John Ch12v12-36 - Victory Of The King

John chapter 12, and the Church Bibles, it's 1079.

John 12 · chapter mention

That's 1079, John chapter 12, and starting in verse 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival

heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Blessed is the King of Israel!

Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,

Do not be afraid, daughter Zion.

See, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's coat.

At first his disciples did not understand all this.

Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him

and that these things had been done to him.

Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb

and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.

Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign,

went out to meet him.

So the Pharisees said to one another,

See, this is getting us nowhere.

Look how the whole world has gone after him.

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee,

with a request.

Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus.

Philip went to tell Andrew,

Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied,

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

Very truly I tell you,

unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains only a single seed.

But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Anyone who loves their life will lose it,

while anyone who hates their life in this world

will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me,

and where I am, my servant also will be.

My Father will honour the one who serves me.

When my soul is troubled,

then what shall I say?

Father, save me from this hour.

No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.

Then a voice came from heaven.

I have glorified it and will glorify it again.

The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered.

Others said an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus said,

The voice was for your benefit, not mine.

Now is the time for judgment on this world.

Now the prince of this world will be driven out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,

will draw all people to myself.

He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank Alex as well for leading us this morning.

Let's keep our Bibles open there in John's Gospel.

And we're...

Thanks very much, Ralph.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

We come to you, Lord, the living God.

The one who communicates to us through his word.

Who is speaking to us now by your spirit.

So we pray that we would have open hearts and open minds

to hear your word.

That it may change us.

And would fill us with hope.

We need your help.

Come, Lord Jesus, we ask.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, imagine that you've been appointed or elected as leader

over the whole world.

Your mandate to end the world's troubles

and make everything right again.

Imagine that you have absolute power

and supreme authority at your disposal.

How would you use it?

What would you do if you were in charge

to fix the mess of this broken world?

Well, the Bible claims there is one person

who has been appointed to put the world right.

And John's Gospel has been introducing us to him.

No surprise.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

full of grace and truth.

And it seems that Jesus has all the credentials to be this ruler.

With great power, you remember,

he healed a man who had been paralysed for 38 years.

He gave sight to a man who had been blind from birth.

And he fed over 5,000 people with just a few bread rolls.

That's the whole health service and the social welfare system

fixed in just a couple of acts.

And John even tells us that with such great displays of power,

the crowds had gathered round Jesus

and tried to make him king.

But perhaps his greatest display of power

was his authority to raise a dead man to life.

I mean, if you can call people from the dead to life again,

well, then you must be able to be king.

As we've walked through John's Gospel,

Jesus' popularity has been on the rise.

He's topping the polls.

Here is one who can put things right.

Here is the king who is coming.

Verse 12.

The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival

heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

It was Passover time,

the big annual festival

when all the Jewish people from all the surrounding nations

would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

And historians tell us that the numbers

could be anything from 1 to 2 million extra people

crowding into that city.

But the reason that they've come this year

is Jesus.

Verse 13.

They took palm branches,

a symbolism of nationalism,

and they went out to meet Jesus,

shouting,

Hosanna!

Which means,

come and save us.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Blessed is the king of Israel.

Picture it.

Thousands upon thousands of people

lining the roads coming into Jerusalem,

shouting and cheering,

Jesus has come,

and the crowds are going to make him their king.

Well, the expectation now

is that Jesus is going to gather his troops

and with military might

begin to stamp his authority,

remove the Romans

who have taken over their land.

After all, he is the king.

But he's a different kind of king.

You see, within a few days,

this same crowd who were shouting,

come, save us,

would turn and shout,

crucify him.

Well, what went wrong in just a few days?

Why did the people want him as king

and then suddenly reject him?

Well, for the same reasons

we reject Jesus today.

You see, Jesus is God's king.

Come to save us from ourselves

and to rule over our hearts.

Jesus is the victorious king,

but his victory

is going to come in surprising

and unexpected ways.

So three things we're going to look

about Jesus the king.

He rules with humility.

He lives to die.

And he wins by sacrifice.

He rules with humility.

He lives to die.

And he wins by sacrifice.

First, Jesus rules with humility.

How would Jesus respond

to the crowd who want him as king?

Well, look at verse 14.

Jesus found a young donkey

and sat upon it,

as is written by the prophet Zechariah,

verse 15.

Do not be afraid, daughter Zion.

See, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey's colt.

On a what?

A donkey?

I mean, we expect a war horse

and soldiers,

a display of power and might,

not a donkey.

Could you imagine

President Zaleski

going to the front line

to rally on his troops

in a bashed up tractor

that's running out of diesel?

That's hardly a display

of strength, is it?

Or maybe you remember

that during our recent elections,

Micheál Martin

was touring the country.

On one occasion,

he posed sitting on a bull.

Not the greatest publicity stunt,

as the headline showed

the next day,

cowboy number one.

riding on a donkey

is hardly a good start

to the reign of Jesus.

But this is no mistake.

Jesus' actions are intentional

and he communicates

the kind of king he will be.

Let's go to Zechariah, chapter 9.

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

It's the quote that Jesus,

or John, was referring to.

We'll read the full quote,

Zechariah, chapter 9.

Zechariah 9 · chapter mention

One of those difficult ones to find.

Have you got a page number?

9, 5, 4.

So Jesus' acts are intentional.

Zechariah 9, starting at verse 9.

Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion.

Shout, daughter Jerusalem.

See, your king comes to you,

righteous and victorious,

lowly and riding on a donkey,

on a colt,

the foal of a donkey.

I will take away the chariots

from Ephraim,

the war horses from Jerusalem,

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.

Back to John, chapter 12.

John 12 · chapter mention

You see, Jesus fulfills what has been promised.

He has come to rule.

He has come to establish peace in the nations.

But he's going to do it with humility.

For Jesus is gentle, not forceful.

He is lowly, not demanding.

Jesus is meek, not harsh.

Jesus is saying,

I am that servant king

and I haven't come to break you or crush you,

but I've come to rule with humility.

In fact, this Jesus would submit himself to his enemies.

He won't defend himself or strike out in power,

but he will humbly serve those who stand opposed to him.

He comes riding on a donkey.

Is this the kind of king

that you would imagine and that you would want?

Does this king fill you with confidence?

Would you follow and obey him?

You see, when it comes down to it,

a king on a donkey

really doesn't fill you with much hope.

I think I would be the one

who would be following the king

on a war horse.

So Jesus

comes with humility.

Second,

Jesus lives to die.

If you find a king and a donkey shocking,

well, the mission of Jesus

will have you standing in disbelief.

Some visitors, you remember,

had come to Jerusalem

for the festival

and they have a request.

We see it in verse 21.

Some Greeks had come from the surrounding nations.

Middle of verse 21.

Sir, they said,

we would like to see Jesus.

So Philip went to tell Andrew

and Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied,

the hour has come

for the Son of Man

to be glorified.

Sorry?

Jesus, they don't want to know

what time it is.

They want to see you.

But that is precisely

what Jesus wants us to know.

And he wants them to know.

He wants them to know

what the time is.

The hour has come.

You see,

leading up to these events,

the people

and even Jesus' own brothers

had very clear intentions

for Jesus.

Look back at chapter 7 with me.

Chapter 7, verse 4.

So this is just after

the feeding of the 5,000.

chapter 7, verse 4.

They say to Jesus,

no one who wants to become

a public figure

acts in secret.

I mean, Jesus,

you've been doing

all these wonderful things.

I mean, you've got to get out there

and let people see who you are.

Since you are doing these things,

show yourself to the world.

What does Jesus say?

Middle of verse 6.

My time is not yet here.

In fact, when Jesus went on

to speak against

the religious authorities,

look at verse 30

of chapter 7.

Look how they responded

to Jesus.

At this they tried

to seize him,

but no one laid a hand

on him

because his

hour had not yet

come.

Let's go back

to chapter 12.

So he's been

telling them,

no, this isn't

the time,

this isn't the hour.

And now in verse 23,

he declares

the hour

has come.

This time,

this hour

is all about

his death.

It's the whole reason

why Jesus has come.

This is his mission.

Verse 27.

Now my soul

is troubled

and what shall I say?

Father,

save me

from this hour?

No,

it was for this

very reason

I came

to this hour.

Father,

glorify

your name.

It's like

a clock

on countdown.

In eternity

past,

the clock

has been ticking.

century

after century,

decade

after decade,

year by year,

week by week,

day by day,

and eventually

the clock

hits zero,

the countdown

has finished,

the alarm

has gone,

the hour

has come,

Jesus

must die.

In fact,

Jesus

lives

to die.

so,

Jesus,

tell us,

what do you

plan to do

now that the people

have appointed you

as king?

What does your

manifesto say

about housing

and taxes

and immigration?

I'm going to die.

The hour

has come

for me

to die.

You see,

this king

will submit

himself

to death,

not just

any kind

of death,

but a cruel,

torturous

and violent

death.

They will

punch him,

they will

flog him,

they will

spit on him,

they will

strip him,

they will

humiliate him

and nail him

to a wooden

beam.

No wonder

Jesus was

overwhelmed,

verse 27.

My soul

is troubled.

What will

I say?

Father,

save me

from this

hour?

No,

it was for

this very

reason I

came to

this hour.

The donkey

king

becomes a

crucified

king.

king.

Now,

why would

a king

do that?

Well,

look back

at verse 24.

Jesus

says,

Very truly

I tell you,

unless a

grain of

wheat falls

to the ground

and dies,

it remains

only a

single seed.

But if it

dies,

it produces

many seeds.

the

illustration

is clear,

isn't it?

The seed,

that is

Jesus,

must die.

He must

be buried

in the

ground,

if you

like,

planted

in the

grave.

But from

his death

will come

a fruitful

harvest.

Many

will receive

new and

eternal life

because Jesus

lives that

he might

die.

That's his

mission.

That's his

path.

is this

the kind

of king

that you

would want?

A king

who would

submit himself

to death,

who lives

to die?

It's not

really very

reassuring,

is it?

Yes,

his death

will be

fruitful,

but there

must be

other ways

in which

you could

do this.

If you're

looking for

followers,

then Jesus

sitting on

a donkey

and with

a manifesto

of living

to die,

well,

it doesn't

really

drive you.