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[0:00] Morning. Good morning. I didn't even realize it was Palm Sunday till Vern brought that up this morning.

[0:13] And it just so happened that's where we're going to be at in the scripture this morning. Last week we began John chapter 12.

[0:25] And this was right after Jesus had performed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11.

[0:38] And when we ended last week we saw that the chief priests, the elite Jews, were wanting to, or were kind of conniving, you can say, to put Lazarus to death.

[1:00] Because Lazarus was a testimony against the chief priests. And we talked last week about how the chief priests were mainly Sadducees.

[1:11] And Sadducees did not believe in bodily resurrection. And this man Lazarus was a huge testimony against everything that the chief priests were trying to force into the heads of people as far as resurrection is concerned.

[1:29] And that's where we left off last week. The last verse we read last week was verse 11. It says, by reason of him, him being Lazarus, because by reason of him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus.

[1:46] And that's where we left off last week. Now, how deep this belief that it talks about here, that some of these Jews had, how deep that belief went, Scripture doesn't really say, but we find out just how shallow a lot of their beliefs were the further into John's Gospel that we get and the further into the other Gospel accounts that we get.

[2:10] Very shallow belief. A lot of it was head belief and not heart belief, as I'm sure a lot of us have heard that referred to.

[2:21] You know, you got head knowledge and you got heart knowledge. Only heart knowledge can get you into the kingdom. Head knowledge don't do it. I had head knowledge of the Bible before I was saved.

[2:33] I knew a lot about the Bible, the historical aspects of the Bible. I knew a lot about this man Jesus that the Bible was about. I knew a lot about Jewish culture. I knew a lot about Greek culture.

[2:44] Knew all these things, but it was head knowledge. And until I got saved, that's all I had. But once I got saved and I had the Holy Spirit as my guide and as my teacher reading through the Scriptures, then things were shown me then that I had no clue about before.

[3:03] But again, how deep this belief was there in verse 11 when it says that because by reason of Him many of the Jews went away and believed on Jesus.

[3:14] How deep that belief was. Scripture does not explicitly tell us that. But we find out later on in the Gospel that the belief was very shallow.

[3:26] So all that being said, John chapter 12 beginning at verse 12. It says, On the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel, the cometh in the name of the Lord.

[3:49] And at first glance, this seems very legitimate. Seems like these people are genuinely excited and I'm sure that they are.

[4:00] They've grabbed their palm branches and they've gone out and very red from Luke's Gospel. And this is actually one of the few things in the four Gospel accounts that is accounted for in all four Gospels.

[4:17] We find it in the Gospel of Matthew and Mark and Luke as well. And several times and especially comparing the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke with the Gospel of John, there's things that are left out of John that we find in those Gospels and there's things in John that we don't find in those.

[4:39] What we have to remember is that John wrote many, many years. He wrote his Gospel account many, many years after the accounts had already happened. And everybody would have been familiar with Matthew's writings.

[4:52] Everybody would have been familiar with Mark and Luke's writings at that point. And me personally, I think that John took that into account as he was writing his Gospel. And I understand it's all inspired. It's all God's breath.

[5:05] The Holy Spirit was inspiring John to write what he wrote. But I also understand that each writer has got some of his own personality in his own writings. You read Matthew's account.

[5:17] Matthew's got all kinds of stuff within the chapters of Matthew's Gospel account. And there's little tidbits of information all throughout Matthew that you don't find in some of the other ones.

[5:30] Or his is more in depth than Mark and Luke would be. And why was that? Matthew was a tax collector. Matthew would have been used to writing in shorthand.

[5:42] Matthew would have been able to have taken notes much more quickly and then later wrote them out the way that he wanted them to. But nevertheless, there's also some of Matthew's personality in his writing just as there's some of Mark's personality.

[5:57] Luke's personality. Luke being a doctor. And John is no different. The purpose of the Gospel of John that I have found personally is twofold.

[6:08] One, of course we know John's Gospel is the Gospel of love. And it does. It shows the love of God toward man. And on the flip side of that coin it shows the lack of the love of man toward God.

[6:24] But it is the Gospel of love. But another purpose of the Gospel of John is to show the glory of Jesus Christ. We see some of that in the synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.

[6:38] But we see so much more of it within the Gospel of John. So here again in verses 12 through 13 says, On the next day, so this would have been the day after that the chief priests had taken counsel together to put, or made it known per the Scripture that they wanted to put Lazarus to death.

[7:02] On the next day, much people that were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem now, they didn't come to the feast because they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. I don't want you all to see it as that's what the Scripture is saying.

[7:17] They're coming to Jerusalem because of the feast. This is the last Passover feast that is brought up in the Gospel accounts. We've read about two previous ones throughout the Gospel of John up to this point.

[7:31] This is the last one that we'll read about. This is the reason that people were coming to Jerusalem. It wasn't because Jesus was going to be there, it says on the next day, much people that were come to the feast, they were already there.

[7:45] Then we have a comma. It says when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, then we have another comma. So that's kind of parenthetical when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.

[7:56] It says they took branches of palm trees, these people that were already in Jerusalem, gathering for the Passover feast for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they were kind of conglomerated together by the Jews.

[8:09] They took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet Him. And again, I'm sure that they were excited. They had heard about this resurrection of this dead man named Lazarus.

[8:22] They had heard of that event taking place not long before this at all. And they grabbed these palm branches and they go out. They heard that Jesus Christ was making his way in, folks.

[8:35] And some of you are all, if you have headings, headings between passages of Scripture, call this the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ, or the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ.

[8:51] And I understand why it is called that. Folks, this was actually a very sad point in the Scriptures. And it wasn't very triumphant at all, really and truly.

[9:05] Yes, Christ is triumphant. He was triumphant the entire time that He was here. He was triumphant in John chapter 11 when He proved His power over death. He was triumphant over the lepers that He cleansed.

[9:18] He was triumphant over the blindness that He healed, over the deaf ears that He unstopped. Christ was and is triumphant, and I get that. But we read in the other Gospel accounts about the sadness of this situation.

[9:35] And we can actually see it here. There's an aura of sadness about this whole thing. These people have grabbed palm branches and running. What does the palm branch signify?

[9:47] It signifies joy. It signifies festivity. You read in Leviticus chapter 23 for the Feast of Tabernacles. God gives commandment that the people are to use palm branches in their worship of Him.

[10:03] You read in the Book of Revelation that a number of people that are gathered around the throne, why are they there? They're there because of Jesus Christ, and they're there to worship Jesus Christ.

[10:14] And they're happy. They're in the middle of their festivities. They're joyous in doing this, and they have palm branches. So this is a sign of happiness. It's a sign of joy.

[10:27] These people are happy that Jesus is making His way into Jerusalem. But what we must keep in mind is just a few days after this, just a very few days after this, these same people that are waving their palm branches and they're screaming Hosanna, which is save us, or save now.

[10:48] They're screaming Hosanna to Jesus Christ and about Jesus Christ. These same people just in just a few days are screaming, crucify away with Him.

[11:00] His blood be upon us and upon our children. Just a few days after this. So was it triumphant? Everything Jesus did was triumphant. Everything that Jesus did then and is doing now is triumphant.

[11:15] He cannot lose. He cannot lose. It's not that he will not. It's not that he may not or might not. He cannot lose. And I've said that to many Christians since I've been saved.

[11:28] When people say, I feel like I backslid, or I feel like I'm just not where I should be. I feel like this and I feel like that. I used to be so much closer to God than what I should now.

[11:40] Why do we get that way though? Folks, we already have the victory. We have the victory in a triumphant Christ. We have no choice but to move forward.

[11:51] That's the only choice that we have is to move forward because the victory is already won. So why do we backslide? Why do we get in a funk if you want to call it that?

[12:03] Why do we get in a rut like that? It all lies on us. Every bit of that lies on us because Christ is just as triumphant now as he was when he came up out of the grave.

[12:14] When he came out of the tomb, he was triumphant over death hell on the grave. And he is just as triumphant now because he is still alive. Hallelujah. This is my turn to do an Easter list. They took branches of palm trees and went forth to meet him and cried, Hosanna, blessed is the king of Israel, the cometh, in the name of the Lord.

[12:35] And some people will question this and they'll say, why would the Lord have allowed this knowing what these people were going to do in less than a week, knowing how they would be treating Jesus Christ, knowing that they would be saying the things that we've already quoted away with him, crucify him, knowing that they would rather have a rabbi's as opposed to Jesus Christ.

[12:59] And the Lord allowed this to happen. Why was that? Why would he have allowed that? Why not just give him the crown? Why not just say, okay, here's the crown Jesus, you set up your kingdom?

[13:12] Just as we find in the Old Testament prophecies, why go through all this? It seems so deceptive and much of the world will say that. It seems so deceptive that the Lord was allowing these people to worship him, keep this in mind, folks, when Christ was working miracles through the gospel accounts, through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

[13:34] We find him saying, tell no man that I'm the cross. Tell no man of the things that you've seen. When he come down from the Mount of Transfiguration, he charged his disciple, he said, you don't tell anyone what you have seen, the things that you have witnessed until after my resurrection, until after I'm glorified.

[13:54] But here is Jesus Christ after he's told people, tell no one that I'm the cross. Tell no one of these things. Here is Christ coming into Jerusalem as the Messiah and allowing people to say the things they did.

[14:09] Blessed is the King of Israel. They are owning him as King of Israel and King of Israel he was. So why the change? Why the change?

[14:21] Folks, it shows the ultimate rejection of the Israelites toward their King later on, later on in the Gospel of John and the other Gospels, shows the ultimate rejection of them.

[14:36] We know from John 1, we read it a month ago, he came into his own and his own received him not. He came into his own people and they received him not. We read just several weeks ago how Christ said, I have sheep of another fold.

[14:52] It's fine that the Jews don't want me. I knew that this was going to happen. That's fine, that's great, and that's well, I have sheep of another fold and I must bring them with me.

[15:03] I must bring them with me. So here is Christ riding into Jerusalem, the capital. And there's nothing in the Bible that says it, but me personally, I think Jerusalem is the absolute center of the universe in God's eyes.

[15:20] That's the city that he has set his heart on. That's the Jewish people, it being their capital, they are the apple of his eye. So in my opinion, that is the very center of the entire universe is Jerusalem.

[15:38] Here is Christ riding into Jerusalem as Messiah and he is allowing these people to do what they are. He was still God riding into Jerusalem.

[15:50] So I can rightfully say he was allowing this to happen because he was still omnipotent. He was still omniscient. He was still all of these things.

[16:01] He could have put a halt to this at any time that he wanted to. We read in the other gospel accounts that he sent disciples into town to prepare for the Passover.

[16:16] And he told them, you'll find the dash, you'll find the fold, and he'll be tied, and you'll tell the owner. The master has need of him.

[16:29] We find these things in the other gospel accounts. John doesn't really touch on that aspect of it. Folks, he was still omniscient. He knew exactly where that donkey would be.

[16:41] He knew exactly what to tell the man that owned the donkey. He was still omniscient. He was still omnipotent. He was still all powerful. He could have put an end to this any time that he wanted to.

[16:53] But he didn't. Verse 14, In Jesus, when he had found a young guy, sat there on as it is written. Now, there are people out there that will contend the Bible. They will make a big deal over this because, once again, the other gospel accounts say that he sent disciples into town to find this donkey.

[17:13] And here it says, in Jesus, when he had found a young ass, instead of the disciples going into town and people make a huge deal over this. Folks, he knew exactly where it was.

[17:26] He knew to tell the disciples to go into town and how they would find this donkey and how he would be tied. He told them what to say. So he did find it. There's nothing to debate here.

[17:38] That is a weak, weak argument that many atheists will use when going through the gospel accounts to disprove the Bible. And it disproves nothing because the Bible describes God as being omniscient.

[17:52] He is all knowing and this shows his all knowingness. So there is no contradiction between the Gospel of John and the other Gospel accounts here.

[18:03] Jesus, when he found a young ass, sat there on as it is written. Fear not, daughter of time. Behold, thy King cometh sitting on an ass's coat.

[18:15] And this, of course, is fulfilling a prophecy that we find in Zechariah and many people concentrate on this prophecy in Zechariah here. But folks, that prophecy actually goes back a lot further than Zechariah chapter 9.

[18:30] You can actually go back to the death of Jacob in the book of Genesis and see the beginnings of this prophecy with him.

[18:41] Because Jacob said many of the same things as Zechariah said many, many years later. So it goes back further than Zechariah, but most people concentrate on Zechariah.

[18:54] I have a reference Bible and it puts me back to Zechariah now. But you can actually go back to the death of Jacob right towards the end of the book of Genesis when he's telling all of his boys, you know, he's giving them prophecies.

[19:08] And he says that the deceptor would never depart from Judah. And this is a wonderful picture of that happening here. Here is Jesus Christ, the lion of the tribe of Judah, riding in to Jerusalem as king and the Jews are proclaiming him as king.

[19:29] And he's doing it exactly as the scripture said. But verse 14 tells us why all this is happening. We were talking about that earlier about why would God allow this to happen, knowing what was going to happen.

[19:45] Verse 14 again says, And Jesus, when he found a young guest, sat there on as it is written. That's why this was going on. It was to fulfill prophecy.

[19:57] It was to fulfill the scriptures, these scriptures that were given hundreds of years, hundreds of years before they actually occurred. Fear not, daughter of sign, behold, thy King come as sitting on an asus called verse 16.

[20:14] These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him.

[20:26] Folks, this was a brave thing for John to write. This is a brave thing. Again, John, remember, he wrote his gospel years and years after Matthew, Mark and Luke had written theirs.

[20:43] But he says these things understood not his disciples at first, and this would have included John. John saying, I was there when all this was going on.

[20:55] I was there when he sent those disciples into town. He told them, he prophesied to them about this cult and he prophesied to them about the upper room that they would celebrate the Passover feast in.

[21:08] And he was foretelling these things. I was there and I did not understand it. Folks, we would do well to learn from John here. Instead of going on about something that we don't understand and going on and on and on, and I've heard preachers do it.

[21:25] I've heard teachers do it. And I've heard lay members do it. Instead of just admitting, I have no clue. Let me research it.

[21:36] Let me dig into the scripture. Let me study a little bit more and I'll get back to you. Folks, it's not imperative, if someone asks me a question about the Bible that I'm unsure about, or that, you know, in my mind I might be able to go two or three different ways with.

[21:52] It is not imperative that I give an answer right then and there if I don't understand it. John here admitted, admitted. Remember, he spent three years with Jesus at this point, a little over three years with Jesus at this point.

[22:07] He says, these things understood not his disciples at the first. But when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him and that they had done these things unto him.

[22:22] He says, I didn't understand it while it was going on, but I understood it later. And folks, once again, questions might get thrown at me or a question might get thrown at me. I don't understand right then, but a little bit later on, if I put my nose in this book and I pray earnestly, seeking that God show me his word, I'm persuaded that he will do that.

[22:46] It might not be that day, it may not be that week, but I'm persuaded that God will show me. There's scriptures in here that I've read over and over and over and I still don't understand them. I wish I could tell you I understand the entire Bible, but I don't.

[23:00] But I believe it. I believe what the Bible says, whether I understand it or not. I believe it. Verse 17, the people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave and raised him from the dead bear record.

[23:16] The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead bear record. And these folks that were gathered around, you all will remember from John chapter 11 that it was not only Mary and Martha that was there outside the grave with Jesus Christ when Christ said, Lazarus come forth.

[23:38] This group of people, these mourners that had come from Jerusalem to comfort Mary and Martha in their loss, they were all there too. And they were all here as Christ was coming in to Jerusalem. The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the grave bear record.

[24:00] They were witnessing. They were giving testimony to the greatness of Christ, to the greatness of this resurrection of Lazarus from the dead.

[24:11] And I'm sure that this just stimulated the festivity that was going on with Jesus Christ coming in to Jerusalem. They were all saying, this is him. This is the one that is able to raise people from the dead.

[24:27] This is the one that we saw call a dead man, one that had been in the tomb for four days. One that had been dead for four days, I should say. We saw him come to life. This is him. This is Messiah. This is the promised one.

[24:43] They were all bearing record of Christ. Verse 18, for this calls, the people also met him for that they heard that he had done this miracle for this cause.

[24:54] For what calls? What we just read in the previous verse that people were bearing record of the resurrection of Lazarus. For this calls, the people also met him for that they had heard, for that they heard that he had done this miracle.

[25:12] Folks, this is the wrong reason to come to Jesus. I understand pomp. I understand excitement.

[25:26] I understand a lot of things, but I understand that it says for that they had heard that he had done this miracle. They had heard that he had raised one from the dead.

[25:38] That's why they came. Not because he was Christ, the Scripture doesn't say that. Not because he was Messiah, the Scripture doesn't say that. Because he was a miracle worker.

[25:50] This is the reason. Now, the miracle that he performed, raising one from the dead, the miracles that he had performed up to this point that we've already talked about this morning, healing blind people, healing deaf people, cleansing lepers, making the lame to walk, all these things.

[26:09] All these things were prophesied off Messiah specifically. And you can find every one of them in the book of Isaiah, as well as other places in the Old Testament.

[26:20] All of those things there can be found in the book of Isaiah within just a few chapters of each other. They were all prophesied off Messiah, but the people that witnessed that were bearing record of the miracle, and it says, for this cause, the people also met him.

[26:39] For the testimony of other people, the people come to meet him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. If somebody sees the change that Christ has made in me, so may I ain't seen you say since high school, and the people I went to high school knows how I was in high school, and I ain't none too proud of it, now I was then, but I'm not now.

[27:02] But if they see the change years and years and years later that Christ has made in me, and that prompts them to come to Christ, folks, that's the wrong reason.

[27:14] You come to Christ because you are a wretched sinner in need of salvation. Now they can see what Christ has done with me, and I ain't Pat and Spencer on the back, it's what Christ has done, it's not what I've done.

[27:31] They can see that, and that might prompt them, that might gobe them, that might spur them into going to church, it might spur them into listening to a preacher on the radio or any number of things.

[27:44] But don't come to Christ because of Spencer, you come to Christ because you're a sinner, and you need salvation. They come to Christ because they are a sinner, and they are in need of salvation.

[27:58] Testimony does wonderful things, and it's awesome to give testimony. I'm not trying to dissuade you all from doing that at all, but my testimony has never saved the first person.

[28:11] Only Christ can do that. Regardless of what He has done in my life, He did it for me. They need it done to them, they need salvation themselves, they need to be washed into blood, they need to be cleansed, they need to be made a new creature in Christ, and it will never happen if all I do is share my testimony.

[28:32] I must present the gospel to them. What is the gospel? In short, the death of the borough and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, showing that He is triumph and over even the most evil thing in man's eyes in this world, which is death.

[28:51] But the gospel is so much more than that. The gospel is also the life that led up to the death, and it's so much more than the resurrection because folks, if Christ just resurrected from the dead, and that's it, I have no intercessor.

[29:08] The gospel continues after the resurrection, because after the resurrection, weeks later, Christ ascended to the Father, and that's where He mediates on my behalf.

[29:20] That's where He's making intercession for me. The Bible says there is one mediator between God and man, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. If He wasn't doing that, if all He did was come up out of the grave, folks, we'd be in trouble.

[29:34] Everyone else would be in trouble. So you can't just leave the gospel at the death of the borough and the resurrection. It's the life, it's the death, it's the borough, it's the resurrection, and it's the current life that Jesus Christ lives right now, intercessing on behalf of His saints.

[29:52] That's all the gospel. And it goes further than that too. It goes further back than that, and it continues further onward than that. But again, for this cause, for the testimony of these people that came to meet Him, for that they heard that He had done this miracle, verse 19, the Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing?

[30:17] Behold, the world is gone after Him. Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing. In other words, you prevail nothing, you're gaining nothing, you're losing your power.

[30:32] That's what the Pharisees were concerned with. Not only the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the chief priests, they were losing their hold on the people because of one man, because of this man, Jesus Christ.

[30:45] They were losing their hold on the people. What was their hold? It was legalism. Their hold was legalism. And folks, that is just as prevalent nowadays.

[30:59] And I'm talking about in the body of Christ. I ain't talking about out in the world somewhere. Legalism is just as prevalent today within the body of Christ, within born-again believers, as it was back then, with these people that rejected Jesus Christ.

[31:17] Folks, I can go all day and not tell a lie, I can go all day and not steal anything. And that ain't going to get me to heaven. And nor is it going to make me any more saved if I do that.

[31:29] I'm no more saved than you are, and you're no more saved than I am. It's all the same blood, it's all the same salvation. And we're all guaranteed, if we're born-again believers in Jesus Christ, we're all guaranteed the same final outcome to spend eternity with Him and to enjoy Him forever.

[31:49] You can't be any more saved than me, and I can't be any more saved than you. The Pharisees, therefore, said among themselves, perceive you how you prevail, nothing behold, the world is gone after Him.

[32:01] And that's all they were concerned about. Everybody's going after Jesus. They're leaving us sitting over here. What they had worked for hundreds of years to get in place as far as laws go, as far as legalism goes, as far as you wash your hands this way, you wash your feet that way, you eat your food in such a manner, and you do this and you don't do that.

[32:24] And so this was all coming to naught in their eyes. They said, the world is going after Him. But how shallow was that going after Christ? How shallow it really was, but the Pharisees did not see that at this point.

[32:39] We see the world going after Him. We ain't going to get that far today. That's the last verse we're going to read this morning. But we see that in the next couple of verses where some Greeks come, we see not only the Jews celebrating Jesus Christ as He was riding into Jerusalem here, but we see some Greeks that came in too, but we will not get that far today.

[33:05] That's as far as I'm going to get this morning. Anybody got any questions or comments on any of that? Anything at all?

[33:16] Alright, God bless y'all.