John chapter 12, and the Church Bibles, it's 1079.
That's 1079, John chapter 12, and starting in verse 12.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thank you.
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.
Let's pray.
We come to you, Lord, the living God.
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.
That it may change us.
And would fill us with hope.
We need your help.
Come, Lord Jesus, we ask.
Amen.
Well, imagine that you've been appointed or elected as leader
over the whole world.
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.
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.
And John's Gospel has been introducing us to him.
No surprise.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
full of grace and truth.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Verse 13.
They took palm branches,
a symbolism of nationalism,
and they went out to meet Jesus,
shouting,
Hosanna!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So three things we're going to look
about Jesus the king.
He rules with humility.
He lives to die.
And he wins by sacrifice.
He rules with humility.
He lives to die.
And he wins by sacrifice.
First, Jesus rules with humility.
How would Jesus respond
to the crowd who want him as king?
Well, look at verse 14.
Jesus found a young donkey
and sat upon it,
as is written by the prophet Zechariah,
verse 15.
Do not be afraid, daughter Zion.
See, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt.
On a what?
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?
That's hardly a display
of strength, is it?
Or maybe you remember
that during our recent elections,
Micheál Martin
was touring the country.
On one occasion,
he posed sitting on a bull.
Not the greatest publicity stunt,
as the headline showed
the next day,
cowboy number one.
riding on a donkey
is hardly a good start
to the reign of Jesus.
But this is no mistake.
Jesus' actions are intentional
and he communicates
the kind of king he will be.
Let's go to Zechariah, chapter 9.
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.
Have you got a page number?
9, 5, 4.
So Jesus' acts are intentional.
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.
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.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
Back to John, chapter 12.
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.
For Jesus is gentle, not forceful.
He is lowly, not demanding.
Jesus is meek, not harsh.
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.
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.
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?
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.
So Jesus
comes with humility.
Second,
Jesus lives to die.
If you find a king and a donkey shocking,
well, the mission of Jesus
will have you standing in disbelief.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The hour has come.
You see,
leading up to these events,
the people
and even Jesus' own brothers
had very clear intentions
for Jesus.
Look back at chapter 7 with me.
Chapter 7, verse 4.
So this is just after
the feeding of the 5,000.
chapter 7, verse 4.
They say to Jesus,
no one who wants to become
a public figure
acts in secret.
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.
What does Jesus say?
Middle of verse 6.
My time is not yet here.
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.
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.
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.
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?
No,
it was for this
very reason
I came
to this hour.
Father,
glorify
your name.
It's like
a clock
on countdown.
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.
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?
What does your
manifesto say
about housing
and taxes
and immigration?
I'm going to die.
The hour
has come
for me
to die.
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.
No wonder
Jesus was
overwhelmed,
verse 27.
My soul
is troubled.
What will
I say?
Father,
save me
from this
hour?
No,
it was for
this very
reason I
came to
this hour.
The donkey
king
becomes a
crucified
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.
But if it
dies,
it produces
many seeds.
the
illustration
is clear,
isn't it?
The seed,
that is
Jesus,
must die.
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.
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?
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.