Palm/Passion Sunday
John 12:20-43
Jesus is finally in Jerusalem. He had been greeted by a large crowd, hailed as the king of Israel. This, of course, was mainly because people had witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead just about a week earlier. And as we heard at the beginning of the service in the previous portion of John chapter 12, this miracle garnered both positive and negative responses. The general crowd seems to see this a God’s promise finally being fulfilled by sending this great prophet, even the promised messiah. Yet, on the other hand, the Pharisees and the other religious leaders saw this as a threat to their power and authority and rule over these people. More than ever, the eyes of all the people are now fixed upon this one man. What is he going to do? What is he going to say? What will he accomplish?
In the midst of all these, Jesus wastes no time in telling them about his death: “and I, if I should be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to myself” (v32 – literal translation). Indeed, even before the crucifixion on Good Friday, he has already drawn a great crowd. But what drew them to Jesus? What did they expect from him? And what are we doing here on palm Sunday and into holy week? What are we expecting in these days to come, on maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday?
Right from the beginning of his entry into Jerusalem, he drew a crowd who seemingly believed in him, that he is the messiah, the everlasting king promised by God through his prophets. But that’s all they saw in Jesus, a human king who came to establish an earthly kingdom, probably with the idea that he would restore the fortune and glory of Israel, as in the days of king David and Solomon. Perhaps he would use his divine powers to drive out the Romans empire and their evil influences. People will now have to come to this king and pay tribute and taxes, and Israel will be great again. But how disappointed they would be when they see this helpless “king” nailed to the cross, by a roman governor no less! The cross seemingly did not draw any of them to him.
What about the “Greeks” who came to Philip and Andrew? They too were interested in Jesus. These were converts from their pagan faith to the Old Testament faith. They too should have believed in the messiahand all the promises of the old testament. Perhaps they too wanted to ascertain for themselves if this Jesus is really the promised savior. But what did they really expect from Jesus? They were not Jews, so they probably were not expecting an earthly kingdom, but they would most likely be seeking wisdom from this great rabbi. Surely if Jesus is of God, he would know all the secrets of life. Oh how disappointed they would be when they see this wisest of men crucified as the lowest of the low. How can the teacher of life not able to avoid such disgrace and humiliation? These Greek people seems to have disappeared too after the crucifixion. The cross did not draw them to himself.
And of course there were the Pharisees. They were drawn to Jesus too, but by enmity more than anything else. But among them, as John himself says, were those who did believe in Jesus, BUT they did not openly confess it for fear of the other Pharisees. They loved the glory from man more than the glory that comes from God (v42-43). They believed in Jesus’ signs and miracles, but that’s it. Jesus proved to be a great prophet and a great teacher, but that’s it. He cannot give any more than that. Life here is more precious and Jesus doesn’t seem like he can give anything beyond what we see, especially when he is dying so young on the cross. The cross did not seem to draw them to Jesus.
Where were all these people when he was on the cross? And I am not only talking about physically or geographically, but spiritually too. As Paul says, the Jews demands signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but what they get is the cross, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the gentiles (1Cor1:22-23). They were not willing to come to God through the cross, through what God himself has revealed, but rather, they would rely on their own efforts and strength and wisdom and reason to lay hold of God and heaven. They want a “Jesus” that is apart from the cross and that will never work. They want a king who sits on a golden throne instead of the bloody cross. They want a teacher who teach lofty wisdom, trying to pry into the hiddenness of God rather than the revealed, namely, sin and repentance and faith and forgiveness. In other words, they were trying to overcome sin with something other than the cross. They were trying to ignore sin and find something else to fill this void and deficiency.
And we must ask tooif we are not also like them. Are we drawn to Jesus for personal reasons or are we truly drawn to the cross? And if we are truly honest with ourselves, we must admit that we do not like the cross, we do not like repentance, we do not like to admit that we are poor, miserable sinners, we do not like to really face our sins, to really see its ugliness inside and its devastating effects on ourselves and those around us. And the worst part is that we do not want to mortify our own flesh. We don’t want to die to the old self, to die to sin, to give up our old habits and the evil things that we do, most especially the little things that seemingly have little consequences. And we too find this a stumbling block and foolishness when we are told again and again of the need for the word of God and repentance and faith and forgiveness of sins. It is so much easier to simply bypass it altogether and think that forgiveness of sins relieves us all from the need for daily confession and repentance and dying to sin and striving for godliness.
But thanks be to God that Jesus’ love for us does not depend on our willingness or obedience or anything in us. As Paul says, while we were still sinners, while we were still far off, while we are not thinking about the cross, while we were still thinking about own, he (still) died for us. And it is exactly there on the cross that all our sins are nailed, all our sins of unwillingness, all our sins of negligence, all our sins of indifference, ALL of it is nailed with him. By our own reason or strength we would never come to the cross nor even consider it, but as Luther explains, God calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies us by the Gospel. The cross draws people to himself not because it is so wonderful and pleasant to be nailed on it, but because someone else was on it in our place. Someone else took that place for us. Jesus was nailed for us, he bled and died for us. You don’t need to carry the cross, Jesus carried it for you. You don’t need to die and mortify your flesh alone, Jesus is with you through baptism. Therefore repentance is not something painful, but a joyful journey in and with Christ because we can lay our sins on him and be renewed in him.
This is the way to God, it must be through the cross of Jesus. Externally it looks painful, it looks repelling, but it is Jesus’ cross. Don’t look at the cross alone, but at Jesus who is on that cross. This is God’s wisdom and power, that through his son’s death we may obtain life and a kingdom that will not end. Perhaps we may still have our own ideas about God or still unwilling to die or repent, then once again look to the cross with Jesus there, that is the power of God, the power to give new life. Like faith, repentance is also a gift that cannot be obtained by our own reason or strength. But it is given from the cross but in baptism where we are united to his death and resurrection, and also from the cross but in his Holy Meal in which he gives his body and blood for this very purpose, that we may know for sure that he has died for our sins. Why then do you still hold on to them? Lay it on him, and be free from hell. And looking forward to the resurrection, we can also know that we will live in newness of life.
When he is lifted up, he draws all people to him. We have received this good news and are now drawn to him. We are here because in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we receive the gift of repentance and faith. We are drawn to God through the cross because he has shown us what great gifts are offered in that cross, repentance, confession, forgiveness, peace, joy, eternal life, love for one another, etc, none of which can be obtained anywhere else. So therefore learn to behold Jesus and the cross. Your sins are nailed to it, now you are a new person, now you are brought to the heavenly Father as a child of God. As we have now entered holy week, we remember his suffering and death for us, but also looking beyond the grave and see eternal life through his resurrection for us. Through his death we have life.