Today we are continuing our study in the Gospel of John. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John wrote: “...these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31). Everything Jesus did was according to God the Father’s will so that His Father would be glorified and so we could have eternal life.
John 12:12-26
12 On the next day, when the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began shouting, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, indeed, the King of Israel!” 14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 “DO NOT FEAR, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.” 16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things for Him. 17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. 18 For this reason also the people went to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are not accomplishing anything; look, the world has gone after Him!”
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 people then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip *came and *told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip *came and *told Jesus. 23 But Jesus *answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
As we can see in this passage people were fascinated with Jesus the King, and even today in our global community, people have a fascination with royalty. Royalty always makes headline news whether it’s a coronation, wedding, a birth, a scandal or death of a royal family member, there is something about these families that bring people out in droves. Why is it that we roll out the red carpet for these people? What is it about them that has sway over us?
If you think about it, in countries where there is no monarchy - it’s the movie stars, athletes, the super intelligent, talented, the rich, famous, and powerful that make headline news and we follow their personal lives, their tweets, their careers, etc. We are enamored by their success and emotionally impacted when they fall. Why do you think this is the case? It is because we were created to worship.
J. R. Tolkien taps into the human psyche in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He wrote,
We were made by a king, and we were made to be ruled by him. And when the right king reigns, prosperity will again reign over the land.
In his book The Philosophy of Tolkien, Peter Kreeft, professor of philosophy picks up on this point.
We all know what a true king is, a real king, an ideal king, an archetypal king. He is not a mere politician or soldier. Something in us longs to give him our loyalty and fealty and service and obedience. He is lost but longed for and will someday return.
At this point the masses were fascinated with Jesus. What we can see in this passage is the:
? Praise for the King
? Plan of the King
? Purpose of the King
Praise for the King
When Jesus began His journey into Jerusalem, the crowd that were with Him when He raised Lazarus from the dead came with Him and were testifying to those who were coming for the Passover festival that this was the Messiah. There was so much excitement and anticipation in the air that the crowds took palm branches and their coats and spread them on the path leading into the city. As He rode in, they were declaring the OT Scriptures relating to the Promised One upon whom all their expectations for the future centered. “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. Indeed, the King of Israel.
Palm branches were a nationalistic symbol. They were used to build the little huts around the temple during the feast of booths. Palm branches were also a symbol of their victory during the Maccabean revolt. Waving palm branches was like waving the national flag in the middle of the Roman occupation. You could imagine the hope everyone had as they believed, and rightfully so, that this was the King of all kings, the Messiah who had come to bring deliverance. But as we know, they had an expectation for someone who would bring outward peace and prosperity to the nation. They cried out “Hosannah” which meant save us now, they called Him “Blessed” which is a celebration of praise and giving thanks to the one who was coming in the name of the Lord to deliver them. Therefore, they were celebrating with praise and thanksgiving because they knew what He came to do but they didn’t yet understand how He would accomplish the plan.
Can we relate to this? We know Jesus has come to deliver us from sin, death, and the devil and believe that He has an incredible plan for us as His people, but do we always know how this plan will be realized? Is it ever the way we imagined it would be? This brings us to the second point, the:
Plan of the King
Anyone who was a powerful political figure back then would make sure to choreograph their entry with a lot of pomp and circumstance, a lot of glitter and fanfare with soldiers in impressive armor leading the way. But Jesus doesn’t come into town with soldiers as a military leader and He didn’t come riding in on a stallion. Instead, He chose to ride on the colt of a donkey. Why? Because the Kings of the East rode donkeys when on errands of peace. He wanted to show them what type of King He was. That He is gentle and humble and that His plan was to bring salvation and peace not just to Israel but to all nations. Even the Pharisees in an ironic twist confirm Jesus’ mission to the Gentiles, “Look, the world has gone after Him!”
The people wanted to give Jesus a conqueror’s welcome, but Jesus didn’t come to conquer the Romans. He was not looking for a military or political victory. He did not come to crush the enemy of Israel. This is what the people wanted and expected - victory in one fell swoop. Jesus' plan was to come and conquer but it wasn’t people or nations, it was to conquer sin and death and to crush our greatest enemy, the ultimate source of all evil - Satan.
Most kings enter the city to the cheers of their subjects on their way to take a seat on the throne and to reign with honor and majesty. Jesus entered the city to the cheers of the crowd to wear a crown of thorns, take His place on a cross, and die for His subjects. As Jesus entered Jerusalem, He fulfilled the prophesy of Zechariah 9:9-13,
Rejoice, O people of Zion! Shout in triump, O people of Jerusalem! Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey - riding on a donkey’s colt.
When the religious hypocrites saw how the crowds were running to him, they realized things were out of control and regretted that they didn’t kill Him earlier. But it was God’s foreordained plan that the Passover Lamb would be sacrificed on Passover, just as the Scriptures foretold (Jn 1:29; 1Cor 5:7; Ex 12:5-7; Is 53:7-10). Jesus is the victorious King, His victory would come through the cross but it would cost Him his life. This was the King's plan. Even though He had told His disciples the plan time and time again, none of the disciples understood what the plan of the King of kings would require and it was only after He was glorified that they understood the:
Purpose of the King
The Jews were not the only ones who wanted to see Jesus, even the Greeks wanted to speak with Him, but we are not sure why they wanted to have an audience with Him. When Jesus hears that they wanted to see Him, He gives an interesting reply, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” What did Jesus mean by that? The hour refers to the appointed time for Jesus’ death, resurrection and exaltation–in short, his glorification. How is the Son of Man glorified in this plan? If Jesus hadn’t fulfilled the plan to go to the cross, to be the sacrificial Passover Lamb for the sins of the world, His perfect justice, His perfect Love, perfect forgiveness, mercy, and compassion, would never have been expressed nor experienced by any human being. No one would have seen this aspect of the King. This was the incredible wisdom of His plan, and His purpose was to redeem fallen humanity and reconcile us with our Creator God. If Jesus had not gone to the cross, no one would have seen this side of God’s glory, and death would not have been defeated. What was the purpose of Jesus’ death? He said in v. 24,
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.
Jesus gives us a picture of a seed in its shell. It if stays in its shell nothing happens, you never get to witness the incredible life, the potential that is within that little grain. Until the seed goes into the ground and dies, there is only the potential life. Jesus on the other hand was lifted up on the cross and He knew that His death would produce a great harvest. Jesus’ death ended in resurrection life and then made it possible for anyone who believed in Him to experience this supernatural resurrection life. His purpose was to achieve victory over the grave by going to the grave Himself and then vanquished its hold through His resurrection from the dead.” His laid down life has changed the destiny of millions. Jesus then turns and applies the same principle to His followers in v. 25:
The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life.
What does it mean to love your life? Loving your life means elevation of self, your will, your desire, your plans, and purposes over God’s. It’s an idolatrous focus on self, you love yourself and all that the world offers, you live to fulfill your ambitions, you focus on your human potential, not the Lord’s. A person who lives for themselves will have no eternal fruit, they make no eternal difference where they are, and eventually this person ends up alone. All that you think you have you will lose in the end anyway. This is the vanity of life without the King’s purpose.
But when Jesus was talking about the person who hates his or her life in this world, He was talking about the one who loves themselves and their plans and purposes less than their love for the plans and purposes of God. He was talking about the person who considers God’s plan and purpose for their life far more valuable than their own. They have eternity in view and live for Him, following Him wherever He leads them. This person will experience eternal life in this life and the one to come.
If Jesus has made a triumphal entry into our hearts, if we have welcomed the King, not just thanking, and praising Him for who He is and what He has done but following the King and His plans and purposes for our lives, He will reign in our hearts with peace and love. He came to conquer the enemies of our soul and His plans and purposes are to deliver us from the things that hold us captive. If Jesus is not your king, then something or someone else will always be king in your life. What is it that you adore more than God? What does your mind focus on most during the day? As His followers, we will wrestle with many things internally and externally, things that want to be king, things that want our allegiance and affections over the Lord. At times there is a real war raging within and without. At times our emotions, our fears, our ambitions, and plans reign over us. These are battles we can’t win on our own or in our own strength. We will only win when we submit these areas to the King and die to ourselves, and more and more allow Jesus’ life to reign in our hearts. The more we die to ourselves, the more we can live more for Him. God will never force His plans and purposes on us but gives us the privilege of being part of His plans and purposes so our lives will affect the lives of others and bring Him glory. Those that follow Him will see His plans and purposes unfold and will see His glory. They will produce much fruit and experience His joy and they will have a reason for praises, celebration and giving thanks. Jesus leaves the choice to us.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
Jesus is calling true worshipers from every nation and every tribe and every people to follow the only true God, the only King of kings.
Jesus said, “If anyone serves me, the father will honor them.” He was saying that what we seem to lose in this life by serving and following Him is nothing to be compared to what God is waiting to give us for all of eternity. If we enter into His plans and purposes multitudes will see the true King living and reigning in us - we and they will see His glory. We will one day enter into His full reward. No matter what - something or someone will be king in your life - why not follow the One who perfectly loves you, who died for you and has a perfect plan and purpose for your life?
