Faces In The Crowd Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Today we are going to rewind of Bible DVR’s for a final time. Today we rewind back to the beginning of what is called the Passion Week to the Triumphal Entry.

• For Jesus this is the beginning of the end of His ministry on earth.

• In John 12:1, it is Friday evening and Jesus is in Bethany, this is where Mary washed Jesus feet with expensive perfume.

• This is the place where the religious leaders are ramping up their plans to kill Jesus, they were also planning on killing Lazarus because since the raising of Lazarus John 12:11 tells us that many of the Jews were going away and now believing in Jesus.

• That is kind of funny, what would killing Lazarus do to stop the raising him from the dead story?

• Now on Sunday, the week before the resurrection we reach a high point for Jesus. The crowds were building they were excited to see Jesus. He is going to get the ROCK STAR treatment.

• The nation was looking for the Messiah; the one they thought would release them from the tyranny of Rome.

• It was going to take a powerful person to do this and since the raising of Lazarus from the dead, more and more people gravitated toward Jesus because people felt He had the power to defeat Rome.

• As we peer into the event of the Triumphal Entry I want us to take some time to focus on the faces in the crowd. This crowd that is offering adoration to Jesus will most likely be the same crowd that in just a few days will be crying out for His crucifixion.

• I want us to look at the motivation for the different segments of the crowd had for being at this great event.

• As we peer into the hearts of those faces in the crowd, I pray that we will always check our hearts to see that we are motivated to be with Jesus for the right reasons also.

• Let us look at our first group of faces in the crowd by starting in verses 12-16

• SLIDE #2

• John 12:12–16 (ESV) 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 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.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. Some came to worship the King.

• As this scene unfolds the crowd is gathering and the crowd is quite large.

• During the Passover time, the crowds in Jerusalem were phenomenally large. The Jewish historian Josephus estimated crowds of over 2.7 million people in Jerusalem during the Passover time.

• They were excited at the prospect of Jesus coming.

• When the people saw Jesus coming down the path, they took branches of palm trees and according to Mark 11:8 they also laid their robes on the road for Jesus.

• The folks who did this were there to worship the King.

• These faces in the crowd recognized that Jesus was something special.

• When the crowd was crying out HOSANNA, they were not offering up a salutation, they were sending a message!

• This phrase was more of a statement of praise and joy over the presence of Jesus.

• The word HOSANNA means “O SAVE US”.

• As I stated earlier, the Jews people were longing for the one who would deliver from the hands of the enemy. Jesus is looking like the one who could do it.

• What about yourself today. When you were a face in the crowd, were you looking to Jesus to deliver you from something bad in your life?

• Do you look to Jesus as the one who has the power to deliver you from the oppression you are or were facing?

• We know these faces in the crowd were there to worship because not only were they crying out to Jesus to save them, they added Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!

• These folks were acknowledging that Jesus was sent from God. The Jews at this point are thinking they are looking at the long awaited Messiah.