John 12:12-26: The Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

(1) Sermon Script

Introduction: For Once, Jesus Accepts Public Adulation

In our society, we do see public receptions for important people. Sporting heroes, if they have returned victoriously from winning some important trophy—the Ashes, the World Cup, Wimbledon, the Olympics—may be given a tickertape parade and the keys to the city. And certainly the winners of national competitions such as the AFL or NRL often have receptions in their home cities. The Queen, Princess Diana, or William and Kate or Harry and Megan, might be greeted by cheering and flag-waving crowd. Every ANZAC Day something similar is done for the returned servicemen and women.

Politicians are less likely to receive such a public reception, even when they win. Their receptions will be closed and among the party faithful for the very simple reason that just under half the population hates them and voted for the other side. They are less likely to receive a public reception because those who make that decision probably belong to another party, and for them the ascendancy of their political opponents is no cause for celebration.

Jesus has rejected all such public acts of reception of him as king so far in John’s Gospel. In the feeding of the 5000, Jesus avoided such acclamation when the crowd were about to give it to him, and made sure he got the disciples away from the crowd, too (John 6:15). And he refused to bite when his brothers’ teased him to go public in John 7:1-10. But here, for a very brief moment, Jesus receives public adulation as Israel’s king, and indeed encourages it.

Context

Jesus had said to his brothers about a previous feast of tabernacles, that he wasn’t going to go to Jerusalem (John 7:1-10). Jesus said that he was not going up to the feast, most probably meaning, I am not going to the feast ‘yet’. But even if the word for ‘yet’ is not to be regarded as being in the best text, we could distinguish between John chapter 12 as a public ‘coming’ by Jesus pregnant with Messianic claim, and John chapter 7 as a private coming where Jesus is part of the crowd but doesn’t make a grand entrance.

The way Jesus goes to this feast in John 12 cannot be called secret or quiet. If Jesus’ brothers wanted Jesus to show himself in his coming to Jerusalem, they get it in chapter 12. This time, his entry is as noisy as can be. Jesus’ coming in John chapter 12 is in a mardi gras, tickertape parade kind of way. John chapter 12 verses 12 and 13:

12:12On the next day, the great crowd that was coming to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, 12:13took the branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, and were crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,”[1] and “the King of Israel”.[2]

Sure, Jesus’ entry into the city of Jerusalem is noisy. But look at what they say about Jesus. They greet him as “the King of Israel”, the same confession that Nathaniel made in John 1:49.

But John also gives us an insight why the crowd came to think of Jesus this way. The sign of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead stands behind Jesus’ popularity with the crowd at his triumphal entry. Verses 17 and 18:

12:17So the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead kept testifying. 12:18This was the reason that the crowd also went to meet him, because they had heard that he had done this sign.

Within the crowd coming up to the festival is the crowd who had witnessed Lazarus’ resuscitation, and their testimony to Jesus’ sign at Bethany had stoked the Messianic excitement of the Paschal pilgrims to Jerusalem.

So how do you think the religious leaders felt about the Passover crowd greeting Jesus in this way? What about the occupying Romans? None of them could have been happy.

But if the religious elites and the Romans were worried before about Jesus stirring up Messianic sentiment, then Jesus leaves them in no doubt that he is a Messianic claimant. Jesus with full intent and purpose does something very provocative. He deliberately seeks to fulfil a Messianic passage of Scripture. John chapter 12 verses 14 and 15:

12:14 Now Jesus found a donkey and sat upon it, just as it is written, 12:15 “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. See, you king is coming, sitting upon the colt of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

We think that a ‘donkey’ is a funny kind animal, a comical looking small horse with big ears and big teeth. It’s not a noble steed, but the comic relief in ‘Shrek’, and hardly the sort of thing a king would ride. But that’s not how the Jews thought. Horses were not just a means of transport, but the ancient armoured vehicle—a tank. They were weapons of war—they’re big and caused a lot of damage when they crashed into you. That was the idea of cavalry, and the Egyptians had lots of horses and chariots.

But God has no problem defeating cavalry. And so God told Israel’s kings not to acquire many horses. They didn’t need cavalry, because their secret weapon was Yahweh their God. And so God wanted Israel to trust him. They weren’t to trust horse and chariot, but Yahweh, as their military power.

So the way the king of Israel showed his trust in God was by riding a donkey.

But Jesus’ first coming was not to wage war. That’s his second coming. But his first coming is gentle. So Zechariah 9:9-10.

9Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (ESV)

Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He did not come to condemn the world but to save it. He is not a warrior king riding a warhorse, for he is the prince of peace that speaks peace to the nations. As the high priest Caiaphas said, it is better for one man to die than for the whole nation to perish. Jesus came to die to unite all the children of God and to make them one. Verse 16:

12:16His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written for him, and they did these things for him.

The Apostles didn't understand why Jesus did this at the time. Only later did they understand it. Only after Jesus died and rose again, and explained everything to them for the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension, did the penny drop and they understood. And even then, they needed the Spirit to witness to the truth.

One day Jesus will return to the world that he made and died for. But his coming won’t be astride a donkey on that occasion. John wrote another book besides his Gospel, the book of Revelation. And John in this later book describes not Jesus’ first coming, but his second coming. Jesus’ first coming as a king was on a colt of a donkey. Jesus’ second entry is on a great white horse. Revelation 19:11-21:

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. 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, 18 to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.

That is the same Jesus Christ—the king of kings and Lord of Lords. The first time he came in gentleness, on a donkey, to die for the sins of the world. The second time he will come to make war, to destroy his enemies with the sword of his mouth.

But Jesus’ first coming was enough to drive his enemies batty, as we see in John chapter 12 verse 19:

12:19So the Pharisees said among themselves, “Look, you aren’t getting anywhere. See how the world has gone after him!”

The religious leaders, of whom the Pharisees were a faction, hated Jesus’ popularity. Nothing that they had tried had worked. They needed a radical surgery to stop the rot. They needed that trouble maker, Jesus of Nazareth, dead and buried.

And of course, the religious leaders spoke more than they knew. Again, John presents us with irony. The Pharisees say that the world has gone after him. And literally they were correct, as some Greeks have come to see Jesus. The world has come to Jesus when the Greeks come to Jesus. Verse 20:

12:20Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast.

These Greeks were most probably gentile God-fearers, who had heard about Jesus as Israel’s Messiah, but who was also a light for the nations.[3] The world has come to Jesus, in the persons of these Greeks. They could enter into the court of the gentiles in the temple complex, but could go no further. They perhaps go to Philip because he has a Greek name.

Now Jesus’ response is a bit sad. The Greeks have come, so now it’s time to die. Verse 23:

12:23And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

Jesus declined the request for the Greeks to see him, as far as we know. Jesus came in person for the Jews, “his own” (John 1:11) to minister personally to the Jews. He did not come the first time to minister personally to the non-Jews, the gentiles. That was the job of his apostles, whom he is going to send into the whole world.

But Jesus came to die for the world. And so he understands, when he hears about the Greeks wanting to see him, that now it’s time to die. Jesus likens himself to a grain of wheat. Verse 24:

12:24Truly truly I say to you, if the grain of wheat which falls into the earth does not die, this grain remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Jesus is the grain of wheat. He will fall to the ground and die. In fact, like any seed that bears fruit, he will be buried. And he will bear much fruit. That is you and me. We are the fruit that Jesus’ death and burial bears. For Jesus rose from the dead. And you and I will rise from the dead because Jesus died and rose again for us.

And so because Jesus himself bears fruit by his death, he also shows the benefits to be gained by our death. Verse 25:

12:25The one who loves his life destroys it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it into eternal life.

Midnight Oil sang, “My life is a valuable thing. I want to keep it that way” (Hercules). Jesus says that my eternal life is so valuable that my life in this world is not valuable. We must hate our lives in this world to keep it into eternity.

That we hate our life in this world is counter-intuitive. We have instincts, God-given instincts, to preserve our life, to fight, freeze, or flee. But there is another God given instinct to ad to the responses of fight, freeze or flee, and that is ‘faith’. ‘Faith’ in God in response to the fear and desire to preserve our lives says that there is an eternal life, and this means that our life is simultaneous much more important and also much less important.

Our life in this world is much more important because our admission into eternal life will be determined by our response to Jesus Christ in this life. So Jesus said in John chapter 5:

John 5:24:

Truly, truly I say to you, that the one hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life eternal and is not going to come into judgment, but has crossed over from death to life.

John 5:29:

Those who have done good will go out into the resurrection of life, but those who have practiced evil into the resurrection of judgment.

So for these reasons our lives are much more important, because what we do in this life determines where we spend eternity.

But because of the reality of eternal life, our life now is much less important. Our lives now are a mere breath, a watch of the night. Our lives are so short, and then they are gone, and we enter into eternity, which lasts, well, forever.

Jesus then explains what hatred of our lives looks like. Verse 26:

12:26 Anyone who serves me must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will also be. The Father will honour the one who serves me.

To hate our lives is to follow and serve Jesus. We give up our lives by not living for ourselves, but for him who died and rose again for us.

Conclusion

Throughout John’s Gospel up until this point, Jesus has continually been saying that his hour has not yet come (John 2:4, 7:6, 8, 30, 8:20, cf. 13:1, 17:1, 19:21, 28-30). However, in chapter 12:23, Jesus now asserts that his hour has come. It is time for the glorification of the Son. But his glorification will be paradoxically be in his lifting up on the cross. His death will bring new life.

(2) English Translation

[1] Psalm 118:25-26.

[2] John 1:49; cf. Matt 27:42; Mark 15:32.

[3] It is less likely that these Greeks were diaspora Greek-speaking Jews, the Hellenists as referred to in Acts 6:1, 9:29.

[4] Psalm 118:25-26.

[5] John 1:49; cf. Matt 27:42; Mark 15:32.

[6] Zechariah 9:9.