Parade of Peace John 12: 12-19

Morning everyone Good to see everyone see new faces as well.

I Guess we'll go ahead and get started on the announcements here. But first, let's take a quick look on this week we did have

Obviously Sunday service last week and then adult service we also had earlier this week at 530 on Wednesdays we had the

Bible study of which pastor goes and goes over the praying with Paul book and Also, we had yesterday the

Biblical counseling book unbound which we take place bi -weekly We're kind of wrapping up there only a few lessons left but we'd love to have everyone if you could join on 930s on every other

Saturday and Then moving to this week for announcements

So today we have a prayer meeting On Sundays at 6 p .m.

You can join us there We also have another announcement, which is for the missionary of the month with John and Becky Knox They have a ministry in Japan and Tokyo in Moriyama, which they've been there for roughly about about 30 years or so They do wish

And hope that you would pray for them that the those of which there who are attending the church would accept

Christ and Also that the church in that existing neighborhood or the church

Scene would grow and there more churches would sprout up in that area And another announcement we have is for next

Sunday We're also going to have a Sunday brunch at 10 a .m

So there will not be a 930 typical Sunday Adult service here.

So do not show up for that because we will instead be in the fellowship hall in the back No need to actually bringing anything because we're just gonna be a time of fellowship with other believers

So just come and be present. That's all that we ask of you guys and then next

Bible study session is gonna be on April 3rd at 5 30 p .m

Before we start worship and service. We'll go ahead and get started with the prayer here

Dear Lord. Thank you for this day given us allowing us to be here and fellowshipping in your name

I pray you Lord that we Our hearts are prepared for you Lord today to worship you and to also receive your word here today

And that we can come here and learn more about your character and understand what you have planned for us

Lord Your name we pray Jesus name. Amen Today's scripture reading is going to come out of Zechariah chapter 9

Verses 9 through 13 verse 9

Rejoice greatly Oh daughter of Zion Shout Oh daughter of Jerusalem Behold your king is coming to you.

He is just and having salvation lowly and riding on a donkey a colt the foal of a donkey

I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem The battle bow shall be cut off He shall speak peace to the nations his dominion shall be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth

As for you also because of the blood of your covenant, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit

Return to the stronghold your prisoners of hope even today. I declare that I will restore double to you

For I have bent Judah my bow fitted the bow with Ephraim and raised up your sons

Oh Zion Against your sons Oh Greece and made you like the sword of a mighty man

This is the word of the Lord Please turn with me to John chapter 12 verses 12 through 19

John chapter 12 Verses 12 through 19 We are not in Luke this morning because today is

Palm Sunday And I will be preaching from a Palm Sunday text from John Because I preach from the

Palm Sunday text from Luke last year John chapter 12 verses 12 through 19

The next day a great multitude that has come to the feast When they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem Took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out

Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the King of Israel Then Jesus when he had found a young donkey sat on it 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 were written about him and that they had done these things to him

Therefore the people who were with him when he called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness for this reason

The people also met him before they heard that he had done the sign

The Pharisees therefore laid among themselves you see that you are accomplishing nothing

Look, the world has gone after him This is the word of the Lord Let us pray

Gracious father we come before you Knowing that this world does not

Receive this King well We can't we come before you knowing that our country

Does not honor our King. Well, but we come before you knowing that Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess when this

King comes back the second time Not riding on a donkey but riding on a war horse

Help us to prepare all of our hearts for the coming of the

King and Help us to invest all of ourselves to prepare others

For the coming of the King whether they know the King or not We ask that the

Holy Spirit would work through all of us Especially during this season to point to Jesus Christ and his world saving mission and That we ourselves would honor and Glorify all that he has done

Gratefully knowing that only through his sacrifice that we were saved

Comfort those who are mourning during this time Comfort also the families of the

Russian terror attack Who have lost their loved ones? comfort the survivors

Who have been traumatized by such a wicked act? Help them to understand and see the world according to your standard and may many

Depend on Christ through this in Jesus name Amen, this text is

John's angle of the triumphal entry other gospel authors

Matthew Mark and Luke have their own account of the triumphal entry and John writes his own and he emphasizes

Some things that the other Apostle such as the

Apostle Matthew and Mark and Luke Did not we think of it as viewing the same scene from a different camera angle

We get to experience John's view of this

And what's really important about this triumphal entry is that we need to remember that entries matter

Not only that entries of significant figures matter even more in the past some rulers created arcs just to go through the city and if you go to some of the famous European cities

There still stands a Roman Arc France has an arc or two multiple really

And they actually call it the arc of triumph I'm not going to attempt to pronounce it in French And that's because how a ruler enters the city matters

Even the u .s. President has his own motorcade in fact, he flies his limo on a plane to whichever city he's going and That limo is not just a regular limo.

It's a tank basically bulletproof in every way even the tires Creates its own oxygen for any bio -warfare and there are other weaponry that That would be just a secret that and I would be arrested if I knew what kind of weaponry that car has

Forge unfortunately named the beast because of how large it is and Every sitting president enters a city that he is visiting no matter where it is in the world

Inside that car basically a tank and how a king enters a city tells us a lot about what kind of king this is and Today we commemorate the triumphal entry of the most important king of all and that is

Jesus Christ The main point of this text is what is the significance of Jesus entry into Jerusalem What is the significance of Jesus entry into Jerusalem?

first Jesus is the Messianic King who comes to restore permanent peace between God and us

Jesus is the Messianic King who comes to restore permanent peace between God and us

Verse 12 the next day a great multitude that had come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem In order to understand the phrase the next day

We need to look at the context of this passage and because we're picking up from John 12 all of a sudden

After over a year being in Luke, I will give us a brief context where they were before the gospel according to John uniquely mentions and Focuses on the raising of Lazarus from the dead which started in chapter 11

Remember who Lazarus is? He is a dear friend of Jesus and he was dead.

In fact, he's been dead for four days inside a tomb a Man whose body started stinking up the grave when opened and Jesus He stands before Lazarus tomb as the stone rolled open and he shouts

Lazarus come out and Behold the one who was once dead walks out and this miracle signifies the new reality of Who Jesus is

It signifies that through Jesus that death no longer has the last say for the first time a

Man raises up a dead man by his own authority

Yes, there were resurrections in the Old Testament and both of them it had to be authority derived from God but for some reason with Jesus Christ, he can shout at a dead man and Even death has to obey

Even death has to let the dead men go and this miracle signifies that through Jesus eternal life is possible that Jesus is the source of life and His word gives life and he is the

Word of God who gives life and now it all makes sense

Why John's gospel starts within the beginning was the word? very

Similar to Genesis 1 in which God speaks life Into nothing and this event is the domino piece that quickly collapses the rest

John's passion week Centers around and it is initiated by the raising of Lazarus from the dead first Jesus popularity grows even more

Crowds are following him around and we'll see even in this text the crowd some of the crowds

They are influenced and they're only there because they heard about Lazarus being raised from the dead

Second because of this the Sanhedrin, that's the religious Establishment, they're the 70 or so religious rulers

Who are in charge especially in Jerusalem They resolutely decide to put

Jesus to death And they figure that out in John 11 when they hear about the raising of Lazarus For them it is no longer too safe It's no longer safe for them to keep

Jesus alive anymore He is their number one threat to their very existence

Jesus is their number one threat to them holding on to their power third

Mary Lazarus's sister pours out and drenches expensive perfumed oil onto Jesus feet

Which Jesus knows it is in preparation for his burial his death is looming and That was six days before the

Passover and this first picks up right after that After it is clear that Jesus is about to die and publicly anointed

Jesus enters Jerusalem the City of God the

City of David and This would have been the Sunday before the

Passion Week the Sunday before his death the Palm Sunday as Jesus nears

Jerusalem a great crowd comes out to meet him and remember they're more than just the

Jerusalemites because this event takes part during the

Feast of Unleavened Bread Which Passover is a part of Right Passover is a single day in which they celebrate by roasting a whole lamb unblemished lamb

To commemorate God's deliverance out of Egypt. In fact, they were supposed to celebrate the whole week and they do and What happens is pilgrims come from all over Right and these pilgrims would have

Jewish heritage But some might not some might be just curious They're exploring

They want to know what kind of God the Jews serve in fact a first century

Jewish historian Josephus a famous name Estimated that about 2 .7

million pilgrims gathered for the feast in Jerusalem before the war is 866 right before Rome sieged them now that number might be highly exaggerated but Nevertheless a large crowd gathered for the feast second the report spread about Jesus raising

Lazarus from the dead and For such an extraordinary miracle a lot of people would want to check what's going on now

What does the crowd do as they approach Jesus? They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and cried out the palm

Palm tree branches. You can just look around you what they might look like They're important for a couple of reasons first Date palms are really prominent in the land of Israel Palm trees don't have to be always related to coconut right date trees are also palm trees

And in fact, you can still buy Dates from Israel.

They still produce dates Second there was a historical precedent for receiving a ruler by waving palm branches and This happened in the 2nd century

BC When the Syrian forces were defeated by the Maccabees The Maccabees were a

Levitical family who stood up against the Antiochus Antiochus the

Epiphanes the fourth He is this Greek Syrian King who's put in charge of the region and he decides that he's going to be

God and starts sacrificing pigs in the Jewish temple a very very disturbing abomination

So the Jewish leaders the Maccabees they stand up and they actually win right, they they win against the

Empire not the Roman Empire, of course the Syrian one and as Simon the

Maccabees enters Jerusalem the crowd they

Welcome him by waving palm branches Playing various instruments and rejoicing and praising

God Needless to say palm branches were in fact a national symbol for Judea at this point it was a sign of the coming deliverance and Their physical action matches their verbal proclamation

Hosanna blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord the King of Israel Hosanna is a

Hebrew cry for save, please It's a command. It's a request save, please

It is a cry for deliverance. It's a shout for salvation And blessed is he who comes in the name of the

Lord is a quotation from psalm 118 verse 26 And what

I do want to remind us is that whenever the Old Testament is quoted by the New Testament authors

We have to consider its context and This is because the gospel authors or frankly any of the

New Testament authors They never quote the Old Testament out of context

Quoting out of context is What twisted theologians do

Quoting out of context is what Satan does Quoting out of context is what fallible?

people do But the gospel authors were used by God himself.

They don't quote out of context Now, what's the context?

Well traditionally? Jews read psalm at 118 as the entry of the future

Davidic King the promised King to restore Israel the

King of Israel Here that that phrase is actually not a quotation from someone 18, but it is what the crowd was shouting

Right Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord King of Israel that the crowd even the crowd knows the

Significance of the psalm that they're quoting the one who comes in the name of the Lord is in fact the

King of Israel The name of the Lord needs to be unpacked here because we use the term name quite differently from how the ancient culture did

When we use names or we use them as identity markers, right?

It is to mainly identify each other, right? You are Jim and I'm not

However in ancient Israel the name of the Lord signified the representation

When the King comes in the name of the Lord he represents all that is the

Lord Right, so so I think really the best teaching case is to go to Exodus 34

When Moses is so distraught and he doesn't think he can go on leading God's people who have just sacrificed to the golden calf and He's betrayed by none other than his older brother

Aaron the cult's leader He tells God I need to see you

I Can't go on unless I see you. So what does God do in Exodus 34?

He? shows himself by declaring his name and His name isn't just the

Lord the Lord the Lord the Lord the Lord. That's not what he says The Lord Declares who he is and his character in nature as The Lord passes by as Moses is hidden so that he does not dive by seeing

God He proclaims the Lord the Lord Merciful and gracious Slow to anger

Abounding and steadfast love and truth the

Lord Unpacks and describes who he is

That's the name of the Lord The name of the Lord is his character.

The name of the Lord is his nature It's more than just an identity marker so when this

King Comes in the name of the Lord He comes in the

Lord's authority This King comes Reflecting the

Lord's mercy Reflecting the Lord's patience grace loyal love and truth and faithfulness this

King will rule as the Lord rules and this King will be righteous and just as the

Lord is and this King is merciful and faithful as the

Lord is and Blessed is he who comes in the name of the

Lord and that is the King of Israel That's what the crowd was shouting and that is whom the crowd received unlike the other gospel accounts

John gives a concise treatment of the donkey. He doesn't tell us. Where is the donkey from any instruction regarding how to?

You know get the donkey But only that Jesus enters writing a donkey

Verse 14 then Jesus when he had found the young donkey Set on it as it is written fear not daughter of Zion behold your

King is coming sitting on a donkey's colt Here John quotes both

Isaiah 49 and Zechariah 9 9 after all if you turn to Zechariah 9 9 which

Dexter read this morning. It didn't start with fear not Fear not actually comes from Isaiah 40 verse 9 in this portion of Isaiah The Prophet proclaims that good news is coming to Zion Which is another name for Jerusalem.

I'll read it in context go on up to a high mountain. Oh Zion Herald of good news lift up your voice with strength.

Oh Jerusalem herald of good news Lift it up fear not

Say to the cities of Judah behold your God Behold the Lord God comes with might and his arm rules for him

Behold his reward is with him and his recompense before him The context of good news that is heralded is that God in his might is coming back to Zion Jerusalem and fittingly

John knew that After the fact and he quotes

Isaiah 40 verse 9 and when

God returns to his people for restoration the natural Response for his people is to not fear.

It's to rejoice Because it's not for judgment that he is coming

But for restoration and when Jesus returned to Jerusalem, it was the fulfillment of that The rest of the quotation from John 12 verse 14 is from Zechariah 9 9

Daughter of Zion behold, your king is coming sitting on a donkey's colt Zechariah 9 9 adds another layer to this divine entry

The king who comes to Jerusalem is sitting on a donkey the vehicle that the king chooses to ride shows the purpose of his entry if The king were to enter riding a horse

It would have been quite a scary sight Remember in the

Old Testament and really frankly the New Testament Horses are not for racing

Horses are tanks Cavalry is for battle Not for a patrol a donkey, however

Shows that the king comes for peace the king Comes for restoration rather than destruction and the rest of Zechariah 9 shows that the king enters to restore

God's people Right what decks remember what Dexter read to us this morning? There will no longer be any wars

God's people will be gathered not only that their enemies will be punished and even they will be gathered together and There will be a covenant made and the prisoners will be free

They'll be released That's the context of Zechariah 9 and That's the context we have to read when

Jesus came in that's the purpose it was for peace It was to gather his people and it even included

God's enemies Now why is

Jesus entering to restore peace important? While the crowd thought

Jesus entry signaled their deliverance from Rome and thus peace from the imperial oppression

Jesus establishes another type of peace He in fact reconciles us with God he establishes peace between sinners and the

Holy God Ultimately the most pressing need for us this morning is not any peace in specific regions or among certain nations

But the most important need that we have as individuals and As the collective humankind is the peace with God This is because we all are self focused self -worshiping sinners our minds speech and actions seek to satisfy

Our desires Which is self -worship that we would be treated as gods and by default

We're traitors who deserve eternal condemnation for rebelling against a heavenly sovereign

Whether the crowd knew it or not It was their biggest problem too and because God is holy and just He does not fudge our records

To erase our sins because that would make him

Unjust and corrupt We would throw a fit if a judge passes an unjust ruling

How much more so the heavenly judge who is perfect and holy? yet God's mercy and love overflow even to his violence enemies and we see this unfold after Jesus enters

Jerusalem King Jesus enters a city that will mock betray and eventually crucify him yet He enters the city to restore his people back to God to return his people back to him

He rescues sinners by taking their place of judgment He saves his people by suffering the divine wrath on our behalf

And that's precisely what we see from his entry on the donkey

He didn't come riding a warhorse to judge the city that would reject him

He came on the donkey to restore peace with the people in the city despite their sin by taking on their sin himself

That's what this entry signifies Now, how do people respond to Jesus triumphal entry?

We can only understand the significance of the King Jesus entry looking through his crucifixion and resurrection

We can only understand the significance of the King Jesus entry looking through his crucifixion and resurrection

In the following four verses we find out how different groups have responded to the entry of this

King The order of responses goes from the closest in relation to More distant from that's from his disciples to his persecutors

First verse 16 tells us how his disciples perceived this entry his disciples did not understand these things at first a brutally honest

Confession right there John does not hold back punches Even against himself.

He clearly says he didn't get it. They didn't get it Initially, even

Jesus followers did not fully grasp the significance of Jesus regal entry

However, they were not permanently left in the dark But when

Jesus was glorified When they remembered then they remember that these things were written about him that they had done these things to him

Glorified here means post -resurrection This is because when

Jesus went up to heaven to reign after he resurrected from The grave he sent his

Holy Spirit to his disciples and The Holy Spirit revealed and taught the early disciples how

Jesus in Jesus life and death fulfilled the Old Testament Scripture They were taught by the

Spirit of God Himself Although the disciples did not grasp the significance of this entry in that very moment

They had no excuse after the Ascension and the reception of the Holy Spirit They could not unsee

Jesus as anything but the Davidic King from God who came to save his people from sin and for all who trust

Jesus Christ and his death and resurrection we have to see the significance of Jesus entry into Jerusalem and It was not a political revolution

But a redemption of souls It was not to overthrow

Roman Empire But to overthrow the bondage of sin

Now verses 17 to 18 shift to the crowds response Therefore the people who were with him when he called

Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness For this reason the people also met him because they heard that he had done this sign the first group of people are

The very people who followed Jesus from Bethany, which is in east of Jerusalem where Lazarus stayed now they bore witness to Jesus miracle and the word traveled around and By the time the word traveled around the crowd from Jerusalem heard of it and that's why they came out

So Jesus is actually flanked by two different crowds Those who came from Jerusalem to meet him and those who followed him from Bethany He's surrounded

However, they also missed the significance of Christ For them Jesus was just a spectacle to behold

Jesus was a miracle performer not the

Davidic King Jesus was just a special prophet not

God incarnate and They're just merely curious about what more

Jesus could do Lastly the Pharisees also took note of this terrific entry

The Pharisees therefore said among themselves you see that you are accomplishing nothing Look, the world has gone after him the

Pharisees the religious rulers are threatened by Jesus popularity

They can see that they cannot do anything here. They're talking amongst themselves. See you cannot do anything

In fact, look at the hyperbole the world has gone after him The world is following him

He's got the support of the world Obviously the whole world did not gather in Jerusalem that day

But the crowd was so immense That the Pharisees figuratively state how the world has gone after him

He's untouchable How can we even kill him if we can't even get to him?

John gives us two layers of irony here the word

World the world in the gospel according to John does not actually

Know Jesus Right Recall in John 1 10 what we learn about the world

He was in the world. This is Jesus and the world was made through him because he's the creator

Yet the world did not know him Some translations have the world did not understand him.

The world was confused by him. In fact the crowd that supports him

Will soon betray Jesus when they learn That he will not accomplish their agenda to overthrow

Rome the crowd that shouts Hosanna safe Will cry out crucify just a couple of days after that's the world

The irony is the Pharisees think that the world will stick by Jesus hence.

They can't kill him But the world will not second

There's a second layer of irony. There's an irony within the irony And it's kind of confusing but this reverses yet It is precisely through the world's rejection that Jesus will save the world

Through the world's rejection and the crucifixion of this King The world could finally go after him not in a superficial sense as what the

Pharisees witnessed but genuinely wholeheartedly from the inside despite the world's hatred toward Jesus We know that Jesus loves the world in Fact the most famous verse in the

Bible is John 3 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life

Here God's love is shocking in this verse not because the world is so big as if God's world is so limited

How could he love everyone from he this continent to the next? Of course

God's love for the world includes that but that's not the shocking part God's love is shocking in this verse because The world is so wicked

The world is so violent The world is so abusive.

The world is so terrorizing The world is so unclean impure

The world is so rebellious and before Christ you were part of the world but God so loved the world

That world this world that he sent his one and only son to die for it

That's the implication that the disciples understood after the resurrection and ascension

Jesus entered Jerusalem not to rule from Herod's palace move over Herod that seat is not yours

See it's in all the prophets But to be publicly beaten and mocked and he didn't have a seat to sit on It was standing when he was dying

Jesus entered the city Not to be crowned with gold and gems but to be crowned with thorns to undo the curse from Genesis 3 in Which thorns do come in as the curse to the ground not to be exalted as the dignified

Davidic King who's been promised centuries ago But to be literally lifted up on the cross bearing our sin and suffering the wrath that we deserved and in mockery with multiple signs saying this is the king of the

Jews in various languages so the world can understand

What happens when you are not part of the world?

But ironically, that's precisely how this King saves the world Not through a popular uprising as the world

Knows best but through a humiliating execution that God's justice required and for all of us we have the privilege of Knowing more than what even

Jesus disciples initially knew when they saw the donkey and the palm branches with even clearer knowledge and view

Comes a greater responsibility and for all of us this morning.

We have a choice to make How will we How will we?

Receive this King who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey Will we receive?

the peace offering That he earned for us

Through his life as a sacrifice to atone for our sin

Let us pray Father we are grateful for you giving us this

King to the world. That is completely undeserving and Even unprepared to receive

The King Father we pray that you would work in all of our hearts to prepare the coming of the

King the second time and May all of our hearts and minds and strength

Go toward focusing on the coming of this King daily

Knowing that we have the privilege That even the

Apostles didn't have when they got to see the coming of their King the first time Help us to long for it.

Help us to not grow tired help us to endure until the very end until Jesus comes back for his people and Help us to gratefully receive the peace that he has

Accomplished for us through his own death and resurrection In Jesus name.