The King - John 12:12-19

                  

We’re entering Holy Week when the church reflects on Jesus’ journey to the cross, grave, and resurrection. It begins with the celebration of Jesus as Israel’s true king. It’s the week of Passover and the day Jesus rides into Jerusalem is the day the Passover lamb is set aside until it’s sacrificed on the Thursday for the Passover. It’s only a few days after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. There are so many elements coming together that will shape how this week will play out.

Jesus has arrived on the outskirts of Jerusalem. His fame after raising Lazarus from the dead has gone ahead of him. Crowds of people are starting to arrive in Jerusalem for the Passover festival, one of the three pilgrimage festivals that God gave Israel, festivals when Israel was called to attend as a people, even though many couldn’t come every year. I can imagine the scene as someone recognizes Jesus and his disciples travelling up the road from Jericho and starts spreading the news. John tells us that they took palm branches and went out to meet Jesus. There’s not a whole lot of doubt about what’s going on in their minds as they greet Jesus, lining the road shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed in he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!”  

They’re echoing Psalm 118, “Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.” The psalm goes on, “with boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.” Hosanna means “save us” and the palm branches are symbols of victory, as we also see in Revelation 7, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands,” echoing back to Psalm 118.

Palm branches were stamped on Jewish coins in that day and became one of the symbols of a free Israel. In both Psalm 118 and Revelation 7, we also see a connection to the temple, showing the king is from God. As we put it all together, it’s easier for us to see how Jesus fulfills all these prophecies of the coming Messiah, the king of Israel from David’s line, a king blessed by God. The people are putting these things together and recognizing that there’s something special about Jesus and they cheer his arrival in Jerusalem, hoping he’ll claim the throne of David.

When you hear all this going on as a Pharisee or a Roman, all kinds of alarm bells start going off. For the Pharisees, who supported King Herod who was appointed by Rome, Jesus’ claim to be king would upset the delicate balance between the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor to maintain a certain level of peace and safety. This was their concern in John 11:48 right after Lazarus’ resurrection, “If we let him, Jesus, go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.” For the Romans, especially the soldiers, when they hear what’s going on, their thoughts are, “Not another Jewish rebel Messiah! Shall we just kill him right now.” Roman soldiers were tired of all these Messiahs who popped up regularly, stirring up the people with dreams of freedom.

Jesus adds to the excitement of the day, adding to the speculation of being Israel’s true king by taking a young donkey and riding it into Jerusalem, fulfilling another prophet’s prediction, “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt,” a take on Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” Excitement is beginning to reach a fever pitch. What a time for God’s king to arrive, right at the festival celebrating God’s delivering his people out of slavery to bring them to the Promised Land to establish his presence in the world through his people and the temple. Memories of Moses, King David, and King Solomon, and the original temple only add fuel to the fire.

In the Middle East warrior kings rode stallions while kings of peace rode donkeys or mules. God warned Israel’s future kings in Deuteronomy to not acquire many horses, “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” Israel’s kings are supposed to be different from the kings around them. The horses were a military resource, so gathering more and more horses showed they were beginning to think of territorial expansion, revealing a war-like attitude and a dependence on their own strength rather than depending on God; showing a lack of trust in God and more trust in armies or earthly allies. Reading through Israel’s history, we see this played out over and over again; even wise King Solomon gathered huge numbers of horses, wives, and wealth.

God alone is to be Israel’s king. Jesus comes as a king of peace, a king of humility who looks to God first and always. We see this when Satan tries to tempt Jesus with kingship over all the nations of the world, all Jesus has to do is worship Satan. Jesus can become king without the cross, but Jesus trusts in his Father, turning down Satan’s offer, trusting in his Father’s plan to become the Messiah king.

The crowd’s divided. There are those who support Jesus. Some of them saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead, while others have heard and believe the story, and the other stories of the miracles Jesus has performed. Many believe what Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of heaven and who God’s calling them to be as his people. Most of these people come from outside Jerusalem, many from the north from Galilee. Then there are those who are against Jesus and most of these come from Jerusalem, the center of Judah’s religious and political power. Yet none of them really understand who Jesus is as king.

Jesus is arrested for blasphemy and given over to the Romans with the claim that Jesus claims to be king. Pilate asks Jesus straight out, “Are you king of the Jews?” Now we get a glimpse of what Jesus’ kingdom is, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” When Pilate hands Jesus over to his soldiers to crucify him, the soldiers take Jesus and flog him, taking a crown of thorns and putting it on Jesus, clothing him in a purple robe, mocking him, “Hail, king of the Jews,” and striking him in the face to humiliate Jesus. Pilate places a sign above Jesus on the cross that reads “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” mocking the Jews because nothing good comes out of Nazareth, echoing what Nathanael once said.

Jesus threatens people as king. Herod understood this, which is why he had the boys murdered in Bethlehem at Jesus’ birth. Pilate knows Jesus has the potential to create untold problems for himself and Rome. The Pharisees knows Jesus has the potential to take away their influence, but also to the potential to force Rome to destroy the Jewish people. Yet Jesus talked constantly about the kingdom of heaven, comparing it to the kingdoms of this world. The king gives you your identity, the king demands absolute allegiance and either you give the king your complete loyalty and allegiance or you’re considered a traitor or rebel. The king doesn’t operate under the rules of a democracy where you get to determine how much allegiance you give to your government. But don’t fool yourself, there are many political and thought leaders today that demand complete allegiance from you, and it’s only getting worse, creating all kinds of polarization among people today. Either you belong and align yourself fully with them or you’re out. They, in their own ways, understand the call Jesus puts on our lives as king; Jesus demands total allegiance from us and either you accept Jesus as your king and submit completely to him, or you reject him; there’s no middle ground.

What kind of king is Jesus? Jonathan Edwards, the American theologian and pastor in the 1700s describes Jesus’ kingship this way: Jesus combines infinite majesty and humility, perfect justice and boundless grace, absolute sovereignty and utter submission, all sufficiency and yet utter dependency on God. Jesus is a king like no other king, an all-powerful and yet compassionate king who is willing to sacrifice himself to save his people so they can be part of his forever kingdom. Is Jesus your king?