And turn with me to the Gospel of John. John chapter 12. We're going to read from verses 12-19. The Word of the Lord. The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him crying out, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, You see, that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him. Well, this is a really high point in Jesus' ministry. Everyone is crying out in celebration as he enters Jerusalem. The masses are flocking to him. Even the Pharisees, those constant enemies of Christ, they seem now to be admitting defeat. And at just about the halfway point in John's gospel, it seems like we've reached a climax. Nothing can stop him now. The king has entered his kingdom. Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem marks the first day of Holy Week, the final week of his life. Although arriving with all of this fanfare, in just five days' time, he would be crucified. So what happened? How is it that Jesus could be welcomed into Jerusalem with all of these people and all of this excitement and all of this praise by this enormous crowd, and yet in just five days, he would be crucified by this same crowd? How is it that those shouts of Hosanna could so suddenly turn into shouts of crucify Him. Well, as you will see, the reason that this crowd would ultimately reject Jesus is because He was not the Messiah that they had expected. Instead, they would end up settling for Barabbas, the insurrectionist, the criminal, the murderer, because He was the closest thing to the Messiah that they had wanted. The attitudes of this crowd, they turn on that age-old question which Jesus had asked Peter. Who do you say that I am? And that is the question we must consider together today. Who do you say Jesus is? And how do you respond when God doesn't meet your expectations? What do you do when your dreams and your desires fail? What happens when your joys are reduced to dust and your hopes are turned into ashes? When God doesn't deliver you from your various difficulties? After all, isn't God in control of all things? Doesn't He care? What is He doing? When your life doesn't turn out as you expected, you must ask yourself, even when God doesn't give you the blessing that you would have expected Him to give, will your response be rejection? Or will it be continued faith and trust? You are numbered among this crowd that waited for the coming Messiah. So will you be among those who welcome Him just because you expect Him to bring you a blessing in your life? Or will you be among those who cry out, Hosanna, because He is your only hope? Because He is your Savior. And you have placed all of your desperate hopes upon Him. And so as we consider this question, who do you say Jesus is? We will consider it through three points. First, we will see the expectation. Secondly, the reality. And then thirdly, the testimony. So first, the expectation. What did this crowd expect of this Messiah? Well, we read to begin with in verse 12 that a large crowd had gathered for the feast. Now, the feast that John is referring to here is the feast of Passover. You will recall that Passover was that yearly celebration which commemorated God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. The Feast of Passover became the most important event in the Jewish calendar. So Jews from all over the world, they would pilgrim, they would journey all to Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Passover. And so John says that this is a large crowd. In fact, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, he once accounted that there was once as many as 2,700,000 people in Jerusalem for a single Passover. Now, he's got to be exaggerating those numbers, but the point stands that there were a lot of people in Jerusalem for Passover. And so what we have here is this massive crowd, and they're all coming out in celebration to meet with Jesus. and they pick up palm branches, and they start waving them around. But why palm branches? Have you ever wondered about that? Why do they pick up palm branches? Well, the palm branches were a symbol of victory and of kingship, and this symbol became cemented in the Jewish mind during the Maccabean Rebellion. In the intertestamental period, that is the time between the Old and the New Testament, the Jews came under Greek rule. The Greeks, they were severely oppressing the Jews. In fact, the most atrocious thing done to the Jews during this time was when the king, Antiochus Epiphanes, he marched a pig into the holy temple of God. And he did something even worse after that. He took that same pig, this unclean animal, and he desecrated the altar of God by sacrificing it upon the altar in the temple. And so the Jews, they were filled with rage and led by this family called the Maccabees, they rose up and they succeeded amazingly in expelling the Greeks from Jerusalem. According to 1 Maccabees 13, it says, Jews entered Jerusalem with praise and palm branches and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments and with hymns and songs because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel. The act of cleansing Jerusalem from this Greek political and cultural influence that symbolized the restoration of Jewish control over Jerusalem and the reestablishment of Jewish religion and culture in Israel. And so the waving of these palm branches, they reveal to us this crowd's expectations. They expected a king coming to banish the Romans from Israel. These expectations are confirmed by what this crowd is shouting, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. Now the word Hosanna, it comes from Psalm 118.25, which we just sang. It's an exclamation of praise. It literally means save us now or save us please. So Psalm 118, it was frequently sung at Passover. It is a psalm of thanksgiving for God's intervention to save and to bring triumph to Israel over its enemies. And the phrase, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, that is actually a messianic formula. It's a phrase used to speak of the Davidic king who would come and reestablish rule in the promised land. Therefore, as Jesus approaches Jerusalem, just after speaking out against Israel's corrupt rulers, after working miracles and preaching of the coming of the kingdom of God, Indeed, even after raising Lazarus from the dead. The waving of these palm branches before Jesus signifies that this crowd recognized him as the messianic king coming to liberate them from oppression and to establish Jewish independence in Israel. You can imagine how exciting a time this must have been. They were seeing Jesus and declaring outright the victory and the peace that he will bring. They saw him as the long-awaited Davidic king. the Maccabean Messiah, the anointed of the Lord who will destroy the foreign oppressors and usher in everlasting peace in Israel. And so they go on and proclaim Him the King of Israel. All of their messianic hopes, they came together in Jesus. Hopes of a peace in the land and the destruction of their enemies. There are those hopes that were found, for example, in Psalm 37. A little while, and the wicked will be no more. though you look for them they will not be found but the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity there is psalm 2 against those kings who set themselves up against the lord and his anointed the messiah will rise up on zion and break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel well how about those hopes found in psalm 137 israel weeping beside the waters of Babylon, suddenly in their indignation and fury, they cursed their oppressors saying, blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rocks. It was these hopes that they had expected this Messiah to fulfill. They expected a Messiah to come in bloodshed, a conquering Messiah, one who brings war, one to conquer those who seek to conquer Israel. But as we will see in our next point, the reality, the problem is that they were being too selective with their hopes of God's promises. They were picking and choosing the Messiah that they wanted, but not the Messiah who actually came. The Old Testament, it does foretell of a messianic king who comes and conquers and establishes rule in the promised land, but it also foretells of a Messiah who comes in peace and in humility, one who comes to die, And this is why Jesus begins to ride on the donkey. So now we consider our second point, the reality. What was the messianic reality that came to Jerusalem? And what was that reality which this crowd did not expect and hated? Verse 14 and 15, it says that Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. Finding the donkey, it almost seems like an afterthought to Jesus. He doesn't start riding the donkey until after the people are already shouting Hosanna to him. And yet, it is clear by looking at other Gospels that it was always his intention to ride the donkey. In fact, the word here in verse 14 that's used for to find, well, it actually conveys the meaning of a careful search, not a chance encounter. And so it's more like Jesus had tracked the donkey down. And so by riding on this donkey just after all these hosannas, Jesus makes the point that he is not coming as a conqueror. Jesus doesn't come in on a war horse. He doesn't ride in on some magnificent stallion, but on the humblest of animals. And by riding on this humble and lowly creature, Jesus is fulfilling prophecy. In verse 15, John is quoting from Zechariah 9.9. Now that whole chapter 9 of Zechariah, it speaks of a peace that God will bring to his people through a king riding on a donkey. But the peace that he brings, it doesn't entail war, but an end to war. In Zechariah 9, it goes on to verse 10 to say that this one who comes riding in on a donkey, he will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow it shall be cut off, and he, this king, shall speak peace to the nations. His rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. And so we're given an image of a time when Israel's great machines of war are destroyed and discarded, and this king speaks peace to the nations. Jesus, he doesn't come to mobilize a great revolt like the Maccabees. Instead, he comes bringing to the nations peace without war. And yet the people were still expecting this messianic conqueror. If they only knew their own scriptures, though, they would have known that this was not a sign of war and of triumph, but a sign of humility and of peace. By riding on a donkey, Jesus was acknowledging that their proclamation of him was indeed true. The Messiah had finally come. Previously in John's Gospel, the crowds had wanted to exalt him as king, but when they did that, Jesus had withdrawn. It was not his hour yet. But now he welcomes their acclaim. He confirms what they are saying about him. He comes as the king presented in Zechariah 9, riding on a donkey. He is the Messiah who ushers in an age of peace that extends to the ends of the earth. And yet he knew what they had expected. A Christ who conquers. And so by riding on the donkey at this point, it's as if Jesus was saying, you guys don't get it. Yes, I am coming to save you, but I'm not coming to bring war, but peace and peace by my own blood. And it's for that reason, for that reason that we do not fear, as John says. We do not fear because the King is coming to bring peace. In fact, if he were coming in just the way that this crowd had expected, none of us would be left standing. We all would have fallen under his just condemnation and wrath. But we are told not to fear because Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. We do not fear because Jesus came to save. Notice an irony here. The crowd cries out, Hosanna, which as you will recall means, save us now. So while they are shouting, save us now, Jesus indeed was coming to save, but not in the way that they wanted. Instead of overturning the tyranny of a hostile government, he comes to overturn the tyranny of Satan and of our sin. Before Christ, we were of our father the devil, living according to his whims, and he continues to persecute us, to tempt us, to make us doubt in God's promises, right? That's what we heard about this morning. But we have been delivered from the tyranny of the devil. Is that not what we confess in the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism? Our Lord, our great comfort is in Him who has delivered us from the tyranny of the devil. And He also has come to set us free from the reign of sin over our lives the various transgressions that we commit against a holy god they only bury us into deeper and greater condemnation but at the right time christ died for the ungodly he came in humility offering himself as our ransom postponing the time of judgment so that you and i could have new life in christ and so that we would be delivered from the tyrannical powers that oppress us. Not some government, though perhaps that may happen, but He comes not to deliver us from tyrannical governmental powers, but from the tyranny of our sin and from the tyranny of Satan. That is what our Savior does. And so we have seen the expectation, the crowd expecting Jesus, the King of Israel to come in war and in bloodshed. and we have seen, though, that their expectations fall far short of the reality. Jesus comes in humility, not with terrifying vengeance against Israel's enemies, but with peace, casting away all fears and renewing the hope for those who are hopeless. And now we consider our last point, the testimony. There are those in this crowd that testify to the reality of who Jesus is and the kingdom that he brings. In verses 17 and 18, we read, the crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they had heard he had done this sign. There is something a little unclear here. Are there two crowds or are there one? Because it seems like there is this one crowd, but it's being described in two ways. Well, in a way, there is one crowd because they are all there together welcoming the king, and yet there is also two crowds described here. There are those who are witnessing to the work which Jesus did and were testifying to that work, and then there were those who came to see for themselves and witness the one who had done the sign. And so it's here that the expectations of this crowd of welcoming Jesus becomes clarified for us. They came to see him because he was something to be looked at, to be gazed upon, some kind of wondrous marvel that you wanted the kids to be able to see, but he was not someone to be worshipped and adored. If we were to go on reading, verse 37 elaborates the attitude of this crowd. It says that even though Jesus had done these signs, they still did not believe. They would not believe him because the signs themselves pointed to a kingdom that was not presently manifest in glory and power. But these attitudes of the crowd, they're not yet revealed. They still think they're receiving this expected Messiah, And so the Pharisees, seeing this crowd coming to him with all their joy and praise, they turn to one another and it seems like they are now admitting defeat. They say that the whole world is now following him. And so there's another irony in this text. When the Pharisees refer to the world, they're only talking about the Jews from all over the world. Remember, this is Passover. And so Jews, they have traveled from all over the world. And all these Jews who have come from all over the world, it seems like they're now coming to Jesus. But as you know, this crowd is of a mixed sort. Many, if not most of this crowd, will reject Jesus. So while it seems like the whole world is going after Jesus, it will turn out that the whole world will reject Him. And this is just what John said in the first chapter of John. He came to His own people, but His own did not receive Him. But Paul makes it clear in Romans that the hardening of Israel was for the sake of the Gentiles. When the Messiah came to Israel, they rejected him. But this was according to God's plan. So that God's grace and mercy could be extended to those who are not of Israel. So that those who believe on the Lord, whatever their nationality or ethnicity may be, that they too could be of the true Israel. And so is fulfilled Zechariah chapter 9. The Lord's anointed brings peace to the nations. So the Pharisees, they ended up being right. Like the high priest Caiaphas, they were saying more than they realized. The world indeed is going after Jesus. The Pharisees, they are unwittingly testifying to the universal reign and peace of Christ. Therefore, this crowd's ultimate rejection of him is to our benefit. The Messiah who speaks peace to the nation speaks peace to you. That is what makes this entry triumphant. Not because this crowd receives him. Because if we are only looking at this crowd, this is that same crowd that will reject him. And so this entry on that basis is actually a tragedy. This is a tragic entry. It's tragic that the Messiah, this long-awaited Messiah who had been prophesied of, who had been hoped for, who finally came to his people, was ultimately rejected by him. Yet this is ultimately a triumphal entry. It is triumphant because regardless of his reception, the king has indeed finally come. All of God's purposes and promises are coming about, and he comes bringing peace. The triumphal entry signals the beginning of the everlasting peace that God has promised throughout Scripture. And so how do you know that God's promises are sure to come to pass? Sometimes we hear about these promises, promises of new life in Christ, promises of justification and of sanctification, promises of a new heavens and a new earth, promises that God works together all things for those who love Him. How do we know that God's promises will come to pass? Sometimes, yes, we just have to trust. We have to lean on Him. That's faith, right? And yet we can have confidence that his promises will come to pass because we have seen them realized in our very midst. Zechariah 9 has been fulfilled, and we know it just by looking around this room. The nations are coming to Jesus, this king who speaks peace to the nations. And this church is composed of the nations. We have white and we have black. We have Mexican and we have asian we have dutch and we have fris together in one church the nations have come to christ so anytime we doubt in god's promises we need only look around and see that they have been fulfilled before our very eyes god's promises are sure therefore you can be confident that you have peace right now the peace of christ which surpasses all understanding is yours jesus leaves us with his peace and yet at this moment you might just be thinking peace what peace do things really seem peaceful sure maybe this church is full of different nationalities and ethnicities but if you look around everything seems to be falling apart the economy is failing There is pain that you feel. You have experienced suffering. There are earthquakes and there is war. There is strife within your own family. There is violence in your life and you face poverty and you face sickness and you experience the grief of death. What peace has this Messiah brought us? Is the peace of Christ actually real? Well, if it is a stable and happy life that you expect from God, then you have to conclude that no, the peace of Christ is not real. God is not living up to your expectations. And maybe there are things that you work tirelessly for. And just when it seems like you finally get it, it slips through your fingertips. You experience disappointment and loss. You say things like, you know, if I could just get fill in the blank. If I could just get another job. If I could just get a raise. If I could just get a promotion. If I could just get a spouse. If I could just get a child. If I could just get this one thing, then things would work out. Then I would have peace. Then I would have comfort. Then I would know that God loves me. I love it as good as it is to try to live a comfortable and prosperous life if you are only looking for the peace and rest in this life only then you are setting yourself up for a great fall because the one who toils only for this life will bring nothing into the next and so who is the messiah that you look for the one that you expect is it one that will bring you glory and power in this life, or glory and power in the one to come? Do you believe in Him and follow Him because of what He can give you, or because He is the King? Now Jesus, He is King regardless of whether or not you believe. But we must realize that the Jewish expectations, they weren't completely wrong. They were just wrong about the timing. The King who came in humility on a donkey? Well, he is coming again, and when he comes, then he will be riding on a war horse, treading upon all of those who reject him. This is according to what Paul says in Acts 17. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world and righteousness by a man whom he has appointed and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead Jesus will come and until he does if you continue in unbelief you are storing up for yourself wrath for the day of God's wrath when his righteous judgment will be revealed by forsaking of the age to come for this present evil age you are ultimately in that crowd that had rejected jesus and when he comes against you he will come with fury and with wrath because god is holy god is just and you are a sinner but for you who come who welcome his coming and say in your heart as much as you say with your mouth hosanna then when christ comes he will usher in everlasting peace, the peace that He promises and the peace that we long for. So who do you say Jesus is? Yes, maybe it's God. He is not meeting your expectations. But He does go beyond our expectations. He gives us far more than we could long for, more than we could hope for, more than we can desire. We don't know what His plans are for us. We shouldn't try to read His providence, but we can have confidence that whatever He brings us in this veil of tears is ultimately for our good. That is a promise. He promises to provide for us and to be with us throughout all of the difficulty. Those are the promises of God. And so already now, He has given you His peace. Yes, peace even now. Sure, you look around and your life seems to be full of worry and of strife. But if you look around with eyes of faith, you will see something far different. By faith, we see the king who came 2,000 years ago is still reigning upon his throne. And he is working all things together for the good of those who love him. Mysteriously, yet wonderfully, working all that pain, all of that suffering, all of that sin in a miraculous way for our good. And so you have peace even in times of struggle. And how precisely do you have this peace? Because it was bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. The king who came was also the Passover lamb with whose blood the wrath of God passes you over. And instead of suffering that wrath, he has delivered you into his eternal promised land which we partake of even now, though in part. You have peace even now because your sins have been forgiven and you are no longer under the condemnation of God's wrath. You have peace. Maybe not the peace that will characterize the age to come where all war and all pain and all sin and all death will cease, but you have peace even now. And you have hope of an even greater peace when you enter that eternal Sabbath rest of which today the Lord's day is a foretaste. You have been given a heavenly inheritance as being kept and guarded for you by your omnipotent God. And you know that these promises are sure by just looking around and seeing God's promises already having been fulfilled in your very midst. Because this church is filled with various tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations. we have been given the promise that christ speaks peace to the nations and we have seen that fulfilled in this church and if god has fulfilled his promises in the past we may be sure that he will fulfill his promises in the future and so in light of these promises you may be sure that jesus has given you his peace and that he has given you rest and if you find yourself among the proud who ultimately rejected Jesus, today is the day of salvation. Through faith in those promises, through faith in his person and his work, you may be numbered among those who welcome him with true faith. And we also, knowing what Christ has done for us, testify to his works in the world. Tell your friends and tell your family that there is a king in heaven who rules all things, who rules now with peace and that his name is Jesus. Jesus is king. Like those in this text, invite the crowds to welcome the Messiah who takes away the sins of the world and who will give this world his everlasting peace when he returns. He will come again. And so we with eager longing and hope await his return. And when he does return, when our king returns, we will together with joy and and in one voice cry out, Hosanna. And then the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, I pray, Lord, that Christ would come quickly. We pray, Lord, that Christ would come in all of His power and glory and might and His majesty. We cry out, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus. Because in this life, in this veil of tears, we experience things that are wrong. It's not supposed to be like this. And yet this creation has been subjected to futility. And so we know pain. We know what it is to work hard to earn bread by the sweat of our brow. We know what it's like to experience death. And we know what it's like to fail against sin. We thank you, Lord, that this Christ who came 2,000 years ago is the same Christ who died for our sins and who has given us his righteousness so that we may have confidence in the day of his return that we will be welcomed home with an open arm of embrace. we long for that day lord give us strength to make it to that day give us strength to fight the good fight looking forward to the realization of those promises as we are fueled by the promises that have already been brought that have already come to pass we love you lord we do praise you in jesus name amen