Palm Sunday has to do with a king. When I was a kid at school, “God save our gracious queen”. Never thought of the words, ‘this queen to reign over us.’ Now it’s a king. Some people love royalty and follow the British monarchy intensely.
60 years ago, in Iran (1967), the world witnessed one of the most expensive royal coronations. The king was called the Shadow of God who brings light to the earth.
Communists and Islamic clergy were enraged. For devout Muslims, this was blasphemy – to give power and glory to one human being. 12 years later (Jan 16, 1979), this great monarch, the Shah of Iran, was dethroned and he left Iran in utter shame, never to return.
Imam Khomeini arrived that same year, welcomed by millions. He setup an Islamic government, the rule of Allah, a theocracy instead of monarchy. The Islamic revolution in Iran shook the world. That was the beginning of modern Islamic fundamentalism – which has boiled for 45 years – an effort to bring the rule of God (shariyya law), as Muslims would have it.
Return to monarchies
Today, in the face of international crises, migrants crossings over borders, sudden Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in 2021, strong-arms of Putin and China, bizarre Presidential race in the States, Gaza-Israeli war, and threat of AI domineering our lives, some societies reject democracy and embrace nationalism, a strong-man, or religious rule of dictatorship and police states.
A dictator gives stability, one man – one rule. It brings unity as it draws every person into one system, keeps society from chaos and tribalism and political rivalry.
People want to belong to something bigger than themselves. Democracy – one person one voice, can melt into isolated individualism and eventually, no voice. But if I belong to a king, the king’s universal voice is mine. I swear my allegiance to him and his reign. His glory becomes mine. A great king / ruler will make us great!
Israel’s longing for a king
Israel too wanted a king to rule over them, though God had said He was their king. But as they became a monarchy, Israel’s kingdom soon floundered. By Jesus’ day, Israel lay under foreign rule – Romans. Yet they held on to stories and the hope of another king, like King David, who would destroy their enemies, establish justice and make Israel great again. A king to come!
Use of “king” in John
We see this theme in Gospel of John. Could Jesus be that king?
– 1:49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
– 6:14 When Jesus fed the 5,000 the people said, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
And our text for today, which we call the “Triumphant Entry of Jesus”
– 12:12-15 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!” Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
Jesus – the Road towards Kingship
Today, I would like to follow Jesus’ walk towards His being crowned King. In this journey we will see how different His coronation is. And are ready to identify with this king?
He Enters Jerusalem, welcomed as King
In ancient world, heroes, generals, or rulers would often return home from victorious battles, with great fanfare. In Roman days, the “triumphant” was a huge military and political statement. When the general Titus returned, after conquering Jerusalem 70 AD Rome set up a great triumphal arch
– Buzz going around: Jesus is entering. Let’s welcome him. He had raised Lazarus from the dead, the final sign. We have king who saved Lazarus, He will save us!
– Palm leaves – They took palm branches. After Israel was freed from Egypt, they sang a song of triumph and moved on to the oasis Elim – 12 springs of water, and 70 palm trees. The palm branches became symbol of victory and freedom of salvation. Maccabean saw the plams as picture of national hope against Roman rule;
– Hosannah – save us! Slogan for kings. We sang God save our queen. They sang, King you save us!
– Blessed is the King of Israel! – clearly announcing national liberator; This time Jesus does not withdraw. He knows the hour of coronation has come. He will be enthroned.
– Donkey – Ironic, not horse and chariot. Clear echoes from Zechariah 9:9-10 that this king will ride a donkey’s colt. He will break the sword and “proclaim peace to the nations …”
When the Jewish leaders saw this triumphant entry, they were upset / afraid; the “whole world has gone after him!” Jesus could strike a revolution, defy Rome and Jewish aristocracy (guardians of tradition) and declare himself king of Israel!
He Announces the Hour (12:23-26)
Some Greeks … “we want to see Jesus.” How strange! His own would not receive Him, but ‘outsiders’ would Israel longed for a king, freedom but failed to “see” Jesus as their king.
And so Jesus says, ‘the hour has come! For the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus had said that his hour has NOT come. Now it’s time for glory! Exactly what kings want. But another strange
The strange hour of glory has come … dying. “unless a kernel of wheat … dies” Jesus talks about seed falling into the ground, about dying, loosing life. How is this glory?
He says “my soul is troubled … (12:27), this hour is pain, but He says. “I came for this our hour.” This is why I came to earth. To be king, but death?
Jesus explains this hour with a strange word, filled with deep double-meaning and irony
– 31 Now [this hour] is the time for judgment on this world; now [this hour] the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
John uses this same word twice before
– 3:14 as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up
– 8:28 Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he …
The root idea of “lifted up” is “to raise high”. The literal meaning is to physically be hung on the cross. The Romans lifted people up on crosses to shame them. But it also means “to exalt, to honor” On that cross, Jesus lifted high for all to see. Honored as king. Shame and glory – at the same time. This Jesus.
So much happens in this hour. There will be judgment, the prince of the world will be thrown out. People will be drawn to Jesus. There will be dying. Jesus will go to the Father..
Let’s move on to the court case where there will be judgment. But who will be judged?
The King is “judged” in Court
As we look at Jesus’ trial before Pilate (18:28 to 19:16), there are three groups …
– Pilate the judge, tries to avoid responsibility, but falls into the hands of the Jewish leaders.
– Jewish leaders, the accusers, who will fall into self-judgment.
– Jesus the accused, who will be condemned. He will move forward crowned, elevated to King.
In this trial, Jesus is inside the court, the Jews are outside, Pilate back and forth, (Jn 18:28-32)
Governors were held responsible for executions. So Jews had to transfer Jesus’ case to Roman authority to ensure this would happen. We have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die (18:31-32)
If the Jews stoned him, there would be no lifting up. He wouldn’t have become king. Jesus had to be lifted up (exalted). Romans executed using crosses. (roads lined with crosses). How strange, that ugly Roman cross, the symbol of shame would be come centre of glory, crowning.
We will see that judge and accusers are judged and condemned by the One who is on trial. The condemners will be condemned by the condemned one.
Jesus Explains His Kingship (John 18:33-38a)
Jesus is inside the palace. Pilate asks the question, “Are you the king of the Jews?” the two enter into a deep discussion about kingship. We know the verse well,
– “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place. … You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. … ”
Jesus clearly implies He is king, and then describes his Kingdom
– This Kingdom is “not of this world”. It does not mean that Jesus is an “other-worldly” king, like gospel songs, “I’ll fly away;” “we’re passing through, somewhere beyond the blue.” Jesus is not talking about heaven, but about His rule that comes from another place, which will be setup in this place.
– We pray, “Your Kingdom come … here on earth.” It will be set up here, but Jesus’ kingdom is not of a system like the world’s systems.
– We don’t fight. I am not planning an uprising. My followers are not armed. Just earlier that day, Jesus severely rebuked Peter who used arms, (sword).
Fighting for one’s leader is honorable. In fact, a basic definition of honor is to “stand up for yourself”. When you get hit, hit back. That’s the way of honor. Jesus says, my system is not based on this, it is from God. And now here, at the “hour of glory” when Jesus becomes King and shows what God is like, He will redefine honor, as the way of non-violence. He fights evil thru the cross.
He is Installed as mock King (John 19:1-5)
Pilate goes out to the Jewish leaders, and back again. He thinks Jesus is innocent, but doesn’t care. He has Jesus whipped, and then in a mock coronation, dripping with torture
– The installation – purple robe (symbol of Roman royalty). Constantine delayed baptism because he didn’t want to take off his purple robe of kingly status. Jesus had a purple robe put on him as part of ridicule and humiliation of the cross.
– The coronation – crown of thorns – a sham and deeply painful
– The private mockery – King of the Jews
– The public declaration – Behold, the Man (19:4-8a)
Pilate brings Jesus out, to mock the Jews, “Look, here he is … a king you are worthy of anyway!!!
Whether he says it in sarcasm or disgust, he says much more than he knows. We already read that the ‘son of man’ must be lifted up, be displayed, set on high for all to see. And when Pilate pronounces, “Here is the man”, the Jews shout ‘crucify Him’, i.e., Lift up the man!” The Jews fulfill what Jesus has been predicting. Yes “here is the man!” Here is the hour! Jesus is beginning to ascend to the cross, but more, to higher honor, to authority, to judge, but strangely, through shame and rejection.
Pilate fears this king (19:8-12)
Suddenly Pilate gets afraid. The Jews accuse Jesus of claiming to be the “Son of God”. This sends shivers into this Roman man of power. Normally a flogged man should fear Pilate – just the other way around. Roman emperors were called ‘sons of god’ – were seen as God-ordained, God’s sons, an aura of deity around them. Could this flogged man be that, actually God-ordained?
Pilate asks him, “Where do you come from?” This has been the great debate in John. Was Jesus from God or just from Nazareth? That’s the big question! To this day …
Jesus the victim now challenges the authoritarian Pilate about real authority and then He hands down a verdict of guilty to those who are accusing him of being guilty. He is beginning to take His position as the royal and universal Judge.
A public declaration “Behold Your King!” (19:12-16)
The trial goes on. The Jews say Jesus is rival to Caesar (19:12). If you let him go, you’re against Caesar! The Jews are playing with Pilate and his sense of loyalty. Pilate must choose between Jesus and Caesar, not just Jesus and the Jews – which side? Are you really Caesar’s colleage?
But Pilate in turn plays with the Jewish leaders. Once more he humiliates them. He brings out Jesus once again. And repeats the mockery proclamation, “Here is your king!” Again, the same cry from the crowd. Crucify Him, Lift him up!
Pilate sits on the judgment seat (v. 13) where he would issue verdicts. But strangely Jesus will be the Judge. The judge Pilate and the Jews will be judged by the one who is being judged by them. The ruler (systems) of this world will be thrown out!
Listen to Pilate, “Shall I crucify your king”? (19:15). The Jews respond with stinging self-incrimination, “We only have Caesar as king.” They express loyalty to the very regime that they hate and fear the most – Rome.
With these words, they reject God. They had said they must kill Jesus to save the nation. But by rejecting and killing Jesus, they kill their nation.
A common Jewish prayer from the 2nd century, “May you be our King, you alone! … From everlasting to everlasting you are God; Beside you, we have no king, redeemer or saviour, … We have no king but you.”
How strange, on the day they were celebrating the saving power of their divine king, they reject that very king. They accuse Jesus of blasphemy, but now they blaspheme by saying they have no king but Caesar, expressing loyalty to the one who stands against God.
They stand judged – out of their own mouths, they have renounced their God and sentenced themselves to death. Indeed, Yahweh came to his own but his own received him not. They utterly rejected him. “The chief priests’ final words mean that they cease to be the special people of God and become just one of the nations subject to Caesar.” (138)
The Final Statement – Title “King of the Jews” John 19:19-22
And another irony. Jesus’ crime was nailed to the cross, “King of the Jews”. This was common practice in executions. They would hang the crime around criminal’s neck for everyone to see what the person had done. Pilate played his last card, to rub it into the accusers’ faces. Look at your king; you deserve this! For Pilate it was a joke. I’m lifting him up for everyone to see! In the three major languages of the known world, local language Aramaic (Hebrew), the government language, Latin and universal trade language, Greek.
Pilate declares that this Jesus is the King of the world – the first global declaration of who Jesus is. God used Pilate to proclaim to the world, that this “man” is truly lifted up as the Messiah, the King for the entire world. “May He rule from seat to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth … Let all the nations serve him, (Psalm 72).
King of the Jews – on a cross, what a strange way to crown a king. Is He being lifted up, exalted? Or being lifted up, crucified? Both are happening? This is the hour! This is the King!
How does this work? Here, the Son of Man, who would be the Judge of the whole earth, accepts the judgment of death. When he is lifted up (cross, glorified), He takes on the judgment of the world. Jesus takes the sentence of death, embraces it, all the evil, shame and weight of Israel’s sin and the sin of the whole world – Jesus takes it. And in so doing, the prince of the world (evil, sin) is thrown out. And then, He will issue the verdict of life for the world – as he will rise!
We see that Jesus’ triumphant entry, arrest, torture, trial and his literal elevation to the cross are the journey of glory. This journey continues into the grave, his resurrection and ascension.
This is our King – crowned as world ruler. Worldly conquerors destroy others to show their power or show off in one way or another. This ruler gives His own life to give life to others. This God’s self-giving love for world.
This is our God – Here on the cross Jesus testifies to who God really is. The cross most ultimately reveals to us God’s love. Jesus not only glorifies God, reveals God on the cross.
This is our place – We should have suffered and died, but again and again, we read, “for us”. He must die for us, in our place. This is redemption.
So in closing, as we see Jesus lifted up as King … two responses for us:
a) To swear allegiance and our loyalty to Him. We will have no one rule over us but Jesus.
b) As His subjects, we will testify to the truth in this world. This is our God! This is our King!
