Sermon Tone Analysis

Palm Sunday - The Coming King - John 12:12-19

Jesus fulfilled prophecy when He entered Jerusalem, and the crowds saw it with their own eyes.

They even shouted out praise to Him: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

But they didn't understand what those words really meant.

This morning we'll examine the Scriptures to see why Jesus entered Jerusalem on that Sunday long ago, what it meant then, and why it matters today.

Exegetical (what do we SEE?)

Multitudes came for Passover

We see that multitudes were traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover.

There was a large number who were already in the city, and a large number on the road that day, which was the first day of the week.

Passover itself would not take place until Wednesday and Thursday (because of the numbers of people, Judeans and Galileans celebrated Passover on different days), but people were eager to get to Jerusalem, set up camp, meet up with friends and family, and make arrangements for the feast.

Jesus came with His disciples

We see that Jesus came with His disciples.

This is not surprising, since He traveled with them virtually everywhere.

They were rarely away from Him for more than a few hours.

Jesus fulfilled Scripture

We see that Jesus fulfilled Scripture, and not for the first time.

Josh McDowell, writing in his book “Evidence for Christianity,” reports that Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies during His life, and lists dozens of them.

On this day, Jesus sent two of His disciples into the village of Bethphage to obtain a donkey and her colt for Him to ride.

He gave them specific instructions about where they would find the animals, and what to say if anyone challenged them.

This was a fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9,

The Response

There were, essentially, three groups of people present during the triumphant entry: Jesus’ disciples, the multitudes, and the Pharisees.

The Disciples

Jesus' Disciples

Little is said here about Jesus’ disciples, although what John says is interesting.

He and the others had no idea what was going on.

They observed it, they saw it, they heard it, but they didn’t understand it.

It was only after Jesus had ascended to the Father, and the Holy Spirit came, that they realized the significance of what had taken place, and realized that Jesus fulfilled prophecy on this day, and came to Israel as Savior and King.

They had spent three years with Him.

No one heard more of His teaching.

No one saw more of His deeds.

If any human beings were in a position to understand Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on that day, it was these twelve men.

But as John says, they didn’t know.

The Multitude

The Multitude

More is said about the multitude.

They acknowledged Jesus as Savior and King.

The multitudes looked back to Psalm 118:25-26,

O Lord, do save, we beseech You [hosanna]; O Lord, we beseech You, do send prosperity!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

(Psalm 118:25–26, NASB95)

As we see, the One who comes in the name of the Lord is the direct answer to the prayer for salvation.

When the multitude cried out hosanna, they acknowledged Him as the Savior, the One with the right and power to save.

The crowd was creative; some simply cried out “hosanna!”, others “hosanna in the highest!”, and others “hosanna to the Son of David.”

There may have been other variations as well.

In the Old Testament, salvation almost always meant deliverance from enemies and other earthly dangers, although David did use it in Psalm 6:4 to refer to spiritual salvation, “O Lord, rescue my soul.”

But this crowd wanted deliverance from Rome, from their political and spiritual enemies.

When the crowd shouted out “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,” they showed their nationalistic intentions.

Matthew and Mark use the basic phrase from Psalm 118:26, “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Mark also records the people shouting “blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.”

John uses it, too, but adds “even the King of Israel.”

Luke is even more direct, “blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”

These are not people who are weighed down by their sins, know that they are facing God’s judgment, and plead for atonement and redemption.

These are self-righteous people who are angry and embittered about the way their nation has been treated.

The Romans were just the most recent.

It began with the Babylonians.

The Persia defeated Babylon, and inherited Israel.

Then Alexander the Great defeated everyone, and Israel came under the domination of the Greeks.

Finally, the Roman Republic, and then the Roman Empire, rode herd on them.

The “hosanna” phrases and the “blessed” phrases all point to a King, a Deliverer, someone like Moses, someone like the various judges who threw out the invaders, the One who would restore the kingdom of David.

The Pharisees

The Pharisees

Less is said about the Pharisees than the multitudes, but what is said sets the stage for the conflict that will build all week, and end up with Jesus crucified.

As the multitudes are shouting out the praises of Jesus as their political Savior and King – roles He had no intention of fulfilling, by the way – what do the Pharisees do?

You might think that they would be eager to see Rome thrown out, but that’s not the case.

They aren’t worried about Rome, but about their own power and position.

So instead of being delighted that Jesus had such power over the multitude, and could have so easily stormed the Roman headquarters and destroyed their enemy, they were infuriated that Jesus’ influence made them insignificant and unnecessary.

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”

(Luke 19:39, NASB95)

Now this is odd.

The Pharisees acknowledge Jesus as “Teacher,” or “Rabbi.”

They acknowledge that He has authority over others.

And they believe that if Jesus did demand silence, the multitude would obey.

And so they really acknowledge, without meaning to, Jesus’ authority over the lives of everyone present.

At the same time, they could not conceal their hatred and frustration.

John writes in John 12:19,

So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him.” (John 12:19, NASB95)

They were so frustrated, so angry, that they started to turn on each other.

“Why didn’t you stop Him?” “Well, why didn’t YOU stop Him?”

Intellectual (what do we LEARN?)

God is Faithful

God keeps His promises

We certainly see that God keeps His promises.

Every prophecy is a promise.

Every fulfilled prophecy is a promise kept.

As a Randy Stonehill song says, “a promise made is a promise kept.”

Not a single prophecy went unfulfilled.

Everything Jesus said He would do, He did.

Our faith is completely dependent upon the Lord.

Faith is not a force or a power.

It is not something that we can measure, like electricity, or weigh, like iron.

Hebrews 11:1 says,

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

(Hebrews 11:1, NASB95)

That is, faith is the confidence that God will do what He has promised to do.

Faith doesn’t make God keep His promises; faith is the belief that God WILL keep His promises.

And since biblical faith is a gift from the Holy Spirit, and not a human trait, faith is the evidence that God will do what He has promised to do.

Simple and straightforward as it is, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem is proof that God keeps all of His promises perfectly.

What He has promised in His Word, He will fulfill.

He has promised to save those who call upon Him, who repent of their sins and believe the Gospel.