Basic Recap of Sunday’s Sermon: “Here Comes the King” John 11:45-12:19

The attention on Jesus only grows in the wake of his raising Lazarus from the dead. It all culminates with the arrival of Jesus into Jerusalem amid shouts from gathered crowds proclaiming him to be the king of Israel. Jesus clearly had some authority to him. He was every much a king. Indeed, he was the king that God promised to send to the world back in the Old Testament. However, not everyone rightly understood what it meant for Jesus to be king nor responded to him as they should. In John 11:45-12:19 we can note three different episodes involving three different reactions to Jesus and his kingship.

The first episode is found in John 11:45-57 and involves the religious authorities of that day. They saw Jesus as someone to resist and kill as soon as possible. Jesus was a threat to their established position. The temple and the nation belonged to them (v.48 – "The Romans will come and take away our place and our nation") and there was no way they would let Jesus threaten this. This is a basic human tendency – to view our lives as if they are completely our own, and to then get upset and hostile if our sense of control over our lives gets threatened in any way. We operate our days like mini kings believing we have the right to rule over them as we see fit, and woe to anyone that challenges any part of our rule in any given day.

Jesus comes in order to rule our lives. He has the right to do so by his very nature. However, he secures his rule first by giving up his life for the sake of his subjects. He is a king unlike any we could imagine.

The second episode is found in John 12:1-11 and involves Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. She saw Jesus as someone to worship and serve. In the midst of a banquet honoring Jesus Mary uses a pound of extremely expensive perfume to anoint the feet of Jesus and then wipes his feet with her hair. All those gathered there were shocked by her act. It was improper for a woman to let down her hair in public back then, and what made it even worse was that she seemingly wasted this perfume on Jesus' feet.

Jesus however recognizes and affirms what Mary does. It was an extravagant but completely appropriate way to honor Jesus. Jesus is a king worthy of such absolute devotion. And again in this episode we see the unique nature of his kingship, for Jesus connects what Mary does to his upcoming death and burial (see John 12:7). What we are reminded of is that Jesus comes as a king who first seeks to serve us by giving up his life for us.

The third episode is found in John 12:12-19 and it involves the Passover crowds in Jerusalem. They saw Jesus as someone who would set them free from their enemies and prosper their nation. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey huge crowds gathered to meet him and praise him. Their praises showed their expectations - they believed Jesus was the promised Messianic king who would lead the Jewish nation in a successful revolt against the Roman empire and would reestablish the Jewish nation on the world scene. Jesus for them was all about power. Indeed, for many people, life is about gaining more power and control over life. The goal in life is always to get more. And Christianity sadly is often presented like this – become a Christian and you'll be able to get for yourself a better life.

Jesus however undercuts all this, simply by riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. This act was a fulfillment of prophecies found in Zechariah 9. They speak of a king who comes humble and mounted on a donkey who will cut down chariots and warhorses and bring salvation and peace to the nations. So the crowds were right to acknowledge Jesus as a king. However, he came not to be their political warrior king. He came to be a savior king, who would battle sin and death and give up his life so that by his sacrifice we might find peace and salvation.

All of these episodes give us different ways to respond to Jesus. There is though only one real response to Jesus. It's a response initially modeled by Mary and a response that becomes especially necessary for us as we look back and see who he really was and all of what he did. It comes down to this – Jesus is king, and he is a king who we must respond to in faith and humble devotion. This humble devotion means committing ourselves to Jesus and serving him by giving up our lives for others like he did. The only real cure for us would be kings futilely trying to rule over and gain more control over our lives is to give up our meager kingdoms to God and submit ourselves to his appointed king, Jesus Christ. This is the only way we can be set free to serve others and so experience the full blessings and riches of his divine kingdom.