Palm Sunday John 12: 12- 23
Poor old granny was getting on in age and she decided that she had enough of the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping but she still want ed to do something for her family. So, rather than buy her kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews a bunch of presents, she came to the conclusion that the best way to handle all this hassle was just to send them all a check for fifty dollars and a card.
So, she addressed all the envelopes, signed all the cards and put them all in the mailbox and then she felt quite satisfied that all her obligations were completed. The problem was, granny was also getting a little bit forgetful and not only did she forget to put the checks in the envelopes but she had also written the cards, “Go get your own presents.” (And I’m sure we can imagine the joy of all those happy relatives as they had the opportunity to realize afresh that Christmas is all about the gift and not the gifts.)
I read a book a few years ago that was written by Robert Fulgrum who been a pastor and then became a writer. In one of his books he describes a wedding that took place at his church and he says:
“When the happy couple came home to announce their engagement the mother of the bride became completely unhinged with joy and then proceeded to drive everybody nuts. Her daughter was getting married and it would be done so that no one would ever forget it. Since she was paying all the bills, everyone was content to let her do her own thing. And it took seven months to plan. (Now remember, this is a true story.) There were teas, showers and dinners and she met weekly with both the minister and the caterer. She hired an eighteen piece orchestra and then she registered the bride’s gift lists in six different states. The bridesmaids dresses were made to order and the tuxes for the groom and his men were all bought they weren’t rented. Even the engagement ring that the groom had picked out was returned to the store and exchanged for one with a larger stone. (And of course, this was subsidized by her.) There was absolutely nothing left to chance and I mean nothing.
And as the big day came, the packed church watched as the mother of the bride coasted down the aisle and took her seat with absolute satisfaction. Then the orchestra played as the nine bridesmaids glided down the aisle to join the men at the front. Then came the little girls throwing rose petals and they were followed by two little ring bearers, one for each ring.
And then the moment everyone waited for, as the sound of, “Here comes the bride” began. Now, needless to say, the bride had been dressed for hours and during the long wait in the reception hall of the church she was hungry, so she snacked on a few mints, some mixed nuts, a bit of sausage, a couple of shrimp and some liver pate on a cracker. And as she walked down the aisle as beautiful as she looked everyone noticed how white her face was, but what they didn’t know was how she felt. And as soon as she got to the front of the church, they all found out. She threw up, all over the front of the church, hitting the groom, two bridesmaids, a ring bearer and the minister. Then the bride fainted, her mother fainted and pandemonium broke out, all of which was recorded on the video cameras. And there was only two people smiling and they were the mother of the groom and the father of the bride.
After everyone was revived and cleaned up and they all went to the reception hall where the vows were exchanged in a simple way, because that was what they came to do in the first place.”
You see, the event itself was almost crushed by the details that accompanied it. And I’m afraid that so often we can complicate the message of the gospel by the traditions and the amount of organization that have grown up around it to the point that people see all the extras and miss the message. And that’s why we always hear, “Oh, you Baptists don’t do this and this and this.” Rather than, “Oh, you Baptists believe and live the word of God.”
Listen, we have to make our message clear. Christianity is not church buildings, committees and promotions, it’s not Sunday school, choirs or music and it’s not singing, preaching or going to meetings. Christianity is each one of us individually experiencing and knowing the love of God personally as we have understood that the blood of Jesus Christ was spilled on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty for our sins. And we can benefit from all this other stuff but only if we’ve come to know the Lord.
Last week we looked at the passage that dealt with Mary’s anointing the Lord with what I described was the very expensive and fragrant ointment which is a liquid perfume. It’s also called nard in the New Testament. (Let me just show a bottle and give you an idea of what twelve ounces would look like. Now, that’s a lot of perfume. And as I said she poured this all over Jesus and remember when I said there was a variance between the gospel writers and some would claim she poured it on His head but John said she poured it on His feet and I concluded that they were both right and depending where you were sitting around the table, one could see only see her anointing His head and the other the anointing of His feet. And think about this, since He was crucified two days later, the people who were in charge of both the crucifixion and torture could probably still smell this perfume.) And as I said, this was worth anywhere from 10-20 thousand dollars. (Sherman, reach into your pocket and show the people how much money that is.)
And after she did this we saw how Jesus rebuked both Judas and the other disciples as He pointed out three things about her sacrificial act. First, He said; it was intentional and not impetuous. John 12:7 says, “She hath kept this.” In other words, this was something she had intended to do for a while so it wasn’t a spur of the moment action. And then second, Jesus said there was a purpose in her doing this. He said she did this to anoint His body for burial. After all, He told them time and time again that He was going to die but she seemed to be the only one who was ever heard and understood what He was talking about. And then third, Jesus said her gift would be remembered all over the world until the end of time. It says, “Wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world this shall be spoken of as a memorial of her.” And that’s high praise when you realize who was saying it. And of course we all know it’s true because we have a record of it in our Bibles.
So, Mary poured out this really expensive perfume on Jesus and then the charge was led by Judas and repeated by the other disciples that she was wasting this awesome sum of money that should have been used for the needs of the poor.
Now listen, this is always the indictment of non-believers against believers. I mean, a guy can spend half his paycheck in the tavern and if anyone says anything about it, he’ll say, “It’s my business what I do with my money.” Or a couple can spend every penny they have fixing up a house they can hardly afford to live in, but nobody would ever say anything because that’s their business and they can do what ever they want with whatever they have. And then a lot of people might spend a year’s wages on a vehicle but as they say, you have to get around, so why not go in style. And no one would never think of criticizing someone else’s choice of a car. But, let these same people hear that a Christian gives 10% of their income to the Lord’s work and they’ll say, “Now, that’s fanaticism. Those are people who have simply gone too far. They’re wasting money on buildings rather than giving it to the poor.” You see, the bottom line is; the Judases of this world can never understand how a believer can be extravagant in their love for the Lord work rather than being extravagant to themselves.
Personally, I think it was a good thing that Mary’s offering of this perfume was an individual act of sacrifice because if someone did this in a church and tried to submit the bill to the finance committee they might just have to answer a few questions before they got a refund.
Listen, I wonder if after Jesus died, if the disciples didn’t think about Mary’s pouring out this perfume and then see it in a different light. After all, the death of someone we love has a tendency to make us aware of how much they meant to us. You know, when someone we love dies we often think, “I wish I could go back and tell them how much I loved them.” But, we realize we can’t, so we tend to go out and spend more money on a funeral than we would ever even thought of spending on them when they were alive. Did you know that the cheapest funeral is a little over $5,000 but the average person spends closer to $8,000. (Of course, I say that’s why a few of us are hanging on as long as we can. We’re saving up to die.)
I wrote a song one time called, “The happy song of death.” And the chorus goes, “Don’t go buying me a headstone come the day I die. I don’t need no grave marker to show my friends where I lie. Don’t go buying me flowers, I never liked them anyhow. But if you feel bad and want to make me glad, you can send me a check right now.”
So, I say, rather than spending all that money on a funeral for someone you love, why don’t you buy them a new chesterfield, a T.V. or something they can enjoy, while they’re still able to sit up and notice. And rather than standing over the casket and saying I love you to a dead body why not say it when they can still hear you and hopefully respond in kind. And rather than feeling guilty about what you didn’t do for the dead, why don’t you do it while they’re still living. And rather than feeling bad about all the people who have already died, why don’t you spend your time showing the people who are still alive that they really do matter to you.
And so when Mary lavished this gift on Jesus she did it for Him and not for the rest of them and, personally, I don’t think she even cared what they thought. But, when she poured out this perfume Judas didn’t see her gift as an act of worship and he certainly didn’t consider her feelings as he criticized and rebuked her and neither did he think that he was saying that Jesus wasn’t worthy of this gift but all he could see and think about was the money and as far as he was concerned, she had gone too far.
And I love his excuse for rebuking her because I’ve heard it said in every church I’ve ever been in, when he said, “Think of all the poor people that could have benefited from this waste.” It seems like the only time these people are ever concerned about poor people is when money is spent and they disagree with it. And so they say, here’s what we could have done with that money or here’s what we should have done with that money but what they suggest is usually something that no one ever had any intention of doing in the first place.
It’s like politicians, in every election they claim they’re going to spend all their time fighting for the poor and if they get elected the poor really have to fight to get their attention. I remember the first time I ran for council, I said, “If elected every penny I earn is going to a poor family in Middle Sackville, of which I am the head.” Hey, it worked!
And when you think about it, if Judas was so concerned about the poor people then why was he sitting at this rich man’s table enjoying a luxurious dinner.
I heard a story about a guy in a Baptist church who blew up at one of the trustee’s and he said, “I just found five brooms in the downstairs closet. Is this how this church takes care of the Lord’s money?” Later that day the trustee was talking to the finance chairman and told him how upset this guy had been about money being wasted in the area of cleaning supplies. And the finance chairman said, “Well, you’d be upset too, if you saw that all the money you gave in the last year was spent on five brooms.” I think it’s a rule that those who give the least will always complain the most.
There’s a tremendous contrast between Mary and Judas. She was very generous and self-sacrificing but he was extremely selfish and ungrateful. She expressed her feelings through a costly gift but he expressed himself through cheap sarcasm. She took the low place of a servant but he exalted himself to the place of the critic. She gave what she gave because she loved the Lord and he said what he said because he loved himself. She was a giver but he was a thief. And she was remembered for her loyalty but the only thing we think of when we hear his name was his betrayal.
But, listen, Judas is a fascinating person from the standpoint that we simply can’t understand him. I mean, he was with Jesus right from the beginning of His ministry. He had been baptized by immersion, had heard all of Jesus’ teaching, saw all the miracles and while he was preaching he may have even performed a few of them himself. He endured the opposition of the Pharisees, the ridicule of his friends and to the degree that the disciples gave up any worldly comforts he had done the same.
I mean, just think about it. Judas had lived in the presence of the Son of God for about three and a half years and he saw Jesus raise the dead, walk on water, create food for thousands, heal lepers, give sight to blind people and straighten out cripples, he saw demons cast out of people whose minds and bodies were destroyed and then restored and a thousand other unexplainable events. But, in spite of all he saw and heard, he was never born again.
And in the end it seems like he was motivated by thirty pieces of silver. In I Timothy 6:10 Paul writes, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Listen, this tells us much more than it says. You see, we can love money without ever even having any but we can also have a lot of money without ever loving it. Judas loved money and it drove him straight into hell itself.
Let’s move on then, to the second part of this chapter. And there are three things that happen here and none of them seem to be related but let’s see if we can string them all together.
It says, “On the next day” and that means the day after this dinner and Mary’s anointing of Jesus and it says on the next day that much people were come to the feast. At one time, a census was taken of the number of lamb’s that were killed for the offerings and the total came to around 256,000 lambs. So, based on a lamb being offered for every ten people that means that somewhere around 2.7 million people would have been attending the Passover and they weren’t all from Israel but from where ever Jewish people were living.
Even today, when Jewish people gather in their synagogues for Passover services a common expression at the end of the service is, “Next year in Jerusalem.” And so all those who could be there were present at the Passover celebrations.
We have an indication of where all these people were from in the book of Acts, where we are told that when the disciples first spoke in tongues there were Jews from sixteen different language groups that heard and understood what was being said by those who spoke in tongues. And that tells us that all these people were of Jewish descent but they were living outside of Israel.
And here it says that all these people took palm branches and went to the side of the road to meet and greet the Lord and they cried, “Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
I Now, the first question I want to ask and answer is, why were they waving palms branches?
History tells us that palm branches were first waved in Jerusalem about 165 years before this and the purpose of this waving of the branches was to celebrate the victory of the Jews over their Syrian enemies. And so it was understood that the palm branches were a symbol of strength, beauty, joy and salvation and waving them was a way to recognize a victorious king.
And so what we are seeing here is that these people are calling Jesus the Messiah and they’re saying hosanna which is the same as saying, save us now. And so what they’re doing by calling Him Messiah is recognizing Jesus as the king of Israel and they’re asking Him to save them from their enemies. In other words they are looking for a political or military leader but listen, they not looking for a spiritual one.
And in a sense we might think this was a real time of joy and recognition for who Jesus is but that’s not what’s happening at all because as we read the other gospels we find that this wasn’t a welcoming committee from the city of Jerusalem but this particular group of people were all outsiders. They were many of the crowd that had come for the Passover celebrations. As a matter of fact, if you read Matthew’s account you’ll find where it says that the whole population of the city was stirred or agitated when they saw all this happening and the people of Jerusalem asked these people, “Who is this?” And the crowd had to inform them that this was Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth.
And then if you look in verse 16 it says that even the disciples didn’t have a clue as to what was happening there and later they understood what had happened after Jesus had been glorified. Now, we don’t want to be too hard on them because remember when the people tried to crown Jesus king and He would have nothing to do with them and yet here He rides into town like a king seeking peace and He’s accepting their praise.
I think everyone had a sense that this was an exciting time in Israel’s history. And there’s no doubt that this crowd had heard about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead and many of them were anxious just to see whoever it was that had performed this great miracle. And even the Pharisees who had planned to wait until after the feast to do anything about Jesus realized that things were really getting out of hand and they said, “The whole world has gone after Him.” And I believe that’s why they decided that they had better act sooner rather than later. And the interesting thing is that they weren’t really changing anything but they were simply fulfilling the plan of God.
If you look back in Matthew 26:2 you’ll see that Jesus was very specific about the timing of His death when He said, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of Man is betrayed to be crucified.” So, He knew exactly what was going to happen and when but the Pharisees on the other hand said His death wasn’t going to happen on a feast day and yet Jesus already knew the appointed hour.
And this was an appointed hour that couldn’t be changed by anyone even though some tried. Remember when Herod tried to kill Jesus when He was just a baby. And then according to John 5:18 the Jews wanted to kill Him early in His ministry for what they considered was His breaking of their Sabbath laws. And then in Luke 4 the people in His hometown of Nazareth didn’t like it when He reminded them of several instances where God chose to bless the Gentiles rather than the Jews and they tried to throw Him off a cliff but it says He just walked right through the midst of the crowd. So, we have all these accounts and probably others had happened that weren’t recorded but none of them were successful for the simple reason that it wasn’t His time to die.
Jesus would go ‘in His time’ and He would also go in His way. Remember what He said in Luke 22:22, “The Son of Man is going as it has been determined.” And then in John 10:18 when Jesus was speaking about His life said, “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
And so, the Pharisees said, “Not on a feast day” but the feast was only two days away and it would last for six days so they were saying we’ll do it in eight days but God was determined that His Son would be the Passover lamb and that would happen in two days and since Judas came to the Pharisees right out of the blue that’s exactly what happened.
And so, in two days Jesus would be crucified and the interesting thing is; this is the fourth time Jesus that had told his disciples about His death. And the purpose of His telling them was to prepare them so they could see his death as part of God’s plan of redemption rather than see it as an assassination that took everybody by surprise.
And the reason the Pharisees and their crowd were so concerned about Jesus not dying on a feast day had nothing to do with their religious convictions about the feast but they were concerned about all the people who had come for the Passover because there were quite a few who were from the area of Galilee where much of Jesus’ ministry had taken place and they were concerned that this hometown crowd might be loyal to one of their own.
They also knew that they couldn’t kill Jesus themselves but they would need the help of the Romans and they were afraid that if the Jews saw the crucifixion of Jesus as an attack on Judaism that a riot could break out and the mob that might revolt against Rome could just as easily turn on the leadership of Israel if they knew they were involved. And as we’ll see later on, Judas’ betrayal combined with the false accusations of other Jews would cause the people to think that they were somehow purifying Judaism by killing Jesus.
But, the palms were a symbol of who they thought He was or who they thought He might become. And if nothing else, they show us that they were ready to accept Jesus but only if He did the things they wanted Him to do.
II And then we see Him riding a donkey and we wonder what was the significance of the donkey?
And the first thing you have to realize is that donkey’s were a common animal for royalty to ride. We see them being used as pack animals or for transportation for children in poorer countries today but back then they were ridden by royalty.
One commentator said that it’s possible that there was such a large crowd that Jesus knew His voice wouldn’t reach so many people so He did something they could all see and understand when He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. And keep in mind that He was actually doing two things here. First, He was fulfilling the words of Zechariah 9:9 who said, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem, Lo your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt the foal of an ass.” So, Jesus was actually fulfilling prophecy and second, this was a claim to be a particular kind of Messiah because back then a horse was ridden in times of war but when a king came riding on a donkey it signified that he had peace on his mind. And when Jesus was entering Jerusalem it was the peace of God that He was offering.
And one more thing we have to notice here and that’s that Jesus was riding publicly into an area where He knew His life was at stake. Anyone else in His situation would have hid out in the area of Galilee or the desert places and even if He wanted to go to Jerusalem He could have gone discreetly in disguise rather than entering in a way that everybody was watching Him. So, riding a donkey with the crowds who followed Him combined with the crowds who met Him show us that hiding was the last thing on His mind.
III And then, what is the significance of the Greeks who came asking for Him?
This is a little passage that might seem rather insignificant to some but I believe it holds a turning point in the story of the New Testament. You see, it seems as though these Greeks had come to Jerusalem for the Passover and the implication is that while they were there for the feast that somehow they heard about Jesus. And we don’t know if they had heard about His raising Lazarus from the dead or it simply might have been the fact that He had cleansed the temple because the area the Jews had used as a kind of a marketplace was the Gentile worship area and these Greeks would have been very appreciative of His clearing the buyers and sellers out of their area. But whatever was their reason was; they wanted to see Jesus face to face.
So, it says the Greeks approached Philip and it may have had something to do with the fact that Philip was a Greek name and then it says that he went to Andrew and this might have had something to do with the fact that Andrew was always bringing people to Jesus. And then it says that the both of them went and told Jesus that the Greeks wanted to see Him. And there are many who see their coming as a small down payment of the whole world coming to Him.
And the strange thing is, we never find out what ever happened to these people. It’s possible that Jesus might have met them as He passed through the court of the Gentiles on His way through the temple but the very fact that they showed up at all seemed to be what Jesus was waiting for because somehow they’re coming seemed to be the signal that the time for Him to provide salvation had come.
Conclusion
And so, there are three things that happen in John 12 that are key to understanding it. There is Jesus being anointed of Mary, then Jesus entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and the Greeks looking for Jesus and these three things together seemed to trigger in the Lord’s mind the realization that the hour He had come for had arrived and He said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
What does this term mean, because I believe it’s the heart of the passage. I think that His being glorified simply means that His glory would be made known or that all that He is and why He came would be revealed. And this is how this would happen. First, He would be glorified because the Greeks arrival show us that the door of salvation was about to be opened for all men and not just for the Jews. And this event shows us something of the depth and breadth of the love of God. It’s like the floodgates of salvation have opened up. And we have to be careful not to be like the Jews because this good news is not just for ourselves but we have the responsibility to glorify Jesus by inviting and allowing others the opportunity to come to Him.
And the second sense in which He’d be glorified is obviously in the cross because by dying for us, He was glorified or made known by everybody seeing the extent of His love. I mean, people can really see who He is.
I’m always amazed at how wrong the worldly crowd gets the message. They’ll say; all you have to do is follow the example Jesus gave. And that sounds so nice except for the fact that He was crucified. I mean, that’s one example that I’d be perfectly happy to stay away from. So, we’d have to say that His example didn’t save us but His death on the cross did. And others talk about following the teachings of Jesus. And never once did Jesus tell us that we’d be saved if we just followed what He said. He didn’t say, here is the way, He said, “I am the way.” And there’s quite a difference between seeing and knowing the truth.
So, He’s glorified by the door of heaven being opened to all men and then He’s glorified by everyone who is saved. And then finally, He’s glorified when we who are saved allow our salvation to make a difference in the way we live our lives. So, our goal and the intent of our lives ought to be to demonstrate the love of Jesus in practical terms. Salvation shouldn’t just change our hearts but it ought to motivate them too.
This section and the last one hast a lot to teach us about the kind of people we need to be. Here we have Mary who would stop at nothing to honor her Lord. It didn’t matter how much it cost her or who laughed or criticized her. She was committed to Jesus Christ and she didn’t care who said what. And then we have Judas whose commitment was only good as long as everything was going in his direction and when Mary wasted all that money anointing Jesus’ body for burial he had had enough. And the people who praised Jesus on the road were just like Judas and in the end because they went their own way when they saw their plans wouldn’t be met and many of them may have been part of that very crowd that yelled crucify Him. And then we come to these Greeks who were looking for Jesus. And we don’t know anymore about them, then that they wanted to know who Jesus was. And as you see these various people and see where each of them stands you need to ask yourself, where do I stand.
Are you committed like Mary? Or only committed to yourself like Judas was and all the others that were gathered on the road? Or are you like these Greeks who saw what Jesus had done for them and came to find out more?
