The King Arrives
“The King Arrives!”
John 12:12-16
The King Arrives
What do the people expect?
1. Lazarus has just been raised from the dead!
This became the pivotal event that sealed Jesus’ fate.
The crowds coming to Jesus now swelled to alarming and dangerous proportions.
Something must be done about this insurgent who has even raised the dead.
Pharisees – church leaders:
Lets kill him – and Lazarus too!
Our job is on the line.
Jewish seminar in Montreal: “Why did Jesus die?”
Jesus was a threat to the entire societal structure of His day.
Pharisees were allowed to maintain their role as leaders of the Jews as long as they worked with the Romans to keep peace.
“When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it."” (Joh 11:4 NIVUS)
Jesus’ ‘glory’ = the cross.
“27 ¶ "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."” (Joh 12:27-28 NIVUS)
Vs. 32 > when I am lifted up, I will draw all men.
2. It is 6 days before Passover.
The celebration of that first great exodus.
3. Seeking an earthly king – a warrior king.
Overthrow the oppressors
Deliver us again as the great exodus at the first Passover.
Jesus wanted to be a king, indeed.
King of their hearts.
Everyone is caught up in their own self-centered, self-serving dreams
They missed the servant heart!
Jesus is completely misunderstood.
Weeps over Jerusalem
Jesus saw into the future for His Chosen People and wept.
Jesus is compassion.
Jesus is love
Jesus is the good shepherd who cares for His sheep.
Cares for the flock of Israel
And all outside Israel whom His Father is giving to Him
Jesus cares about YOU.
Cleanses the Temple
Today: buy a prayer off the internet
Today, the Temple is my heart!
What work does Jesus need to do in your heart?
Next time the king arrives:
Announce with the trumpet
Separate the sheep and the goats
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem 2,000 years He came with an invitation.
Inviting you to join His kingdom
Inviting you to give up empire building.
- to give up all the things He knows leads only to bondage.
Inviting you to follow Him
The next time He arrives on planet earth it will be to set up His kingdom
He will come as a bridegroom to take His bride home with Him.
The king comes to take his rightful place in His kingdom.
In the interim, Jesus is looking for people to carry on His work of inviting people into His kingdom.
Am I kingdom building? (building for Jesus?)
Or empire building? (building for self?)
Look at our economic crisis.
Spawned by greed and the world governments seem to think they can fix it by more borrowing.
The world’s greatest superpower of all history,
Brought to this position by the blessing of God.
And they continue to build and protect their empire at the expense (neglect?) of the oppressed and those under the bondage of poverty.
| Most kingdoms do anything they can to protect their king. This is the unspoken premise of the game of chess, for example: When the king falls, the kingdom is lost. Therefore, the king must be protected at all costs. Another notable example comes from the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill desperately wanted to join the expeditionary forces and watch the invasion from the bridge of a battleship in the English Channel. U.S. General Dwight David Eisenhower was desperate to stop him, for fear that the Prime Minister might be killed in battle. When it became apparent that Churchill would not be dissuaded, Eisenhower appealed to a higher authority: King George VI. The king went and told Churchill that if it was the Prime Minister's duty to witness the invasion, he could only conclude that it was also his own duty as king to join him on the battleship. At this point Churchill reluctantly agreed to back down, for he knew that he could never expose the King of England to such danger. King Jesus did exactly the opposite. With royal courage he surrendered his body to be crucified. On the cross he offered a king's ransom: his life for the life of his people. He would die for all the wrong things that we had ever done and would do, completely atoning for all our sins. The crown of thorns that was meant to make a mockery of his royal claims actually proclaimed his kingly dignity, even in death.From Philip Ryken's sermon "Long Live the King!" PreachingToday.com |
The cost of following this Jesus king.
The glory not only includes the cross
The glory is the cross!
Who is this king?
Comes humble, lowly, riding on a donkey.
Servant king
Looking for servant hearts.
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:” (Php 2:5 NIVUS)
Jesus ride into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday was His continued descent into the depths of servitude.
The Auction Sale – keep Ron Humphries away!
Advice from father to son: "Don't scratch your nose at the wrong time, son."
He also said, "Always remember this: Whenever you go to an auction sale, make sure you know your upper limit price." That's ingrained in me.
The great danger for us is that we walk into the Christian life knowing clearly our upper limit price.
Jesus does not allow us to set that.
"If you save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake and the gospel's, you will keep it," said Jesus.
Our calling is to a life of unconditional obedience where the price is unknown.
Colin Smith, pastor of Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church, Arlington Heights, Illinois; Preaching Today #204
Jesus was a super hero for a day.
He has just raised Lazarus from the dead.
So the people followed – not because of faith – but out of a desire to see more miracles.
The shouts of the crowd quickly turned from ‘Hosanna’ to ‘Crucify Him!’
How easy will it be for you to turn from worship this morning to denying Him in the workplace tomorrow?
What is your ‘upper limit’?
That’s it Jesus. This next sacrifice you ask of me is too much. Away with Him.
Jesus wants to ride not into Jerusalem as a conquering hero, but as the Saviour and Lord of your life.
The last public words of Jesus – John 12:44-50