Will You Receive the King?
John 12:12-43, 12/01/2019, Remsen Bible Fellowship
Introduction:
Have you received Jesus as your king? Many people consider “believing in Jesus” to be something that you do to be rescued from hell whereas choosing to surrender your life to him is an optional add on. That difference, between believing and obeying, exists in Scripture, indeed, we will see it in our text this morning. But we must ask, can such belief save (James 2:14)? In John’s gospel, and indeed, in the whole Bible, what we see is that genuine faith receives the whole Christ. We can’t have Savior Jesus who rescues us without King Jesus who rules us. Only a mighty king is equipped to do the saving work we need. Perhaps that strikes you as abrasive. But what we will see in our text this morning is that true joy-indeed, true glory-can only be found in gladly recognizing, following, glorifying, and receiving the One True King.
Read: John 12:12-19
Recognizing the King
As we enter our text, we are just the morning after the text we examined a couple weeks ago. Saturday evening there had been a dinner party thrown in Jesus’ honor in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper. Here is a man likely healed by Jesus, and present as his honored guests were Lazarus and his sisters. Cutting into this joyous seen is the very conspicuous act of Mary, who anoints Jesus with costly perfume, and kneels down to then wipe his feet with her hair. The next morning, the smell of the perfume still clinging to his clothes and his body, Jesus decides to head into Jerusalem.
Upon hearing of his coming, we are told in v12-13, the large crowd comes out to meet him, and they meet him waving branches of palm trees. It is interesting that they bring palm branches, even though the only feast where palm branches are part of the celebration as described in the Old Testament would be the Feast of Tabernacles. Here we are at Passover. At the time of Jesus palm had become something of a national symbol for the Jewish people. Coins minted in this area around this timeframe often have palms on them. In 141 bc, after driving the Syrians out of Jerusalem, Simon Maccabee had been received by the people with music and the waving of palm branches. So it seems there may have even been an association or palm with a great deliverer of the people.
This would make sense with the cry in v13, Hosanna! Or we might say, save us now! Remember that the Jewish people have been waiting for a Messiah, a Son of David to rise up even since the death of Solomon and the split of the kingdom. That is nearly a thousand years in the past when Jesus enters Jerusalem. There have been military victories, such as those delivered by the Maccabees. But they never lasted, and they never instituted the perfect peace promised by the prophets. Yet maybe this Jesus is different. He can feed the multitudes, heal the sick, he can even raise the dead! What better person to lead an invincible army to overthrow our oppressors than one who is more powerful than death? The crowd, with their shouts of hosanna, are also quoting the words of Psalm 118:26, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
The crowd ascribe the blessing of God to Jesus, and they are at least tacitly recognizing what he has said before and what Rich preached to us from the end of this chapter last week: Jesus is from the Father. He comes in the name of the Lord, he comes as the perfect representation of the Father, the exact imprint of his nature (Hebrews 1:3). They then put a messianic interpretation of that Psalm in their last line, even the king of Israel. Jesus is being recognized, if ever so briefly, by this crowd as the rightful king.
It is interesting that we call this the triumphal entry, as Jesus doesn’t come in riding a war horse triumphantly leading this crowd. Instead, he fulfills the words of the prophet Zechariah, Behold, your king is coming, riding on a donkey’s colt. It doesn’t seem very kingly. But also notice, Jesus doesn’t contradict the cries of the crowd, or flee from them. Remember John 6:15 where Jesus perceives that the people are about to take him by force and make him king? What does he do? He withdraws. In Matthew 16 where Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ, Jesus strictly charges the disciples in v20 to not tell anyone who he is. All of this is because the time has not yet come for him to be revealed. But as we will see momentarily, that time has arrived.
Jesus comes, and accepts the praise of the people. But he doesn’t act the way they expect. He comes as the prince of peace, but he is going to be bringing a peace that they don’t recognize they need: a peace with God. Do you realize that you can only have peace with God through Jesus, his Son? He is the one who comes from the Father, he is the one who is able to save.
V16 tells us that this all went over the disciples heads in the moment. They missed the fulfilled prophecy, they missed the significance of Jesus riding in as the prince of peace. But when he was glorified, they realized. Their eyes were open. In v17-18 we learn that the crowds came out because those who saw Lazarus raised wouldn’t keep quiet. They kept speaking of what Jesus had done. This gathering of the people worries the Pharisees, who in v19 lament, You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. They are speaking from a pretty small point of view, but they speak more truth than they know. Eventually the world will flock toward Jesus, and we see a taste of that in the following verses. But before we jump there: this crowd recognized Jesus as the king, if only for a few days, because they heard of or saw his miracle working power. Have you recognized him as the one who has power to raise your soul from death? To lead you in newness of life? Recognition is only the beginning. But it is a necessary beginning. You must see him as your rightful king.
Read: John 12:20-26
Following the King
At this feast we people from all over, including these Greeks. And they approach Phillip, whom we are told is from Bethsaida in Galilee in order to gain an audience with Jesus. Sir, we wish to see Jesus is the request we have recorded. In the context of the Zechariah passage already quoted, we find another prophecy being fulfilled in this action.
Zechariah 8:20-23 (pew bible pg 748), “Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’”
These men probably God-fearing Gentiles, who although not Jewish have been attracted to the monotheism of Judaism. And here they are in the city for the feast, and they hear the stir about this Jesus character. And they wish to see him. We aren’t told whether Jesus grants this audience or not. Phillip tells Andrew, and together they go to Jesus. Jesus’ response shifts the book.
V23, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. We have been used to reading for his hour had not yet come. But now the hour is here. Jesus, the Son of Man, the Messianic figure to whom the Ancient of Days has granted rule and authority (Daniel 7:13,14) will now be glorified in the eyes of men. But there is another inversion. He has come to be glorified, he has come to bring peace, but how?
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus plucks, as it were, an analogy straight out of agriculture. To transpose from wheat to something we’re more familiar with here, corn, consider how small one seed it. While a kernel of corn is fairly large as seeds go, it is insignificant. It might last for years on its own, allowing to to look at it, to marvel at it. But it’s not much to marvel at. Set that seed across this room and it would be hard to see. But if you stick that thing in the ground, and it dies: germinates, becomes something totally different than it currently is-it bears a yield far greater than its own life ever amounted to. 600-800 kernels of corn can be produced by that one being planted.
Jesus is about to be glorified, not by riding his war horse in to conquer via military power. He has come to lay his life down for the sheep (John 10:15), to be planted that great harvest of salvation may come. It is better that one man should die for the people, than that all should perish (John 11:50). Jesus demonstrates his power, his majesty, his glory by laying down his life. You can have life this morning because of what Jesus has done. You can receive his work on your behalf and become one brought near to God by the blood of his Son. Jesus laid down his life for you.
But there is also a message which Jesus gives to these Greeks seeking an audience. He unfolds for them the nature of what it means to be a Jesus-follower, or what we might call the true nature of Christianity. As our Savior displays his glory through dying for us, so we as his people receive life through death to ourselves. His death is substitutionary, paying the penalty of our sins. But it is also exemplary, setting the pattern for our walk with him.
V25, Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Hates his life? What does that mean? Jesus uses here a Jewish idiom found often in Scripture of love/hate to express preference. It is not hate in an absolute sense, but it is to value the love so highly that hate might seem a fit description for how you feel about the other thing. So Jesus isn’t saying curse the daylight when you wake up, but he is saying to have eternal life is to have your values radically re-centered. Some of us are so wrapped up in grabbing all the gusto we can, or finding experiences that will fulfill us, or making relationships with certain people the center of our orbit, so concerned with our careers or our families that we miss something important: this is all fleeting. Your life is but a breath, here and gone. Our values need to be centered on and guided by the eternal. Do you make decisions based on what you feel is best for your earthly existence; what will make you most comfortable, what will bring you the most financial or emotional benefit, be that over the next six hours or six decades? Or have you been gripped by the reality of eternity, of the hundreds and thousands and millions of years to come after this life is through. The only way to enjoy life in the long run-the real long run-is to hate your life in this world, and value the next beyond all else. What does that look like?
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. V26. Loving eternal life means we then use this life to follow Jesus. Where has Jesus just told us he is going? To death, to the cross. The Christian life is a cruciform life. A life of dying to self. That might mean allowing a career dream to die. It might mean accepting a lower standard of living so that you can invest your resources of time and money into those things which God values, the spread of the gospel, loving your neighbor, encouraging other believers, helping the needy. And dying to self ultimately is the best decision we can make for ourselves. If anyone serves me, the Father will glorify him.
Read: John 12:27-36a
Freed by the King
We’re going to move speedily through these next two sections, but that isn’t for lack of material. We see in v27 that the approach of the hour has Jesus troubled. How could it not? He looks forward and sees enormous physical suffering, and more than that, the weight of all our sin. God was about to make him who knew no sin to be sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus would bear the scourge of sin and the wrath of God against sin when he ascended Calvary’s hill. That would be troubling. Yet he looks forward resolutely, because For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Jesus coming to earth, his work on our behalf has two purposes: the glory of God and the salvation of sinners. You cannot separate the two in Scripture. God is chiefly concerned with the end of making himself appear as he is: glorious. And yet he displays that glory by humbling himself and saving rebellious sinners like you and like me.
The Father peaks from heaven and confirms that he has glorified his name and will do so again. Jesus says that this voice from heaven is for the benefit of the crowd, though the crowd seems not to understand what has happened. Jesus then issues a stunning statement. The world is judged, the ruler thrown down, and all drawn to himself. V33 tips us off that this all refers to his death.
To say that the world is judged in the cross of Christ, I think, means this: the condition of mankind is so desperate and so damned that apart from the Son of God himself taking on human flesh to bear the penalty of our iniquity, there would be no hope. The world is judged in the necessity of the cross. The cross also judges by acting as a dividing line. Those who embrace Christ and him crucified can have forgiveness because in him their sins have already been paid for on the cross. Their judgement no longer remains, no longer can they be condemned. But for those who reject him, the cross stands as yet one more piece of evidence as to their hardness of heart.
Any time there is mention of Satan being cast down there is debate as to the meaning, but here I think the meaning is tied closely to the previous point. The power of the accuser (Revelation 12:10) lies in the truthfulness of his accusations. But if God has seen my sin and imputed it to Christ on the cross, then the power of Satan is gone. He is cast down. He may have some form of power yet, prowling around like a roaring lion, but he no longer can wield lethal accusations in the courtroom against those who are in Christ. The cross destroys that power.
Jesus also says that his being lifted up will draw all to himself. The word “people” is inserted by our English translators. I’m not sure it’s helpful here. I think the “all” referred to here are those whom the Father draws (6:44), the sheep who belong to Jesus (10:27). It could also mean that he draws from all sorts of people, people of every tribe and tongue and nation. The key thing here is that what draws people to Jesus in a saving sense is not his miracle power, or even his teaching, as wonderful as the miracles were, and necessary as the teaching is. What draws people, men and women, boys and girls to Jesus is the cross. What brings us to worship the king is the display of his glory in meekness, his power shown through a voluntary weakness.
This confuses the crowds. This isn’t the Messiah they expected. We might summarize Jesus response to them in v35-36 by quoting Isaiah 55:6, Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near. Darkness, death, will one day overtake you. Now is the time to respond to Jesus, to embrace his sacrifice and his sovereignty. His saving love, and his loving rule over your life.
Read: John 12:36b-43
Conclusion: Hindrances to Receiving the King
In this final section we see both total unbelief, and a timid “private faith”. In reference to the former, total unbelief, v37 tells us that this is in spite of numerous opportunities to see and believe. Yet they steadfastly refuse. In doing so, they fulfill the words of Isaiah in Isaiah 53:1 and 6:1. Perhaps those quotations trouble you. How could God harden and blind people to the truth? We must realize that this is a judicial hardening. These people have chosen to reject God, and God in his justice hardens them in their unbelief. The lesson for us to draw is to not harden our hearts. Now, as you hear, you have the opportunity to receive Jesus as king. Do so, lest by continual rejection your heart solidifies against him. Humble yourself, receive him.
The other group are those who “believe”, but oh so timidly. They don’t speak of it openly because “what will others think?” Or worse, they know what others will think, and they’re afraid of those consequences. They refuse to die to self. V43 tells us they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. The glory that comes from man can be acquired, in some measure, by loving this life and leveraging our money, skills, social standing, and gifts to benefit ourselves here and now. But that doesn’t last. There is a glory that comes from God. Jesus already said in v26 that it comes to those who serve him. It comes through dying to self and living for Christ. 1 Peter 5:6-7, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that in due time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Don’t grasp for glory from men here and now. See this life for the passing vapor that it is. Receive Jesus as your King, as your Lord. You can trust him in that role because he has already displayed his love for you by dying for you, bearing the weight of sin on your behalf. John 1:11-13, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh no of the will of man, but of God.