Triumphal Entry

When I'm sharing the gospel, there are two questions I always make sure I ask, because I want to hear what they have to say about these two subjects before I tell them what I think the Bible says about these two subjects. The first question is, what do you think about God? What do you believe about God? Do you believe he exists and tell me who he is? The second question is getting more focused. Can you tell me what the gospel is? What is the gospel of Jesus Christ? Now, this one sumps them a little bit more. There's some technical language there. The word gospel. Most people don't know it. It just simply means it's the good news. And the real trick is oftentimes when I've asked some folks, they're really struggling to put together the entire story of Jesus Christ. And what I've figured out of the confusion is they're trying to tell me what the four gospels say about Jesus Christ. When I ask, what is the gospel? I'm I'm asking, what is the most general basic truth of the gospel? What who Jesus Christ is and what he came to do that we can gather from those four gospels? And so when they try to answer me, what is the gospel from trying to summarize and harmonize those four? Well, that always leads to an interesting answer. We're looking at this morning, the gospel from the Gospel of John. There are four gospel accounts of Jesus' life. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. There are four different men that were assigned by God the great task of recording who Jesus was and what he did in his earthly ministry. Each gospel writer was used by God. They weren't robots. They weren't just scribes. They were carried along by God using their personalities, their grammar, their education and their background. God used them, not merely their hand, but carried each one to write exactly what he wanted them to write, but with in their own way. That's why all the gospels have different information. They say things with different words and in different ways. They're all very similar, but it's the one true gospel they're talking about. So we're talking about the gospels, there's four. And they're unified. They don't contradict one another. They're the reliable word of God. Talking about the gospel, we really could memorize that very easily with the gospel song we often sing. Holy God. And love became perfect man to bear my blame. On the cross, he took my sin. By his death, I live again. That is the gospel truth. That's the gospel truth we should memorize in that song and sing it to ourselves regularly so we remember who we are because of what Christ has done. This morning, we're going to look at a particular account. And the reason I bring up the four different Gospels, it's one of the few events beyond the cross and the resurrection that's recorded in all four Gospels. We're looking at the triumphal entry. So obviously, it's a very important event. And each one emphasizes something particular. Each one includes something the others do not. You can find the other accounts in Matthew 21, Mark 11, and Luke 19. I encourage you, this is numerous scholars, numerous Christians have tried to put together a harmonization of the Gospels and this is a very important key because this is where you see all of them recording the same event to help you organize the other events they do not share. What we know is that This is the true and reliable God. There are four different accounts, but they're not different in the sense that they say something, the others that contradict one another. It's the different angles, perspectives on the truth. Let's look to the Gospel of John, where we've been in the last few weeks is John chapter 11 and John chapter 12. Those can be found on page 898. If you're using a pew Bible, you can take that with you if you like. Jesus has raised a man from the dead. And this is called quite the stir. This is the last and final sign of Jesus Christ before he'll go up to Jerusalem for a final time to die. The final sign leads people to respond in different ways. There's two basic ways. They either believe in Jesus or they try to get rid of Jesus. They either believe in Jesus, that he's the son of God, the one who comes to bring life, or they decide they've got to kill him. They have to get rid of him. After Jesus performed that miracle, the leaders, the chief priests, the Pharisees, they all came together and they decided this one man must die for the sake of the many in the nation. His life has been in danger. He's been in the wilderness. It's amazing how he continues to confront authorities over and over again. John's been building this up. He went in and he cleaned out the temple in the first year of his public ministry. He healed a blind man on the Sabbath. He healed a paralytic. Now he has the audacity to raise the dead to new life. Here with his arrest warrant public, his death imminent, he comes to Jerusalem. And the thing about Jerusalem at this time, we have to keep in mind two things are happening. One, this is the hornet's nest of danger for Jesus Christ. The people who want to kill him, their headquarters, their authority, it's in Jerusalem. So he's walking right into danger. Second thing that's happening in Jerusalem is the Passover feast. The Passover celebration where they're remembering how God gave them the sign that a lamb must die. The blood we put over your doorpost. He will redeem you. He will deliver you from slavery. That Passover feast, remembering God's deliverance from slavery in Egypt. That's taking place at this time. And these two coincide because those who want to kill him, they will kill him because he's the lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. This morning, we'll see him triumphantly entering into Jerusalem to be slain. Our message this morning is this. Jesus is the humble king who came to bring peace. Jesus is the humble king who came to bring peace. Our text this morning is John 12 beginning in Verse 12. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, 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, when 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 had 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. Will you pray with me? Father, help us to see the glory of the King this morning. Remove all distractions. Remove what we're worried about doing later today. What we did yesterday. Remove all distractions of our sin. That wants to tempt us to think about anything but you. Help us to see the glory of Jesus Christ this morning. Help us to cry out, Hosanna! Blessed is Jesus Christ because he has come in the name of God. And He is our King. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. The first thing we see in our passage in verses 12-15, Jesus is praised as a King. Notice here the large crowd. They come. The feast is taking place. He's coming into Jerusalem into the very hornet's nest where the Passover is taking place. And they begin to take palm branches. Now this is a very significant symbol. This isn't a biblical symbol. The palm branches represented the nation of Israel. This has become a very strong national symbol since the days of the Maccabees. The Maccabees are those who threw off foreign rule. And so they represented Israel, the nation. And so you can see there's a nationalistic hope here. There's a desire and hope for the nation of Israel. See, God had made promises to a people that at this time were a physical nation. I believe the Jews must be thinking here, he's going to come and he's going to throw off the Roman rule. He would come and he would rule with righteousness. He would come to establish peace and prosperity. He would come and no longer let a tyrant rule over them. Notice the strong national hope of the crowd that I assume here because of the branches and the context of what the Pharisees and chief priests have said. They think he's coming to overthrow the rule. So what are they saying? Hosanna. Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We can go back to Psalm 118. This is one of the many psalms that they would have been singing during this time of the Passover. Listen to how it begins. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let Israel say his steadfast love endures forever. Let the house of Aaron say with a steadfast love that his steadfast love endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say his steadfast love endures forever. Our particular section. Save us, we pray, O Lord. O Lord, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is good, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords up to the horn of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God. I will extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Verse 25, the psalmist begins, Save us, we pray. That's what Hosanna means. Give us salvation. Save us. Rescue us. Save us now, where salvation is here. And that will become a way of praising. Hosanna! It's a declaration of praise, and as they see Jesus, they're saying, salvation is here. What does it mean that He comes in the name of the Lord? Well, in Psalm 118, the way they would sing this every year, it was referring to everyone coming up to praise the Lord. It referred to every Israelite that was on the way to the Passover feast who was coming in the name of the Lord. Notice here, They're not just referring to all those who are participating in worship. They've applied it uniquely and specifically to Jesus Christ. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He is especially anointed. He represents God. God is with him. God has sent him. Again, the first half of the book was establishing Jesus has been sent by the Father. He's the son of God who has come to take away the sins of the world. It becomes very clear where they add, blessed is he who comes in the Lord. He is even the king. They see Jesus as the one king they've been waiting upon. They've been waiting upon years of promises to be fulfilled where God gave Adam a promise and they were waiting to see which seed would overthrow the curse of sin and death. They waited for the seed from Abraham that was promised and the seed of David. And now we see how all that has been fulfilled. in this one King, Jesus Christ. They're praising Him as the King. I'm not sure if it's the kind of King they're expecting. I'm not sure if Jesus is going to do what they really expect. But one thing is clear that God, six days before He will die and rise again, that the cross event, the resurrection event, He has people making the proper declaration that He is the King He has come to save. Now what kind of king Jesus is, we actually see much more clearly in verses 14 and 15. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, to fulfill the scripture. Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. Now, Jesus has said in chapter 10, I'm the good shepherd. That's king language. He is declaring I'm the good king, but declaring he's the good the good shepherd. He has made it very clear he has the power to rule. He has the power to raise the dead. His purpose is clear to to care for his sheep, to love them, to lay down his life for them. Jesus comes and he's here establishing I am the king. He's coming on a donkey. Now, oftentimes, a king in times of war, they would come in on a horse to show, I'm coming to judge. I'm coming to exercise my right hand of authority to rule you with power. But in times of peace, a king would come riding on a donkey. We see him here ruling with righteousness and wisdom and mercy. He's fulfilling Zechariah 9.9, the passage we open our worship with. Fear not, daughter Zion. Your king is coming riding on a donkey's colt. What's the significance of the donkey? It points to peace and humility. It points to peace and humility. If you're a king and you're wanting to make a grand entrance, what's your choice of vehicle? Is it a Escort? Or is it a Maserati? Is it a big Hummer or is it a little truck? If you're wanting to make a big entrance, you're going to try to find the automobile, the vehicle that's going to show glory. Not Jesus. He's coming humbly. He's coming with a specific purpose. It's amazing. He doesn't come with a beautiful, powerful horse. He comes with a lowly donkey. There's no glory. It's a beast of burden, an animal used for service, which is perfect for what Jesus came to do. He came to serve, not to be served. What we see here is Jesus came in the most unexpected way to be the unexpected king, to defeat what is sadly the unexpected enemy. He came humble and low. He came to defeat sin and death. And how he does that is so significant. He defeats death by dying. He's the king who comes to rule by stretching out his own neck and dying for his people. You see, the enemy that Israel needed to worry about was not Rome and its political and military power. The enemy they needed to worry about was the wrath of God. They were under judgment. We were created to have God as our friend. He created us to have rest with Him, to be at peace with Him. But we have refused that. We rebelled against Him. We broke the peace. And here Christ is coming back to re-establish that peace. And He brings about that peace by being crushed for our sin. For dying for our iniquity. He's going to be crowned. But it's not a crown of thorns. To mock Him because He lowered Himself and humbled Himself. It's going to be a painful crown. He'll even be declared the king of the Jews, but this is by Pontius Pilate, not his own people. And again, mockery. We have to realize he came and was crushed to reestablish God's rule. Because the first thing he had to do was take away our guilt. Friends, that's why we have the cup and bread before you here. This is why we regularly celebrate the Lord's Supper. It's because we have to constantly remember and celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. We usually don't celebrate death, but here we have to celebrate His death because it's the only hope we have. If it were not for His death, we would still be counted guilty. If it were not for His death, we would still be under the wrath of God. But Jesus, the King, He came to die for us. To free us. To forgive us. We do this regularly to remember what he did. We also do it regularly to remember what he's going to do. The first time Christ came, he finished his work by riding in on a donkey. The next time he comes, he will come on a mighty war horse. Listen to Revelation 19. Then I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire. And on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood. And the name by which he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God, the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings. Lord of Lords, He will come and conquer all the enemies of God. This is what we're expecting. If you're a Christian, and you're taking the Lord's Supper, you're remembering what He did, but you are also expectant. You're longing for the day that that trumpet sounds, the angels rejoice, and Christ comes back and conquers all sin. Because we're counted righteous now, but then we'll be made righteous. Sin will no longer hinder our worship. We're supposed to be expected when He will conquer sin once and for all. Finally, it'll be done. Believers, we must look forward to this day. If you are loving this world, you're not longing for heaven and being expectant. If you're not a Christian, this day will come and it's a day of terror. The day of the Lord. The day of judgment. You'll be held accountable for your sins of defiance and indifference. For those who have not believed, When we're observing the Lord's Supper, let the cup pass. Let the cup pass and watch it pass, because as you see it, you see you're out of the covenant of Jesus Christ. See, when Christ prayed before He was betrayed, He asked the Father, Father, if there's any way, let this cup He passed from me. And what He was referring to was the cup of His wrath that He was about to drink for all of us because Jesus Christ was sinless. He deserved no wrath. But the cup He drank was the wrath we deserved. And by drinking that cup, by taking God's wrath on us, we now drink His cup. We drink of His blood because it was poured out for our sins. But if you're not a Christian this morning, If you haven't believed in Jesus Christ, Christ's cup is not your cup. The cup of God's wrath is your cup. You have to realize the weight of your sin before God. A holy and righteous God must punish every sin and every sinner. It is weighty. And as the cup passes, realizes the cup of grace. It's not yours yet because you've not believed. The cup of God's wrath is yours. Faith in Christ is your only hope. Believe in Him. As the cup passes, realize that His death does not benefit you. As the cup passes, realize and recognize the wrath of God is upon you. As the cup passes, know that unless you believe, you will suffer the wrath of God for your sin. As we look to verse 16, Jesus, His glorious King, is not recognized. 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. They saw the donkey. They saw the crowds. They heard the praise. In John 2, it actually says something very similar. He cleaned out the temple, but it wasn't until Jesus was raised that they actually understood what He was doing. Here it says it's not until they saw His glory. His resurrection is glory. That's the same thing. It wasn't until they saw Jesus in His glory that they really understood what He was doing. Now, I think there's a warning here for us. There's a way of being with Jesus, to know Him, to follow Him, to even obey His commandments, and not quite get it. The question that I would put before you, do you see Jesus in His glory? Do you simply have a casual relationship with Him where you know something about Jesus, or have you seen Him in His glory? Last week we saw Judas And he was with Jesus. And Judas only had a casual relationship with Jesus. And Judas suffered for his sins. He was contrasted with Mary, who had excessive worship, which really is there's no such thing as excessive worship with Jesus. We see here there's those who know Jesus casually and those who know him truly. It's those who worship him in his glory that know him truly. There are three responses to this king in verses 17 through 19. 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 him was that they heard he had done this son. So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. The first is the crowd. They've heard what he's done. They've seen the testimony. They must say what Jesus has done. When they've witnessed, they must testify. The second one is really the most fascinating. Verse 19. We're just going to focus in here as we conclude. The Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Remember, just a few chapters later, what are we to do if he continues with these miracles? The whole world will go after him. Everyone will believe in Him. They're complaining again. We've gained nothing. In this fight against Jesus, we haven't gained anything. He's only growing in more popularity. Again, their fear is that Rome is going to hear that there's a new king in Israel. They're going to come and remove them and crush Israel. The Pharisees couldn't recognize what was happening. The chief priests couldn't understand what was happening. But again, John has them recording something that they don't really understand the depth of the truth of what they're saying. Look, the world has gone after him. The world in John represents every kind of sinner, all the different kinds of sinners, the different races, the different tribes, the different nations. Here, the Pharisees are saying this. And look how John concludes or follows up this story. Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Poseidon, in Galilee, and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Listen to Jesus' answer. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now, if you've been with us, many people have tried to kill Jesus and arrest Him. And every time, John's made it clear, His hour had not yet come. Here, Jesus, the Jewish King, God's promised Son, God's promised Savior, to this particular people, they're rejecting Him. The leaders are rejecting Him. But the Greeks, they want to come see him. And this is when Jesus knows that that hour that has been delaying, that hour that has been coming, it is now. This is the appointed time. We see the sovereignty of God's plan. It's a sad irony. The Pharisees and priests, they should have seen him. They should have known who he was. But we see the beauty of the gospel. God is reconciling every kind of sinner who will believe in Him, who will be humble to repent. Two brief applications. First, Jesus is the King worthy of worship. He's our Creator. We were created to know Him and worship Him. He's God Almighty who came down. He's God who loved us while we were still sinners. He's a God who's been merciful along suffering. He's the God who died to give us life. Jesus is to be worshipped. Not just now, in this hour. All day, every day. Not just at church, but in your home, in your work, on your vacation, in your recreation. All of life is meant to be worshipped. He is always God. If you're a Christian, he's always your savior and he's always your king, and therefore he is always to be worshiped. Secondly, we follow him in humility. This is the true mark of a Christian disciple. Humility. And humility isn't thinking little of yourself necessarily. Because Jesus is the model of humility and he just said that a year's wages of perfume should be spent to worship him. Jesus doesn't think less of himself. He's God. That would be sinful. He knows who he is. So humility as defined by the gospel of Jesus Christ is thinking more of others than yourself. And the chief person you're supposed to be thinking more of is Jesus Christ. Now the problem is we think ourselves to be God. And we're not. We must recognize that we are sinners and we need Christ and we need to think much of him. As we look to the Lord's Supper, this is a way that we worship. This is the way we worship him, our head. This is the way we worship his body. There's a lot of debate throughout the church history is, Is the Lord's Supper, is it just a memorial? Is it just merely a piece of bread and a cup of juice that just reminds us, or is there a spiritual element, or is there an actual physical presence of Jesus Christ? I think that's, there's interesting questions, but there's no question it's a spiritual practice. Because it's for the church who comes together as individual Christians, as the one body under the head. And we're all filled with the Holy Spirit and we're all taking it together as brothers and sisters. That's what makes it so special. That's what makes it a spiritual meal, a spiritual taste of what's going to happen in heaven. That we're all coming together, having been filled with the Spirit to worship Him, the King. Will you pray with me? Our great King, forgive us for not worshipping you as we ought. We thank you that we can see your glory and the power and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Change our hearts now. Help us as we respond in song. Help us as we respond meditating upon your death in the Lord's Supper. Help us to recognize who we are in You. And if there's anyone here, Lord, who does not know You, who is not Yours, convict them. Cut them to the heart as that cup passes, as the bread passes, that they're not with You unless they believe in Jesus Christ. Help their unbelief, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.