The True Reign of Christ
Series: A Journey with Jesus (through the Gospel of John)
Brad Bailey – January 9, 2011
Intro –
This past year… as we gathered on Sundays… we took a journey with Jesus through the Gospel of John.
We intentionally planned to resume that journey at the start of this year… with the final days that culminate in Jesus being crucified and rising again.
We will reach that point at Easter… for as with each of the Gospel accounts…. a large portion is given to this final week in which everything intensifies and culminates.
As Jesus turns towards his last entry into Jerusalem… he is turning towards the cross… towards his being brutally crucified… that defines everything about his purpose… about the nature of how God relates to us… and about how we can find life.
> The cross brings every life to a crossroads. That is the journey we begin to take up today.
Before we come to our primary text, lets look at how his final enty into Jerusalem unfolds.
John 11:55-57 (NIV)
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?" 57 But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.
We are now in the last week of the Lord’s earthly ministry. The masses are heading to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast…. And the city is waiting with a tension between hope and threat. It’s fascinating how one figure could force such a response… one of both joy and threat. It’s equally fascinating how our own culture can try to place him at a safe distance where we can try to simply cast him as a wise teacher and inspirational figure. But whenever he comes close… he will always stir something deep in our longings… and often a threat to our demand for control.
John 12:1 (NIV)
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany
Jesus has come close… reaching the suburb of Bethany…where he comes to the home of his close friends Martha and Mary… and Lazarus who he had raised from the dead.
The witnesses to the raising of Lazarus return to Jerusalem, broadcasting their sensational news, which is underscored by the presence of the former dead man himself, who is living proof of this miracle. Because of this there are those who place their faith in Christ as the Lord and Savior. This did not sit at all well with the religious authorities and the only action that they can think of that what will lead to a suitable solution…
John 12:9-10 (NIV)
9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
So even as Jesus enters the city of Jerusalem on Passover plans are already being made to kill him.
[Reading of the primary text]
John 12:12-25 (NIV)
12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, 15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." 16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
Imagine yourself in Jerusalem over 2000 years ago. Thousands from all over the world were flooding into the city to observe the Passover. Josephus, the notable Jewish historian, estimated that over two million people were involved in the great Passover Feast. Imagine it was something like what we see in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. Lots of people jamming the streets of the city, getting ready to celebrate. Except this time instead of just another Passover…. Something long awaited may really be coming….as they prepared to observe one of the most important feasts that the Jewish people celebrated all year, word came that Jesus was on his way into the city.
A crowd of Jews accompanied Jesus as He began to make His way to Jerusalem.
They eventually merged with another crowd of Jews that flocked out of Jerusalem to welcome
Jesus (vv. 12, 17, 18). As they welcomed Jesus, the merged crowd tore down branches of palm
trees and even threw down their own cloaks to pave His path.
> This was one of the ways in which people honored royalty as they were paraded through the street.
The honor could not have been higher… as they cried out the words from
Psalm 118:25-26 – “Hosanna [save now], blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the King of Israel!”
Hailed as king…. but what were they really welcoming? What were they really designating him to be?
The moment of entering Jerusalem becomes a defining scene… particularly between the expectations of the crowd and what they represent in our nature… and those of Jesus and what is really at hand.
Tensions had risen… reaching a critical point: the religious leaders fear a threat… the Romans need to keep peace…and the people want change….
The people may not have understood much of what Jesus had begun eluding to… but two things seemed clear…. they wanted God to rescue them and set things right… and Jesus was clearly unlike any mere religious leader… he must be sent by God.
> These lives hoped Jesus had come to fulfill their expectations.
‘Those expectations’… would become what kept them from understanding the greatest act of power and love that ever took place… the greatest rescue that only heaven could provide.
‘The crowd here is welcoming Jesus as a political deliverer, as one who will throw off the shackles of Rome. For thousands of years the Jewish people had been looking for a Messiah. They were expecting a great military leader, who would overthrow all of their enemies and restore Israel to its former greatness and glory.
What they did not expect was that their king would appear as the son of a carpenter. That when he appeared that he would not possess any weapons, no army and no political power! They certainly never expected that he would end up crucified as a common criminal another victim of their cruel oppressors.’ (John Hamby)
> This apparent reception, is in reality, a rejection. It is destined to result in rejection. It will take a few days to become evident, but when they finally grasp that Jesus has not come to fulfill their expectations, but rather to be a different sort of Messiah, they will quickly turn against Him, rejecting Him as their king.” (Bob Deffinbaugh. “The Un-Triumphal Entry.” John 12:9-19 www. Bible.org.
It begins with honor…. ‘Hosanna’ (which means ‘Save us now’)… but that cry would change as many will ultimately cry out ‘crucify him.’
> Why? Because he didn’t do what they wanted.
> We all want change. But the change we want may get in the way of God truly reigning in our lives.
We have a lot to learn from what was at hand in the hearts of the people.
They weren’t against God…. what they wanted wasn’t bad in itself… but it proved to be the desire that would define their hearts.
As we begin this new year… we may have some things that we are waiting on to finally give us peace.
We may want Christ to overthrow something….more than overtake us. We may want Him to rule over something… more than rule over us. It may even be a good desire…. but it may have become a desire that is greater than that of his reigning in our hearts. We may want the king to rule out there…. when in truth… peace will come only when he rules in here.
> There may be some things we may need to lay down in order to really have Christ rule.
If we want God to reign in the new year… consider what becomes clear about that reign.
1. The reign of Christ is already determined … it is inevitable and invincible.
The greatest deception that has ever worked its way into our minds is that we decide who Christ is. The truth is… that we will each decide who He is to us… but who he actually is has already been determined.
Consider the prophetic foundations of what was at hand. Something was unfolding that was already set in place long before this moment. He was fulfilling what had been prophesied long before…
Zechariah 9:9-10 (NIV)
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim [the Northern Kingdom of Israel] and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.
God spoke these works through the prophet Zechariah 700 years before this moment.
It speaks of those from Jerusalem shouting in joy.
It tells of seeing their king riding on a donkey… more precisely… the colt of a donkey.
This scene now seemed strange for the people… not because donkeys were never ridden by royalty… but never in victory… but only as a sign of times of peace. That is what they would have understood… as the text in Zechariah goes on to declare…. Chariots and war horses will be taken away… and this king will come proclaiming peace. His rule will settle all other rule.
> His reign was established long ago…. it is inevitable and invincible.
Consider something Jesus said in the event that preceded this… when a woman (Mary) washes Jesus’ feet with perfume… and he makes a rather extreme statement… in declaring
Matthew 26:13 (NIV)
I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."
> That would be a rather sane less statement by any mere man in the middle of nowhere.. unless he knew his destiny… unless he was indeed the one sent by God to reign beyond time and space.
What was unfolding would itself be unstoppable.
Jesus comes as the one who represents eternal rule. Demons shuddered… darkness could not overcome… empires came and went… because this is the reign that is…. not will be… but IS.
Luke describes how the religious leaders demand Jesus to rebuke the people for hailing him the king who comes to represent God (Note 2)…. and he replies:
Luke 19:40 (NIV)
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Jesus understood that he was fulfilling what was established in the sovereign realm that is destined. Creation will declare his reign.
How profoundly true this destiny is.
He didn’t try to stop the people because even in their misguided expectations… he would reign as the true messiah and king.
The religious leaders would get the Roman Empire to execute him…. and he would rise…. and it would be His kingdom that would spread while the Roman Empire was defeated.
Persecution would come hard upon the first in whom he reigned… and yet his reign spread.
Communism would arise... declare God officially dead…. and the world wondered if it wouldn’t prove powerful enough to control the whole world… and then the Berlin wall came down…and the Soviet Empire crumbled… only to reveal that the unstoppable force of God prevailed.
Even now China still holds strong to it’s Communism and persecution of any who claimed another allegiance – yet in just such an closed context…over 50 Million lives have welcomed Jesus… spreading every day… the unstoppable force of God prevailed.
Today we may wonder what will happen as our western culture is changing… worry that Christ will still reign.
> Culture will never silence what lies between heaven and the human heart.
> There is simply NOTHING that can change who Jesus is.
A king is not a role established by any vote… but only by it’s rightfulness.
This leads to the next truth of his reign that becomes clear…
2. The reign of Christ is the true reign of love and power united together.
Here we see the uniting of majesty and humility – behold ‘your king on a donkey.’
This represents the very nature of God… the perfection of goodness that we long for but has never fully been embodied in any human leader.
We long for that which is invincibly strong and intimately caring. That which is both all powerful … and yet can relate to us with gentleness and grace. Honorable yet humble.
Powerful yet under perfect control… without a shred of personal vanity and need.
It could never be found fully in King Arthur, Achilles, … Greeks, Romans, East…This is the longing that is never fully satisfied with human leadership. The best of leaders and lovers are but appetizers to what we long for… the real meal that satisfies.
The book of Revelation describes Christ as the only worthy one fulfill the will of God… and then declares him to be both ‘the lion…AND the lamb.’ (Revelation 5)
The simple truth is that we want power to change the world around us…. but power without love can only destroy. If Rome was destroyed… they would simply face new evil around them… and ultimately powers of evil ruling within themselves.
> Jesus is saying Rome is not the deep oppressor that must be defeated…. You would only face the powers within that rule.
The One sent from God must resolve the consequences of human nature… of what the image bearing rulers created by God had given themselves to. Only one not guilty could take such upon themselves… and only one who bears the nature of God would be able to fulfill that.
Up until this very point….Jesus had been avoiding public attention of his Messianic rule… demonstrating and revealing much of what was at hand… but not allowing the human tides of public desire to take hold.
Over and over…he tells them to say nothing of what they have seen… explaining: “My hour has not come.” …. ‘it is not my time.’ (Note 1)
Only now…. As he enters the city…. He would finally say…
‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.’ – John 12:23
That Jesus should make his entrance into Jerusalem on this particular day in history was no coincidence. What transpired on the streets of Jerusalem was filled with purpose... a prophetic purpose.
Passover was a yearly celebration commemorating the freeing of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. On the night called Passover God struck every first-born child of the Egyptians. This devastating plague led to the release of the Jews from bondage.
God told the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and to take the blood of that lamb and apply it to their doorpost of their homes. This blood of the lamb would be recognized by the Angel of Death as protecting the first-born child that lived within that home. It was meant to be a picture that pointed to another Lamb who would die in our place to free us from a much greater slavery; a slavery to sin and death.
> The most important reason why Jesus entered Jerusalem, particularly on the day he did was to show Himself to be our Passover. He was the Lamb of God taking on the sins of the world.
Only One reigns that can truly give us back true life… one whose nature can restore our true nature. It is He who never uses others nor will be simply used by others. You will find your true power in HIM… his royalty that offers you to be HIS… not in trying to get power over others.
This leads to the last point that is made clear….
This event reveals that his reign is destined… that t is perfect… and now we must see that it is PERSONAL.
3. The reign of Christ seeks to restore what governs our hearts.
The people expected that this one sent from God would rally the people to stand against Rome.. and demand his rightful throne in the city.
But the throne he was coming for was that of our hearts… to restore God’s intent and our humanity.
Only when I allow him to reign over my greed…. can find my original nature again.
Only when I allow him to reign over my lust…. can find my original nature again.
How do we enthrone him? How do we make him our king?
Look at the final part of our text…
John 12:20-25 (NIV)
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The reign of Christ is defined by fully submitting our life… dying to ourselves.
A seed must die… to bring forth new life.
– without His death in obedience to the Father, there could be no reproduction of His life. Jesus uses the kernel of wheat to illustrate this truth as it applies to
Himself and as it applies to His followers. Jesus is the original grain of wheat from which every
other grain of wheat (believers) is reproduced. Thus, Jesus is the bread of life.
If the kernel of wheat does not die, it does not reproduce.
God’s plan is for us to become reproductions of the original grain of wheat – Jesus.
When the believer dies to self, he or she does not lose his or her personality and individuality. Rather, the personality becomes all that God intends it to be, a reflection of His Son vs. a self-centered self-consumed individual .
Using hyperbole…. a form of stating the essence of a truth in ways that are more extreme than literal…. he says we must hate our life in this world … our independent autonomous life… in order to enter the life that the eternal realm of heaven offers. We must loosen our cling to this life…. to receive the life with God he holds.
Conclusion:
Some of us may have desires that are fighting for the throne of our hearts.
They may be good desires… but they have become that which defines us and directs… that governs us.
Like those who welcomed Jesus to enter the city gates as the potential king…. there may be an unspoken expectation that he is to fulfill.
We may want him to change our bank accounts… our bosses … our bodies … and like those who welcomed Jesus….there is an unspoken deal with this king. From our perspective it’s the BIG THING that he needs to change… it’s the Roman oppression over life.
At some level we may be waiting for these things in such a way that Jesus may only have been honored as a type of king at the gate…. but has not been fully governing our inner hearts.
They are keeping us from receiving his true reign.
You may recall the rich young ruler… Jesus said he had ‘one thing’ he needed to do….. and when he wouldn’t…. as he walked away we are told that Jesus felt sadness.
He was a fan… but not a follower.
Have We Given Him His True Reign?
PRAYER >
Altar time / first closing song
Help us conclude with the eloquent declaration of SM Lockridge…
CLOSING VIDEO - That's My King Dr. S.M. Lo ckridge - [OFFICIAL]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE
Final closing song
Resources: Some ideas in this study of John drawn from John Hamby and Tim Keller.
Notes:
1. On every previous occasion when the crowd has tried to proclaim Jesus king he had slipped away, but not this time. He often says, “My time is not yet come.” When He raises Jairus’ daughter, He tells his disciples not to say anything to anyone about it. When He came down from the Mount of Trans-figuration he tells those who have witnessed it to tell no one.
The following statements from John’s Gospel show the significance of how Jesus spoke about his ‘hour.’
Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My
hour has not yet come.” (Jn 2:4)
Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by
force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. (Jn
6:15 – setting: after Jesus fed the 5000 near the Sea of Galilee and just before
He walked on the Sea to His disciples)
Then Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come’…When He had said these
things to them, He remained in Galilee. (Jn 7:6a & 9)
Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His
hour had not yet come. (Jn 7:30)
These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one
laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come. (Jn 8:20)
But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man
should be glorified. (Jn 12:23)
Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’
But for this purpose I came to this hour. (Jn 12:27)
Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. (Jn
12:31)
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had
come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own
who were in the world, He loved them to the end. (Jn 13:1)
So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God
is glorified in Him. (Jn 13:31)
Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has come, that you will be scattered, each to
his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with Me. (Jn 16:32)
2. Full text
Luke 19:37-40 (NIV)
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" 40 "I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
3. As William Barclay says, “Jesus approached Jerusalem with the shout of the crowd hailing a conqueror in his ears – and it must have hurt him, for in him they were looking for that very thing which he refused to be.” [William Barclay. The New Daily Study Bible. The Gospel of John. Vol II. Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky, 2001) pp. 136-137) Noted by John Hambry
4. The crowd here is welcoming Jesus as a political deliverer, as one who will throw off the shackles of Rome. These people want Jesus to be their king in the same way (and for the same reasons) that the Galileans wanted Jesus to be their king after He had fed the 5,000 (John 6:15). “To joyfully welcome Him as their “kind of king” is the not to receive him as “Lamb of God” sent to “take away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). To receive their kind Jesus is to reject God’s kind of king. This apparent reception, is in reality, a rejection. It is destined to result in rejection. It will take a few days to become evident, but when they finally grasp that Jesus has not come to fulfill their expectations, but rather to be a different sort of Messiah, they will quickly turn against Him, rejecting Him as their king.” (Bob Deffinbaugh. “The Un-Triumphal Entry.” John 12:9-19 www. Bible.org. – Noted by John Hambry
