Message:  Things are not always as they seem                                                                                                                        Text: John 12:12-19

Introduction:
ILL: The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a world War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During the conversion, her three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be scraped and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4-inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away. (Robert Wenz, Clifton Park, New York. Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 4.)

Things are not always as they seem.
    And don’t we know that? Especially this time of the year, it’s important to read the fine print of the newspaper ads. That great deal may not be so great.
Things are not always as they seem. Neither is what happens in our very familiar text this morning

Transition: Open your Bibles to John 12:12 (pg. 821 in the church Bible under the chair in front of you).  As we walk through this text, listen closely, process what we’ll examine and see if you don’t come to the same conclusion I did about Jesus’ ‘triumphal’ entry…That things are not always as they seem.

John 12:12    The Jerusalem Crowd
Read: John 12:12

There are actually two crowds mentioned in our text.
•    The Jerusalem crowd are those who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of the Passover. These people, for the most part, were unfamiliar with Jesus and only knew what they had heard about him. Estimates place the crowd at upwards of a million people. This is the crowd mentioned in vs 12.
•    The Bethany crowd are those who were with Jesus in Bethany when he raised Lazarus from the dead. These people knew Jesus by experience…they were eyewitnesses. This is the crowd in vs 17.

Both crowds join together for what must have been an awesome parade. Word spread though Jerusalem that Jesus was coming to town. The prophet that healed the sick, make the lame to walk, the blind to see and who even raised a man from the dead was big news.

Reports that Jesus was the Messiah were everywhere... Nationalistic zeal rose to a fervor. People wanted to see Jesus…People wanted to see the Messiah.

John 12:13        Their Response
Read: John 12:13

Picture this.
•    From the disciples perspective: they felt acceptance and legitimacy. I can imagine Peter giving the other disciples high 5’s, and pointing to Jesus and saying ‘You’re the man!’ They finally made it! They have truly arrived, and so has the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus talked about and they so desperately wanted. But, things are not always as they seem.
•    From the crowds perspective: they saw their hopes for a free Israel. Freedom from the oppressive rule of the Romans. Jesus would bring it to them, just like Simon the Maccabean had done 200 years earlier. But, things are not always as they seem.

What happened this day could be compared to what happened following 911. Remember all the people sitting out front of their homes, or walking down the streets waving American flags?  Instead of waving flags, at this parade the people here waved palm branches.

This wasn’t a religious symbol, but a patriotic one. 200 yrs earlier Simon the Maccabean was hailed with palm branches after he liberated Jerusalem from Syrian forces. The people thought it was happening again.

They cried Hosanna! But things are not what they seem. You see, Hosanna literally means ‘Save Now’ or ‘Save us now’. It’s a cry for help, not a declaration of praise. It was much later that Hosanna became a word expressing praise to God.

What they were saying was ‘Jesus, you were sent from God to liberate us from Roman rule…do it, save us… now!’ But, things are not always as they seem.

John 12:14-15    Their King
Read: John 12:14-15

The people welcome Jesus as their king. They quote parts of Ps. 118 as a declaration of Jesus’ kingship. If you were to read the rest of Ps. 118 you would know, as they did, that the Psalmist is speaking confidently of victory over Israel’s oppressors.
•    Ps. 118:6  ‘The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’
•    Ps. 118:10  ‘All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.’

The people thought that life for them will forever be different now that Jesus has come, now that Jesus is king. But, things are not always as they seem.

John 12:16        His Disciples
Read: John 12:16

The disciples, as usual, didn’t have a clue, they didn’t understand what was going on…really going on. John reminds us that it wasn’t until Jesus died and rose from the dead that the disciples looked back and understood what happened. So for them at that time, things are not always as they seem.

John 12:17-19    His Reputation
Read: John 12:17-19

Jesus’ reputation had preceded him. And Lazarus was living proof that Jesus can perform miracles. The belief was if he could bring someone back from the dead, he can surly deliver Israel from Roman rule.

The Pharisees see what’s happening and say ‘the whole world has gone after him’. But we know that in just a few short days, the majority of the crowd that’s praising Jesus on Sunday will be shouting ‘Crucify Him’ on Friday. Things are not always as they seem.

Conclusion        A Donkey and a Horse

In my Bible the title of this passages as ‘The Triumphal Entry’. Is it?

•    John 1:29  Jesus came not as a political king but as the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. This is particularly significant as he entered Jerusalem on Sunday, the towns people, on that very day, would have been selecting their own Passover lamb to be sacrificed on Friday night.
•    Luke 19:41-44  Jesus stops as he heads into Jerusalem to  weep over the city because he knew the people would reject him.
•    Mark 11:12-14, 20-26  Jesus, still on the way to Jerusalem, curses a fig tree that did not have any fruit when he approached it. (symbolic of Israel’s lack of Spiritual fruit)
•    Matthew 21:12-13  Jesus cleanses the temple of sinful actions and people. (the place dedicated to honor God had once again become defiled)
•    John 19:15   Those who shout Hosanna, now shout ‘We have no king but Caesar’
•    Luke 23:33  Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross to be  executed along with two common criminals.
•    Luke 23:35  Those who shout Hosanna, Save Us no shout He saved others let him save himself…if he is the Christ.

Where’s the triumph? Why the parade? Why the shouts of Hosanna when Israel would still be under Roman rule and Jesus would soon be dead? What triumphal entry?

And then there’s Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. This, perhaps more than anything else, should have opened their eyes to Jesus’ intentions, purpose and plan. Let me explain.

It was commonplace in that day for a conquering general or king to ride into the conquered city triumphantly on a war horse, often a white steed. He would enter the defeated city holding his sword high in the air.

But, a general or king who wanted to enter a city for peace negotiations would ride in on a donkey with no weapons.

The Romans got it, that’s why they didn’t arrest Jesus. He entered Jerusalem, occupied by the Romans, on a donkey carrying no weapons at all. He was no threat to them. He came in peace…the Romans understood this.
•    But the Jews, who should have understood this, had their own ideas of what Jesus should be and do, but their eyes were closed to his real purpose.
The Jews missed their opportunity to experience true peace, through the forgiveness of sin, which would allow them to know true acceptance by the God.

Advent remembers Jesus’ first coming was on a donkey offering peace to all who would believe in him, to all who would ask for forgiveness and accept his gift of eternal life…But not all things are always as they seem.

Advent looks forward to Jesus’ second coming when his offer of peace, forgiveness, acceptance and eternal life will expire. Because the next time Jesus comes he will come on a white horse with a sword to bring judgment for disbelief, eternal punishment for sin.

Read: Rev 19:11-16

This will be both a day of triumph for all who trust Jesus as the one who secured heaven for them and a day of great sorry for those who trusted in themselves to make it into heaven…and were denied access.

Why are some blocked access to heaven? Because they have made Jesus something other than who he is, they have expected him to do something other than what he came to do.

•    Healer: I will pray to Jesus to heal my illness or to bring my loved one through a particularly critical sickness…but pray for spiritual healing? I’m ok in that department, after all I pray and go to church sometimes.
•    Mender: I will pray to Jesus to fix my broken marriage …but pray for him to fix my broken spiritual life? My good will outweigh my bad and God will let me into heaven when I die.
•    Provider: I will pray to Jesus to help me get a new job or provide for my families needs…but to pray for him to provide me with the forgiveness of my sin…I’m not THAT bad.

Just like the crowd in Jesus’ first coming to Jerusalem, some people acknowledge Jesus as long as he fits into their picture of what he should be and do. And also like the crowd that day, when Jesus’ true plans are revealed to them, they want nothing to do with him.

Here it is. To be ready for Jesus’ 2nd coming, his truly ‘triumphal entry’ you must accept the offer of Jesus’ first coming…peace with God, the forgiveness of sin, the offer of eternal life in heaven, through faith, trust, believing that Jesus died on the cross for you and that he is your only way to heaven.

The angels announced Jesus’ purpose at his birth. ‘He shall save his people from their sins’ Everything else Jesus does, is part of that plan.

•    Accept Jesus as your Savior, ask him to forgive your sins, take his free gift of eternal life and Jesus will also be your healer, mender, provider…and your friend.
•    Refuse him as your savior and you will get nothing from him, nothing but eternal judgment, regardless of how good things may seem now in your life. Remember things are not always as they seem.

The triumphal entry of Jesus 1st coming to Jerusalem in our text this morning is not as it seems…unless you see the big picture.

Jesus was on his way to offer his life on the cross as payment for your sin. No one could stop him…it was why he came and in that way…it was a Triumphal entry.