The Triumphal Entry

Thank you, Brother Keith. Enjoy those songs. I'm at the cross. I hope that you have been in prayer in your own study. In preparation for Easter, it's kind of a sad thing. You can sneak up on us in our culture, but I believe in this message this morning, this worship service this morning, we're going to be prepared for what we're going to look at next Sunday. And I think that the music is really fit where we're going, not just today, but next Sunday as well. I appreciate that, Brother Keith. I'll take your Bible this morning, turn to John 12. The Gospel of John 12, we are back in our Verse by Verse series through the Gospel of John.

You know the title of that series is Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live. That's really the theme of the whole book. The Gospel of John is nothing more than an evangelistic letter that those who read may come to true, genuine faith in Christ. Now last week we got cranked back up in our series. We had taken a break after Chapter 11 to look at some subjects that we needed to deal with. And last week we started in Chapter 12, and we were in Verses 1 through 11. We examined what I call the anointing of Jesus. And we saw those who received Jesus as He came to Bethany and how they received Him. How they received Him was very, very important.

And we saw those who rejected Jesus. Now if you've not heard that message, I encourage you to catch back up, because this past message, last week's message, really sets this morning's message up, and they really do go together. Now the setting from last week's message out of Verses 1 through 11, which was Jesus in Bethany, was very important to this morning's message also. We learned that Jesus was at Bethany during the Passover, and there were very large crowds that were there. Some were there because of the Passover.

I've explained to you numerous times that the Passover was the pinnacle on the Jewish calendar, the most spiritual of all of their worshipful events. But yet some were there at Bethany for the large supper. You could call it a banquet that was there for Jesus in honor of Jesus. This was the hometown of Lazarus, Bethany, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, and there was lots of commotion in Bethany when Jesus came. There was both physical commotion because of the large crowds, and there was spiritual commotion.

Mary added to this commotion by her worshipful act, and she anointed Jesus' feet with that very costly perfume, and then she humbled herself in a great way and literally washed his feet with her hair. Now in our Verses this morning, we will see the same physical commotion and spiritual commotion follow Jesus in this new setting. In our Verses that we're going to read in a minute, verse 12 tells us that the next day, that is the next day after everything that went on in Bethany, Jesus entered Jerusalem, and crowds were pouring into the city because they heard that Jesus was coming. Now this was very important.

This portion of Scripture referred to by many as the triumphal entry, is where Jesus officially presented himself to the nation as the Son of God, the promised Messiah. And this action in these Verses by Jesus begins a series of events which would quickly lead to his arrest and his crucifixion. You can say it like this, "Everything changes after Chapter 12." Now just for your own personal study, I encourage you to go back and look at the other Gospels, because this triumphal entry is found in all four of the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke's accounts give details that John does not give.

And so I would encourage you in your study to go back and read those. And I always encourage you to take notes to develop that habit. Develop those habits to take notes, study them in your own time, so that you can learn and receive all that the Lord wants us to learn and receive. Now the title of the message is very simplistic, just like last week's. We are looking at the triumphal entry. We will be in Verses 12 through 19. Now you see, there's lots of information on the screen, but I'll go ahead and tell you that some of these main truths are rather short. So we will not be any longer in our time frame than we normally are.

But you see the five truths that we're going to explore out of these Verses, is the people's enthusiasm, Verses 12 through 13, the prophecy fulfilled, Verse 14 and 15, the perplexity of the disciples, Verse 16, the preaching of the crowds, Verse 17 and 18, and then the Pharisees' rejection. You should know by now that there's always a pattern of rejection. It seems like every time we have an event like this, there is that rejection from the religious leaders. So with your Bible open, let's read these Verses together. You'll have plenty of time to write the notes down as we continue. Look at Verse 12 with me.

"On the next day," remember that's after everything that went on in Bethany, "the great multitudes who had come to the feast, when they had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took up branches of palm trees, and they went out to meet Him and began to cry out, 'Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.'" Verse 14, "Jesus, finding a young donkey, He said on it, 'As it is written, 'Fear not, daughter of Zion, behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt.'" These things, these disciples did not understand it first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him and that they had done these things to Him.

And so, the multitude who were there with Him, when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and had raised Him from the dead, they were bearing witness of Him. Verse 18, "For this cause also the multitude went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign or this miracle." In the last verse, verse 19, "The Pharisees therefore said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good? Look, the world has gone after Him.'" So let's take this main truth, number one, the people's enthusiasm. The people's enthusiasm.

Now, here we see this physical commotion from Bethany, who followed Jesus to Jerusalem and they joined the other commotion, the physical commotion of those coming to Jerusalem for the Passover. I like how John MacArthur describes these peoples, these two different peoples, and I quote, "Two great tides of people, fueled by the resurrection of Lazarus, flowed together to form a massive throng that escorted Jesus into Jerusalem." Now, if you notice, I call this a physical commotion, and John MacArthur calls it a massive throng. Those are words, adjectives that will help us see this great crowd of people who are bombarding Jerusalem.

Now, I want to examine the enthusiasm that we see in the people just out of these two verses, three observations. First, I want you to notice that they greeted Jesus with palm branches. They greeted Jesus with palm branches. It says that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem there in the end of verse 12, and they took palm branches and they went out to meet him and they began to cry out, "Ho, Zanna!" Now, these palm branches were a common item in their day. As a matter of fact, in Jerusalem, they can be found there today. Now, these palm branches had nothing to do with the setting of the Passover.

As a matter of fact, they were actually used in another Jewish feast that was the Feast of the Tabernacles. But the significance here was more cultural than spiritual. What I mean is there's not a tie into the Passover. In their day, the palm branch was a symbol of victory. When a Jewish shoulder or Jewish shoulders were returning from battle, the palm branch was used to welcome them back from the battle as they came back in victory. So this was a symbol from the crowd to the people of Jesus, receiving Jesus in victory, much like one coming back from a military campaign. So they greeted Jesus in victory with palm branches.

Then second, notice they greeted Jesus with shouts. They greeted Jesus with shouts. What did they cry out? "Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel." Now, as they waved the palm branches, the crowd shouted, "Hosanna!" Now, this was a Jewish word which could be and can be translated, "Help, I pray, or save, I pray." It needs to be said that the crowd could not have known the significance of what they were saying, nor would they have had a clear understanding of what they were saying spiritually. Now, John Wood, as he is authoring this book, this was somewhat prophetic for Jesus.

What I mean is, one day he would save many, and in that day he did save many. This is speaking prophetically of the fact that he is the Savior provided by God. So, what do we see? They greeted him with shouts, saying, "Save us! Save us! I pray!" as they waved the palm branch in victory. And then third, notice they greeted Jesus as Messiah. They greeted Jesus as Messiah. Look at the last portion of verse 13. After they shouted, "Hosanna!" they said, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel." Now, this portion of verse 13 is a quotation.

As a matter of fact, your English translation might have it italicized or noted that it is a quotation from the Old Testament. But this is a quotation from Psalm 118 verse 26, which reads, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, we bless you from the house of the Lord." Now, this was one of what we call a messianic psalm. They were quoting this verse at this occasion, and the people were declaring that their hope was that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.

They solidified their declaration by stating at the end, "Even the king of Israel." Matthew's account states that the crowd shouted, "Son of David!" which also was a messianic title. So here, the crowds greeted him as the long-awaited Messiah, the son of David. So what do we see? We have a very enthusiastic crowd of people. They are massive in their number, and they have filled the streets in this event. And in this great commotion, we see that they are greeting him in victory. They are greeting him with shouts of "Lord, save us!" and they are greeting him as the Messiah.

Now, these two great crowds came together, and they openly proclaimed Jesus as the Christ. Of course, we will see later in the book that meaning, if not most of the crowd were those fickle followers, they were truly not converted. But we must see, this is the first time Jesus has allowed such behavior from the crowds that followed him. And all other times, they tried to do something like this, he withdrew. But now he welcomes such a greeting, this enthusiastic greeting from the people. Now, what can we learn from this, the people's enthusiasm, even though they are the fickle followers who later fell away? What can we learn today?

I think that we need to see that in this Easter season, we should be willing to declare Christ. We should be willing to declare the victory of the cross. We should be willing to declare that he has saved us. We should be willing to declare that he is the promised Messiah, he is the Son of God, he is the one that can save. And we should be willing to enthusiastically witness for Christ. Now, let me pause here and say this to you, if you've never experienced true biblical salvation, you have nothing to say. All you will be doing is communicating factual information.

And listen, you need to understand this, a man with an argument is no match for a man with an experience. If you have experienced true saving faith, you have something to say. And we need to be enthusiastic about telling people about Jesus. He is the one who brings us victory over sin and our own lives. He is the one who saves and he is the Son of God. So the people were enthusiastic. We need to examine our enthusiasm to tell people about Jesus. Now, listen, if we're not careful, we will stop short of this and only invite people to church. That's not enough. We must tell others about Jesus.

I had the privilege of sharing Christ with someone this morning, excuse me this week, one that I've been ministering to and loving on for quite some time. I was able to share Christ and what God had done in my life and open up the scriptures to John 3 and proclaim Christ. Let's move on. Truth number two, I want us to see the prophecy fulfilled. This prophecy fulfilled. What do we see? Verse 14 and 15, "In Jesus finding a young donkey, he sat on it as it is written." Again, here is another quotation in verse 15. Now, here John does not tell us how or where Jesus acquired the donkey.

Now, if you go back to the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they will tell us that Jesus sent the disciples into a village with instructions to find the donkey. But where Jesus got the donkey is not important. What is important is that Jesus chose to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. Now, this is verse 15, a direct fulfillment of Zechariah 9-9, which reads, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you." That's Jesus. "Righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a fold of a donkey." So Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy concerning the Messiah.

And it is also interesting to note that a donkey was not a symbol of a victorious war-like hero. It was more a symbol of peace and humility. Military officials did not ride a donkey. Soldiers did not ride a donkey. Men like priests. And merchants rode a donkey. And here we see that Jesus was fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy concerning the promised Messiah, but a fulfillment of prophecy which shows that Jesus was a special spiritual king. He wasn't there to root out the Romans. He was there to die, a humble servant. Now, an application. What do we need to see?

We must see that Jesus is a spiritual king, and many people want a king of their own making. They want a Messiah. They want a Savior that will meet their own desires. And look, if we're going to enthusiastically present Christ, we need to present the Christ of the Bible. And there are many people in your family, down the roads where you live, people we come and contact in our workplaces. They want a Messiah of their own making. And we'll see as we continue in the book, these people in the crowds, they did not want a humble meek and a servant Savior. They wanted an earthly king.

So we need to see that we need to be careful that we present the Jesus of the Bible, from Old Testament all the way to the New Testament. Truth number three, let's notice the perplexity of the disciples. The perplexity of the disciples. Look at verse 16. "These things as disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him." All throughout this journey in the Gospel of John, we have seen the confusion, the perplexity of the disciples. Truthfully, it seems that they never, ever get it spiritually.

If they get it, it's almost like they get half the picture. Isn't that right? We saw this in John 4. Remember when Jesus went to Samaria, John chapter 4 verse 4 says that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. There was another route He could have taken, but we know He had a divine appointment with one particular woman and then ultimately a whole host of people. Jesus had to go through Samaria to evangelize that Samaritan woman and ultimately the people of her village, but yet all along the disciples didn't get it. They had been sent to buy food, they came back, and what did they say? They were surprised. He was talking with a Samaritan.

And a Samaritan woman, they didn't get it. This was the evangelistic heart of God being fleshed out in Jesus. But here in this account, John chapter 12, they are just as perplexed. Now, two observations about the disciples, their perplexity that I want us to see. First of all, they were still expecting an earthly king. They were still expecting an earthly king. Now, we don't necessarily find that here in this verse, but let me show you. This was a common misunderstanding which was made by so many. Go all the way back to John chapter 6, that great two-day event, verse 15. Jesus rebuked those in the crowd who were following him because of what?

They wanted an earthly king. See, that was a common expectation of the Messiah, that he would come and root out the Romans and restore Israel to great national prominence. As a matter of fact, in Acts chapter 1, verse 6, the disciples asked if he was about to restore the earthly kingdom to Israel. So this was a common, everyday misunderstanding that was so prevalent in the people, and these disciples had fallen prey to that, and they were looking for an earthly king as well. Second notice, they needed the work of the Holy Spirit. They needed the work of the Holy Spirit. Now, go back to the verse.

These things the disciples did not understand at first, but when Jesus was glorified, John is talking about what happens after Christ ascends. When Jesus was glorified, then they remembered the things that they had been told. This was before, here in these verses, Jesus was crucified. It was before he was resurrected. It was before he ascended. This was before the giving of the Holy Spirit, after the ascension of Christ. And notice that the text reads that they remembered these things after Jesus was glorified. That was after the Spirit came down. So what do we see? This is the perplexity or the misunderstanding of the disciples.

They were like so many who did not understand the true nature of the triumphal entry, nor did they understand so much of what Jesus said and did. They just didn't get it. They were perplexed. Now, for you, for me, for us, what can we learn from the disciples in their confusion here? I believe some of you, even in this room, you're perplexed and you're confused, and you are having misunderstandings about circumstances in your own life. As born-again Christians, difficulties come, trials come, serious problems come. You've heard this saying, you know, "Life's not a bowl of cherries." Well, Christianity isn't either. Trials come.

We learn in James that we should welcome trials with joy. And there are times when Christians can be perplexed and confused and they can misunderstand the difficulties and the trials that they come, and if they would just get their mind off their feelings and their emotions and what they want and just listen to the Holy Spirit of God, it could be that God could give them victory in their circumstance. The circumstance might not go away. You might have to live with it the rest of your life. See, our flesh wants our difficulties to go away. But see, we serve a loving God, a holy God, a sovereign God who knows best.

And just like those disciples needed an inner work to change them, we, as New Testament Christians, who do have the Spirit, need to sit down, be quiet, and listen to the Spirit of God that He would minister to us in the circumstances that we're in. And if we will, if we will just be still and listen, there we will have that inner work that we so need. Isn't that what they needed, that inner work? So we see the perplexity of the disciples. Let's move on. Let's notice truth number four, the preaching of the crowds. The preaching of the crowds. Now that might surprise you when I say that, but look at verse 17 and 18.

And so the multitude who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb, that's that Bethany crowd. And they raised Him from the dead, were bearing witness. See, they were speaking to the Jerusalem crowd. Verse 18, "For this cause also the multitude went and met Him because they heard that He had performed this sign." So here we see the crowd that was loyal to Him in Bethany are loyal to Him in Jerusalem. They were part of that physical spiritual commotion which had joined the crowd that came to Jerusalem for the Passover. And they are preaching to the others. Two observations I want to make here.

First of all, like I've said, the crowds were preaching. The crowds were preaching. Go back to the verse, verse 17, "And so the multitude who were with Him," it goes on to say at the end of the verse, "they were bearing witness." Now I'm reading from the New American Standard. The King James reads, "Bear record." Now the construction of the original language, the verbs, they communicate a continual process, a continual process, meaning that their witness went on and on and on. This was not a one-time proclamation. They were going on and on about the miracle that they had seen. They were preaching to the crowd on and on.

In their enthusiasm they were saying, "You should have been at Bethany. You should have seen what Jesus did with Lazarus." So they were preaching crowd. Second, I want you to see the crowds they were inquiring. Look at verse 18, "This is at Jerusalem crowd, for this cause also the multitude went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign." The text reads that because of the crowds from Bethany, their testimony, they went to Jesus. They received the testimony and they went to Jesus.

There's a key word here at the end of verse 18, and that's that word we focused on so much in our study, and that is the word "sign." Now remember that we have learned that the signs were to direct people's attention to Christ. John uses the word "sign." It was to point people to Christ. But they were caught up in the sign and not the Savior, like so many had been. And ultimately in our study we will see that they were superficial followers, superficial inquirers, because they wanted a sign. They wanted an earthly king. So here we see the witness of the crowds, the preaching crowds.

That is why I say this physical and spiritual commotion, this was a chaotic scene of superficial followers who would eventually fall away from following Jesus. Now in application there are two important lessons I want us to see here. First of all, we need to be very careful what we preach. Maybe the crowd from Bethany preached the sign instead of Jesus. We don't know. But we must learn from this lesson. We need to be careful what we preach. If we're not careful, we can preach forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness, and then people can come just so they can be forgiven.

We come, yes, and we are forgiven, but we come to the Lord because He is God. If we're not careful, we can preach felt needs. You just come to Jesus and He can fix the problems of your life. Listen, if we come to Christ, He might not ever fix our broken marriage. He might not ever fix our rebellious teenagers. He might not ever give us that job that we want. He might not ever give us the things we want, but why do we preach Jesus? That law centers will be saved that they would give their lives to Christ for His glory and His honor. We must be very careful what we preach.

And then second, we need to understand that superficial followers are common to man. We're dealing with sinners. In Jesus' day, this was a problem. In Paul's day, this was a problem. In the first century church, this was a problem. And this is a problem today. There are superficial followers, those who jump up and declare Christ and they seemingly follow Christ. But listen, the worries of life, and then if they're in a Bible-believing church, the persecution of the Word of God will drive them away. That's exactly what Jesus did when those people sprung up and said they were going to follow Him.

He preached the Word, preached the Word, and their superficiality was revealed. So we need to see that we need to be very careful what we preach, what we preach. We must preach Christ, and ultimately there will be some, if I can use this language, who will just flake out. And then our fifth main truth, I want us to see the Pharisee's rejection. The Pharisee's rejection. Look at verse 19. "The Pharisees therefore said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good. Look, the world has gone after Him.' Here we see that the Pharisees were completely frustrated by the great crowds who were following after Jesus.

The New American commentary that I read says that this triumphal entry that Jesus did, notice what the New American says, 'It sparked a messianic-like revival of passion among the people.' That is true. This revival, this messianic revival, angered the religious establishment. Here we see that they make two statements that seem to ooze with pessimism and resentment. Let's notice these two statements. First they said, 'We are getting nowhere.' The Pharisees therefore said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good.' The New International translates this very accurately.

The New International says, 'This is getting us nowhere.' Now what is this? They are efforts to stop Jesus. They have been trying to stop Jesus day one. They have been making threats. In chapter 11 verse 53, they said they wanted to kill Him. But their efforts were getting them nowhere. Then second, notice, they said He is winning the world. The Pharisees therefore said to one another, 'You see that you are not doing any good. Look, the world has gone after Him.' Now here we see that this is what is called hyperbole. This is an exaggeration. This is a figure of speech.

We know that the whole world is not following after Jesus there in Jerusalem. The whole world doesn't follow after Jesus in His whole entire ministry. And the whole world hasn't followed after Jesus now. This is an exaggeration. This is hyperbole. This is a figure of speech. The whole world was not flocking to Jesus. They were just furious that the people there in Jerusalem and from Bethany were flocking to Him. So here we see that the Pharisees, who were representative of the religious establishment, were continuing to reject Jesus. We will see that this rejection continues to escalate, especially after chapter 12.

Now what can we learn from their rejection? We need to always remember, church, that the world will reject Jesus. When we go out into the world and we present Christ, when we as the church begin to flesh out the work of the church more and more and more, when we begin to take Christ around the world and down our streets, when we begin to witness, listen, the world hates Christ and the world will reject Christ. And if the world rejected Jesus, they will reject you. If we're not careful, we will want everyone to love us. We will want everyone to accept us.

And listen, even people in our own families might reject us because when we preach Christ, the world will hate it. And if they hated Jesus then and if they hated the crowds then, they will hate us now just like they hate Jesus now. The world will reject Jesus. Now as we conclude the message, a couple of things I want to touch on real short. I want us to see that we need to truly see who Jesus is. The crowds misunderstood. The disciples didn't quite get it. But what do we see? Hosanna, save us. In victory on the cross, the promised Messiah, Son of God. This is Jesus who came to die for the sin of you and I.

Those of us who are born again, we need to understand who Jesus truly is. He is not some soft handed savior. He is the Son of God. And that's who we proclaim. They just didn't get it. The disciples just couldn't get it. The crowds and their fickle nature eventually left him. This is Jesus. And then we need to see that mankind will be fickle, superficial. Many will follow for a season. Many will make great declarations. Even in our own families, they will say the right things, adopt the right theology. But many times when the test of time and life asserts itself on them, and then the word of God is preached, they will be proven as fickle.

Now how should that affect us? How should that affect you? How should this affect us as a church? I'll tell you how it should affect us. We preach a victorious Christ, no matter what everybody else does. It doesn't matter if the crowds are large. It doesn't matter if we're socially accepted. We preach a victorious Christ, no matter what. Now the title of the message is the triumphal entry. In some of my study this week, various resources I read, some of the commentators that I read say that really you can't attribute this version, John's version, you can't title it as the triumphal entry. Maybe the synoptic gospels you can, but I disagree.

Because what do we see? Through the rejection of the Pharisees, through the fickle nature of the crowd, through the misunderstanding of the disciples, we have a triumphant Jesus, and that is the Jesus that we serve. Let's pray together.