A great crowd gathered, waving palm branches, and hailing Him as the rescuing Messiah and the long-awaited ‘king of Israel’ as Jesus made His way to Jerusalem on a donkey. Psalm 118 was used to welcome Him and the shout of Hosanna (meaning ‘Give salvation now’) was an expression of praise and welcome for an important figure. While the people saw Him as the Messiah, they failed to see that in coming on a donkey instead of a war-horse, Jesus was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy (Zechariah 9:9-13); they failed to see what kind of Messiah He was – He came as a gentle king to bring an end of war and to proclaim peace to the nations and not as a warring king to overthrow the nation which was subduing the people of God. He came to release the ‘prisoners’ and to extend His reign to the ends of the world by obeying His father to rescue and die for His people. Even His disciples did not quite understand Jesus’ impending mission and the ‘hour’ that was to come.
The exclamation of the Pharisees “..Look how the whole world has gone after Him’ is rather ironical, for indeed Jesus was coming to rescue the world and those who would respond to Him in faith. Although here the crowd was hailing Him, yet in a few days, the crowd would cry “Crucify Him”.
Is our response to Jesus based on what we expect Him to be and what we desire Him to do? Do we worship Him as who He really is and allow Him to be Lord and king of our lives? Will we let Jesus to be God and to do all that He pleases with us, knowing that He is perfectly good, loving and holy?
Some Greeks requested to see Jesus and this symbolises the ingathering of all the nations by God’s Messiah. This stands as a contrast to the subsequent rejection of the Messiah by the Jews.
Jesus then declared that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified and He depicted it as a kernel of wheat that is sown in the ground, dying to bring forth a large and rich harvest. His glorification is tied to His refusal to seek His own glory, to His commitment to always please the Father, culminating in His obedience of self-sacrifice at the impending death. His death would bring about a great harvest of saved souls and a new people of God.
Death is the necessary condition to generate life; it is specifically applicable to Jesus but slightly different as applied to His followers. For them, to deny themselves and an idolatrous focus on self (‘death’ to self) and the evil world is the path to life, eternal life. As Jesus’ death is the path to His glorification, the believer’s ‘death’ is the path to vindication and honour from God. In other words, the only way to have life in eternity is to hate life and lose life now; this is the way of discipleship that all must follow – discipleship therefore entails great cost and great reward. Life lived in rebellion against God in this world stands under judgment, and is what took Jesus to His death. Jesus’ death should become the continuing focus of our faith and discipleship as we learn to hate all our rebellious attitudes and actions that led to His death.
Verses 27-30 make it clear that Jesus did not somehow escape from all the physical and emotional agony involved in crucifixion. His death was not a mistake, and He did not draw on supernatural powers to avoid the pain and the agony of suffering His Father’s wrath. His death, which conquers death itself and brings life to the world, really is the supreme moment when God’s glory is revealed. The voice from heaven confirms this.
The exchange between Jesus and the crowd subsequently revealed the hardness of hearts of the latter; although Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him. Although the ‘light’ was present with them, they would not see and they preferred to walk in the ‘dark’. The Jews’ unbelief has been foretold, and in one sense is not unexpected; God allows the hearts of those who do not believe to be hardened. There were however some Jews, even leaders, who believed, but they remained secret believers for fear of being put out of the synagogue, for they loved human glory more than the glory of God. This is a scathing remark; it continues to apply to us believers today. Do we love human glory more than the glory of God? Are we afraid to be identified with Jesus and to speak up for the truth because we love the approval of man more than the approval of God? Will we be prepared to be ‘persecuted’ and misunderstood for the sake of loyal devotion to the Lord, even by those who claim to represent God and are so-called religious leaders? It is indeed not easy and we can understand why the leaders among the Jews were afraid to stand up for what they believe.
Jesus’ comments that the words He spoke would condemn the very ones who heard them and yet refused to believe is very sobering. The reason why the Son’s words are so final is that they are the words of the Father, God Himself. The law of Moses, as gracious a gift of God as it was, is being replaced, or, better, fulfilled, by new grace bound up with the person and words of Jesus, the Word, God’s self-expression. Jesus speaks what has been commanded by the Father and to reject them is to reject God and to incur judgment from God.
This is a serious warning; to those who heard the words of Jesus in the gospel and the Word, and to those who claim to be believers and are apparently listening to His words every Sunday, do not take this warning lightly. These very words would judge us, if we listen with our ears and not with our hearts!