John 12:12-19 – Palm Sunday

Do You Recognize Jesus?

Introduction

Have you ever been in a moment where you are talking to someone, and they know who you are, but you don’t know who they are? Talk about being a pastor’s kid (“I remember when you were just a young kid”). Like there is a bit of embarrassment but also like I don’t know you stop talking to me and acting like you know me, you know? Well that is a bit of what we are talking about today.

We are going to look at this Palm Sunday with one clear question in mind: Do you recognize Jesus? Because there were a lot of people who thought they knew Jesus. Thought they knew what he was about and what he came to do, but unfortunately people missed Him, they did not recognize who Jesus was, and what he came to do. So as we begin, let’s take a look at the outline through our text today.

• Verses 12-13: The Perspective of the Crowd

• Verses 14-15: The Perspective of Jesus

• Verse 16: The Perspective of the Disciples

• Verses 17-18: The Perspective of the Crowd in Relation to Lazarus

• Verse 19: The Perspective of the Pharisees

The Perspective of the Crowd (vv. 12-13)

Let’s start with verses 12 and 13, where the crowd goes out to meet Jesus. There is energy and excitement and anticipation in this moment. It is a scene that is full of emotion and honestly theological weight to it as well. The timing matters here. This is passover. Every year, the people of Israel would gather to remember how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt. Psalm 118 was sung as a song of praise for what God had done. It was a song every Jewish boy and girl would sing every year, and a song they could sing by heart.

And that is what the crowd sings at this moment. They sing, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Hosanna means, “save now.” They even have palm branches, which is a symbol of victory. And don’t miss this piece of it because they are doing way more than just celebrating or praising God. They are actually asking Jesus to act. To save Israel from oppression, to defeat their enemy, Rome, and be the Messiah they were always hoping for. There was an urgency to what was happening and an expectation that something big was about to go down. And they add something to their song of praise. They add, “Even the King of Israel.” This is showing us they are starting to connect the dots in their mind. They are thinking, “this is the one. This is our king. This is the moment.” They found their conquering king. The one that will march into Jerusalem and take back the throne of Israel!

But here is the thing, the crowd feels the excitement, but they miss the meaning of the moment. Let me tell you what I mean here. See, the crowd does recognize Jesus, just not fully. They are excited about what He can do for them. But they do not understand what he actually came to do. There is a difference. See, some of them are ready to crown him while others might just be more curious about him and they are just caught up in the moment, like they’ve heard about what he did to Lazarus and they are coming to see the miracle worker. Whatever their case may be, the same theme is at work. They’re focused on what Jesus can give, not who Jesus is. They want a king, yes! But they want a conquering king. A political king. A king who fixes their situation. A king who will free them from oppression and put pride back into their nation. And because of that, they miss him. They miss who he really is. And I think sometimes we can be like the crowd in that way.

We fail to recognize Jesus when we feel the excitement but don’t seek the meaning.

The crowd had real emotion and real passion. But they didn’t pause to say, what is actually going on here? Is Jesus really who we think he is? And honestly, I don’t think we’re that different. We can get caught up in the moment, the excitement of following Jesus. The environment and the atmosphere, man we like to put on a show for Jesus, right? Or is that wrong? I am not saying there is a right or wrong, but I am asking where is the substance? A few years ago in youth ministry… I would focus on the emotion of the moments. What am I saying? I was relying more on the emotion of what my faith gave me and offered me, rather than the substance and depth that came from being rooted in the Word of God. If we stop at the excitement, the emotional level of our faith, then we miss so much of what Jesus has to offer. Because following Jesus is more about understanding who He is and submitting to Him, rather than just feeling something. So yes, it is possible to sing the right songs, read the right words, and feel the right emotions, but still miss Jesus. And here is my plea with you this Easter season. Learn from my mistakes. Focus on diving deeper in your faith, don’t accept the comfortability of staying on the surface.

The Perspective of Jesus (vv. 14-15)

Then, we see a shift in verses 14 and 15. We get to see a short glimpse of the perspective of Jesus. John keeps this interaction brief. A lot more brief than the other Gospel accounts of this moment. That is an important little nugget because it seems we should be less attentive to what Jesus is doing at this moment, and more attentive to what Jesus is revealing to us. He is making it very clear who He is. He is King! John says, “Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it.” So don’t miss what John is doing here. He wants us to focus on how Jesus is responding to the crowd. Because here is what is happening: the crowd is declaring Jesus as king at this moment. That much is clear. And although Jesus is responding to that claim, he is revealing something entirely different. Yes, the crowd is saying king. Yes, Jesus is showing king.

So, what is Jesus revealing then? Well, in a sense Jesus is saying, “Okay… I’ll receive the claim as King, but let me show you the kind of King I am.” Verse 15 says this, “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” This is directly from Zechariah 9:9, and it was a promise from long ago. It is revealing that a king would come. But not on a war horse or with an army behind him, but on a colt. Which was a symbol of humility. A symbol of peace. At this moment, Jesus is redefining what kingship actually means. And this is where it gets personal for us:

Do you recognize Jesus as King?

Because the crowd wanted a Savior. They wanted someone to free them from their situation right now. They wanted the immediate solution to their immediate problem. They didn’t want a Lord. They didn’t want someone to rule and reign over them, they just wanted someone to rescue them. And that was once again the miss. I think that is important for us to try to come to grips with. Do we want Jesus to be our problem solver? Or do we want Him to rule and reign over our lives? Cause, when we say Jesus is King, we don’t mean He’s one of many options.

Jesus is THE King.

• The Ruler over every ruler

• The Authority over all authority

• The One with all power and all sovereignty

He is the King of the Jews, He is the King of Israel, He is the King of the ages, He is the King of Heaven, He is the King of Glory, He is the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords! That’s my King!

And the question that Dr. Lockridge once famously asked I now present to you. “I wonder, do you know Him?” Do you recognize Jesus as King? Because it is one thing to say He is the King of everything, it is an entirely different thing to say He is King of my life. Friends, recognizing Jesus as king is surrendering your life to Him. And that is where the crowd misses it. They celebrate Him. They sing to Him. And they get excited about Him. But they are not willing to submit to him and to His will.

And this connects us directly to how Jesus enters the city. He comes on a colt symbolizing peace. But what happens in a few days? Betrayal, violence, and death. Jesus is preparing to die. That doesn’t look like peace to me. Which has to mean one thing, he is not offering the kind of peace we might expect. He doesn’t promise us a problem free life, or financial stability, or perfect health, or easy circumstances. That is not how we recognize him. We recognize Jesus through the peace He actually gives—peace with God. Later in John 14 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” That is internal, eternal peace. Peace in God right now, and peace in God forevermore. So here is the question: Do you want a King who makes your life comfortable, or a King who makes you right with God? Because those are not the same thing. Kingdoms rise and fall. Circumstances change. Life shifts constantly. But when Jesus is your King, this is the reality… that you have something that cannot be taken from you. Because even in life’s most difficult seasons, you have peace with God. That’s the truth.

The Perspective of the Disciples (v. 16)

Now, we get to verse 16, and this is where John stops and lets us get a peak behind the curtain. The first thing he says here is, “His disciples did not understand these things at first…” That is him included by the way. The disciples… the twelve guys who walked with Jesus, lived with Him, heard Him teach.. They had no clue what was happening. So let’s just be honest: If they didn’t understand it… what makes us think the crowd did? They didn’t that’s how. Then John tells us something really important, “…but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered…” It’s like a foreshadow in the middle of the climax of the story. In the moment, none of what just happened clicked for the disciples.

And this isn’t new in John’s Gospel. Back in John 2:18, Jesus cleanses the temple and says, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The disciples didn’t understand it until later. In John 6, after the feeding of the 5,000, the crowd wants to make Him king, but for the wrong reasons, so Jesus hides away. Now we are back in John 12, and it’s all coming together, yet still… they don’t get it. John is showing us a pattern: People can be close to Jesus and still completely miss what He’s doing.

In other words, we fail to recognize Jesus when we don’t understand our Bible. You see, understanding Jesus requires more than being around Him, or being familiar with Him. It requires knowing and understanding what God has revealed. And this is where we need to be a little honest with ourselves. It’s possible to be in church, hear the teaching, know some of the stories, but not truly understand who Jesus is. John is writing this later, looking back, saying: “I didn’t get it then… but I see it now.” And why? Because he sees the whole picture. He sees the cross, the resurrection and the fulfillment of everything Scripture points to. And his goal is to help us recognize what he once missed. That’s the truth. And here is the question: Are you trying to recognize Jesus based on what you feel in the moment, or based on what God has revealed in His Word? Because if we don’t understand Scripture, we will create a version of Jesus that makes sense to us—instead of seeing Him for who He truly is. The question for you and I is: Will we take time to understand God’s Word, or will we miss Jesus too? The disciples were there… they missed it. The crowd was there… They missed it too. But now, you and I have the full picture. How will we respond?

The Perspective of the Crowd & Lazarus (vv. 17-18)

Let’s keep moving on here to the perspective of the crowd in relation to Lazarus. John tells us that the crowd were bearing witness about what Jesus had done when he raised Lazarus from the dead. Now is there one crowd, is there two crowds, I don’t know and frankly it doesn’t really matter. Because the point John is making is clear: people are talking about Jesus because of what they’ve seen and heard. They witnessed the sign or they heard about the sign and now they’re spreading it. That is why the crowd is here and that is why there is excitement building. We know this because of what happened earlier in verses 9-11. People saw and heard about Lazarus being raised from the dead. And the chief priests were plotting to kill both him and Jesus! That is how big this got, and how much momentum was gaining from this event. Many were drawn to Jesus. And for a moment, it delayed the plans of the religious leaders to kill Jesus. It didn’t stop them, just delayed them. Why? Because everything is still moving to a planned out moment. The hour that Jesus has been pointing to all along. Because the reality of this situation is Jesus is the only one that knows what is really going on. Though it may seem chaotic, it is not out of control. Because Jesus is orchestrating all of it. He knows why the crowd is responding the way they are. And here is where it connects with us:

We fail to recognize Jesus when we expect Him to fit our agenda instead of submitting to His will.

And you know we may live here a lot of the time. We see, we believe, we know what Jesus can do, right? We hear the stories, and we know the power, and we’ve seen Him move in the past. And so we wait for Him to move again. And we sing about it and we pray about it, and we talk to our small group about it and we wait. Waiting for the healing, waiting for the relationship to be restored, waiting for the situation to change, waiting for the prayer to be answered. And we become expectant. And that’s not a bad thing at all,……… but if I may interject one small step we may often skip… and it’s this: Are we submitted to His will, or are we just waiting for Him to fulfill ours? Because the crowd was drawn to Jesus for what he did. But they weren’t asking, “what’s he calling me to do? What’s is His will in this moment?” They were too busy focusing on the sign and were not willing to surrender to His will. And here is the truth: following Jesus is more than just believing He can do something for you. Rather, it’s about trusting Him even if he doesn’t do what you expect. It’s about remaining faithful, when the healing comes… or when it doesn’t. It’s about remaining faithful when the prayer is answered… or when it feels like it’s not. That we are willing to remain faithful to God and align his will with ours.

The Perspective of the Pharisees (v. 19)

That leads us into our final verse where we are looking at the perspective of the Pharisees. And honestly, this is the most ironic moment in the entire passage. The Pharisees look at everything happening and say: “Look, the world has gone after him.” They’re frustrated. They feel like they’re losing control. They see the crowds, the momentum, and the attention Jesus is getting. But here is the irony of it: They are accusing Jesus of doing the very thing he warned against! He says exactly that in Matthew 16, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” That is what they think Jesus is doing at this moment. But we know that is the exact opposite thing he is doing at this moment! Jesus is not gaining anything from this moment, instead he is preparing to lose it. He is preparing to lay down his life for the whole world. That is the difference between our view point and the Pharisees’ view point. You see, the crowd called it a triumphal entry because they thought it was leading to a crown. We call it a triumphal entry because we know it was leading to a cross. That’s the difference. The mission of Jesus had never changed. Can you believe that? His entire life on this earth was pointing him toward this moment.

And this is where it hits me, and maybe it hits you too. The Pharisees are accusing Jesus of having something… they wanted what they thought He had. Right, that’s the irony piece. They wanted the praise of the people, they wanted the control of the moment, and they wanted a version of the Passover that fit their expectations. They were not open to what Jesus was doing because what Jesus was doing was threatening their way of life. And it was threatening what they wanted. And if we are honest… we can fall into that same trap too.

Let me ask you something: have you ever tried to take the moral high ground… but in the process you compromised your own morals to get there? Like have you ever sacrificed your character just to feel right? Like you saw injustice being done but acted unjustly just to try and gain justice. Maybe this will help you understand a bit better, “Like when someone cuts you off in traffic… and you’re like, ‘That was wrong!’ so you speed up, cut them back off and now somehow you’re the hero in your own story.” That is the irony of this moment. The Pharisees missed it. They think Jesus has power, control, and popularity here. They complain about it because they want it! They want what Jesus has when in reality that is not what Jesus has. They were looking at Jesus through the lens of their own desires. And it leads us to this very point here:

We recognize Jesus as the suffering servant. The pharisees couldn’t recognize Him because they were too focused on the wrong things. They wanted what they couldn’t have. And failed to recognize the Messiah right in front of them the whole time. —

Closing & Worship

(INVITE WORSHIP TEAM UP)

You know in verse 23, Jesus says this, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” This moment is significant because all throughout John’s Gospel Jesus says my hour has not come, my time has not come. But now, for the first time he says… the hour has come. Everything in Jesus’ life was leading him to this moment, and in it, he says it is his time to be glorified. Oftentimes, when we think of glory we think of a throne, or a crown, or of power and praise. But this is different. This is the paradox of the moment if you will. Jesus says that the moment of his suffering, is the moment He will be glorified. The moment he is humiliated, is the moment he considers glory. That cuts to my heart. And I wonder if it does yours too?

Do you recognize Jesus? Do you recognize him as the King of your life? Do you submit to his will? Are you desiring to understand more of who He is based on what the Bible says? I don’t want Jesus to become someone I am vaguely familiar with. I want to know Him deeply. I don’t want a surfaced relationship. I don’t want him to be a stranger. I don’t want it to feel like I bumped into a long lost friend of my parents that I barely remember from when I was 5 years old. And I can’t remember their faces. I want Jesus to be the most important relationship in my life, greater than my wife, greater than our little baby that I cannot wait to meet. I want to recognize who Jesus really is. So let us give our praise and adoration to Jesus, let us give our King the praise He is due as the one who has come in the Name of the Lord. Thank you Jesus. Let’s worship.

Benediction

“My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. He’s enduringly strong, He’s entirely sincere, He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. Do you know Him?

He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s preeminent. He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest idea in philosophy. He’s the fundamental truth in theology. He’s the only One who qualifies as all sufficient Savior.

He’s the miracle of the age. He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He’s available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He guards and He guides. He heals the sick, He cleans the lepers. He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He serves the unfortunate, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He beautifies the meek. Do you know Him?

Well, my king is the king of knowledge, He’s the well-spring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness He’s the gateway of glory, He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquerors, He’s the head of the heroes, He’s the leader of the legislators, He’s the overseer of the overcomers, He’s the governor of governors, He’s the prince of princes, He’s the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His Word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. And I wish I could describe Him to you, but He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible, He’s irresistible.

The Heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my king! He always has been, and He always will be. He who had no predecessor and He who has no successor. There was nobody before Him and there will be nobody after Him. You can’t impeach Him, and He’s not going to resign. We try to get prestige and honor and glory to ourselves, but the glory is all His. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.

This our King, may you hold out your hands and receive this blessing from our King:

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lifts up his countenance upon you and gives you peace.