The King Who Died

John 12:12-26 The King Who Died

Maybe you know one of those people that take what you say and flip it on its head. Maybe in jest, maybe in spite. Maybe you’ve had one of those days where your life is all of sudden flipped on its head- either for good or for bad.

When we first went to Guyana, South America…I was 12. We left cold, dry New York City via JFK airport in the middle of January, and stepped of the plane in the middle of a jungle. We left a freezer and arrived in a sauna. Then we got into a van and drove on the wrong side of the road. We’ve all had times when our life gets flipped on its head.

This is what Jesus does in our passage today, He takes what people do and say and flips it. He does completely opposite of the expectations of the people. He says things that make no sense to even his own disciples. He allowed to do that: he’s Jesus. Jesus is in the business of flipping things on their heads…including our lives.

Our passage today contains 2 short accounts- the first is the Triumphal Entry: what Palm Sunday is all about (12-19). Then the second is Jesus’ encounter with a group of Greeks who want an audience with him (20-26). In both cases, what Jesus does should cause us to stop and scratch our heads.

Read John 12:12-26

1. The King Who Comes in Peace (12-19)
You could taste the expectation in the air. Hundreds of thousands of people had come up to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Jesus had raised a man that had been dead 4 days. This had never happened before, not even for the prophets in the OT. This crowd heard that this Jesus was coming up to Jerusalem.

They meet Jesus with palm branches. I think we can gather that they were excited about Jesus. But palm branches were more than just a symbol of celebration, like ancient confetti. One commentator notes that at this point in Jewish history, palm braches were a symbol of “nationalist hope that a liberator was on the scene” (D.A. Carson). The Jews wanted a King who would crush the Romans who occupied their land. We know this from the Gospels and from the history of that time.

The crowds meet Jesus chanting part of Psalm 118: “Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” This was a Psalm that the Jews would sing going up to Jerusalem to worship. And in this case, they apply it to the coming Messiah. Were the Jews right in welcoming Jesus as the King to come? As the Messiah? Most certainly, yes. But the Messiah they were welcoming wouldn’t do what they expected.

What would any normal human do in response to the adoration of the crowds? Crowd surf. Make a speech. Give a politically-charged speech about crushing the Romans. Even gather the Jews into an army and lead a revolt against the Romans.

No, Jesus says nothing. But he does something. And what he does shows that he will be a king completely different from what the people wanted. He rides a donkey. This is not a noble thing to do. It is humbling. Donkeys are smelly, noisy, stubborn, ignoble creatures. I know, I used have one living right next door to my house.

The disciples don’t get it (vs 16). But John clues us in to what is happening. The quotation in verse 15 is from the OT prophet Zechariah. Let me read for you a few verses from Zechariah, 9:9-11

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! [Daughter of…refers to the people of Jerusalem] Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the battle bow shall be cut off,
and he shall speak peace to the nations;
his rule shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

From these verses, Jesus shows the Jews that he is a gentle King who:
1. Ends wars
2. Proclaims peace to all nations
3. Sets prisoners free by the blood of God’s covenant.

Jesus flips the expectations of the people on their head by the simple action of riding a donkey. Instead of crushing all the nations by war and reigning over Jerusalem, he offers himself humbly to die and offer peace to all the nations.

If the disciples did not understand these things, the crowds probably did not either. The crowds were there because they saw a sign (vs 18). The gospel of John calls Jesus’ miracles, signs. Signs are important because they point to something. We don’t take down road signs and hang them on our walls to admire them. At least you shouldn’t. We leave them by the road so people can reach their destination. There is a street sign missing at Maple Ave and First. Which one of you knocked it over? The miracles Jesus did pointed back to Jesus as God and the promised Deliverer. The crowds just stopped at the signs and forgot to arrive at the destination of Jesus.
While the crowd was celebrating Jesus, the Pharisees were getting quite frustrated. The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders, and by this time in the ministry of Jesus, they were the sworn enemies of Jesus. John loves irony, and twists the words they use. They say: “Look the world has gone after him!” And indeed it had. Not just the crowds around Jerusalem—that was the Pharisee’s thought—but soon non-Jews from all around the inhabited world would believe in Jesus, even though the Pharisees would lead to charge to put Jesus to death.
In fact, in the next account, Greeks are coming to Jesus, showing that yes, indeed, the world is going after Jesus.

The religious leaders were the same people that thought it would be good if one man—Jesus—died for the nation. In their minds, if they could take out Jesus, they could put a stop to the unrest he was creating. They could stop the challenges he was making against them and their practices. In John’s gospel, the meaning of this is: they kill Jesus and all nations have the offer of salvation. He died for all nations.

2. The King Who Dies
John twists the world of the Pharisees by giving us the account of some Greeks—the world—coming to see Jesus. These were non-Jews who had come up to watch the feast. They could come to the temple, but only to the outside part called the court of the Gentiles. For whatever reason, they wanted to have an audience with Jesus.

They ask Philip. Why Philip? Probably because he was from a predominantly Gentile area, and because he had a Greek name. Together these two disciples take the request to Jesus.

It seems as if Jesus responds not to the request of the Greeks, but to the situation as a whole. He was being celebrated and sought out. People wanted his autograph. His response is not what people wanted to hear.

I was trying to figure out if I should tell my donkey story for this sermon. I want you to remember the text, and not this story. I think it should help us see how inappropriate Jesus’ words are for this situation.

My parents first visited Guyana, South America in 1996 to determine if that was the field of ministry for them. They happened to be there on Palm Sunday. It was warm and sunny, and my mom and her missionary friend were walking the three short blocks from the house to the church. I can picture it clearly because I walked that route for 4 years. As they drew near the church, they saw it laying there on the road. It wasn’t dead. Is was dying. Right in front of the church. A donkey had just been hit by a car. On Palm Sunday in front of the church. That’s just wrong. In John 12, the crowds say “victory!” and Jesus responds “death.”

It would be like if the Bills happened to win the Super Bowl. After the victory parade, the owner gets up and announces that they are going to move the team to Canada and demolish the stadium. This is what Jesus is doing here.
Jesus speaks of the hour of his glorification. The time for his glorification had finally come. Up to this point in the gospel of John, Jesus had mentioned that it was going to come. Now it had arrived. Jesus’ glorification sound exciting, and, well, glorious. However, glorification in the Gospel of John refers to Jesus’ crucifixion followed by his ascension to the Father. Suffering followed by exaltation. Through his death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus would reveal to the world who he was.

We have confirmation in this passage that this is the meaning of glorification. Look at the illustration he uses in verse 24. A grain of wheat cannot bear fruit unless it dies. To a child, it may seem wasteful to put a perfectly edible seed into the ground. But to the wise person, they know that it will bring forth a plant and with it fruit. Why would you hang onto an apple seed when you could have an entire apple tree with many apples? In the same way, Jesus gives up his life for an incredible harvest of eternal life.

But Jesus is not talking only about himself. He’s talking about us. If we are to have the delicious fruit of eternal life, we must die. Die to self, die to sin, die to the world. In one short verse, Jesus turns the values of this world on their head. It cannot be any other way. If Jesus is to hate his life in this world, and die, so must his followers. If we give up our lives to follow Jesus, we get to die with him, live with him, and be honored by his Father. Followers of Jesus find their lives in this world to be of no consequence compared to the value of eternal life with Jesus. If you claim to serve Jesus, you will follow him in death and reap the reward of eternal life.

The question to you, then, is: are you a fan or follower of Jesus?

1. Fans of Jesus
The crowds are fans of Jesus. They want him for what they can get. What stuff can Jesus get for us? They want miracles, food, and victory over the Romans. They want Jesus as an earthly king. In John 6, Jesus feeds the 5000 bread and fish. The next day and find him, and guess what they want? More food. They want what Jesus can give instead of Jesus himself. What an easy trap for us to fall in to.

Today, when people say they want Jesus as their Savior, they may actually mean that they want Jesus for president. They want Jesus to take out terrorists, fix the economy, bring peace in the Middle East, give us jobs, a nice suburban home with a white picket fence, a nice family with two children, a dog, and a 8-5 job with free weekends. He would make us happy with everything we had, and make sure we had no problems, sickness, or suffering.

“Jesus has been dressed up as a corporate CEO, life coach, culture-warrior, political revolutionary, philosopher, copilot, cosufferer, moral example, and partner in fulfilling our personal dreams.” –Michael Horton

Jesus did not come to improve your life. He came to end it.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian killed by the Nazis at the end of World War II. He says this about following Jesus: “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die”

If a few short decades mean more to you than eternity, if food and sex and money mean more to you than Jesus, if the favor of your friends means more to you than the favor of the Father, that’s all you’ll ever get. It won’t get better. Come to Jesus and die. He will flip your life on its head.

2. Followers of Jesus
Following Jesus involves dying to yourself.
1. Loving yourself is sin, denial of God. You can only serve one master. Yourself or God.
2. Eternal life is much more valuable than this life.
3. It follows the pattern of Jesus (suffering, then honor)

When Jesus says- lay down your life and take up your cross, he doesn’t just give you a sticker and say “’atta boy.” When you die to yourself you gain Jesus…and…eternal life. Perfect…glorious…indescribable life. Forever.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer again: “As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with His death—we give over our lives to death. Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.”

God will honor the person who lays down their life. Whatever pain you may suffer in this life, whatever shame the world heaps on you for living for eternity, however inconvenient it may be to follow Jesus, God the Father will say in the end:

“That’s my child!”
“That one comes with me.”

Has Jesus flipped your life on its head? It’s totally worth it