The Royal Entry: Jesus Enters Jerusalem - John 12:12-19

1:40Last week, we looked at Mary's anointing of Jesus. We looked at two categories of people: there was Mary, and then there were Judas and the chief priest, two groups of people, two peoples representing two complete different trajectories, two different hearts. Mary, who is maturing in her love for Christ, and then there is Judas and the chief priest, who are maturing in their hatred of Christ. You see, there's an unseen dominion in this room this morning. There's an unseen rule that reigns here today. There is a spiritual dominion that drives everything you and I say and do. And that spiritual dominion over us drives and manifests itself in the physical realm. Everything that we say and do, and everything that we see happening in our earth today is. A consequence or flows out of this spiritual dominion, this unseen rule that is here today.

3:12Well, last week we looked at those who were maturing in hardness and those who were maturing in love. And you know what? Unless God stepped into our world, guess what would happen to us? We would all mature in hardness. That is where we go until every thought of our hearts is only evil continuously. But God stepped into our world. And nowhere do we see that more vividly expressed than in the passage we'll read this morning. Verses 12 to verses 19. On the next day, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him and began to shout, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. These things his disciples did not understand at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things to him. So the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about him. For this reason also the people went and met him, because they heard that he had performed the sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, You see that you are not doing any good. Look, the world has gone after him.

5:10Well, if you look at the miracle of Lazarus, really brackets the study that we'll be in today. Verses 10 and 11, the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death. And then you see at the end, in verse 17, there, again, Lazarus is the conversation piece. And that's the reason why so many people went out to meet him. So it's in this context of Lazarus being raised from the dead that John sets Jesus' entry, this royal entry. Oftentimes you see it as triumphant entry. Although, as I look at it, it doesn't bear any marks of a Roman triumph at all.

6:00But it is the royal entry of the great king of Israel, the great king of the earth, God's anointed one. Well, today we're going to relive it. And I'm going to take it in three very simple steps. We're going to look at the crowd, we're going to look at Jesus, and then we're going to look at the Pharisees. Just walk through. And at the end, I would like to summarize some thoughts about this individual, this king of Israel. So, first of all, let's look at the crowd. Look at the crowd. Verse 12. On the next day, that is, after this day of anointing in the house of Mary, after this event took place, the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of the palm tree and went out to meet him and began to shout, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. I want you to notice their number here.

7:18Notice that John says, on the next day, the large crowd. It doesn't say a large crowd, but the large crowd. Crowd obviously associated with. Very memorable, the crowd, the large crowd. And these are comprised of people who had come to the feast. These are pilgrims. This is a pilgrim crowd, not to be confused with any other crowd. This isn't the crowd that came out to the tomb. This is the pilgrim crowd, that great, vast number of pilgrims.

7:58And these would have come from all over Israel. And many of these were Galileans, where Jesus had spent the greater part of his ministry, and was far more popular than he was in Jerusalem. Now, Josephus, writing in the middle of the first century, said that on one occasion, somewhere around 2.7 million people descended upon Jerusalem for a Passover. That's a lot of people. Some accuse Josephus as inflating his numbers, but even if he did, the message is this is a large crowd. There were some 200 and over 200,000 sacrifices during Passover during this time. So this is a lot of people.

8:54Well, that's the crowd. But notice what they heard. Look back at verse 12. Heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So notice what they heard. Notice what they heard. What did they hear? Well, they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. You remember back in verse 56, there was this question being asked: Do you think he's going to come to the feast at all? And here is their answer: Yes, he is coming to the feast. And so, when they heard this, look at verse 13. Notice what they did. Notice what they did. They took branches of the palm trees and went out to meet him. Two actions. They took palm branches, they went out to meet him. A good question to ask is: why palm branches? Palm branches were not associated with Passover. Now, they were associated with the Feast of Tabernacles, that they were to bring palm branches and rejoice before the Lord, as Leviticus 23, 40 required. But why here? Why would they go out and get palm trees or palm branches here? Now, if you survey the other Gospels, and by the way, all four Gospels record this event. And so, when you have all four Gospels speaking about a same event, you know it's very significant. There are few, few events where all four Gospel writers write about. About it. The other gospel writers make a lot to do about the coats. But John, he doesn't mention the coats, but he does identify the palm branches. And at this time in history, the palm had become somewhat of a national symbol in the hope of a national symbol of hope by the time of Christ. In fact, by the time of the Jewish wars, coins were minted with palms on them.

11:04And it is significant that at the time when Simon the Maccabee drove the Syrian forces out of Jerusalem, upon doing this, he was met with great ceremony, a lot of celebration, a lot of singing, a lot of music, a lot of shouting, and a lot of waving the palms, as it was when they rededicated the temple and had taken it away and had cleaned it up after the desecration by Antiochus. But there was this, from that moment on, palm branches became associated with nationalistic hope that the Messiah or the Messianic liberator would come in, that he would make his way in, and that he would, as Simon had driven Out the Syrian forces, that someone else would come and drive out the Roman forces.

12:09And so it's no coincidence that palms are used on Passover, celebration of Passover, or preparation for Passover, signaling this nationalistic hope that finally this Messianic Liberator has come. So they grab palm branches to honor him, but also to speak of their hope that the Messiah liberator has come. Isn't that about the way we approach God sometimes? We want God to do what we want on our terms when we want. And that's what's happening. But they were not really aware of the greater salvation that they needed, much like we, much like us today.

13:11So they, when they heard, they took palm branches. And second, they went out to meet him. They went out to engage him. Now, it's interesting that previously he had rejected their attempts to be made Messiah. You remember in John 6, 14, when they saw When the people saw the sign, that is the miracle of the loaves, they said, Truly the prophet who is to come in the world is Jesus. And perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. Well, here in this context, you have the sign of Lazarus. Okay, this is him. Now, he may have taken off up there then. Maybe that wasn't the right time, but now here he is, and he has done something beyond the unthinkable. Truly amazing, a large crowd, the sign of Lazarus, and Jesus doesn't withdraw this time. And so this motivates them. This takes them to the next level. And notice what they shouted. Verse 13, and began to shout, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. Notice three titles, Hosanna, the idea of save us, save us now, save, we pray, save now.

14:40They give him three titles: the blessed one, the one being blessed. You can think of this as the one being bathed in God's blessing, the blessed one, the one coming in the name of the Lord. Second title, the one who comes, the one who is sent, the one who. Is coming in the character and nature of the Lord, of God Himself. This is the one. And the third title, the King of Israel. Now, what John does is he takes us here, and what the crowd does, they take us to Psalm 118. I'd encourage you to put your thumb in John chapter 12. Keep it there. And turn for a moment to Psalm 118. And we're going to look at a couple verses there. But you need to get a context of what's happening. First of all, Psalm 118 is the last of a string of psalms called the Egyptian halal. So it comes at the very end. There were six psalms that were to be sung. They were to be sung at Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But their greatest significance was associated with Passover. Passover celebrated the Jewish deliverance from Egypt. And so these were pilgrim songs, songs that would have been sung on the way up, and certainly during the week, during Passover, they would have been sung some before the Passover meal and some after the Passover meal. But that's the context. You're in this series of Egyptian halal.

16:30Psalms. And then, look at Psalm 118. What is it about? Well, it starts in verse 1, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving-kindness is everlasting. And it ends with that very same statement, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving-kindness is everlasting. And then the psalmist goes through extolling and calling people to worship because of God's good and loving-kindness, that it's everlasting. And he goes through some event in his life. From my distress, verse 5, I called upon the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me in a large place. In verse 10, all nations surround me in the name of the Lord. I will surely cut them off. You see, he's in distress, surrounded by nations. And boy, what an appropriate song, right? As you're going up in the grip of Roman domination. And here, what a song.

17:32Verse 14, the Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation. Verse 15, the sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteousness of the righteous. And on. So this guy goes through some kind of stressful situation. Some think it was Moses that wrote this. And he goes through some distressful experience. And then, verse 18, the Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. So, something has gone on. Then, the psalmist experiences God's salvation. Look at verse 21: I shall give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and you have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. And so, what the psalmist does is he takes his audience, he extols them to worship God, to praise him for his covenant faithfulness. And then, the reason, the manifestation, is the salvation, the deliverance that he brought. And specifically, when you get down to verse 22, what he is calling the people to do is to be amazed at and to praise God for elevating the stone which the builders had rejected. This is the day of salvation. This is the day that the Lord had made. It was the day that he glorified the stone which had been rejected.

19:19Fascinating. Appropriate. And the psalm is loaded with messianic and Kingly hopes of Israel. And the pilgrims certainly think they know what they are doing. They are hailing Jesus as their king, the one oiled in God's blessing. And yet they completely misunderstand, number one, their true need, and they misunderstand the salvation that He brings. And what's going to happen is this generation is going to become guilty of rejecting the very stone that God will exalt. Now go back to John.

20:10Go back to John and see this one coming. They proclaim him to be the one coming, the coming one, the one oiled in God's blessing, and the king. Look at that last phrase, the king of Israel. Now that's an addition. That is not in Psalm 118. King of Israel. They are proclaiming him king of Israel. And what's interesting here is Jesus does not silence. He doesn't withdraw them, withdraw from them, and he doesn't silence them. Some of the Pharisees, same account in Luke's account. When they heard this, verse 30, they said, Teacher, rebuke your disciples.

21:07But Jesus answered and said, I tell you, if these become silent, the very stones will cry out. And this is very unusual for Jesus. This is the guy who didn't put on public display. And here he is. Let this be public. Let it be loud. And let the whole world know that the king of Israel is coming into his city. So that was the crowd. We looked at what they heard, what they did, what they shouted. Now I want to look in the next few verses, what Jesus did, Jesus' response, what he did and why he did it. Look at verse 14. Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. These things his disciples did not understand at first. But when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of him and that they had done these things to him. Well, notice what Jesus did. What did he do? So, all this praise, all this shouting, what does he do? Well, what anybody would do? You go out and find a donkey.

22:27He goes out and finds a donkey. Sat on it. Now, the other gospel writers give all the details of how this donkey was acquired and all that, but it's kind of a profound moment. It's intensely profound, intensely loaded with theological significance, but it's also a little bit comical. Go get a donkey. I'm going to go get on a donkey. You know, when you sit down and think about it, and I believe this is one of those moments that you come to in Scripture where you probably saw a smile on Jesus' face. Brought a little donkey. Donkeys are cute. We rode some this past year on the island of Santorini up a very steep hill. We rode these, and I can tell you the expressions on my kid's face, on my face, there were a lot of smiles. There were a lot of sure expressions of terror, and everything in between.

23:34And it's just, it's, and we were going up, you know, and I thought, man, there's no way I would ride one of these things down this hill. Well, guess what Jesus is doing? He's going down, according to Luke's gospel. He's descending the Mount of Olives and kind of come into that. So he's going down, and this is a donkey that's never been ridden before. Now, think about that for a while. A second. Okay? Just start getting the picture. A cute little donkey. And it's little. John says finding a young donkey, signifying the littleness of the donkey.

24:15Never been rode. And here, it must have been a very significant moment. Just getting on a little donkey. I'm sure he smiled at the little donkey. I'm sure he petted it, all that kind of stuff. Whoa, boy, you know, I'm sure that some of the people, some of his disciples, I mean, this is an interesting scene. Here's the king. I mean, this is not the mode of transport for a great dignitary, is it? Right? This is not what kings write on. I've not seen Napoleon painted on a little donkey, although he probably would have fit pretty well.

24:57But you don't see that, right? You know, you don't, we see heroes on horses and all that. And here comes a donkey. And the disciples are clear. They don't understand what's going on at first. That's what verse 16 is about. It's only after he was glorified, after his resurrection, after all that, that they remembered and they put it all together. Well, that's what he did. What John. Is interested in why he did it. And so look at why he did this. Look at verse 14. And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it as it is written: Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming seated on a donkey. There's several reasons here that I would like to draw out why I believe that he chose a donkey, and he did what he did.

26:05First of all, this is what was written about him: Zechariah 9:9. You can turn to, again, keep your thumb in John. Go to Zechariah, because that's where John takes us. This is what was written about him in Zechariah 9:9. This is how it was announced that Israel's king would come on a little donkey. And you see in here a picture that Jesus esteems Scripture. And never forget this. The Christ revealed in Scripture honors the words of Scripture. Those who disregard Scripture discard or disregard the Christ of Scripture. Those who make little of Scripture make little of the Christ that's revealed in Scripture.

27:01Christ paid attention to the little details. And this is very significant because if he honored even the smallest details at his first advent, guess what we can expect during his second advent? Careful attention to even the smallest details. Well, he loved scripture. That's why he did it. He did it, number one, because it was written about him. Why else? Did he ride on a donkey into Jerusalem? Look at Zechariah 9:9. He'll tell us. Number two, he is humble. Look at Zechariah 9:9.

27:47And again, this is given in the context that all these prophecies against these neighboring nations, there's Tyre, Sidon, Gaza, all of these are going to be cut off, the Philistines. And it's in this context that all of this prophecies against these neighboring countries, and yet there's going to be deliverance for Israel, for the daughter of Jerusalem. Verse 9: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you. He is just and endowed with salvation. Humble and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. You haven't been forgotten. Your king is coming to you, and this is how he will come. And he comes because he is humble, he is endowed with salvation, he is just, and he is humble.

28:56And this is why Jerusalem did not have to be afraid to come to him. This is why we do not have to be afraid to come to him. He's approachable. He's humble. He comes gently. And this is one of the, and this is what a picture going into Jerusalem. Talk about a picture of poise, picture of confidence, picture of humility, a picture of a man who is completely resting in God and in the Father's will. He's gentle. He's humble.

29:41Donkey is a little bit approachable, not a war machine. And by the way, he continues to use donkeys today. Got one preaching to you right now. Just plain, ordinary, humble, and yet it's through these means that God draws. He's approachable, humble. Third reason I would say why he came riding on a donkey is because it fit with his mission. He came in bringing peace. He came in peace bringing salvation. A donkey is a creature of peacetime, for sure. Jesus didn't appear as a warring general. He didn't trust in displays of military power like the horse, then, like the kings of our earth. I mean, boy, you watch the news and you see this saber rattling and muscles and tanks and armors and ships and all this stuff. That's what the kings of this earth put their confidence in, not Jesus.

30:50In fact, in Deuteronomy 17:14, God said, When I bring you into the land and you desire a king over you, you need to have the king over you that I choose. And one thing about that, he should not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses. You know what the first thing about, one of the first things that's said about Solomon, 1 Kings 4, 26? Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and 12,000 horsemen and just about the same number of wives.

31:32And Isaiah 31 says this, Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses and who trust in chariots because they are many, but they do not look to the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord. You see, Jesus didn't come to whip people into shape by military force. He came to draw people to himself by laying down his life for them. Look at these folks are ready to kill Lazarus. I mean, there is an evil in these chief priests. How does one ever come out of that? They are rampant in their hardness against God. How does anybody, how does one get away from that?

32:33Well, it takes King coming in on a donkey, humbling, that's going to go to the cross for them with all the grace and all the poise and all the strength, even for those who are in the process of destroying. He is in the process of saving. But they don't understand their true need. They do not understand the kind of salvation he brings. So a display of military might is not considered Consistent with his mission. Sure, he could have made people fearful. He could have badgered them into fearful submission, but not, such would not have produced the loving devotion like that of a Mary.

33:19And what he wants, listen, he comes humbly. You must receive him in his humility, because the moment he comes in righteousness, when he comes as the judge, you cannot accept the salvation that he gives. At that point, you're just into self-preservation. Now, he wants hearts to love him. The salvation, he wants people to trust. And this is the way he accomplishes it. In fact, if you read the very next verse in Zechariah 9, what does it say? I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the bow of war will be cut off, and he will speak peace to the nations, and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. He came to establish the dominion of God in the hearts of his people, and this is how he had to do it. And he's going to cut off all, he's going to just cut off all the horses. So he doesn't come in writing on one.

34:36You see, there's an unseen rule, dominion in this room. And he came to establish dominion in the hearts of his people. And until man is at peace with God, there will be no peace on earth. And in this sense, he comes as the prince of peace. So it would have been inconsistent to speak peace to the nations if he came subduing in power. Interesting thing about this, I'm sure that the crowd, the size of the crowd, may have alarmed the Romans, but Jesus' disposition sure didn't. I mean, think about it. A Roman looking out at his post, going, what's all going on out there? Oh, some guy on a donkey, right? He doesn't have any weapons at all.

35:39You know, the crowd may have been alarming, but certainly the Romans would not have perceived this one coming to wipe out the take Pontius Pilus to take on the legions of Rome and all that. Listen, we live in a wonderful time. This one is still going out, drawing people. To himself through the proclamation of his word. Come to him. You will find rest for your souls. A fourth reason, I believe that Jesus came in on a donkey, according to Scripture, humble, bringing peace, bringing salvation.

36:25Fourth reason, he wanted to clearly articulate who he was and claimed to be. This is that moment of decisive, punctuated exclamation, Jesus saying, I am your king. You remember in John 26, I'm sorry, John 10, we can go back to John here. Remember in John 10, 24, the Jews gathered around him and were saying to him, How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. And he tells them plainly there, but then now he really underscores it with an exclamation point. This is a public scene. He doesn't withdraw from it. He promotes it. The time had come for Jesus to clearly articulate who he was. I am Israel's king. And that is why I got on this donkey and rode down this hill, coming in.

37:30I am your king. Now you need to understand what that means. He caused all of Israel to look upon him. So here's Israel's true king. He's the one who conquers death. And here he is, humbly declaring who he is. And he is on the way to suffering and shame. He's going to go from the pinnacle of favor. He's going to know what it's like to lose favor in the eyes of the crowd. He's going to know what shame is all about. He's going to go through all of that. And here he is, poised, confident, advancing right into the middle of it all.

38:24And I believe smiling on occasions, as he did. Because what he's doing is he's accomplishing a much greater salvation in his people, in Israel, and in the nations. He's accomplishing something far greater than just some kind of political liberation. Well, it's already said the disciples didn't understand this at first. They understood it verse 16 when he was glorified. Then they remembered these things were written of him. Him. Let's turn our attention now to the Pharisees. We've looked at the crowd, what they heard, what they did, what they shouted. We looked at Jesus, what he did, and why he did it. Now I want to look at the Pharisees and want to look at what they did.

39:17John just goes right through very simply. Verse 17, so the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to testify about him. For this reason also the people went and met him because they heard that he had performed the sign. So this is the occasion for the crowd. Verse 19, so the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are not doing any good. Look at the world. It has gone after him. So they start turning at each other, right? They start looking at each other. And obviously, it's a very interesting comment they make that John records.

39:58And certainly he has access. Obviously, some had come to Christ later or certainly in on this conversation. Maybe Nicodemus, others. But the Pharisees say, look, you're not doing any good. In fact, in the modern Texas version, it goes like this. Y'all ain't doing nothing good for nobody. That's basically the thought here. Take note of this. Y'all, pay attention. Look at this. You're not helping anything. The whole world has gone after him. All of our council hasn't proved. The whole world has gone after him.

40:44And obviously, it's a hyperbole, but it spoke more than maybe they knew. Look at verse 20. Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. And John puts this little section about these Greeks in here. We'll look at it next time. And he says in verse 23, when Jesus realizes that the Greeks have come, he says, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. It was the coming of these Greeks.

41:16Jesus says, the hour has come. Because the world is not going after him, but he's going after the world. Well, what can we say? What can we conclude about Jesus? I want to just take a couple moments. We've walked through the text, and I want to conclude our time just by thinking about the nature and person of Jesus. That's who we want to see this morning. As he comes in, I just put down seven characteristics that we can draw from this. First of all, This is the nature of Israel's true king. This is who he is. This is the true king. First of all, he is bold.

42:10And boy, that's an understatement. Second, he trusts the Father's will. So can you and I. He is the blessed one. That is, he is bathed in the blessing of God. He is the one who comes in his name. He is the blessed one. He is the one sent by God. There isn't going to be another one sent to you. This is the one that was sent to you. Fifth, he is humble. He is peaceful. He is king, and he knows what's best for his people.

42:55He is king. And what a king he is. I mean, look at this guy going into Jerusalem. Conclusion. Welcome his dominion, and you will find rest for your soul. Let this one have that unseen rule in your heart. You and I don't need Our circumstances changed, so to speak. We need our spiritual life renewed. We need our guilt and shame removed. We need our love for sin to be turned. Listen, Christ is unlike any of the kings of the earth.

44:00Israel didn't welcome him. They didn't understand him. Most people today will not welcome his rule. It's because he does not fit our notion of a king. Israel wanted a king to give them a political change. And often we want a God to give us circumstantial conquest, right? We want a deity who will step into our world and change our circumstances as we dictate. And that's the whole pagan concept of God. But the true God, Israel's true king, the one bathed in the blessing of God, says we need the salvation that he brings. And the only way you get that salvation and rest in that salvation is to welcome his reign in your heart. And you should. It's wise to do so. He's bold.

45:01He's peaceful. He's humble. He trusts the Father's will. He is blessed. He is sent. And he knows what you need. So welcome His dominion. Welcome His reign in your heart. Let's pray. Lord, indeed, there are so many instances and evidences in our lives where we can point to, even as we sit here today, we are well aware of the many times we do not welcome your reign. Father, there are some in this room that have never welcomed your reign. And I pray for them this morning that today they would see you for who you are, advancing to them in truth through the proclaimed word, desiring a relationship with them. There's no need to be afraid to turn away or to defend our sin, hold on to it. Father, for you are good, and the one you sent, blessed by you, is good.

46:16And he has come in your name. Father, help us to truly receive his dominion. Help us to love his dominion. Help us to rest. Even if we don't fully understand, help us to rest, especially when we don't fully understand. Help us to rest in his dominion, for we know it is good.