See Jesus! Series

It was the Depression. The father was able to keep bread on the table, but that was it. When his little boy burst into the house excitedly talking about the circus coming to town, the father knew that he could not afford the $1 admission. The boy had never seen the circus and it wasn’t right that a boy not see a circus, especially when he was eight.

So the father made a deal. He told his 8-year-old son, “You find enough odd jobs to earn 50 cents and I’ll give you the other 50 cents.” Well, the little boy did it. The day before the circus came to town, his little piggy bank held 50 cents. True to his word, the father gave him the rest of the money and the boy bought his circus ticket in advance.

When the circus parade went by, he was right at the curb not missing a thing. When the clown danced past him, the boy handed the clown his ticket. When the parade was over, he rushed home to tell his dad all about it. The father, surprised at his son’s early return, asked him to describe what he saw at the circus.

Crestfallen, the father took the boy into his arms and said, “Son, you didn’t see the circus; all you saw was the parade” (Glen V. Wheeler, Holiday Illustration Collection).

When it comes to participating in worship, I’m afraid that’s what many people do. They don’t see Jesus. They just see the parade. They don’t experience His presence. They just watch the ritual. Please, don’t let it happen to you this morning. Determine to really see Jesus, not just the parade.

The question is “How?” Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to John 12, John 12, where Jesus tells us how after His big parade into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday nearly 2,000 years ago.

John 12:12-16 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 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!” And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 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).

JESUS MAKES HIS TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.

And it’s a grand parade! People are waving palm branches, the symbol of victory. The crowds proclaim Jesus as their King, and they have come to see Him do some spectacular stuff.

John 12:17-19 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him” (ESV).

Sure the whole world has gone after Him, but they don’t understand what He’s all about. The glory they seek and the glory He seeks are two different things. They seek the glory of a conquering King. Jesus seeks the glory of the cross, as we shall see.

On a Palm Sunday some time ago, 5-year-old Stephanie sat on her aunt’s lap while they listened to the pastor’s sermon together. He described Jesus' approach to Jerusalem and how the crowds cried, “Hosanna, Hosanna!” At that, Stephanie perked up and began to sing, “Oh, Hosanna, now don't you cry for me!” (Brenda Fossum, Duluth, MN, “Heart to Heart,” Today's Christian Woman; www.PreachingToday.com)

She got caught up in the moment, but she had no idea about what was really going on. That’s the way it was with the crowd on that first Palm Sunday, and that’s the way it is with many people today. They get caught up in the excitement, but they have no spiritual perception. Then some Greeks come on the scene.

John 12:20-22 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus (ESV).

These Greeks want to see Jesus, but how? Well…

John 12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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 (ESV).