John 12:12-19

The day after Mary anointed Jesus, as He said, for His burial – the next day, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He walked into the face of death. But it did not look that way.

 

The crowds who were there for the Passover Feast heard that Jesus was coming, and they celebrated! They celebrated Jesus as the one who “comes in the name of the LORD,” and as “the king of Israel;” they celebrated Jesus as the Messiah! Jesus encouraged them to think of Him this way by riding into town on a young donkey. This action was attached to a Messianic prophecy from Zechariah 9:9: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look! Your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”

 

What were the people supposed to think? They were hoping for a heaven-sent Messiah to drive the Romans out. Then Jesus comes along, claiming to come from heaven, performing amazing miracles, and fulfilling prophecies in public view. Yes, it is true that anyone could have read Zechariah 9:9 and could have ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey, claiming to fulfill prophecy; and anyone could have claimed to be sent from God; but Jesus’ claims and prophetic fulfillments were backed up by miracles that only God could do! Of course the people thought that Jesus was the Messiah! What else could they think?

 

It makes me wonder what John means by verse 16 where he writes that Jesus’ disciples “did not understand these things at first.” What did they not understand? How could they miss the fact that the crowd was praising Jesus as the Messianic king of Israel? Did they perhaps not understand that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey specifically to fulfill prophecy? Perhaps John is looking ahead and foreshadowing Jesus’ death, saying, “At first the disciples did not understand that Jesus meant to serve as Messiah by dying rather than by driving the Romans out. We took this all as a sign that the Romans were done for; we didn’t understand it all until Jesus was glorified.”? John must mean either this last though or that the disciples did not connect Jesus’ donkey ride with prophecy; I can’t see how they would have missed the crowd’s shouts of Messianic praise. Regardless, despite their initial lack of understanding, John also writes that the disciples now understand. Jesus was fulfilling prophecy here, and despite His death in a few days, He was the promised Messiah! This is proved by His resurrection and glorification!

 

In this setting, the people who had witnessed Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead were testifying to others – to others who were already willing to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They were confirming Jesus’ Messianic powers. This was another reason that the crowd was so eager to go out to meet Jesus as He approached Jerusalem; they wanted to see the one who had defeated death by the power of God! If I were a Jew looking for freedom from Roman oppressors and a man who could raise the dead claimed to be the Messiah, I would support Him; I would join His army, because putting my life on the line wouldn’t matter if He could raise me up again! This crowd is certain that the promised Messiah has come!

 

Which is exactly what the Pharisees were afraid of (John 11:48). And though they had asked people to report Jesus’ presence to them so that they could seize Him (11:57), the whole city seemed to be supporting Jesus! There was no need for them to ask, “Where is Jesus?” Everyone knew where He was, and everyone was there to celebrate Him as the coming Messiah who would deliver the Jews from their oppressors. Because they believed that the Romans would respond violently and crush their nation, the Pharisees were understandably frustrated and said to each other: “You see that you (you and I/our efforts) are not doing any good! Look! The world has gone after Him!”

 

It looked like a good day for Jesus. He had the full support of the Jewish people to such an extent that the Jewish leaders did not know what to do! He did not just walk into Jerusalem silently; He fulfilled prophecy and rode in on a donkey to the cheers of the people! To the Jews at this point, it was clear that Jesus was the Messiah. The only Jews who opposed Him did so out of fear that Jesus would not be successful against the Romans.

 

Their testimony at this point is significant to us, or at least it should be. They knew the Scriptures. They heard Jesus’ teachings, and they saw Jesus’ miracles, and they were sure that He was their promised Messiah! It is true that many Jews ended up rejecting Jesus after His arrest; they were fair-weather friends and could not understand how the Messiah could possibly be subjected to humiliation by the Romans. But the Scriptures hadn’t changed. The teachings hadn’t changed. The miracles hadn’t changed. These things that testified to them that Jesus is the Christ are still valid for us today. It helps that we know the rest of the story and have never had to spend days thinking that Jesus is dead; we’ve never felt so let down as the Jewish people did when Jesus was arrested, abused, tried, and crucified. So I can understand why many of them could not bring themselves to believe in Jesus again after His crucifixion. But we should not be put off by it because we know that His death set the stage for His greatest miracle, for ultimate salvation and for the renewal of all things. What led the Jews to believe should still testify to us that Jesus is the Christ: His teachings, His actions and His miracles fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament, the book of God’s promises. We can trust the promises of God. Therefore, we can trust in Jesus Christ.