason we're doing that is not simply to work our

way through our series in the Gospel of John, but to notice

that with every story in the Gospels, especially those that

are found in all four Gospels, it is a right and good thing to

compare what we see in one gospel to another in order to

get a fuller picture of who Jesus is and what He came to do.

If you're with us on Palm Sunday, we saw the Gospel of

Luke, how Jesus came riding on a donkey.

He did this during the Feast of Passover, just like all the

other Gospels. We see that same story told in

the Gospel of John. I want you to look with me, John

John 12:12

12, verse 12. John tells us the next day the

large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was

coming to Jerusalem. This is the turning point in the

Gospel of John. In many ways, it's the turning

point in Jesus's earthly ministry.

This is the beginning, the final week of Jesus's life, a week

that John will dedicate almost half of his gospel to.

Verse 13 John tells us 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, like a triumphant king returning from battle.

The people gathered there, that triumphal entry as Jesus rode

into Jerusalem on a donkey waving palm branches, symbol of

victory. They cried out Hosanna, which

means save us. And they quoted from Psalm 118.

They praised Jesus and victory as he rode into Jerusalem, but

they had no idea what he was coming to Jerusalem in order to

do. And in their misunderstandings

and false assumptions about Jesus, we will see ourselves.

But more than that, in Jesus we will see a king who came to lay

down his life in order to draw all people to himself.

So the first thing the Gospel of John's account of the triumphal

entry shows us is this. The disciples did not understand

him. Once you look with me, John 12

John 12:16

verse 16, John goes on and he tells us that his disciples did

not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was

glorified, then they remember that these things have been

written about him and have been done to him.

Now this may come at a surprise for you, but Jesus's own

disciples did not understand him.

Though they walked with him for three years, Though they

followed Him as their teacher, though they heard Jesus preach

and teach, though they saw Jesus work miracles and signs, they

did not understand who he really was or what he came to do.

We see this throughout the Gospels.

Just after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah, he then

rebuked Jesus because Jesus told his disciples that he came to

suffer and to die. Peter wanted none of that.

That wasn't what he thought Jesus was, wasn't how he

thought. Jesus was going to bring

salvation, not through suffering, not through death.

So he rebuked him. Peter didn't understand Jesus.

Of course. We saw last week that Judas

didn't understand Jesus. All he could see was his own

selfishness. Eventually he betrayed him.

James and John. They saw Jesus as king, but they

wanted to know from Jesus when he took the throne on the

Kingdom, which one of them would be the greatest.

They too didn't understand Jesus.

The disciples tried to keep children from going to him.

They questioned Jesus when he suggested that he was going to

feed 5000 people. The disciples did not fully

understand Jesus until after Jesus died and rose again.

Before. You want to be hard on them.

I actually don't think it's to surprise us at all.

See, they couldn't possibly fathom that the savour of the

world had come to die, that the King was going to ride into

Jerusalem in humility. All of this they couldn't

possibly see until after Jesus triumphed over the grave.

And in that moment their cries for victory became fulfilled.

John tells us that it was after he was glorified that they

remembered all that was written about him.

They begin to connect all the dots of the prophets and all

that Jesus said and did. They remember the words of

Zechariah Chapter 9, verse 9. Rejoice greatly.

Zechariah 9:9

O daughter of Zion, shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, behold,

your King is coming to you righteous and having salvation

as he humbled and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the full of a

donkey. They expected a king to come and

triumph over their earthly enemies.

They didn't understand that Jesus came to conquer an enemy

far greater. He came to conquer sin and death

itself. So we must ask ourselves, how

different are we? Do we really understand who

Jesus is and what he came to do? If, like me, you've grown up the

culturally Christian S, you probably grew up going to Sunday

school and hearing about Jesus. You probably grew up raised the

church hearing a pastor like me preach Sunday to Sunday, maybe

even read much of the Bible for yourself.

But here's my question. Do you really understand him?

Because for those of us who've grown up in a culturally

Christian environment, sometimes we know just enough about him in

order to misunderstand him. Others of us, maybe we didn't

grow up in a Christian home, but growing up in the West, United

States of America. You've at least heard his name.

Maybe even you recognize some of the stories.

Maybe even a popular 1 like this, the triumphal entry.

And for you, you know, just a little.

But that little is not just simply led to curiosity, but

also misunderstanding. I want you to know that we've

been given all that we need in the Word of God.

Right there in the palm of your hand, you hold a means of God's

grace to show you Jesus, to see him for who he really is, to see

the story of redemption from Genesis to Revelation to just

like the disciples, to look back on the death of resurrection of

Jesus and see how it's the fulfilment of every prophecy.

And so don't settle for vicarious Christianity.

What I mean by that is don't just come Sunday to Sunday

expecting to just hear about Jesus without seeing Him for

yourself. Don't just take my word for it,

but study Him. Read about Him, see Jesus

unfolded in the pages of Scripture, and behold Him as

your Savior, King. 2nd, we see not just the misunderstanding of

the disciples, but we see that the Pharisees were threatened by

Jesus. Look with me at verse 19.

John goes on and tells us that the Pharisees said to one

another. You see that you are gaining

nothing. Look, the world has gone after

Him as the Pharisees are seeing this parade unfold and Jesus

entering into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people waving

palm branches and shouting hosanna, they don't want to join

with them. No, they're threatened.

They see their grip on control and their hold on the people

beginning to wane. They're threatened by Jesus's

fame and popularity, and so they cry out in anger and a mockery.

Look, the world has gone after him.

In other words, look at this peasant, this king that they're

bowing down to. Can you believe it?

Look how the world's going after him.

We're gaining nothing. They're just going to keep doing

it. How can we stop their blindness

and their foolishness? But you see, what the Pharisees

meant out of anger was exactly right.

The whole world was going after Jesus.

John goes on in verse 20 and tells us, thou among those who

went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.

Undoubtedly these were some Greek Jews who had come to the

feast of Pentecost. But what I want you to notice is

that John tells us in verse 21 that they didn't just come to

the feast, but they came to see Jesus.

These Greeks had heard about him.

They wanted to know who he was, that if the stories were true.

So Philip and Andrew go to Jesus.

They tell him that these Greeks had come and Jesus sees this as

a sign that it is now finally time.

His hour has come. Once you look with me, verse 22,

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 Pharisees were threatened.

And the truth is, if we're honest, Jesus is a threat to us

as well. You see, the cross of Christ is

at once both a threat and freedom.

It's threatening to us, and it's liberation.

Here's what I mean by that. You see, Jesus Christ has come

not only as King of the Jews, but what we see the triumphal

entry is He is King of the whole world.

Listen again to the words the Pharisees.

Look, the whole world has gone after him.

He's not just King of the Jews. He is King of kings and Lord of

Lords, and His Kingdom transcends every earthly Kingdom

but the wonder of the Gospel. He's not only brought His

Kingdom to bear on the kingdoms of this earth, but He's brought

His Kingdom to bear to reign and rule over our hearts.

And every single one of us spends every single day trying

to build our own earthly kingdoms.

We go through most of our lives holding on with tight gripped

fists, grasping for control, trying to build our own Kingdom

in our own image. For some of you, it's the

Kingdom of business and work and this thing that God has called

us to, to be fruitful and multiply.

This thing He's entrusted to us to steward.

We have held onto so tightly that we have choked God

completely out of it. And holding on to control, we've

bought into the American Dream. If we just work hard enough,

we'll achieve everything that we've ever wanted.

But if you've ever been let go or laid off or had a deal fall

through after an entire year's worth of work, you know that we

are not as much a control as we would like to be for others.

Us. That Kingdom is our own

families, these families that God has called us to lead and to

shepherd again, we hold on to so tightly trying to control.

And so we've bought into the fear as parents that we have to

get our kid on the right team, be part of the right ballet

company, and get into the right school.

And if we can hit all of those boxes, then they'll just going

to turn out just right. But you know that those of you

whose kids have now all grown up, we're not much in control of

that either. We've been called as parents not

to raise our children according to kingdoms of this earth, but

according to the Kingdom of God, and we serve a heavenly Father

that holds all of his children in the palm of his hand.

For others of us, our Kingdom is our own health.

There's nothing quite like our own frailty as human beings that

confronts the lack of control that we have over our lives.

The kingship of Jesus is a threat to us.

Let me tell you why. It's also incredibly liberating.

Because our King is good. And when you behold the

sovereign majesty of Jesus and you realize He is good, suddenly

your grip on your life receives an invitation to let go, and you

fall on His feet and bow down before him and worship our King,

out of his goodness and love, laid down his life for His

people. How do we know that our King is

good and are questioning Him? When life lets us down?

How do we know that He is good? We look no further than the

cross, and at the cross we see His goodness and sovereignty

come to bear. That's what Jesus was talking

about in verse 23 when he says the hour has come for the Son of

Man to be glorified. Every time Jesus talks about the

hour, he's talking about the hour of his death.

The hour is crucifixion, he goes on in verse 24.

It says 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.

He tells a short parable to illustrate the point.

Just like a grain of wheat falls and it's buried in the earth,

from it much fruit comes in a harvest.

So to Jesus must be separated from his Father, must be buried

in the ground so the third day he could rise again.

He goes on in verse 25, he says whoever loses loves his life

will lose it. Whoever hates his life and this

world will keep it for eternal life.

So not only does Jesus tell us about his sacrifice for us as a

king laying his life down for his people, but he's calling us

to follow him to the cross. And that is why the cross is so

threatening to us, because it calls us to come and to die.

But in Christ's death, our sin is paid for, and in his

resurrection his victory becomes ours.

So the 3rd and final thing that we see here in John's account of

the triumphal entry, not only do we see the misunderstanding of

the disciples, the way that Jesus was a threat to the

Pharisees, we also see in the crowd all of the false

assumptions that we make about him.

Verse 27, as Jesus reflects on what he has come to Jerusalem to

do, to die on the cross in our place for our sin, he prays a

prayer that sounds a lot like the prayer that he will

eventually pray in Gethsemane. Because now my soul is 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. In other words, Jesus,

considering the weight of sin that's about to be placed on him

on the cross, considering the agony of his suffering and

death, he said, well, what should I do?

Should I pray to Godfather deliver me from the cross?

No, no, for this purpose I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify your name. And as soon as he utters those

words, a voice comes down from heaven and declares, I have

glorified it and I will glorify it again.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to have been

there that day? To have worked your way through

the crowds just to get a glimpse of Jesus, to see him riding on a

donkey into Jerusalem, to hear the words of Jesus talk about

what he has come to do, and to hear a voice from heaven cry

out? I have glorified my name, and I

will glorify it again. Just a week or so with the day

after Next Sunday, I'm going to go on sabbatical for the summer.

One of the things that we're going to get to do, we're so

grateful for, is to spend some time in England and Scotland

visiting pastors and churches there and learning from them.

My wife and I just realized that we're going to be in London

during the Trooping of the Color.

I don't know if you know what that is, but it's a parade, a

military parade that celebrates the birthday of the sovereign.

So on June 14th, all of London is going to be overcome with

people. We're going to be there and

crowds are going to form along the Mall just to get a glimpse

of the King as he makes his way down the road.

Of course yesterday we asked ourselves, should we go?

What do you think it was like for them that day?

Pushing their way to their crowds just to get a glimpse of

Jesus. What gave them the motivation to

go and see him? Well, John tells us that it was

because they had heard that Jesus rose Lazarus from the

dead. They heard what Jesus had done.

They could raise the dead for life.

They wanted to go and see him. But I want you to ask yourself,

do you think they all came with good intentions?

You see, I think just like us, they had assumptions about Jesus

even after they heard what he did.

There are some of them, I think, that we're probably skeptics.

They heard that this man supposedly rose Lazarus from the

dead, and they want to go see from themselves.

Can it be true? Out of their skepticism, they

went to see Jesus at the triumphal entry.

And I think we see a picture of them here as the voice cries out

from heaven. They assume that it's Thunder.

It's the only logical explanation.

Others, I think, had heard about Jesus, that he rose and from the

dead, and they were overcome with the mystery of it all.

They were not skeptics. They were prone to mysticism.

They want to come and see a show.

So as they hear this voice call out from heaven and this sound,

they assume that it must be an Angel speaking to him.

None of them could have imagined that what they heard from heaven

was far more glorious than an Angel and far more powerful than

a thunderstorm is a voice of God the Father speaking over God the

Son about the glory of the cross.

And so Jesus answers them in verse 30.

This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

Now is the judgement of this world, now with the ruler of

this world be cast out, and I, when I'm lifted up from the

earth, will draw all people to myself.

Jesus Christ, our great King, poured all of His sovereignty,

authority, and majesty out on the cross.

And there our great King died. He laid down his life for his

people. He died for our sins, so that on

the third day he could rise again in victory over sin and

death. And in that way, even as they

waved palm branches at him, not fully understanding what he came

to do, they were exactly right. Because the victory is ours in

Christ. And just a few years later, the

apostle John would write about another triumphal entry, one

that also had palm branches in the crowds.

And he was given a vision and recorded it in the Book of

Revelation, Revelation 7, verse 9, John writes.

Revelation 7:9

After this I looked and behold, a great multitude that no one

could number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and

languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,

clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands, crying

out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on

the throne into the Lamb. Can you hear it?

The triumphal entry to come when Christ our King comes again to

make all things new. On that day every tribe and

tongue and nation will wave palm branches, declaring victory once

and for all. And he can almost hear the voice

of the Pharisees. Look, see, the world has gone

after Him ever since they uttered those words.

That promise has been fulfilled through God's people.

The fame of Jesus, his death and resurrection has spread.

And this morning, as we come to this table, we're reminded not

only of what has gone before us, but the feast that is to come.

And so as you come forward, look around you.

Don't you see that the world has gone after Him?

He has drawn all people to Himself.

Can you see that He is drawing you out of your skepticism, out

of your misunderstanding, out of your false assumptions?

He has drawn you to behold your Savior at the cross.

Let's pray. Father in Heaven, we pray now as

we come to this table, that You would prepare our hearts.

May you rule and reign over us. May we bow our knees before our

Savior Jesus, and in his kingship may we find the victory

that is ours through his death and resurrection.

And so we pray now that you would prepare us as we come to

this table, as your people help us to not only behold you, but

in one another, to behold the salvation that you are working

in and through us. We ask in Jesus name, Amen.

Would you please stand?