Sermon Tone Analysis

John 12:1-26

 

! Introduction

            The Jets couldn't lose this year.

Manitoba was so excited just to have a team that they could have been on the bottom of the standings and everyone would still have been excited and happy about the season.

In the end they have had more wins than Atlanta did last year and have kept it interesting even having a chance of making the playoffs until recently.

The way in which to succeed in hockey, or any sport is to win games.

The team that is better, stronger, faster and scores more goals than the opposition is the team that is considered better than the rest.

The team that will win the last game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs will be declared triumphant.

This is what we consider normal in many areas of life.

Today is a day we celebrate a great triumph.

On the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem and everyone shouted "Hosanna" we celebrate an event which we refer to as the Triumphal Entry.

This morning we will look at the story of the Triumphal Entry from John 12:1-26.

We have already read verses 12-19 which is the actual account of the event we have come to know as Palm Sunday, but it is important for us to read that event in the context in which John has placed it and think about the stories surrounding it.

John has put these events together in such a way as to teach us.

As we read the surrounding stories and even the story of the triumphal entry itself, although we read about a triumphant event, we also notice some disturbing notes.

As we consider these things, we will learn something about the way Jesus gained His victory.

But we will also learn about the way in which we as followers of Jesus must live.

It is a way of living that is not the normal way for people of the world and requires some careful thinking.

!

I.       The Triumphant Declaration

!! A.   The Triumphant Expectation

            The story about the Triumphal Entry begins with a rumor.

People who were in Jerusalem heard that Jesus was coming into the city.

It seems that at this point there was a lot of excitement about Jesus.

He was the current news item and when people heard that he was coming into the city, they went out because they wanted to see him.

There was more than just curiosity about his arrival.

It seems that there was celebration and hope surrounding his coming.

People came out of the city and had gathered palm branches.

John doesn't tell us what they did with the palm branches, but does indicate that there was a great deal of shouting.

The declaration of the people was "Hosanna!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord- the King of Israel."

These statements are loaded with meaning.

The word "Hosanna" is a Hebrew word that means "save now."

It is a prayer to be released, but what was it they wanted to be released from?

Were they asking for salvation from their sin?

salvation from their suffering?

salvation from their enemies?

or all of the above?

From what they knew of Jesus as one who forgave sins, who healed people and who had power over nature, it is likely that they hoped that Jesus would help them in all these ways.

The phrase "Blessed is the one who comes" was a term that came out of the Old Testament and refers to the coming of one who was promised by God who would redeem Israel from all their troubles.

It was a phrase loaded with Messianic expectation.

As they shouted this, they were expressing hope that Jesus was the one whom God promised would come and restore the nation.

The phrase "King of Israel" reminds us of the promise which God had made to David that one of his own sons would sit on Israel's throne forever.

It was also a Messianic promise of one coming to fulfill all the hopes of the nation.

So as the people shouted and celebrated they shouted about hope, they celebrated the possibility of victory over all trouble.

Tenney writes, "If the … crowd came from Galilee, it would be well aware of Jesus’ works there and would probably contain a number who had wished for a long time that he would declare himself as the expected Messiah."

!! B.   The Triumphant Reality

            As we examine the celebration that took place on that day in the context of the stories that surround it we see that there was something to celebrate.

There were reasons why they could have such a hope.

!!! 1.     Resurrection

            In the story that precedes the triumphal entry, there is a story about a meal which took place in Bethany.

One of the people attending that meal was Lazarus and in verse 1 and in verse 9, mention is made of the fact that Jesus had raised him from the dead.

Throughout John, Jesus is presented with various "I Am" sayings.

We read in different places that Jesus says, "I Am – the bread of life, the good shepherd, the light of the world, but there is no more powerful truth than that presented in John 11 where Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life."

People knew that he had raised Lazarus from the dead and that they were celebrating that one among them had power over life and death.

In verse 17, mention is once again made of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead We are told that the crowd which was coming into Jerusalem with Jesus, which was likely a crowd that included people who had been with Jesus when he raised Lazarus, was telling everyone about it.

They recalled and shared the details.

I can imagine that as they met someone new they would point at Jesus and say, "I saw him call Lazarus out of the tomb and then he came out alive."

So there was reason to celebrate, reason to hope in what Jesus could and would do for them.

They had seen Jesus for what He was, a life giver!

!!! 2.     Greeks

            Of course for the Jewish religious leaders this was not good news.

As more and more people heard the story about Lazarus, and as the crowd shouted and celebrated Jesus, they become more and more concerned and upset.

They expressed their concern in verse 19 with the words, "…the whole world has gone after him!"

It is interesting that immediately after that exclamation, John includes the story of a group of Greeks who wanted to see Jesus.

They connected with Philip and asked him, "…we wish to see Jesus…" They had heard the stories and now they wanted to know more.

Philip didn't know what to do and so he took them to Andrew who brought them to Jesus.

Putting these two stories together suggests another aspect of the victory of Jesus.

The Old Testament had foretold that the nations would come to God.

Now, as the Jewish religious leaders cried out in alarm "the whole world is going after him" a group of Greeks, who may have been from The Decapolis, a Gentile region of Galilee, wanted to see Jesus, as if the whole world was actually going after Him.

This event points to the world wide ministry of Jesus and is another reason to celebrate that He who comes is the Lord over all nations.

So the story of the triumphal entry is a story of triumph.

Because of the story of Lazarus it hints that Jesus conquers death.

Because of the story of the Greeks it hints that Jesus is Lord of the whole world.

There is reason to celebrate.

There is substance to the shouts of triumph because of Jesus.

!

II.

Jesus' Path to Triumph

            But the story of the triumphal entry and the stories that surround it are also stories that contain some disturbing realities.

The event celebrates triumph, but something isn't quite right.

!! A.   Disturbing Notes in the Midst of Triumph

            First of all we notice that a disturbing memory lingers.

We have just read about the amazing miracle of the raising of Lazarus in John 11.

Shortly thereafter we read of this great celebration of Jesus' entry into the city.

But in between we have the story of a meal.

It seems that Mary and Martha hosted the meal and Martha served.

I think it was a celebration meal, probably put on to thank Jesus for raising Lazarus.

In the story we read that Mary expressed her thanks to Jesus by anointing his feet with an expensive perfume.

When this act of Mary was questioned by Judas, Jesus responded by saying, "She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial."

As we hear that, we realize that not everything here is triumph.

A huge question is placed on our mind when we hear about the burial of the man who just raised someone from the dead.

That is the first indication in these verses that something is not quite right.

As the people were shouting words of celebration, Jesus did something which also contained a message.

He found a young donkey and rode into Jerusalem on it.

The act was declared to fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9 which says, "…your king is coming…" It speaks of triumph, but there is another note in it as well.

We also read, "…humble and sitting on a donkey's colt."

This is an intentional image of a different kind of victory.

It is not the "ra, ra, our team is the best" kind of victory celebration.

Rather it also includes mention of humility.

Something other than our normal understanding of triumph is implied.

Another thread which is woven throughout the passage is the thread of opposition.