John 12:12-43: The Misunderstood Messiah

John 12:12-43: The Misunderstood Messiah

Please take your Bibles and turn with me to John 12. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 745. We’re going to continue our series of sermons going through the Gospel of John passage by passage. And the passage we come to this morning is John 12:12-43. As we work our way through this passage, we’re going to see Jesus at first being hailed by the crowds of Jerusalem as a national hero but then being met with growing unbelief, which, as we’ll see in future chapters, will eventually result in those very same crowds calling out for his crucifixion. So at first, here in our text, things look so good for Jesus. He seems to be enjoying unprecedented popularity. But then, within a matter of days, popular opinion shifts dramatically. 

You know, it reminds me of last year’s presidential election in many ways. Regardless of what party you belong to or who you voted for, I think most of us were pretty shocked at the results of the election. Almost nobody actually expected Donald Trump to win. I remember looking at the New York Times’ election day forecasts the day before the election, and they gave it an 83% chance that Hillary would win. That’s what just about everybody expected. Things were looking so good for Hillary until…they weren’t. Within a matter of mere hours, Hillary went from being up here with everyone expecting her to win, to being down here after the stunning victory of Trump. Things were looking incredible for her until they weren’t. And that’s very similar to what we see with Jesus here in John 12.  Things are looking so good for Jesus until they take a dramatic turn for the worse. So here’s what we’re going to do. I’d like to take a little bit of time to walk you through exactly what happens, and then we’ll use the rest of our time to look at three points of application we can draw from that. 

So let’s walk through the passage together, beginning at verse 12. John 12:12: 12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” So, just to pause right there for a moment, you can see how the crowds that come out to meet Jesus are in a state of absolute euphoria. They’re hailing him as a national hero who’s going to deliver Israel from her enemies and reign as king over the nation. That’s what they call him: “the King of Israel.” And they’re crying out to him with the lofty term “Hosanna.” Now the word “Hosanna” originally meant “give salvation now.” That’s its literal meaning. But by this period of Jewish history, it had come to have a more general meaning. It was simply a term of general acclamation and praise. 

And it seems as though the reason these crowds are praising Jesus in such lofty terms is because they’re expecting Jesus to lead a political revolution. They think he’s going to be a political and military leader who’s going to galvanize the Jewish nation and help them overthrow the Roman government so they can have their own Jewish government. That’s why these crowds are so ecstatic. They think they’re looking at the ancient Palestinian version of George Washington or someone like that. But even in this exhilarating moment of Jesus parading his way into Jerusalem, we see a sign that that’s not at all what Jesus intended to accomplish. Look at verse 14. As these crowds are shouting “Hosanna” and calling Jesus “the King of Israel,” look what Jesus does: 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 

That’s a quote from the Old Testament book of Zechariah. And that’s very interesting…because notice what Jesus doesn’t do. He doesn’t come riding into Jerusalem on a war horse. That definitely would have whipped the crowds up into an even greater frenzy. But instead, Jesus comes into the city not on a war horse but on a donkey. A donkey represents gentleness. In fact, if you look at this passage from Zechariah in its original context, you can see that its original emphasis was gentleness and peace and rest from war. Let me read it. Zechariah 9:9-10: “9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter 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.” So notice the contrast between the donkey and the war horse. The donkey represents humility and gentleness. And that’s what this “king” of Zion is said to bring. He’s bringing an era where the chariot and the war horse and the battle bow are no more. And instead, it says, “he shall speak peace to the nations.” But don’t mistake his gentleness and peacefulness for weakness. No—if you look at the end of verse 10, we see that “his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River [the Euphrates River] to the ends of the earth.” You see, this king doesn’t bring peace because he’s weak. He brings peace because he’s strong. He so strong, there’s no longer any struggle for power—and not just in Judea but throughout the entire world. And as we see in John 12, all of that is talking about Jesus. He’s the King who will bring peace to the nations. And that’s the spirit with which he rides his donkey into Jerusalem. 

But here’s the thing: before Jesus’ kingship involves a throne, it first involves a cross. It involves shame and abandonment and even death. And that’s what this Jewish crowd doesn’t understand. They just don’t get it. A little farther down in the passage, we see Jesus explaining it to them. Look what he says in verses 24-28: 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. 27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” So Jesus clearly predicts that he’s going to die. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” That grain of wheat is Jesus. Jesus will accomplish more through his death than through his life. And yet, the thought of his death is still an agonizing thing for him. In verse 27, he admits that his soul is troubled. But he still prays to the Father, “glorify your name.” 

Then after that, we get a picture of just how fickle the loyalty of this crowd really was. When Jesus doesn’t do what they expect him to do, their enthusiasm quickly fades and it becomes readily apparent that they don’t really believe. Beginning at verse 37:  37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. So even those who do believe won’t tell anyone they believe so that they can keep their reputations intact. 

And eventually, of course, things get much worse for Jesus. Not only does his popularity dissolve, but many of those same people who once hailed him with the acclamation of “Hosanna” and who once referred to him as “the King of Israel” will eventually call out for him to be crucified. They praised Jesus in the loftiest of terms on Sunday and were willing to kill him on Friday. How quickly things can change. 

So now that we’re done with the introduction, let me give you the main idea. Here’s what we get from all of this: Jesus is a Savior who is all too easily misunderstood. Jesus is a Savior who is all too easily misunderstood. The reason the crowds turn against Jesus so quickly is because they totally misunderstand what Jesus was all about and what he came to accomplish. But even today, Jesus is still a Savior who is all too easily misunderstood. So let me give you three points of application. There are three ways people today misunderstand Jesus that I’d like to highlight. Number one, misunderstanding the nature of salvation. Number two, misunderstanding the need for salvation. And number three, misunderstanding the terms of salvation. 

Misunderstanding the Nature of Salvation

So first, misunderstanding the nature of salvation. So often, people come to Jesus simply to help them with the problems they’re facing in life rather than seeking the kind of salvation he ultimately came to bring. Think about the Jewish crowds here in John 12. These crowds thought Jesus came to deliver them from the Romans. But in reality, Jesus came to deliver them not from the Romans but from their sin. And it’s not all that different today. Today, a lot of people think Jesus is merely the answer to their financial hardships or perhaps their marital difficulties or their health ailments. They think he’s merely the answer to their low self esteem or perhaps any one of a wide variety of emotional issues and struggles. In their mind, those are the kinds of things Jesus saves us from. But even though Jesus certainly does help us with our struggles, in reality, the kind of rescue he brings is about so much more than that. More than anything else, Jesus rescues us from our sin. Because that’s our main problem. But for some reason, a lot of people just have a hard time grasping that. 

This past week, I’m sure all of you know there was a solar eclipse—the “Great American Eclipse,” or whatever it is they’re calling it. To be honest with you, I was personally a bit disappointed with the eclipse. I thought that with 80% of the sun blocked out, things would get a lot darker than they did. But at 2:30 on Monday, I looked outside, and things were still as bright as ever. So for me, it was something of a Great American Letdown, I guess you could say. Apparently, 20% of the sun can still illuminate things quite well. But anyway, this eclipse has spawned a lot of talk about astronomy and outer space and how everything works. So imagine this. Imagine there’s a giant asteroid headed directly for earth and that we only have one year until it hits us. And this asteroid is so big, there’s no question it’s going to completely destroy the planet. All the scientists are in agreement that this is pretty much the end of the human race. Unless we do something, we only have one year left. I think we can all agree that if that were the case, it would be a pretty big problem. But imagine that the majority of society, including the government and all of the universities and research labs, acted as if it weren’t really that big of a problem. Instead of looking for ways to divert the asteroid or do something about the situation, they didn’t pay any attention to it. They were more concerned about other problems in their lives like their financial needs and marital issues and emotional well being than they were the huge asteroid speeding toward earth at a thousand miles an hour. That would be crazy, right? If they thought all of those other things were their most pressing needs rather than the asteroid, we would say they’re not thinking clearly. 

But that’s kind of the way many people are today. They’re so wrapped up in a thousand and one other concerns that they don’t pay any attention to the greatest problem of the human race—the problem of sin. Listen to me: Jesus will help you with your struggles, but those struggles aren’t the main reason he came. He came to save you from your sin. The fact is that each one of us stands guilty and condemned before God. That’s our problem. But Jesus took all of that guilt and condemnation on himself when he died on the cross. He acted as our substitute and suffered the penalty we deserved. And because he did that and then resurrected from the dead, you can I can be cleansed from all of our sin and brought back into a right relationship with God. The only thing we have to do is turn to him and put our trust in him to do rescue us. But a lot of people don’t do that because they misunderstand the nature of salvation. 

Misunderstanding the Need for Salvation

Another thing people commonly misunderstand is not only the nature of salvation but also the need for salvation. That’s the second point: misunderstanding the need for salvation. Let’s say someone knows that Jesus came first and foremost to save us from our sin—not primarily to save us from all the other struggles we face but primarily to save us from our sin, like we just talked about. They get that. But even a lot of people who get that still underestimate how desperately they need salvation. They view themselves as being not really all that bad. Sure they make mistakes and they do some things that are wrong, but overall they’re not really that bad. And so, because they view themselves that way, they think they just need Jesus to make them a little bit better. Let’s say you have to get an “A” to get into heaven. That’s the grade that’s required—an “A.” I think a lot of people view themselves as a “B plus,” a “B,” or perhaps even a “C.” And they think they just need Jesus to help them get a little bit better so they can be fit for heaven. That’s the way they see things. 

But according to the Bible, each one of us is actually an “F.” Because it’s not just about our external behaviors, it’s about our heart. And the Bible says that our hearts are thoroughly contaminated by sin. Romans 3:10 says that “there is no one righteous, not even one.” Isaiah 64:6 says that “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” That’s what God thinks of the most righteous thing you can do apart from Christ. He views it as “a polluted garment.” That’s how desperately we need Jesus. So when we come to Jesus, we can’t come to him with the notion that we just need him to take our goodness and bring it up a few notches. We have to come to him with the understanding that we don’t have anything to offer him. We have no righteousness. And we have to fall down at his feet and humbly beg him to take away our “F” and give us his “A.” The only way we’ll ever be righteous and fit for heaven is if Jesus gives us his righteousness, because we don’t have any righteousness in and of ourselves. Thankfully, however, he tells us that if we ask, we will receive. 

Misunderstanding the Terms of Salvation

Then thirdly, not only do people misunderstand the nature of salvation and the need for salvation, a lot of people also misunderstand the terms of salvation. That’s the third point, misunderstanding the terms of salvation. You know, Becky and I love to have people over to our house. We usually have people over at least three nights a week. And one of our rules for coming over is that you don’t have to knock. Just come on in. That’s one of the ways we encourage living in community. Since we view church as a spiritual family, we want you to feel like our house is your house. However, there are limits to that way of thinking. For example, we generally don’t invite people into our bedroom. It’s not like we have anything to hide in our bedroom, but it’s just more of a personal space. We also don’t generally expect guests to start rearranging our furniture or changing our decorations. It would be a little weird if someone came over for Community Group and brought some pictures of them and their family and started hanging those pictures on our walls. So there are some limits to how much we expect guests to make themselves at home. Regardless of how much we value living in community, we still view people who come over as guests in many ways. 

And that may be an appropriate way of viewing people who come over to your house, but I think a lot of people try to take that approach when they invite Jesus into their lives. They tell him he can come in, but they still have very fixed limits to what they’ll allow him to do. Unfortunately, however, that’s not the way it works. That’s not what it means to be a Christian or a disciple of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just want to come in as a guest. He wants all of you. He wants the keys to the house, the deed to the house, and total permission to change anything in the house he wants to change. He wants to be able to replace every piece of furniture, repaint every room, and do an extreme makeover on the entire house. Those are the terms of salvation.

I mean, look what Jesus says right here in our main text. Verse 25: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Here’s what that means. “Whoever loves his life” is talking about the person who makes his life all about himself and chases after fulfillment in life apart from God. That person will actually end up losing his life. But, Jesus says, “whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Those are the people who gain eternal life—the people who hate their life in this world, not in the sense that they’re suicidal or anything but simply that they renounce their tendency to be consumed with themselves and instead make their lives about God. Those are the terms of salvation: hating your life in the sense that you turn your life in its entirety over to the Lord’s control and allow him to reign supreme in every aspect. 

Conclusion

So this morning, I challenge you to ask yourself if you have any one of those three misunderstandings: misunderstanding the nature of salvation, the depth of your need for salvation, or the terms of salvation. If that’s you, why don’t you let this morning be a new beginning for you? You know, it’s about that time of year when all of the schools are starting back up again. And I remember as a child, even though I would always be sad to see summer go, I would be excited about the first day of school. It was kind of like a new beginning for me. I would have my new shoes, some new clothes, new school supplies—all this new stuff. Not only that, but I would also have new teachers—teachers who hopefully didn’t know about all of the knuckleheaded things I did in class the previous year. Now eventually, I did figure out that teachers talk about their students in their teachers’ lounges, but at least the new teacher wouldn’t have actually seen me do those knuckleheaded things. So the new school year was in many ways a new beginning. 

This morning, you can have a new beginning in life. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, what misunderstandings you’ve had, what mistakes you’ve made. You’re never too far gone for Jesus to rescue you. The only thing you have to do is renounce all of your efforts to be good enough for God on your own and instead put your trust in Jesus to save you. Look to him to rescue you from you sins and make you acceptable in God’s sight. And if you would like to talk more about that, I would absolutely love to talk with you. Please don’t leave this building until you’ve pulled me aside and asked me whatever questions you want to ask me. I’m always the last one to leave, so please come talk to me.