John Ch12v12-36 - Victory Of The King

[0:00] John chapter 12, and the Church Bibles, it's 1079. That's 1079, John chapter 12, and starting in verse 12.

[0:22] The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

[0:38] Blessed is the King of Israel! Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. See, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's coat.

[0:53] At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

[1:06] Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him.

[1:18] So the Pharisees said to one another, See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him. Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.

[1:33] They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew, Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

[1:48] Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.

[2:03] But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

[2:16] Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me. When my soul is troubled, then what shall I say?

[2:30] Father, save me from this hour. No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven.

[2:42] I have glorified it and will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered. Others said an angel had spoken to him.

[2:54] Jesus said, The voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out.

[3:05] And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

[3:16] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[3:27] And thank Alex as well for leading us this morning. Let's keep our Bibles open there in John's Gospel. And we're... Thanks very much, Ralph.

[3:38] Let's pray. Let's pray. We come to you, Lord, the living God.

[4:00] The one who communicates to us through his word. Who is speaking to us now by your spirit. So we pray that we would have open hearts and open minds to hear your word.

[4:19] That it may change us. And would fill us with hope. We need your help. Come, Lord Jesus, we ask.

[4:31] Amen. Amen. Well, imagine that you've been appointed or elected as leader over the whole world.

[4:43] Your mandate to end the world's troubles and make everything right again. Imagine that you have absolute power and supreme authority at your disposal.

[4:58] How would you use it? What would you do if you were in charge to fix the mess of this broken world? Well, the Bible claims there is one person who has been appointed to put the world right.

[5:16] And John's Gospel has been introducing us to him. No surprise. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, full of grace and truth.

[5:27] And it seems that Jesus has all the credentials to be this ruler. With great power, you remember, he healed a man who had been paralysed for 38 years.

[5:41] He gave sight to a man who had been blind from birth. And he fed over 5,000 people with just a few bread rolls.

[5:53] That's the whole health service and the social welfare system fixed in just a couple of acts. And John even tells us that with such great displays of power, the crowds had gathered round Jesus and tried to make him king.

[6:12] But perhaps his greatest display of power was his authority to raise a dead man to life. I mean, if you can call people from the dead to life again, well, then you must be able to be king.

[6:30] As we've walked through John's Gospel, Jesus' popularity has been on the rise. He's topping the polls. Here is one who can put things right.

[6:46] Here is the king who is coming. Verse 12. The next day, the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.

[7:02] It was Passover time, the big annual festival when all the Jewish people from all the surrounding nations would come to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

[7:15] And historians tell us that the numbers could be anything from 1 to 2 million extra people crowding into that city. But the reason that they've come this year is Jesus.

[7:31] Verse 13. They took palm branches, a symbolism of nationalism, and they went out to meet Jesus, shouting, Hosanna!

[7:42] Which means, come and save us. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel. Picture it.

[7:53] Thousands upon thousands of people lining the roads coming into Jerusalem, shouting and cheering, Jesus has come, and the crowds are going to make him their king.

[8:06] Well, the expectation now is that Jesus is going to gather his troops and with military might begin to stamp his authority, remove the Romans who have taken over their land.

[8:26] After all, he is the king. But he's a different kind of king. You see, within a few days, this same crowd who were shouting, come, save us, would turn and shout, crucify him.

[8:47] Well, what went wrong in just a few days? Why did the people want him as king and then suddenly reject him? Well, for the same reasons we reject Jesus today.

[9:00] You see, Jesus is God's king. Come to save us from ourselves and to rule over our hearts. Jesus is the victorious king, but his victory is going to come in surprising and unexpected ways.

[9:20] So three things we're going to look about Jesus the king. He rules with humility. He lives to die.

[9:31] And he wins by sacrifice. He rules with humility. He lives to die. And he wins by sacrifice.

[9:43] First, Jesus rules with humility. How would Jesus respond to the crowd who want him as king?

[9:54] Well, look at verse 14. Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as is written by the prophet Zechariah, verse 15.

[10:08] Do not be afraid, daughter Zion. See, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt. On a what?

[10:20] A donkey? I mean, we expect a war horse and soldiers, a display of power and might, not a donkey. Could you imagine President Zaleski going to the front line to rally on his troops in a bashed up tractor that's running out of diesel?

[10:41] That's hardly a display of strength, is it? Or maybe you remember that during our recent elections, Micheál Martin was touring the country.

[10:54] On one occasion, he posed sitting on a bull. Not the greatest publicity stunt, as the headline showed the next day, cowboy number one.

[11:05] riding on a donkey is hardly a good start to the reign of Jesus. But this is no mistake.

[11:17] Jesus' actions are intentional and he communicates the kind of king he will be. Let's go to Zechariah, chapter 9.

[11:29] It's the quote that Jesus, or John, was referring to. We'll read the full quote, Zechariah, chapter 9. One of those difficult ones to find.

[11:42] Have you got a page number? 9, 5, 4. So Jesus' acts are intentional.

[11:58] Zechariah 9, starting at verse 9. Rejoice greatly, daughter Zion. Shout, daughter Jerusalem. See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

[12:22] I will take away the chariots from Ephraim, the war horses from Jerusalem, Jerusalem. And the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations.

[12:33] His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. Back to John, chapter 12.

[12:47] You see, Jesus fulfills what has been promised. He has come to rule. He has come to establish peace in the nations. But he's going to do it with humility.

[13:00] For Jesus is gentle, not forceful. He is lowly, not demanding. Jesus is meek, not harsh.

[13:12] Jesus is saying, I am that servant king and I haven't come to break you or crush you, but I've come to rule with humility. In fact, this Jesus would submit himself to his enemies.

[13:28] He won't defend himself or strike out in power, but he will humbly serve those who stand opposed to him. He comes riding on a donkey.

[13:44] Is this the kind of king that you would imagine and that you would want? Does this king fill you with confidence? Would you follow and obey him?

[14:00] You see, when it comes down to it, a king on a donkey really doesn't fill you with much hope. I think I would be the one who would be following the king on a war horse.

[14:17] So Jesus comes with humility. Second, Jesus lives to die.

[14:28] If you find a king and a donkey shocking, well, the mission of Jesus will have you standing in disbelief.

[14:40] Some visitors, you remember, had come to Jerusalem for the festival and they have a request. We see it in verse 21. Some Greeks had come from the surrounding nations.

[14:56] Middle of verse 21. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. So Philip went to tell Andrew and Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

[15:09] Jesus replied, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Sorry? Jesus, they don't want to know what time it is.

[15:22] They want to see you. But that is precisely what Jesus wants us to know. And he wants them to know. He wants them to know what the time is.

[15:34] The hour has come. You see, leading up to these events, the people and even Jesus' own brothers had very clear intentions for Jesus.

[15:50] Look back at chapter 7 with me. Chapter 7, verse 4. So this is just after the feeding of the 5,000.

[16:04] chapter 7, verse 4. They say to Jesus, no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret.

[16:18] I mean, Jesus, you've been doing all these wonderful things. I mean, you've got to get out there and let people see who you are. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.

[16:29] What does Jesus say? Middle of verse 6. My time is not yet here.

[16:40] In fact, when Jesus went on to speak against the religious authorities, look at verse 30 of chapter 7. Look how they responded to Jesus.

[16:55] At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. Let's go back to chapter 12.

[17:12] So he's been telling them, no, this isn't the time, this isn't the hour. And now in verse 23, he declares the hour has come. This time, this hour is all about his death.

[17:28] It's the whole reason why Jesus has come. This is his mission. Verse 27. Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?

[17:41] No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. It's like a clock on countdown.

[17:55] In eternity past, the clock has been ticking. century after century, decade after decade, year by year, week by week, day by day, and eventually the clock hits zero, the countdown has finished, the alarm has gone, the hour has come, Jesus must die.

[18:22] In fact, Jesus lives to die. so, Jesus, tell us, what do you plan to do now that the people have appointed you as king?

[18:35] What does your manifesto say about housing and taxes and immigration? I'm going to die. The hour has come for me to die.

[18:51] You see, this king will submit himself to death, not just any kind of death, but a cruel, torturous and violent death. They will punch him, they will flog him, they will spit on him, they will strip him, they will humiliate him and nail him to a wooden beam.

[19:11] No wonder Jesus was overwhelmed, verse 27. My soul is troubled. What will I say? Father, save me from this hour?

[19:23] No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. The donkey king becomes a crucified king.

[19:35] king. Now, why would a king do that? Well, look back at verse 24. Jesus says, Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.

[19:59] But if it dies, it produces many seeds. the illustration is clear, isn't it? The seed, that is Jesus, must die.

[20:12] He must be buried in the ground, if you like, planted in the grave. But from his death will come a fruitful harvest. Many will receive new and eternal life because Jesus lives that he might die.

[20:30] That's his mission. That's his path. is this the kind of king that you would want? A king who would submit himself to death, who lives to die?

[20:46] It's not really very reassuring, is it? Yes, his death will be fruitful, but there must be other ways in which you could do this. If you're looking for followers, then Jesus sitting on a donkey and with a manifesto of living to die, well, it doesn't really drive you.