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John 12:12-19 The Day of Salvation
"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." 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, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefor said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after Him!" (John 12:12-19)
The Jesus Movement
Here we see the whole city of Jerusalem adoring Jesus.
They cut down palm branches and sing Hosannas and call him their King.
The Pharisees complain that the "whole world" has gone after
Him. Indeed it looked like everyone but they were hopping into the Jesus
movement. First the Jews of Jerusalem who heard that Jesus was in Bethany,
went to see Him and also to see Lazarus who Jesus had raised from the
dead. Then as Jesus started toward Jerusalem He was joined by all the
pilgrims making their way up to the city for the festival. These were
Jews from other places of Judea such as Galilee and they knew Jesus.
So they cut down palm branches and cried out, "Hosanna -- Save,
now-- Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel."
Then as they drew near to the city, those who had seen Lazarus raised
from the dead started to spread the news and soon everyone was coming
out of the city to see Jesus. The city had Jesus fever. He was the talk
of the town. Every shop owner would ask his customers, "Did you
see this "Jesus"?" , "No, but I heard that he raised
a guy in Bethany from the dead." "Yeah, I saw Him, it was
like a parade." "Do you think he has a chance against the
Romans?" "I don't know"
What is strange about Palm Sunday is how quickly the parade of Jesus
the King turns into the anguish of Jesus as He carries His cross to
the hill of Calvary. How quickly the crowd's shouts change from "Hosanna"
to "Crucify Him" The way of triumph is the first steps on
the way of the cross. Jesus knew before the crowds started shouting
Hosanna, what it would lead up to. He knew that they expected something
that He was not, a military leader to help them break loose of the Roman
Empire. So, to make His point clear, Jesus picked a colt of a donkey.
No man of war would pick such an animal. Jesus wanted to show the people
that He was a man of peace. As He rode up to the city of Jerusalem,
knowing full well that the same people who proclaimed Him King, would
shout "Crucify" the following week, which of the two was more
painful for Him? Along the whole way to the cross, our text does not
say that Jesus cried, but the Gospel of Luke tells us that as Jesus
approached the city of Jerusalem that day, He wept. Turn with me to
the text in Luke 19:41
"Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying
"If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things
that make for your peace." God had made a special day for Jerusalem.
When Jesus would come as her Messiah. Psalm 118 from which the crowd
was singing "Hosanna" says "This is the day, that the
Lord has made." The Psalm was not talking about any beautiful morning,
but the day when Messiah would come.
The Messiah
Remember back with me to the time of King David. David
was the first to unify the tribes of Israel, and decided to build his
capital city in neutral territory between the northern and southern
tribes. So he captured the hilltop city of Jerusalem. After his warring
days were over, David decided to build a house for the Lord. But God
said back to David, "Would you build a house for Me to dwell in?
I will make you a house." A dynasty. God promised that from the
seed of David He would establish his throne forever. But it only took
two generations before the kingdom of Israel was split between rival
factions, and then beginning with the Babylonians and through each successive
era, Jerusalem was controlled by the major world powers of the time.
But God kept reminding the Jews through the prophets that the Messiah
would come. That there would be an everlasting King on the throne of
David.
When Jesus came into Jerusalem the people cut down palm branches and
waved them and shouted out "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in
the name of the Lord." The verse is from Psalm 118 and it was well
known to the Jewish people because every year at the Feast of Tabernacles
they would recite this verse. Each year the Jews would build crude shelters
out of palm branches and live for seven days in them to remind themselves
of how God had brought them out of Egypt through the wilderness. They
camped out to remind themselves of how God had saved them. The verse
from Psalm 118 was added to the festival to remind them that even as
God had saved them out of Egypt through Moses, He was going to save
them out of their present troubles through another, like Moses. The
Messiah. The people recognized Jesus as this Messiah when he entered
Jerusalem, waving their Feast of Tabernacles palm branches and shouting
out their Messiah, theme song, "Hosanna, blessed is He who comes
in the name of the Lord."
They knew that Jesus was the Messiah. It was clear to them who He was
after they had seen the miracles that He had done. But their teachers
and rulers led them astray, and who were they, uneducated and poor to
argue with the chief priests and rulers of the synagogue. The people
knew the Bible like we know Christmas carols and advertising slogans.
But the religious leaders should have known the Scriptures much better.
They should have been the ones leading the people to Jesus instead of
away from Him.
The Day of Salvation
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, "Teacher, rebuke Your disciples." But He answered and said to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out." (Luke 19:35-40)
This day that we call Palm Sunday was a day for praise.
What was so important about this day that if there was not worship,
the stones would break their silence and praise Jesus? Of course there
were many other days when Jesus had come to Jerusalem, and the stones
did not let out a peep. What made this trip so special? There were many
other days when Jesus was not being praised at all, and yet no sign
of any "rock" music. There was something very special about
this time and place that required joyful praise. Jesus called Palm Sunday
"this your day". It was a special day meant for the peace
of Jerusalem. You see this was the day that the whole Old Testament
points too, the day of the long promised Messiah.
For you see, God had foretold about this day long before. Even in the
very psalm that the people were chanting, David says, "This is
the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."
David was a man after God's own heart. He prayed to God "Open to
me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, And I will praise
the Lord." He was asking God to show him how to be righteous. David
knew that he could not do it on his own and God showed him. "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.
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. 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." (Psalms 118: 19-26) I think that God showed David a
vision of Jesus, perhaps on this very day entering into Jerusalem. Aha!
This is the gate of the Lord, the Messiah! You have answered me God.
This is the day that the Lord has made! The day when the Messiah would
ride into Jerusalem and set His people free not only from their oppressors,
but from their sins. The gate of righteousness.
You see David was not talking about just any day, but the day when Christ would come. And Daniel had prophecied even more clearly. He said that 69 weeks of years would pass from the time of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the coming of the Messiah. Nehemiah reported clearly the very day that that command came in 445 B.C. If we count on the Jewish calendar of 360 days a year, the day that Daniel prophecied comes out to be exactly this day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The Lord had made a day for Jerusalem, and they missed it. This was the day when they could have been reconciled to God. This was the day when they could have had salvation. God was not just fooling around. Jesus didn't just make up a religion. 900 years before Christ, God promised the Messiah to David. 500 years before Christ, Daniel prophecied the exact day that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem. If we search the Old Testament there are hundreds of prophecies concerning the Messiah, (some Jewish rabbis count 456 passages about the Messiah) and every one of them was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
The Lord has also made a day for each of us. Just as clearly as the Messiah was written of as coming for the Jews, we know that Jesus is coming again. And on that day, those who believe will be caught up into the sky to join Him. But if you would go with Jesus, you must be ready. The Lord has made a day for each of us to give our hearts to Him. It is possible that as you stand here in church singing "Hosanna" that Jesus is weeping, because you haven't given your heart to Him. He weeps because He loves you and He knows that you will never be what He created you to be until you give your heart. For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2)
The world alternates between love and hate of Jesus. They
admire the miracle workers and the saints. They respect the teaching
of Christ and the work of the Church. They talk about the same ideals
of love and peace. But they can't agree that Jesus is the only way.
They claim that the ideals must give way to the realities of life. That
their way is better than God's way. Everyone loves Jesus as long as
He stays safely at the head of the parade. As long as He stays safely
in the church, a reminder to be good, but not a threat to our own goals.
But Jesus is not just a figurehead, He is Lord. He is the Messiah sent
from God to save us from our sins. He is the gate of righteousness through
whom we must go to know God. The world tries to tell us to be quiet
about Him, but truly if we are silent the rocks will cry out, because
this is the day of salvation. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord!
Copyright 2000 Jonathan Wilson
All Rights Reserved
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