JOHN 12:12-19 WHY DO YOU CELEBRATE?

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 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!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Every Palm Sunday we celebrate the “Triumphal Entry” of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is the beginning of our traditional observance of Holy Week and the drama that brings us to the empty tomb of Easter morning. Just as the people gathered for the Passover in Jerusalem were right to celebrate the coming of Jesus into the city, we are also are correct in our celebration. Where we, like the pilgrims, run into difficulty is our reason for hailing Jesus as our King. Do we celebrate Jesus for who he is, or for who we want him to be?

The crowds were looking for a liberator, a political deliverer who would free them from the occupying Roman legions and restore the glory of the Davidic Israel. Instead they got a king who would liberate them from an even greater oppressor. In reality, their celebration was appropriate, but their reason for celebration was misplaced. Their expectations dictated who this One was to be and when he did not turn out like they expected they experienced a devastation and loss that blinded them to who Jesus really was.

If we truly believe that Jesus is the sovereign God of all things, then we are in no position to define who he is. True faith is suspending one’s expectations and allowing the object of our faith to reveal to us what he knows we need to know about him. May our Bible-informed expectations draw us closer to Jesus so he might reveal himself more fully to us.

Come. Lord Jesus, and enter my life. By your Spirit open my mind and my heart to receive you as you present yourself to me. Give me a joyful anticipation of your loving fulfillment of my deliverance from sin and death. May this expectation fuel my love and obedience to your will. Amen.