John 12:12-16 [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. (ESV)
Discuss the entry into Jerusalem right now, and you are sure to get a crowd. With the current war between Israel and Gaza, crowds of protestors in this county have gathered at synagogues, hospitals, highway overpasses, restaurants and in neighbourhood streets. Protesters are calling for an end to what they say is an occupation that is killing people.
As crowds gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. They went out to greet Him. The crowd shouted, “Help!” and “Save!”. Jesus has come precisely to help and save (His people), though it will not be through the political liberation the crowd expects (cf. Psalms of Solomon 17:21–25) (Whitacre, R. A. (1999). Vol. 4: John. The IVP New Testament commentary series (303–304). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.).
If our greatest problem was government, God would have sent a politician. If our greatest problem was money, God would have sent an economist. If our greatest problem was a need for happiness, God would have sent an entertainer. Since our greatest problem is the burden is sin, God sent a Saviour.
In John 12:12-16, which describes the event commonly known as the triumphal entry, Jesus officially presented Himself to Israel as the Messiah and Son of God. By so doing, He set in motion the chain of events that would quickly lead to His death at the exact time foreordained by God. As the King came to die, He did so: 1) At the Proper Moment (John 12:12a), 2) With the Passionate Multitude (John 12:12b-13), 3) In the Predicted Manner (John 12:14-15), and 4) To the Perplexity of His Men (John 12:16).
Jesus, the King came to die:
1) At the Proper Moment (John 12:12a)
John 12:12a [12] The next day (the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem). (ESV)
Jesus had arrived at Bethany on Friday. The dinner, the anointing, and the gathering of the crowd took place after his arrival, with the Sabbath (Friday dusk to Saturday dusk) intervening. On the next day (Palm Sunday), the ever-growing crowd that had arrived in Jerusalem for the festival learned that Jesus was on his way there. They cut palm branches and went out to meet him (Baumler, G. P. (1997). John. The People's Bible (175). Milwaukee, Wis.: Northwestern Publishing House.).
The next day was the tenth day of the Jewish month Nisan, on which the paschal lamb was set apart to be “kept up until the fourteenth day of the same month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel were to kill it in the evening” (Ex 12:3, 6). Even so, from the day of this solemn entry into Jerusalem, “Christ our Passover” was virtually set apart to be “sacrificed for us” (1Cor. 5:7) (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Jn 12:12). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.).Passover was one of the three feasts that Jews were supposed to attend in Jerusalem, and consequently the population of Jerusalem swelled enormously at this time (Whitacre, R. A. (1999). Vol. 4: John. The IVP New Testament commentary series (303). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.). Passover was near at hand, in commemoration of the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. At such occasions deliverance from foreign subjugation was always one of the main themes of conversation (Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 1-2: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to John. New Testament Commentary (Jn 12:13). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
Please turn back to Daniel 9
The exact day that the Lord chose to enter Jerusalem fulfilled one of the most remarkable prophecies of the Old Testament, Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks (Dan. 9:24–26). Through Daniel, the Lord predicted that the time from Artaxerxes’ decree ordering the rebuilding of the temple (in 445 B.C.) until the coming of the Messiah would be “seven weeks and sixty-two weeks” (Dan. 9:25; cf. Neh. 2:6), that is, 69 weeks total. In the context of the passage, the idea is 69 weeks of years, or 69 times 7 years, which comes to a total of 483 Jewish years (which consisted of 360 days each, as was common in the ancient world).
Daniel 9:24-26 [24]"Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. [25] Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. [26] And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. (ESV)
• Several different systems of reckoning have endeavored to determine the chronology of the 483 years after Artaxerxes’ decree, putting the date at either A.D. 30, 32, or 33, depending on the actual decree date and the complex calculations through those years. Based on all of the historical data, it is best to understand the triumphal entry as taking place on 9 Nisan, A.D. 30. But even the other dates offered by these authors (A.D. 32 or 33) leave one thing remaining undeniably clear: whatever may be the precise chronology, Jesus Christ is the only possible fulfillment of Daniel’s prophetic timetable. This sixty-ninth of the seventy weeks was to close with the offering of Messiah as Israel’s prince, Dan. 9:25. (Gingrich, R. E. (1990). The Gospel of John (43). Memphis, TN.: Riverside Printing.).
Poem: What is this Sunday? Poetically, “’Twas the Sunday before Easter”.
‘Twas The Sunday Before Easter, And all through Israel’s House, There was planning and scheming by Herod the louse, While palm leaves were waving o’er Christ’s lovely head. Just five days later, he’d be rejected and dead. The children were running and leaping for joy. This moment of jubilance, the priests would destroy. Matthew & Mark & Peter & John Would soon run away, not willing to go on. It’s late in the evening as we drink from the cup ‘remember me always, as oft as you sup.’ Listen to the sounds as you stand out of sight: ‘I love you’, ‘I loathe you’, ‘You’ll betray me tonight’. The events came so quickly toward the end of the week. A prayer in the Garden, a kiss on the cheek. From court to court, the verdict’s the same, “He’s guilty, He’s guilty, let us put him to shame, In spite of the lashes, He claims to be God. Rip him with the whip, beat him with the rod.” Now, up Calvary’s hill, He becomes one with a cross, We’ll spit, mock, and torture, And show Him who’s boss. He gasped as He spurted words that were so (strange), ‘Father forgive them’, and ‘Why aren’t you near?’ “Mother behold me’, ‘you have a new son”. ‘A thief follows closely’, ‘my work here is done”. The sun stopped shining – the world became dim
Our Savior stopped breathing, no life left in Him. A soldier cried out, “what have we done?”. Not a person on earth tried to rescue the Son. In Hell there was shouting, ‘Satan has won!’ But the keys were reclaimed, and Satan is God’s pawn. It’s Resurrection morning – His power to save. Christ Jesus proves victorious o’er death, Hell, and the grave. The centuries have past, His truth has not changed. He stands with open arms for all who are estranged. ‘Tis still the week before Easter, have you figured it out? You can deny and betray Him, or go up with a shout!
( Frank Carl http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-frank-carl-stories-keys-access-65377.asp)
Jesus, the King came to die:
2) With the Passionate Multitude (John 12:12b-13)
John 12:12b-13 [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!" (ESV)
When the Lord left Bethany, He was accompanied by part of the “large crowd of the Jews” (v. 9) who had come there to see Him and Lazarus (v. 17). They would soon be joined by others of the large crowd of pilgrims that had come to Jerusalem for the feast (Passover). In verse 9, the "large crowd" designated the people from Jerusalem who went out to Bethany; here it refers to the people from other parts who were coming up to Jerusalem for the feast, probably many of them from Galilee. Great numbers assembled at Jerusalem at Passover time. (The Jewish historian) Josephus speaks of a crowd exceeding 2,700,000 (Bell. 6.425). J. Jeremias estimates that (Jerusalem could only) accommodate 150,000 persons (Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus [London, 1969], pp. 82ff.).
When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they came pouring out of the city to meet Him. The multitude that is coming from Jerusalem toward the mount of Olives has heard about the raising of Lazarus (12:18) and about the approach of Jesus (12:12). The news that Jesus was actually planning to attend the feast (see on 12:9), in spite of the decision of the Sanhedrin (see on 11:57), had come first; and now the cry is heard: “He is on the way!”( Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953-2001). Vol. 1-2: New Testament commentary : Exposition of the Gospel According to John. New Testament Commentary (Jn 12:12). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.)
The phrase in John 12:13 “went to meet him” (rare in biblical literature: in the NT elsewhere only in Matt. 8:34; 25:1; in the LXX (Septuagint) only in Judg. 11:34) was regularly used in Greek culture, where such a joyful reception was customary when Hellenistic sovereigns entered a city (Ko¨stenberger, A. J. (2004). John. Baker exegetical commentary on the New Testament (370). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic.).
The excited people cut branches from the date palm trees that were plentiful in the vicinity of Jerusalem (and still grow there today). John’s word for “branches” is found only here in the New Testament. It is not clear why the Synoptists do not indicate the kind of branches that were used on this occasion. Mark’s account is the story which would be told by one of those who accompanied Jesus, and John’s is the story which would be told by one of those who were at Jerusalem and heard of his approach” (Beasley-Murray, G. R. (2002). Vol. 36: Word Biblical Commentary : John. Word Biblical Commentary (209). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.).
The Old Testament does not associate palm branches with Passover, but rather with the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:40). In the intertestamental period, the time between the Old and New Testaments, palm branches became a general symbol of victory and celebration. When the Jews, led by Simon the Maccabee, recaptured Jerusalem from the Syrians, they “entered it with praise and palm branches” (1 Macc. 13:51; cf. 2 Macc. 10:7). The palm is also found on Jewish coins of the period 140 B.C.–A.D. 70, sometimes with the inscription “the redemption of Zion.” (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (518–519). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co)
Swept up in the emotional fervor of the moment, the crowd shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” Hosanna, a term of acclamation or praise, transliterates a Hebrew word that literally means, “Help, I pray,” or “Save now, I pray” (cf. Ps. 118:25 NKJV). Some speculate that it is not likely that the crowd used the term with a clear idea of its etymological significance (any more than we do when we say “Good-bye”) (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (519). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
• The crowds thought that their greatest threat was the Romans and to be saved from their wrath. Christ came to show how sin is our greatest threat and to “save now” is to be saved from the wrath of God.
Please turn to Psalm 118
"Hosanna" was a term with which every Jew was familiar, since it came from the group of Psalms known as the Hallel (Pss. 113–18). The Hallel was sung each morning by the temple choir during the major Jewish festivals. The crowd also cried, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, quoting Psalm 118:26. The words ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ in their original context are addressed to pilgrims coming to the temple:
Psalm 118:22-27 [22] The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. [23] This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. [24] This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. [25] Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! [26] Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD. [27] The LORD is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar! (ESV)
• The crowd chants a line from a Psalm of Ascent: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! (v. 13, from Ps 118:26). This line applies to Jesus in a way it never had to anyone else before. Jesus is the one who makes known the Father and has come in the Father’s name (5:43), and he desires that the Father’s name be made known (17:6, 26). So, of him it is uniquely true that he comes in the name of the Lord. This expression is one way of summarizing his whole mission (Whitacre, R. A. (1999). Vol. 4: John. The IVP New Testament commentary series (305). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.). “He who comes” is technical language for the Messiah or the end-time Prophet (of the Messiah).( Köstenberger, A. J. (2007). John. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (p. 470). Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic; Apollos.) This is exactly what Jesus has been claiming. He was the sent One! He represented YHWH. (Utley, R. J. (1999). The Beloved Disciple’s Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John (Vol. Volume 4, p. 112). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.)
The crowd greeted him with palm branches (symbols of victory and kingship), and the acclamation Blessed is the King of Israel!. By using that phrase, the people affirmed their hope that Jesus was the Messiah they were expecting. (The people of Israel, however, will truly be able to say those words to Jesus only at His second coming [Matt. 23:39].) That belief was further expressed by their hailing Him as the King of Israel (cf. v. 15; 1:49; 19:15, 19). Matthew records that the crowd also called Jesus the “Son of David” (Matt. 21:9, 15; 22:42), another messianic title. (Kruse, C. G. (2003). Vol. 4: John: An introduction and commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (262). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press )
Please turn to Matthew 21
In the past, the Lord had refused to be hailed as the king and military conqueror the people were sure the Messiah would be. In fact, Jesus had dispersed the crowd that sought to make Him king (cf. John 6:14–15). But this time He accepted their acclamation, sending them into a frenzy of excitement. Finally, they thought, He was accepting the role they wanted Him to take, that of a political and military deliverer. But Jesus accepted their praise on His terms. As the one who came to save (Matt. 1:21), the one who came in the name of the Lord (John 5:43), and the rightful King of Israel (Matt. 27:11; John 1:49), He was entitled to the crowd’s praise.
Matthew records that when Jesus reached Jerusalem and entered the temple"
Matthew 21:15-16 [15]But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant, [16]and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, "'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?" (ESV)
Now over to Luke 19
But far from being elated by the joyous cries of the giddy multitude, Jesus was grieved by the people’s superficial attitude toward Him. He knew that many who were hailing Him as the Messiah that day would cry for His death the following Friday. Therefore:
Luke 19:41-44 [41]And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, [42]saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. [43]For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side [44]and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." (ESV)
Illustration: There is a legend about an ancient village in Spain. The villagers learned that the king would pay a visit! In a thousand years, a king had never come to that village. Excitement grew! "We must throw a big celebration," The villagers all agreed. But, it was a poor village, and there weren’t many resources. Someone came up with a classic idea. Since many of the villagers made their own wines, the idea was for everyone in the village bring a large cup of their choice wine to the town square, “We’ll pour it into a large vat and offer it to the king for his pleasure! When the king draws wine to drink, it will be the very best he’s ever tasted!”
The day before the king’s arrival, hundreds of people lined up to make their offering to the honored guest. They climbed a small stairway, and poured their gift through a small opening at the top. Finally, the vat was full! The King arrived, was escorted to the square, given a silver cup and was told to draw some wine, which represented the best the villagers had.
He placed the cup under the spigot, turned the handle, and then drank the wine, but it was nothing more than water. You see every villager reasoned, "I’ll withhold my best wine and substitute water, what with so many cups of wine in the vat, the king will never know the difference!" The problem was, everyone thought the same thing, and the king was greatly dishonored. Palm Sunday is all about a day when the King of Kings was greatly honored. Because people chose honor to their King. (http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/sermon-illustration-matthew-rogers-stories-6642.asp)
Jesus, the King came to die:
3) In the Predicted Manner (John 12:14-15)
John 12:14-15 [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!" (ESV)
Please turn to Matthew 21
The Synoptic Gospels describe how Jesus found the young donkey. In Greek, found is a participle, (it is not as if) Jesus accidentally came across a donkey, or that he went out looking for a donkey and finally was able to discover one....(In other words) “he procured a donkey” or “he got a donkey.” (Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (398). New York: United Bible Societies.)
When the Lord and those with Him arrived on the outskirts of Jerusalem:
Matthew 21:1-8 [21:1] Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, [2]saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. [3] If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." [4]This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, [5]"Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" [6] The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. [7] They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. [8] Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. (ESV)
The disciples did as Jesus had commanded, and returned with a colt and its mother. Mark specifies that this young donkey was unbroken which explains why the colt and its mother may have been brought along to help keep the colt docile (Matt. 21:6–7) (Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (433). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.).
In John 12:15 the crowd is probably not aware that they words of "fear not" are a line they have added to the acclamation is an echo of another passage that further contributes to the depth of revelation concerning Jesus in this story: “The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm” (Zeph 3:15). The context in Zephaniah is of the future time of peace when Jerusalem is no longer at war...John has shown that the realities described by Zephaniah are already taking place in the midst of Israel through the ministry of Jesus, though in a very different manner… The crowd’s nationalistic agenda is thrown into relief. “They should not be acclaiming him as an earthly king, but as the manifestation of the Lord their God who has come into their midst (Zeph 3:17) to gather the outcast” (Brown 1966:462). If they had eyes to see what Jesus was doing and ears to hear what he was saying they would find in him the fulfillment of their desires, though without the nationalistic element (Whitacre, R. A. (1999). Vol. 4: John. The IVP New Testament commentary series (306). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.).
This fulfillment was directed to the daughter of Zion (cf. 2 Kings 19:21; Isa. 10:32; Zech. 9:9]. Zion appears originally to have denoted either the citadel at Jerusalem or the hill on which it stood, but the word was used poetically as a designation of the city itself. “Daughter of Zion” is a collective, referring to the inhabitants of Jerusalem as a whole (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (521). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
The contents of the prophecy are now quoted: behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” The quotation from Zechariah qualifies, not merely the way in which Jesus rode the donkey, but also the entire event of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem (Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (398). New York: United Bible Societies.). The words of this prophecy point to a distinctive mark of Christ’s kingship. The donkey was not normally used by a warlike person (cf. Rev. 19:11). It was the animal of a man of peace, a priest, (Prince of Peace.). It might also be used by a person of importance but in connection with peaceable purposes. A conqueror would ride into the city on a war horse, or perhaps march in on foot at the head of his troops. The donkey speaks of peace. John sees accordingly not only a fulfillment of prophecy, but such a fulfillment of prophecy as indicates a special kind of king (Morris, L. (1995). The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (521). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.).
Illustration: ("Only a Donkey") Someone once speculated what it must have been like for that donkey: The donkey awakened, his mind still savoring the afterglow of the most exciting day of his life. Never before had he felt such a rush of pleasure and pride. He walked into town and found a group of people by the well. “I’ll show myself to them,” he thought. But they didn’t notice him. They went on drawing their water and paid him no mind. “Throw your garments down,” he said crossly. “Don’t you know who I am?” They just looked at him in amazement. Someone slapped him across the tail and ordered him to move. “The palm branches! Where are the palm branches!” he shouted. “Yesterday, you threw palm branches!” Hurt and confused, the donkey returned home to his mother. “Foolish child,” she said gently. “Don’t you realize that without Jesus, you are just an ordinary donkey?” Just like the donkey who carried Jesus in Jerusalem, we are most fulfilled when we are in the service of Jesus Christ. Without him, all our best efforts are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6) and amount to nothing. When we lift up Christ, however, we are no longer ordinary people, but key players in God’s plan to redeem the word. (Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc).
Finally, Jesus, the King came to die:
4) To the Perplexity of His Men (John 12:16)
John 12:16 [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. (ESV)
The people in the crowd were not the only ones who failed to grasp the significance of what was happening. John’s parenthetical note (cf. 2:22) indicates that even the disciples did not understand the meaning of the triumphal entry at the time; they could not comprehend that at His first advent Jesus came not as conqueror but as Savior. Even after the resurrection:
Acts 1:6 [6] So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (ESV)
It was not until the coming of the Holy Spirit after Jesus was glorified (cf. John 7:39) that the disciples remembered that these things had been written about Him, and had been done to Him. The word translated “remember,”(emnesthesan) is the same word used to describe their recollection and insight into the cleansing of the temple (2:22). After Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples understood for the first time many of the prophecies that they had missed along the way. Jesus’ words and actions took on new meaning and made more sense. In retrospect, the disciples saw how Jesus had led them into a deeper and better understanding of his truth. (Whitacre, R. A. (1999). Vol. 4: John. The IVP New Testament commentary series (304–305). Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.).
• Stop and think about the events in your life that God has used to lead you to this point. (The only reason to look back at events is to either learn from mistakes or praise God how He has given blessings and understanding) (Barton, B. B. (1993). John. Life application Bible commentary (252). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.).
Please turn to Revelation 19
Jesus was a King like no other. Instead of the pomp and circumstance associated with earthly kings, He was meek and lowly (Matt. 11:29); instead of defeating His enemies by force, He conquered them by dying (Heb. 2:14; cf. Eph. 1:19–22; Col. 2:15). But though He was despised and rejected at His first advent (Isa. 53:3), Jesus Christ will one day return
Revelation 19:11-16 [11] 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. [12] 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. [13] He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. [14] And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. [15] 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. [16] On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (ESV)
• Just as He perfectly fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophecies regarding His first coming, so He will also come again in exactly the manner foretold by the Scriptures.
This is a crucial time to consider the public call of Hosanna. People are calling out to their governments, the health community and other public institutions to “Save now” from the virus and its related threats. But the message to Israel is the same message that we need all to hear. It is only Christ, the King of Israel, that can save us and save us from our greatest threat. Our greatest threat is not a virus, loneliness or economic ruin, but the forthcoming wrath of God. Covid-19 is a disease where most recover from. Sin, without the “King of Israel” is fatal for all, and the death is not just for this life, but eternal. The only cure for this disease is to call on the name of the Lord. In that we are admitting that because of our sin and rebellion against the Lord, we deserve death. But in grace and love He came to save. But that salvation not only had a cost for Him there is a reality for us. It cost Him His life and it will cost us ours as well. For this salvation is to trust in Him as Lord. That is what faith is. That is what calling out in Hosanna is that is what Palm Sunday is all about.
(Format Note: Outline & some base commentary from MacArthur, J. (2008). MacArthur NT Commentary - John 12-21 (11–18). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers).
