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      "The Tragic Entry"
      John 12:12-19
      Theme:       Unless a person will acknowledge the Lord Jesus as personal savior from sin, their praise does nothing but sadden Him.

        1. The Tragedy of Misguided Anthems – 12:12-13

          1. The Purpose of the Procession into Jerusalem

            1. The time has come for Jesus to accomplish His mission of redemption.
            2. Ever since He had begun His public ministry, He had indicated that His "hour had not yet come" – cp. John 2:4
            3. However, that time had now come as the Passover celebration was within the week.
            4. Jesus had constantly admonished His followers to "hold their peace" regarding His identity, even forbidding them from testifying concerning Him – cp. Matthew 16:20; Mark 5:43; Mark 9:9; John 7:4-6
            5. However, we are now able to see that Jesus deliberately plans a demonstration, fully realizing that, as a result, the enthusiasm of the masses will enrage the hostile leaders at Jerusalem to such a level that they will become irrevocably committed to His death.
            6. Thus, what is commonly called the "Triumphal Entry" is a definite indication that Jesus was laying down His life voluntarily – even going so far as to "guarantee" the resolve of His enemies to follow through on God’s predetermined plan – cp. Acts 2:23
            7. "On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees …" - John seems to jump into the story right in the middle – Let’s look at the events in order as presented in the synoptics.
              1. Jesus leaves Bethany and sends two disciples to bring the animal on which He plans to enter Jerusalem – cp. Matthew 21:1-3, 6, 7; Mark 11:1-6; Luke 19:29-34
              2. The disciples throw their outer garments on the animals and Jesus chooses the donkey in order to fulfill Zechariah 9:9 – cp. Matthew 21:4-5; Mark 11:7; Luke 19:35; John 12:14-15
              3. The people who accompany Jesus from Bethany spread their garments in the way while others cut branches from the trees and pave His way – cp. Matthew 21:8; Mark 11:8; Luke 19:36
              4. A multitude of pilgrims who were looking for Jesus hear that He is coming and begin to pour out of the eastern gate to meet Him, cutting palms off trees on their way and begin a march to meet Him – cp. John 12:1, 12, 13a, 18
              5. When the two crowds (one from Bethany – the other from Jerusalem) converge, the enthusiasm mounts. They join together around Jesus – some in front of Him with the others behind and as they descend the slope of the Mount of Olives they begin to shout:
                1. Hosanna!
                2. Blessed is he (who is) coming in the name of the Lord, Even the king of Israel!
                3. Blessed is the kingdom that is coming, the kingdom of our father David.
                4. Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!

                Matthew 21:9; Mark 11:9-10; Luke 19:37-38; John 12:13b

              6. The part of the crowd having come from Bethany authenticates that Jesus indeed has raised Lazarus and the excitement reaches a climax – cp. John 12:17
              7. The Pharisees call on Jesus to rebuke His disciples to which Jesus tells them that if He did, the very rocks would cry out – cp. Luke 19:39-40
              8. As the city comes into plain view, Jesus fully realizing that much of the praise that he was receiving is out of an expectation of a mere political priority breaks into a loud weeping, in part out of the vision of the city as it will be under the wrath of the Romans – cp. Luke 19:41-44
              9. As Jesus enters Jerusalem, additional people show curiosity concerning who He is – cp. Matthew 21:10-11
              10. When Jesus arrives in the Temple, he heals the blind and the lame – Matthew 21:14; Mark 11:11a
              11. The children in the temple begin to praise Him – an even that infuriates the Pharisees who call on Jesus to stop them. Jesus responds that it is a fulfillment of God’s Word – cp. Matthew 21:15-16
              12. The Pharisees who are frustrated appeal to those of their number who had advised restraint and patience to notice that such a tactic is only making matters worse – cp. John 12:19
              13. When evening falls, Jesus and the 12 return to Bethany for the night – cp. Matthew 21:17; Mark 11:11b
              14. The disciples are unaware of the importance of the day’s events – that they fulfilled the messianic prophecies – cp. John 12:16
                1. Genesis 49:9-11 – the scepter of Judah
                2. Daniel 9:24-27 – the cutting off of the Prince
                3. Zechariah 9:9 – riding the donkey

          2. The Priorities of the People of Jerusalem – vv. 12-13

            1. The crowd believes that Jesus of Nazareth – the man who is so powerful that He can raise a person from the dead – is the great hope of deliverance of Israel from the power and oppression of Rome.
            2. As a result, "when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him."
              1. The palm branches were associated with victory, triumph and strength – in part because of its permanent beauty and the crown of leaves at the top of the tree.
              2. It conveyed a confidence that things were going to go better from now on – a focus once again on the political deliverance they hoped Jesus would accomplish for them.
            3. However, their shouts also reflected their hope – they "began to shout, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord, even the King of Israel’."
            4. They are absolutely convinced that the celebration of God’s delivering them out of their bondage in Egypt (Passover) is the perfect occasion for God to provide them a deliverer from their bondage to the Romans
            5. The cry of "hosanna!" literally means: "save, now" and serves as a petition to Jehovah by the worshipper who is convinced that the proper time for full deliverance has now at last arrived.
            6. Their use of Psalm 118:25-26 demonstrates that they believe that Jesus was given by God to provide them deliverance – only they were misguided concerning the focus of His deliverance: God desired to deliver them from sin while they wanted political deliverance

        2. The Tragedy of Messianic Anguish – 12:14-16

          1. The Prophetic Presentation of the Messiah – vv. 14-15

            1. As the people were completely focused on their own agenda and their hopes for Jesus to be the mighty conqueror that the Messiah was "supposed" to be, Jesus presented Himself in humility.
            2. We are told that "Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it …" – indicating humility and meekness instead of might and strength
            3. This conveyed the peaceful nature of the Kingdom – not that He would be a great military leader (which would have been conveyed had He ridden a horse).
            4. This is exactly the context of the prophecy quoted – "… as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt’." – cp. Zechariah 9:9

          2. The Personal Pain of the Messiah – v. 16

            1. The significance of what His actions conveyed was missed by all that day: "These things His disciples did not understand at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him."
            2. As a consequence, Jesus presents Himself for a spiritual purpose that no one embraces – they could not get passed Rome.
            3. As a result, Jesus heart breaks over their praise, joy, and applause, knowing that it is actually tacit rejection – cp. Luke 19:41-42
            4. This same sorrow is evidenced at other times during this final week of Christ’s ministry – cp. Matthew 23:37-39
            5. The disciples didn’t understand the day’s impact on Christ – until after He was glorified – "and that they had done these things to Him."

        3. The Tragedy of Manipulated Affections – 12:17-19

          1. The Aspirations of the People – vv. 17-18

            1. The only priority that the Jewish people possessed was the ability to be free from Rome – they were tenaciously preoccupied with His power – "So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him."
            2. They essentially incited their fellow countrymen into like enthusiasm for hope of freedom through Christ – "For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign."
            3. The zealots among the people would have been particularly busy attempting to gain the people’s allegiance to the "King of Israel."

          2. The Antipathy of the Pharisees – v. 19

            1. Obviously, the Pharisees had already set their minds on killing Jesus in order to avoid the wrath of Rome – cp. John 11:50
            2. Apparently, some of the Pharisees had counseled patience in determining the best time to attempt this.
            3. Some had felt that it would be unwise to attempt anything when there were so many people in Jerusalem – cp. Mark 14:2
            4. However, given the current atmosphere and the adulation being given the Jesus, the more militant among them began to pressure the moderates into action – "So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘You see that you are not doing any good; look the world has gone after Him’."
            5. This was exactly how Christ knew they would react – hastening their willingness to take Him, thereby guaranteeing the "hour" of His death being on Passover!

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