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Now, this is another pastoral epistle.
Paul left Titus in Crete to establish the churches
there, new churches.
I think we should understand Titus here and Timothy as
really remaining and doing pastoral work there with apostolic authority.
It would seem the apostle Paul gave them that authority to establish these churches.
You'll hear some today talk about how elders should have this same kind of authority to control
churches, as Titus had and Timothy.
I take issue with that.
I believe the Bible teaches that the churches of Jesus Christ are congregational in nature, in church
government.
Jesus Christ is the Lord of the church, and he expresses that in the
collective body, although certainly he has appointed
elders and pastors to be undershepherds of his flock.
Well, here we have Titus, Paul giving instruction to Titus.
Titus chapter 1.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God's elect
and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness.
In hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages
began, and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching,
with which I have been entrusted by the command of God, our Savior, to Titus, my true
child in a common faith.
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus, our Savior.
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order and appoint
elders in every town as I directed you.
If anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife and his children are believers and
not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.
For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach.
He must not be arrogant, or quick -tempered, or drunkard, or violent, or greedy for gain,
but hospitable, a lover of good, self -controlled, upright, holy, and
disciplined.
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give
instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision party.
They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful
gain what they ought not to teach.
One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy
gluttons.
This testimony is true.
And therefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting
themselves to Jewish myth and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.
To the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure.
But both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works.
They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
Let's pray.
Our Father, we ask that you be merciful and gracious to us and to our church, that we
become and be all that we can be in this fallen world as we seek to
live for you, our Father, as governed by our Savior, our Lord
Jesus Christ.
We pray, Lord, that you would give wisdom to the leaders of this church and
that you would enable us, our God, to give encouragement and instruction to
your people that's in accordance with godliness, in accordance with the truth of your holy word.
We pray, our God, that you would help us to live, each of us, to live before you
faithfully as true Christians.
Help us, our God, not be as those who are in actuality unsaved, who, although they
claim to know you, their lives deny you by the way they live.
We pray, Lord, that you would help us to be faithful and consistent as Christians, living our lives
as true and committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
Now, may you bless your word to us, our God.
May you help us to understand the truth that we find in John chapter 12.
And again, we pray for your blessing upon our brother Jason as he is standing forward to
represent you and your word even at this time.
For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Well, let's turn back to John chapter 12, please, as we work through
the study of the Gospel of John.
Now, today's study does not contain a great deal of direct application for
us, but I do pray and trust that it does contain a great
deal of information about Jesus Christ.
The passage certainly lends itself to that.
And of course, seeing and understanding Jesus Christ clearly and fully
is itself transformative, isn't it?
In other words, I shouldn't have to stand up here and spell out every way of application for you
to be able to experience the blessing of God.
I know if I present Jesus Christ clearly and fully to you, and the Holy Spirit
blesses that, he's gonna transform you.
The scriptures teach this.
For although we may fail to discern direct application if the Holy Spirit blesses us
with seeing the glory of Christ displayed in his word, he'll perform a work of moral and spiritual
transformation in us.
And this is as the Apostle Paul declared in 2 Corinthians chapter three, verse
18.
But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.
It's like you're looking in a mirror and instead of your senior face, you see Jesus Christ in his authority and his glory
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
And so I pray, may the Lord bless us this day to see the glory of the Lord so that we
become more like the Lord Jesus for having done so.
And therefore we certainly need the blessing of God.
So here is John 12 before us.
The passage before us today sets forth, of course, Jesus of Nazareth is the promised son of David,
the King of Israel, arriving to Jerusalem to establish the Messianic
kingdom for which Israel long hope, which God had foretold through the Old Testament prophets.
This is the realization, the time of fulfillment had arrived.
And so before us is the public revelation and manifestation of Jesus as the King of Israel,
arriving to inaugurate his kingdom.
This entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem is recorded, of course, in all four of our gospels.
Each account, however, varies in details, giving emphasis to matters that the Holy Spirit had
moved each gospel writer to pen.
But every one of these four accounts emphasize that Jesus was entering Jerusalem in order to assert
his kingship and inaugurate the promised kingdom of the Messiah.
And so here is John's account of this event, John 12, verses 12 through
19.
The next day, a great multitude that had 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.
And 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 coal.
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.
And therefore the people who were with him,
when he called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness.
And for this reason, the people also met him because they heard that he had done this sign.
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, you see that you are accomplishing nothing, look, the
world has gone after him.
So here we read of the triumphant, triumphal entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem as the
promised King of Israel.
And you may recall that last week, we said that Mary's anointing of Jesus in John 12, one through 11,
in Bethany at that meal, at that supper, at that banquet was an anointing of Jesus as King.
But that was a rather private, implicit confession of Jesus as King by Mary.
But here in John 12 and following, we have a very public acknowledgement
and an explicit confession that Jesus is the King of Israel who is
inaugurating the long awaited, promised restoration of the kingdom of David.
So as we affirmed last week, as one wrote, Mary's act was intended to present
Jesus as a royal personage, a King.
The historical evidence matches well with the fourth gospel, which is keenly interested in the royalty
of Jesus.
Indeed, the full picture of the enthronement of Jesus is the Son of Man lifted up on his cross.
This pericope, in other words, this episode makes Jesus's kingship implicit and private
as when Mary anointed Jesus, pouring the spikenard on his feet.
However, this is an ironic King.
In this, pardon me, in this next pericope, the one before us, Jesus's kingship is explicit and public.
As the reader will come to see, however, this is an ironic King for just as he has been anointed for his
burial, verse seven, so also will he be enthroned as King, not with honor, but with shame,
and not on a throne, but on a cross.
Our gospel writer, John the Apostle, set forth the kingship of Jesus through this Palm Sunday event,
primarily through the employment of two Old Testament passages of scripture,
and the first is his use of Psalm 118, and the second
passage that he employs is that of Zechariah nine, particularly verse nine.
Now, as we consider these verses, we might break it down according to this outline.
We have first the preparations for a King, secondly, the royal entrance of the
King, thirdly, the true nature of Jesus's kingship,
and then fourth, we have the public response to Jesus, and so let's work through this passage.
First of all, preparations for a King, verses 12 and 13.
We first read of the stirring and gathering of a great crowd of people who desired to herald the entrance of
Jesus into Jerusalem as the promised King of Israel.
Again, the next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they had heard that
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, went out to meet him and cried out,
Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.
This passage opens with a statement of time.
Verse 12, John wrote, the next day, a great multitude that had come to the feast.
The day previous to this event, of course, was again in Bethany when Jesus was the host of a supper
in his honor, in which Mary had anointed Jesus's feet with very expensive spikenard.
The feast mentioned here in verse 12, of course, is not a reference to that supper that they had
the day before, but rather it's a reference to the great Passover that was about to take
place in Jerusalem.
And so the great multitude had arrived to Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast.
Probably the great multitude was comprised of people that did not live in Jerusalem itself,
but came from all over the Roman world, probably many from Galilee who
traveled to Jerusalem.
Now, the number of people who gathered to Jerusalem for the Passover was immense.
It would seem that most of them were from out of town.
A great multitude that had come to the feast greeted Jesus.
It was not those who were leaders in Jerusalem, of course, they didn't greet Jesus.
And of course, those in Jerusalem who were Jews had been threatened by the Jewish leaders.
If you know where he is, you tell us, so we may bind him, that we
may arrest him.
But these were crowds from outside of Jerusalem who had come to the feast.
They welcomed the arrival of Jesus.
And so there were a great many people who traveled to Jerusalem annually to observe the Passover feast.
In fact, Josephus, the Roman, the Jewish man who was a
Roman historian, he was employed by Rome in the first century.
Josephus described one Passover just before the Jewish war of AD 66 to
70, when he wrote, and he tended to inflate his numbers, by the way, but he wrote
2 ,700 ,000 people took part, not counting the
defiled and the foreigners who were present in the city.
And as one wrote, even if his numbers were inflated, the crowds were undoubtedly immense.
And I read at one time that Jerusalem in that day may have had a population of about 500 ,000.
So you can imagine this immense swelling of people for this
Passover feast.
Now, the event recorded here, of course, is recognized as being Palm Sunday.
The feast at Bethany had taken place on Saturday, apparently, the day before this event.
And within a few days, Jesus would be arrested, tried, crucified, buried, but then he would rise one week
from this day on that first resurrection Sunday, that first Easter morning.
And so with this episode, John 12, verse 12, and following, the Passion Week of
Jesus had commenced.
When a great multitude heard that Jesus was coming to the Passover, they spontaneously formed a greeting party,
heralding Jesus as the promised King of Israel, who had come to Jerusalem at this Passover
with the purpose of inaugurating the promised kingdom of God, the promised kingdom
of David that the Jews anticipated.
And so the action to the people, as well as the acclamations that they sang out, gave a public acknowledgement and
welcome of Jesus as their King, the son of David.
Now, it's true that John does not explicitly declare Jesus as the promised son of David,
but that John does convey this truth is quite evident in his description of the welcome of these Jerusalem
multitudes.
John showed in two ways that Jesus was the promised King, the son of David.
First, John described the crowds welcoming the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem with palm branches, and
that's significant.
And then secondly, John showed that Jesus was the promised King of Israel by recording the crowds using the
language of Psalm 118.
So let's consider these.
First, the multitudes welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem with palm branches.
We read this great multitude took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him.
Date palm trees were quite plentiful in the first century in Jerusalem, and they're quite plentiful to this
day.
Interestingly, there is no word in the Old Testament that associates palm leaves with the Passover.
There are references, however, to palm branches associated with the Feast of Tabernacles, but that
feast, you'll recall, was observed six months prior to this, and we dealt with that in John
chapter seven, the Feast of Tabernacles.
But palm branches had become somewhat of a national symbol in the second century BC
when Simon Maccabee led the Israelites to defeat, purge the land of the Syrian oppressors.
The Maccabee family gained liberty through their leadership.
They gained liberty overthrowing the Syrians.
Well, upon the success of that military campaign, the crowds of Jerusalem publicly welcomed Simon
Maccabee to the city with singing and waving palm branches.
And it would seem from that time, palm branches became increasingly
a symbol for Israel.
Palm branches were also present when the temple was later rededicated a couple of years after liberty had been
gained.
More were after the events recorded in the Gospels later on, AD 66 through 70.
The Jews depicted palm branches as a national symbol, celebrating from here and there a little
brief and limited military victory over Romans, both in the war
in AD 66 and following in AD 132, the Bar Kochba revolt.
And so the palm branches had become an emblem of nationalist hope that a messianic
liberator was arriving on the scene.
Edward Klink, who is a professor today, expressed it this way.
The significance of Jewish history, therefore the symbolic action of the crowd is evidence further and directly
connected to the ministry of Jesus in two other ways.
First, since either five or six of the disciples had Maccabean names, as well as two
of Jesus's half brothers, this strongly suggests that Jesus ministered in a region that cherished
the national heroes of Israel as a proud people under foreign rule, hoping for ultimate
deliverance.
And the second, surrounding the time of Jesus's ministry, there is evidence of Jewish coins that
had the image of the palm tree with some bearing inscription for the redemption of Zion.
Thus, while the symbolic act of carrying or waving branches would have symbolized for many ancient readers, the
communication of triumph or royal welcome by focusing specifically on palm branches with its
centuries of religious significance and its overtones of Maccabean nationalism, the crowd
is officially heralding Jesus as a king.
That's the point of the palm branches.
That's what they were doing.
This was their intention.
By the way, we call this event, of course, commonly Palm Sunday.
But actually, even though the account is found in all four gospels, only John recorded the detail
that the people waved palm branches, signaling the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem.
Matthew made mention that the people cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road.
And Mark recorded that many people spread their clothes on the road and others cut down leafy branches from the
trees and spread them on the road.
And Luke makes no mention of branches at all, but he simply recorded that as Jesus went, many
spread their clothes in the road.
John alone, his account to,
we owe the description Palm Sunday.
It's not clear why the synoptists, that would be Matthew, Mark, and Luke, do not indicate the kind of branches that
were used on this occasion.
But it is to John that we owe the information that they were from palm trees.
Palms were an emblem of victory.
And in John's mention of them here, we must detect a reference to the triumph of Christ.
He's coming into Jerusalem as the promised king.
And so the gathering and waving of palm leaves by the multitudes indicates they were welcoming Jesus
as their promised king, who would deliver them from their oppressors and restore the glory of their
nation.
That's what they were hoping for.
Well, a second way in which John showed that Jesus was the promised king of Israel was by
recording the crowds using the language of Psalm 118.
In fact, it's as though the crowd was reenacting Psalm 118.
And so we have this recorded in verse 13, the people shouting out, "'Hosanna,
blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, "'the king of Israel.'".
Again, these words are taken from Psalm 118, verses 25 and 26.
Now, this is a royal psalm, which celebrates the fact that God is the true king of Israel,
but that he would send a king who would be his representative, who would rule over Israel on his
behalf.
I wrote down, you've got in your notes, the complete Psalm, Psalm 118,
in order to help us with the context.
"'Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, "'for his mercy endures forever.
"'Let Israel now say, his mercy endures forever.
"'Let the house of Aaron now say, "'his mercy endures forever.
"'Let those who fear the Lord now say, "'his mercy endures forever.
"'I called on the Lord in distress.
"'The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
"'The Lord is on my side.
"'I will not fear what can man do to me.
"'The Lord is for me among those who help me, "'and therefore I shall see my desire "'on
those who hate me.
"'It's better to trust in the Lord "'than to put confidence in man.
"'It's better to trust in the Lord "'than to put confidence in princes.
"'All nations surrounded me, "'but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.
"'They surrounded me.
"'Yes, they surrounded me, "'but in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.
"'They surrounded me like bees.
"'They were quenched like a fire of thorns, "'for in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.
"'You pushed me violently that I might fall, "'but the Lord helped me.
"'The Lord is my strength and song, "'and he has become my salvation.
"'The voice of rejoicing and salvation "'is in the tents of the righteous.
"'The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
"'The right hand of the Lord is exalted.
"'I shall not die but live, "'and declare the works of the Lord.
"'The Lord has chastened me severely, "'but he's not given me over to death.
"'Open to me the gates of righteousness, "'and I will go through them, "'and I will praise the Lord.
"'This is the gate of the Lord, "'through which the righteous shall enter.
"'I will praise you, for you have answered me, "'and have become my salvation.'".
Now notice verse 22.
"'The stone which the builders rejected "'has become the chief cornerstone.
"'This was the Lord's doing.
"'It is marvelous in our eyes.
"'This is the day the Lord has made.
"'We will rejoice and be glad in it.'".
And then I emboldened and italicized the words that John picked up,
which the crowds were expressing.
"'Save now, I pray, O Lord.
"'O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
"'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
"'We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
"'God is the Lord.
"'He's given us light.
"'Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
"'You are my God, and I will praise you.
"'You are my God, I will exalt you.
"'O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, "'for his mercy endures forever.'".
But again, the words of verses 25 and 26 are quoted in John
chapter 12 as the words expressed by the multitudes welcoming Jesus.
And these verses read in the psalm, "'Save now, I pray, O Lord.
"'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'".
Now, within these words, there are three important elements or statements that argue for the kingship of
Jesus of Nazareth.
First, the crowd shouted, hosanna, which is a Greek
transliteration of a Hebrew or Aramaic word that was addressed to God declaring
to him, save.
It's really like a prayer, please save, save us, Lord.
The Hebrew word in Psalm 118 .25 is hoshia,
in other words, hosanna.
But the Greek translation of this verse in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament,
is seson.
Literally, it means give salvation now, hosanna.
The crowd is calling on God to save them, to deliver them.
By this one word, the crowd expresses their hopes about Jesus, assuming he is God's light shining
upon them, which is expressed in verse 27 of Psalm 118.
But this expression that had been a call upon God to save them had become an expression of praise.
Later, hosanna became a voice, word of praise to God by his people.
And of course, that's how the word is commonly understood today.
When we say hosanna, we are offering praise to God, but really in the
context for having saved us.
Then secondly, the crowd called out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And so right after the psalmist called out to God to save him or them, he blesses or welcomes
the one coming on behalf of God to accomplish this work of salvation.
The crowd is rendering this praise of Jesus of Nazareth as the coming king who would affect the salvation
that God, their true king, purposed to bestow upon them.
They were acknowledging Jesus to be their promised Messiah, the son of David.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
And then thirdly, the crowd then declared the identity of Jesus directly, the king of Israel.
It may be translated this way, even the king of Israel.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel.
Of course, this final part of the proclamation is the clearest evidence of the kingly nature of the
crowd's interpretation of Jesus.
The phrase, however, is not found in Psalm 118, is it?
But rather it's added to the declaration of the crowds recorded by John.
And so the crowd identifies Jesus as the promised king who would come on behalf of God to save
his people.
Now, it's quite clear that the reader of John's gospel has a greater understanding of the nature of the Lord Jesus and
his kingdom than did this great multitude that welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem.
They probably had in their thinking, they certainly had in their thinking, that this Messiah was about to deliver them
from Roman oppression and deliver his people into a state of liberty, reinstituting, re
-inaugurating the Davidic kingdom of Israel that once dominated that region of the world.
But just as God had used Caiaphas, you recall, the high priest, to reveal more than he
intended regarding Jesus, we saw that in John 11, so God had this crowd express truth
that was beyond their understanding.
So again, as we look at Psalm 118, we can consider the verses that immediately precede the announcement of the
coming Messiah who would save his people.
Again, verses 21 through 24 of Psalm 118 read this way.
I will praise you for you have answered me, you've become my salvation.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord's doing, it's marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Yes, the psalmist had declared the Messiah would come on behalf of God to save his people, but it would be a salvation
that the people did not comprehend and it would be accomplished in a manner of which they were wholly ignorant.
Yes, the Messiah would become king, but that kingdom would be inaugurated and he would be installed in a manner
totally unknown to them.
A manner consistent with Psalm 118, but a manner of which the
multitudes were totally ignorant.
Jesus would become king through being rejected by the builders, the Jewish leadership, and it would be through
the grace and power of God alone that Jesus came forth from the dead at his resurrection.
He then became the chief cornerstone.
He became Lord, all authority in heaven and earth was given unto him.
And this would be to the amazement of all, wholly ironic in nature, to the surprise and
wonder of the people.
Amen.
By the way, just a matter of aside, matter of application.
This verse is commonly interpreted in a way, hey, I'm having
a miserable day, but nevertheless, this is the day the Lord has made and I purpose to rejoice and be glad in it.
That's not what the Psalm was talking about.
The Psalmist was talking about the day in which this rejected
stone became the chief cornerstone.
The Psalmist, the day that the Lord has made, we'll rejoice and be glad in it, is talking about the
resurrection and glorification of King Jesus.
Talking about the first resurrection Sunday.
And I made a note of this in the footnote, we'll not read it.
But I also see this as a prophecy of worshiping on the Lord's day Sunday rather than Saturday, Sabbath.
This is the day you're gonna rejoice and be glad in.
This is the day you're gonna be worshiping in the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I think that's what's being declared.
And so here the heralding of Jesus as the promised King of Israel is extremely important.
He would be King shortly, but in a way that no one truly anticipated, even though he had taught it to his disciples.
But in a way they did not fully comprehend until after the crucifixion and resurrection.
And John even makes that statement here.
The disciples didn't understand it, did they?
And thus the heralding of Jesus as King here is highly significant.
In a sense, the crowd is reenacting Psalm 118, proclaiming Jesus as King as he
enters Jerusalem.
It's in this way that the introduction and setting of the pericope, that is the episode here, concludes
establishing for the reader a vibrant scene of royal pomp and circumstance.
It's an inauguration.
Into his kingship.
Now, for those who have ears to hear, perhaps you've already detected it, but
this understanding of this passage is completely different than the popular
presentation that somehow, that the classic dispensationalists teach.
What Jesus was doing was offering the earthly millennium, the earthly kingdom of David.
But because they rejected him and crucified, the offer of the kingdom was withdrawn by
God and won't take place until the second coming of Christ.
That is not what John is declaring.
John is declaring that Jesus Christ, the King of Israel, established the promised messianic kingdom
through his death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation.
It's emphasizing the present reality of the kingdom of God.
That's what this passage emphasizes.
Well, now in verses 14 and 15, we have the royal entrance of the King.
Here's the manner our Lord entered Jerusalem, which also depicts him as the arriving King.
Verses 14 and 15 read, and Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it as it's written,
fear not daughter of Zion, behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.
Now, the opening words of John 12, 14 display the sharpest distinction between John's
account of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem and the accounts of the same event set forth by the
synoptic writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Each of the synoptic writers gave much detail of Jesus's instruction to disciples
in order to obtain this animal that Jesus would ride into the city.
John passes by all those details.
That's not to say John's account is in conflict with the other accounts, it's just that John did not see the need to give these
details.
As one wrote, the synoptists, that would be Matthew, Mark, and Luke, here preserve much more
information and make it clear that Jesus arranged for the ride of the ass, thereby self -consciously fulfilling
his prophecy of Zechariah 9, 9.
John cuts out these arrangements and briefly reports Jesus found a young donkey.
That's all John says about the matter.
And then this commentator qualified it, the verb, in other words, found, Jesus found, certainly allows
room for the meaning defined by agency of others.
In other words, it doesn't conflict with the other gospel writers, he just summarizes it.
John shows no interest in it.
John showed the nature of our Lord's kingship, however, through both his use of riding on a donkey as
well as his use of Zechariah 9, verse 9.
And so let's consider this.
First, the use of the donkey by Jesus, verse 14a.
Then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey.
Just as the palm leaves were significant with regard to kingship, so is this donkey.
We might think that riding a donkey into town would be a rather humbling of oneself rather than exalting oneself before
those who observed him.
But this would be a wrong understanding.
Yes, riding a donkey indicated that Jesus was coming in peace rather than with the intention to
administer justice against his enemies and wage war.
And D .A. Carson said this of our Lord's entry.
Whatever the exact sequence, to report the ride on the donkey immediately after the acclamation of
the crowd has the effect of damping down nationalist expectation.
He does not enter Jerusalem on a war horse, which would have whipped the political aspirations of the
vast crowds into insurrectionist frenzy, but he chooses to present himself as the king who
comes in peace, gentle and riding a donkey.
And that's the idea conveyed in Zechariah 9, 9.
But we should not think that this matter of entrance would have been perceived by the crowds as undignified
or a humble way of coming into the city.
Rather, this was the manner and entrance of a king.
Here's an extended explanation of this I thought would be helpful for us.
This is by comments of Edward Klink on the word Jesus found a donkey and sat on it
just as it is written, referring to Zechariah 9, 9.
First, Jesus found a donkey.
The symbolic meaning of the donkey may be the most important tool for interpreting the nature of
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, and more specifically, his response to the acclaiming crowd.
Many interpreters consider Jesus' use of a donkey to be a correction of the crowd because of
the general assumption that the ass has lowly associations.
Since many interpreters assume the crowd's acclamation of King Jesus was drenched in nationalistic
expectations, it's often assumed that Jesus chose a donkey with a specific intention of
damping down such misguided expectations.
If Jesus were to accept the crowd's royal praise, he would have chosen a kingly horse, symbolizing
war, not a donkey, a beast of burden.
But notice what Klink wrote.
But the biblical and historical evidence does not support this picture of the donkey.
While the horse would eventually become a symbolic for military power, mules and
donkeys have a much earlier and longer heritage as symbols of royalty.
As much as donkeys were widely characterized as a beast of burden par excellence throughout the Near Eastern
texts, they also served as a mount for people of high standing, nobility, and
aristocracy, prophets, royalty, and deity.
That is, while the donkey on its own is often a symbolic of a pet animal with a clear rider of high standing,
the donkey becomes an intentional symbol of status.
In other words, prestige, power, and wealth, most often to signify royal status.
As Way, that's a man, a scholar, biblical scholar, as Way
described it, the donkey is, so to speak, the Mercedes Benz of the biblical world.
That's a pretty good illustration that gives you the flavor of it.
The fact that the narrator described Jesus himself as the one who procured the donkey suggested his choice of
the animal of all that symbolic meaning was part of his response to the crowd.
Rather than correcting or rebuking the acclamation of the crowd, Jesus appears to be accepting it,
even participating in the crowd's reenactment of the royal proclamation of Psalm 118.
Jesus wasn't putting down their reception.
He was buying right into it.
But notice what it says, and this is important.
Not only did Jesus find a donkey, but we read that he sat upon it.
Now that might seem to be kind of a secondary detail, but actually this action of Jesus,
described by John, sets forth Jesus as asserting his kingship.
Again, we read, then Jesus, when he had found a young donkey, sat on it.
If you look at the grammar of that sentence, yes, he found a donkey, but this is set forth in a
secondary clause, a temporal clause, when he found a young donkey.
The main verb of the subject of the sentence is, then Jesus sat on it.
That's the main idea.
It's not the presence of the donkey that's suggestive of the image of Jesus, that Jesus is presenting, but what
Jesus did with the donkey, he mounted it.
This was a kingly move on his part.
It's an assertion of his regal status.
Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey was not a display of humility, as it was an assertion of
regal authority.
He was the promised king of Israel.
And this is not what John, was this not what John was asserting?
We already set forth forthrightly.
John inserting the declaration that Jesus is the king of Israel, appending it to his use of Psalm 118,
for the people had cried out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, that's Psalm 118.
But then John describes what the people were declaring, even the king of
Israel.
And then it's here that John calls forth Zechariah 9 .9, to
substantiate what's taking place.
Again, we read in verses 14 and 15, then Jesus, when he found a young donkey, he sat on it as
it is written, fear not daughter of Zion, behold your king is coming,
sitting on a donkey's coal.
This is where John employed the prophecy of Zechariah 9 .9, in order to set forth the messianic
kingship of Jesus.
Now, although this verse is quoted by John and includes only Zechariah 9 .9, the
verse taken from a context, is from a context in which we should be informed.
So here's the larger context, and please bear with me as we look at Zechariah 9 .1 -10.
And what I want to show you is that it was in the context of great
difficulty, hardship, warfare, that this king of peace
comes in.
Bringing an end to warfare and bringing a state of peace.
And so here's Zechariah 9 .1 -10, the burden of the word of the Lord against the land of
Hadrach in Damascus, its resting place, for the eyes of men and all the tribes of Israel are on the Lord.
Also against Hamath, which borders on it, against Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.
For Tyre built herself a tower, heaped up silver like the dust, gold like the mire of the streets.
Behold, the Lord will cast her out, he will destroy her power in the sea, and she will be devoured by fire.
Ashkelon shall see it in fear, Gaza also shall be very sorrowful, and Akron, for he
dried up her expectation.
The king shall perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited.
A mixed race shall settle in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.
I will take away the blood from his mouth and the abominations from between his teeth.
But he who remains, even he should be for our God, and she'll be like a leader in Judah, and Akron
like a Jebusite.
I will camp around my house because of the army, because of him who passes by and him who returns.
No more shall an oppressor pass through them, for now I have seen with my eyes.".
And then here is the passage that John quotes in John chapter 12.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion.
Shout, O 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.
That's international, Gentile lands too.
From the river to the ends of the earth.
And so the context of Zechariah is of God's people being attacked and ravaged by its enemies.
Now, granted the Lord had employed these enemies to bring judgment upon his people, but his purpose in
judgment is declared to have an end.
God would send forth his king to overthrow the enemies of his people, and it would seem remove the sins of his people
that brought forth his judgment upon them.
And so the Lord would destroy those who would destroy his people.
And so God gives the command for his people to rejoice in their deliverance.
He's just and having salvation.
Lowly riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Yes, the king is coming in peace, for he's riding a donkey, but he's coming in peace for his people.
That is for those who believe on him as their king because he's overthrown their enemies, that which threatened
them.
This donkey ride, therefore, speaks of what he would very soon accomplish through his death on the cross,
even the atonement of the sins for his people.
And so let's consider more carefully these words of comfort to God's people because their king has
come to them.
First, John records the words, fear not, daughter of Zion.
Actually, when you read Zechariah 9, 9, we don't read these exact words.
John has used these words, fear not, daughter of Zion to replace Zechariah's words, rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion.
But this is a common way in which New Testament writers use Old Testament
passages.
As one wrote, the opening words, do not be afraid are found neither in the Hebrew nor any version of
Zechariah 9, 9, and replace rejoice greatly.
Quite likely they are drawn from Isaiah 40, verse nine, where they're addressed to the one who brings good tidings to
Zion.
It's not uncommon for New Testament quotations from the Old Testament to derive from two or more
And that's what John did here in John chapter 12.
Who is the daughter of Zion?
It's described here.
It was a common way to refer to the people of ancient Jerusalem who were oppressed and afflicted, who had suffered under
God's judgment.
But it's a word of pity on their behalf, daughter of Zion.
Therefore, it's not a reference to all Jews indiscriminately, but rather to a remnant of Jewish people,
we would argue the elect of God, whom he purposed to save from their sins.
And so this is not a promise to Jews as Jews, but it's a promise to a remnant of Jews, they are called
the daughter of Zion.
Now the New Testament, identity of this daughter of Zion are all those that believe on Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior.
Here, Zion is no physical Jerusalem, but it's our heavenly Zion, the city whose builder and
maker is God, the city built without hands.
And Paul wrote of this very thing.
Of both Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ, Paul described them as being the offspring, in other words, the
Even as God was their father, Paul wrote of the city of Christians, but the Jerusalem which is
above, which is the mother of us all.
Here in Zechariah, it's the daughter of Zion.
Paul described the Zion up above as the mother of us all.
We're the children of Zion.
This is speaking about the people who are the objects of God's work of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Now, why should the daughter of Zion not be afraid?
Fear not, daughter of Zion, because as Zechariah declared and John cited, behold, your king is
coming sitting on a donkey's colt.
John declared, you need not be afraid for your king is coming.
He's riding on a donkey's colt for he's coming in peace.
But why has he come in peace?
It's because he has vanquished the foes that had formerly threatened and afflicted his people.
Yes, the king is coming in peace because he's already defeated and vanquished his enemies, thereby setting
free his people.
And this is consistent with how Zechariah set forth this passage in chapter nine of that book of prophecy.
That's why he comes in peace, because in a few days on the cross, he's gonna destroy all the forces
and enemies that would condemn his people.
Well, now we can look at verse 16 as we kind of draw to a close here.
The true nature of Jesus's kingship.
We next read that the disciples did not understand what they had witnessed.
Verse 16 records, 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.
It seemed to be somewhat out of character for Jesus to draw any attention to himself, but here he's doing just
that in John chapter 12.
Why?
They didn't understand.
When it happened, they understood later his hour had arrived finally,
as J .C. Ryle described this very well.
A careful reader of the gospels can hardly fail to observe that our Lord Jesus Christ's conduct at this stage of
his earthly ministry is very peculiar.
It is unlike anything else recorded of him in the New Testament.
Hitherto, we've seen him withdrawing as much as possible from public notice, retiring into the wilderness,
checking those who would have brought him forward and made him a king.
As a rule, he did not court popular attention.
He did not cry or strive or cause his voice to be heard in the streets.
Here on the contrary, we see him making a public entry into Jerusalem attended by an immense crowd of
people and causing even the Pharisees to say, behold, the world has gone after him.
The explanation of this apparent inconsistency is not hard to find out.
The time had come at last when Christ was to die for the sins of the world.
The time had come when the true Passover lamb was to be slain, when the true blood of atonement was to be
shed, when Messiah was to be cut off according to prophecy.
That should be Daniel, not damn, of course.
Daniel 9 .26.
And when the way into the holiest was to be opened by the true high priest of all mankind.
And knowing all this, our Lord purposely drew attention to himself.
Even though the disciples had been with Jesus for his whole ministry of three years, having heard him teach in public and private,
nevertheless, they had remained ignorant of much.
Only after the crucifixion and the resurrection, only after the Lord Jesus instructed them for those 40
days after the resurrection, and only after the Holy Spirit had begun to dwell in them,
that they began to understand more clearly and fully to what they had been, of what they had been
eyewitnesses.
And then lastly, we read of the public response to Jesus.
Therefore, the people who were with him, when he called Lazarus out of his tomb, raised him from the dead, bore witness.
For this reason, the people also met him because they heard that he had done this sign, that last sign of
Jesus of the seven, that brought it all to a head.
The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, you see that you are accomplishing nothing.
Look, the world has gone after him.
And so the multitude rejoiced in Jesus, at least at this time.
But the Pharisees were stymied and frustrated.
Once again, to quote Ryle, he's so good.
This is the language of men baffled, angry at their wit's end from vexation to see their
plans defeated.
Instead of finding people willing to lay hands on Jesus as a male factor and to deliver him up into their
power, they beheld a large multitude surrounding him with joyful acclamations, saluting him as a
king.
Of course, they could do nothing but sit still and see it.
The least attempt to use violence against our Lord would have raised a tumult and endangered their own lives
so that they were obliged to see their most hated enemy entry Jerusalem and triumph like Mordecai
led by Haman.
Good, good at parallel.
And we can well imagine their glee when very soon, Judas Iscariot, one of our Lord's own, would be willing
to turn our Lord over to their will.
This was indeed a triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.
But of course, what he would then encounter would be very difficult.
He would obey his father, which would result in his cross.
And in a few days, these crowds will be shouting out, crucify him, crucify him.
I understand there was a painting once made which portrays a holy band of Jesus in Jerusalem.
In one scene, the painting depicts in the foreground a lone donkey standing as it's chewing palm
leaves.
And obviously intended to be the donkey Jesus rode, eating the branches strewn in the way.
But in the background on the hill behind the donkey is the cross, the three crosses, the middle of which,
of course, Jesus hung.
And so may the Lord enable us to see the true nature of his kingdom.
I can't emphasize this strong enough.
Jesus' kingdom was not postponed because of the Jews' rejection of Jesus.
To be once again offered to them at the second coming, and then they're gonna have another glorious kingdom in the future.
No, the kingdom was not postponed, but rather the kingdom was
inaugurated.
The cross did not put aside the kingdom, postpone the kingdom.
The cross was the very means by which King Jesus.
Became king.
It was through his obedience to death on the cross, wherefore God highly exalted him and gave him a name
above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every tongue might confess, every knee bow,
every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.
The kingdom of God, the kingdom promised in the Old Testament was inaugurated by Jesus, and
that's what's being set forth here in John chapter 12.
And we ought to see it clearly and see it in faith and rejoice in it, just like those people were rejoicing
when Jesus came into that city on that occasion, amen?
All right, let's pray.
Father, thank you for your word and the wonder, Lord, of fulfilled prophecy, for
not only did you lay down the words of prophecy in the Old Testament, the New Testament tells us
what you intended by those words.
We thank you, our Father.
We live in this glorious time as believers in Jesus Christ.
He is our Lord.
He is the King of Israel.
And thankfully, you have called an innumerable number of Gentiles to also participate in this
wonderful, glorious kingdom.
We pray, our God, that you would help us to exalt King Jesus in our world today, to proclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord, to your glory, our Father.
And we'll thank you and praise you as you bless this message to the conversion of more who you bring into
your kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.