Seeing Yourself in the Crowd
John 12:12-19

Welcome here on Palm Sunday.  We are one week away from celebrating Easter, which is my favourite holiday of the year, for a number of reasons.  First of all, it always falls in early Spring and that has to be one of the most beautiful times of the year.  Did you notice this morning as you drove in the parking lot, those beautiful pink flowering trees that are in bloom?  Absolutely gorgeous!  Secondly, I like Cadbury mini eggs, and you can only buy them during the Easter season, I’ve got a package with me this morning and I’m willing to give it away if anyone can tell me the name of the flowering tree that now surrounds our parking lot?  Excellent!

The third reason I like Easter is because at Easter we celebrate the climax of God’s redemptive plan for his creation, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  To me this is such an important time of year, to reflect upon what Jesus Christ did for humanity, for you and me through his death and resurrection.  I really hope that you make it a priority to join us next week as we gather on Friday to remember Christ’s death on the cross, and again Sunday morning as we come together to celebrate Jesus, who rose from the dead and is alive today!

But today, is not Easter, it is however, another important day as it is the day that we remember as Jesus came to the city of Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival.  It is an incredibly important day because each of the four gospels record for us this story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  

I remember as a child, sitting in my Sunday School class hearing the story of Palm Sunday, illustrated by a flannel graph.  I remember hearing how, children and adults came out to meet Jesus and how they worshipped him by laying their cloaks at his feet so that his donkey could ride over them and how they waved beautiful palm branches to honour him and keep him cool as he rode in the hot sun.  As I child I remember thinking, Palm Sunday must have been the coolest day because everyone liked Jesus so much and they were so happy to see him come to their city.  

Now when you are a child you sometimes have a very simplistic view of the way things are.  As I look back at my understanding of Palm Sunday, I realize that it was quite simplistic and in some ways even wrong.  Because even though this was a day of celebration, there were undertones in it that do not paint and very pretty picture.  

Today we are going to look again at the story of Palm Sunday, we are going to look at the people represented in the story and we are going to see if we can find ourselves among that crowd that welcomed Jesus into the city of Jerusalem that week of the Passover.

I would like to invite you to turn with me to John 12:12 where we find the story of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  I’m going to ask you stand and read aloud the part that the crowd speaks to Jesus, as he rides along.

Thanks, you may be seated!

What an atmosphere that must have been.  In the preceding chapter, the apostle John gives us some more details of the events that lead up to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  John 11 begins with the death of Lazarus, Jesus’ close friend.  Upon learning of his death Jesus goes to Bethany, Lazarus’ home town to be with the family and while he is there he raises Lazarus from the grave four days after he has been placed in the tomb.  Now Jesus had already performed many miracles, but this had to be the icing on the cake for the people, to raise a man from the dead, was nothing short of astounding.  The Bible tells that many Jews, put their faith in Jesus because of this event, which angered the religious leaders who already were looking for a way to get ride of Jesus.  John 11 ends like this, “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover.  They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, ‘What do you think?  Isn’t he coming to the Feast at all?’  But the chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him.”  

Jesus was a marked man, an outlaw, according to the religious leaders, they wanted him dead so that people would stop following him.  John 12 begins with Jesus arriving in the town of Bethany again.  Bethany was just outside of Jerusalem and Jesus stops here on his way to the Passover, to see Lazarus and Mary and Martha.  They throw a big party for Jesus and word gets out that he his there.  Verse 9 says, “Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.”  The people wanted to see Jesus and they wanted to see Lazarus, because of what Jesus had done.  

Scholars estimate that the population of Jerusalem doubled during the Passover.  Putting an estimated 150000 people in the area as Jesus entered the city on Palm Sunday.  The crowd that John talks about in his gospel would have been huge.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem followed by a large crowd that had already gathered in Bethany to get glimpse of this Jesus who had raised Lazarus from the dead.  They are met by another mass of people coming out from Jerusalem to lay their eyes on Jesus.  Commentator William Barclay describes the scene well when he says of the two crowds, “they must have flowed together in a surging mass like two tides of the sea.”  Thousands and thousands of people gathering to see this Jesus whom they had already heard so much about, and had such high hopes for.  

It is this crowd of people that I want to focus on today.  Of the thousands and thousands of people who gathered on that day to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem, each one had their own motivation for being there and yet I would suggest that there were three distinct groups within that crowd, and I would invite to find yourself in one of the three groups or maybe you will see yourself belonging in some way to all three.

The first group present were those who were there to see this Jesus who had raised Lazarus from the dead.  At the outset I’ve got to admit that if I had been in Jerusalem or Bethany when Jesus had performed this miracle I would have dropped everything I was doing to see this man who could raise someone from the dead.  So amongst the crowd gathered on Palm Sunday there is a segment of people who want to see Jesus because they have heard about what he could do.  

For Jesus, this was not the first time that people had come to him because they were caught up in the sensation of his miracles.  In John 6, we find the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand then withdrawing from the crowds because he knew what they wanted.  And in verse 26 Jesus responds to these people saying, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”  Jesus speaks directly to the selfish desire of these people who were coming to him because they could get something from him.

These same types of people are in the crowd on Palm Sunday, there to catch a glimpse of Jesus, this sensation, because of what they could possibly get from him.   

Again, Barclay makes a pointed remark about these people saying, “Those who were that day regarding Jesus as a sensation were within a week of shouting for his death.”  The problem with those who there to see what Jesus could do for them was that they quickly turned on him when they realized that Jesus wasn’t just there to perform miracles at their desire.  

More then I would like to admit I have found myself amongst the crowd that was there to see this sensation, Jesus.  I have found myself looking at Jesus for what I can get from him.  I recently read a book that really challenged my perspective on Jesus, in the book the author Shane Claiborne has some very pointed words for “followers” of Christ he says, “We can admire and worship Jesus without doing what he did.  We can applaud what he preached and stood for without caring about the same things.  We can adore his cross without taking up ours.”  

There are many people who read the Bible and fall in love with the words of Jesus, where he says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  We like words like that because they make us feel safe and comfortable with Jesus.  But we don’t know how to respond when Jesus also says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”  Matthew 16:24-25.  

Being a follower of Jesus is a lot more then just agreeing with what Jesus says, it also involves doing what Jesus says.  This is a point of contention in many of our lives, we pay lip service to Jesus, but our actions and way of life don’t match up.  

Just like the crowd that gathered to see this man Jesus who had done incredible miracles, there are many people today who like the sound of what Jesus is about, but are to afraid, or to comfortable with in their own lives to actually join him.  I think that many of us, can often find ourselves amongst this crowd, wanting to see and experience Jesus, but not willing to sacrifice and count the cost of really following him. 

The second group in the crowd of people, was likely the largest and most vocal of the lot.  They were the group that was welcoming Jesus as a King, shouting praise, laying their cloaks at his feet, waving Palm branches in the air to keep Jesus cool.  As a child this was the group that I thought you wanted to in.  These were the people who were genuinely excited to see Jesus come to Jerusalem for the Passover.  And although, their praise and worship of Jesus as a coming King, was not wrong, the motives behind exuberant celebration shows us the misconceptions that his crowd held for Jesus.  

The environment of Jesus’ day was marked by political turmoil and expectation of God’s messiah or chosen one, to free the Jewish nation from the control of the Roman Empire.  So even though, the people were on the right page with welcoming Jesus as a coming King and messiah.  Their idea of what Jesus was to be, blinded them from seeing who he really was.

As we look at the refrain that the crowd chanted, we see quite quickly who they thought Jesus was.  First of all, the word “Hosanna” is translated, “save now”, and was a common chant as people welcomed a conquering King.  Second, the phrase, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”  Is a direct quotation of Psalm 118:26, which had become known as a conquerors Psalm.  The final phrase shouted by the people was, “Blessed is the King of Israel.”  If the first two statements could be explained away, this final one could not.  For five hundred years, Israel had been a puppet state of different empires that had ruled that area of the world.  The people were longing for sovereignty, to be there own nation again.  The crowds, proclamation of Jesus as the King of Israel, shows they had big dreams and plans for this Jesus.  It should also be noted here that the Palm branches waved by the crowd, were not simply a method of keeping Jesus cool in the sun.  They too have meaning as they were waved as a symbol of Jewish nationalism and pride.  Clearly, this crowd was expecting Jesus to rise victorious, uniting the nation of Israel and freeing them from the oppression of Rome.

In all of this, Jesus says nothing, to rebuke the crowd of these grandiose gestures.  However, Jesus has done one thing that makes a very powerful statement, a statement that everyone, including his own disciples missed at the time.  The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all record an important part of the story, where Jesus sends two of his disciples ahead to bring him the colt of a donkey, that he can ride into the city.  John omits this in his gospel, but points out how this act of riding on a donkey is to fulfill a prophesy found in Zecheriah 9:9.  However, more important is what the donkey signifies.  If a King wanted to make a statement as he returned from battle victorious, he would ride on a Great War horse, a symbol of power and might.  However, if he was coming to a city in peace, he would ride on a donkey because that was a symbol that he came in peace.

Jesus’ chose to ride on the donkey, was a direct contradiction, to the shouts and dreams of the crowd.  He was coming as a King, but a not a conqueror in the sense that they saw him as.  He was coming as the Prince of Peace, to bring hope and reconciliation to a lost world.

I think that if we are honest with ourselves, many of us can also find ourselves in the crowd of people who were projecting on to Jesus, their own hopes and ambitions.  For most in this group they could not see beyond their preconceived ideas of who Jesus was, to see what God was really doing through the man Jesus Christ.  

Donald Miller in his book, Searching for God Knows What, has these words to say about how we think about God, he says, “The very scary thing about religion, to me, is that people actually believe God is who they think he is.”  For the crowd welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem, they definitely had an agenda or formula for Jesus.  A.) Jesus was going unite the nation of Israel and be their King; B.) He would call them to arms and prepare them fight the Romans; C.) they would come out victorious and once again be a sovereign nation.

Often I can see myself in this crowd because I too can come to Jesus, with a formula or agenda on how my life should go.  I’ve got my own A+B=C formula figured out and if doesn’t work out the way that I think it should, I’m angry that Jesus has not lived up to his end of the bargain.  But in doing so, I have missed this incredible plan that God has had all along.  So much more incredible then anything I can imagine.  

As Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem, God’s incredible plan was already being put into action, and everyone missed it because they had come to Jesus with their own formula and agenda of how this was to go.  What are we missing, when we come to Jesus with our own plan, figured and ready to go, waiting for God’s blessing?  We miss what Jesus is really doing.

There is one more group that is present in the crowd, that day.  It is the religious leaders, the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s.  I don’t know about you but when I read the gospels, ironically I have this feeling of self-righteous disdain for this group of people.  I can find myself, scoffing at them, as Jesus blasts them for their evil and conniving ways.  I can picture myself chuckling under my breath as Jesus unloads on them, because they just can’t see the point.  And on occasion, when I stop and think about my attitudes and thoughts towards the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s, I realize that I am a lot more like them, then I would like to admit.  

Palm Sunday for the religious leaders had to be a day that was filled with fear.  The religious leaders stood lose a lot, if this Jesus was who the people claimed him to be.  First off the Sadducee’s, were the politically connected group of leaders.  They had struck a deal with Rome, that allowed them certain freedoms and privileges.  If Jesus was going to come and stir up a revolution, they stood to lose the peace that they had brokered with the Roman Empire.  The Pharisee’s also stood to lose a lot.  Throughout the gospels, Jesus and the Pharisee’ have some pretty hot debate’s over the way people should live, and Jesus directly challenge’s them with some pretty bold words.  For the Pharisee’s, their place in society, as the righteous and elite would be compromised if Jesus’ revolution would take off.  For both of these groups, their self centered view on life, held them back from embracing the Messiah that God had sent.  

For the religious leaders, the fear of losing their place, made them miss what God was doing.  The Sadducee’s who held so precious their allegiance to the Roman Empire, could not see that God was doing something new in the nation of Israel.  The Pharisee’s, who held so dear their law and system of understanding God, could not see the new era that God was starting through Jesus Christ. 

So for each one of us, there are times when, if we are honest with ourselves, that we are a lot like the Pharisee’s and Sadducee’s.  Maybe for us it is the fear that God may ask us to do something that others would say is foolishness.  Maybe it is a fear that God will really challenge the way we look at the poor and hurting in our world, bringing us face to face with the issues of poverty and injustice, until we can no longer look the other way.  Maybe it is the fear of what family, friends or co-workers would say, if they knew that we had passionately given our lives to Jesus Christ.  There are many things that we fear, and when fear wins out, we find ourselves amongst the religious leaders, looking for a way to put Jesus to death, to afraid of what may actually happen if we give in and follow him.  

So there we have the crowd that welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  Those who wanted to get a glimpse of this sensation Jesus, those who had big hopes and dreams for this Jesus and those who feared what Jesus would mean for them.  In the course of a week, this mass of people once again lined the streets of Jerusalem.  But under much different circumstances, this once heralded prophet, healer and teacher, was being lead through the streets with a Roman cross on his back.  And the people jeered and insulted him because he had not lived up to their expectations.  

I don’t know about you this morning, but I know that I can see myself in as a member of each of those segments in the crowd.  I look upon Jesus, wondering what I can get from him, hoping that he will give me a good and comfortable life.  I come to Jesus with a formula and an agenda, on how I think that life should go, and when Jesus doesn’t respond in my way, I have a crisis of faith.   I also have feared Jesus, because I know that trusting in Him, would mean giving up some things of this world that I hold to dear.  

Maybe you are like me this morning and you can see yourself among all three of these crowds.  Or maybe you identify more with one then the others.  Regardless, we are all guilty of being in that crowd, with our expectations wants and fears.  And we are all guilty of being in that second crowd that lined the streets as Jesus went to his death.  

But herein, lies the miracle.  Jesus died for each person that lined the road to Jerusalem that Sunday as he entered the holy city.  And we are a part of that crowd.  

As Jesus hung on the cross, he uttered these words, words that every one of us needs to hear today.  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34

Hindsight, would show us that there should have been a fourth group present in that crowd.  A group that caught the vision for what Jesus was doing.  Who could see him riding on a donkey, as the Prince of Peace, the Messiah and saviour, there set the whole world free from the oppression of sin.  Because that is what Palm Sunday is all about.  It is about welcoming our Messiah, the Prince of Peace, our liberator, our saviour.  

But the crowd was blind to what Jesus was really doing.  And so often we are just like that crowd, blind.

So the challenge for us today is to recognize that we to can be blinded like that crowd, unable to see Jesus for who he really is, because of our own wants and desires, our own agenda’s or ideas, and our fear of change.

The challenge for us is to find ourselves in that fourth group.  Who can look upon Jesus, as the Prince of Peace, the saviour, who has extended grace to us all.  And be willing to give up our desires and wants, our agenda’s and ideas and our fear of change that we might live as followers of the Risen LORD.  Amen!