TEXT: John 12:9-15

MESSAGE: “Longing for a King”

“There is, for many Americans, nowhere to turn to find a sense of common meaning. Not politics: Nine out of 10 polls…recorded that 60 percent or more of respondents feel the country is on the wrong track…Politicians are despised as a class, with congressional approval at an astonishingly low 6 percent…Not the courts: The Supreme Court is now viewed unfavorably by nearly half the country…Only American popular culture substitutes for a sense of community, with sports and film stars looked up to as exemplars despite their often lurid and sensational antics and unreachable wealth.” — Michael Auslin

“…they have not rejected you (Samuel), but they have rejected me from being king over them.” — 1 Samuel 8:7

“You’re right to place all your hopes in a great Leader, to believe that his government will bring equal justice for all as well as life, liberty, and happiness. But you’re not going to find these in the governments or nations of this world. You’re going to find them in an unlikely place and in an unlikely Leader.” — Jonathan Leeman

Text: John 12:9-15

“…(this is) a deliberate act of symbolic self disclosure for those with eyes to see…secrecy was being lifted.” — D.A. Carson

How is Jesus’ Kingship revealed in today’s text? It’s through an…(1. Underlying Problem; 2. Unmet Need; 3. Unexpected Plan)

1. Underlying Problem (v. 9-11)
“When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.”

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” — Psalm 2:1-3

“If God would just leave the world alone, Hitchens would be glad to let him exist, quietly, in retirement somewhere.” — Michael Kinsley

“…for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” — John 12:43

2. Unmet Need (v. 12-13)

“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 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!”

3. Unexpected Plan (v. 14-15)

“And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

“(Jesus) came to Jerusalem to die, and desired that all Jerusalem should know it…when the time came that he should die, he made a public entry in Jerusalem. He drew the attention of rulers, and priests, and elders, and scribes, and Greeks, and Romans to himself. He knew that the most wonderful event that ever happened in this world was about to take place. The eternal Son of God was about to suffer in the stead of sinful men-the great sacrifice for sin about to be offered up. He therefore ordered it so that his death was eminently a public death.” — J.C. Ryle

TAKEAWAYS: How can we receive Jesus today? It’s by…

Seeing the Humble King

“…don’t forget this: Jesus is not just a king; he’s a king on a cross. If he were only a king on a throne, you’d submit to him just because you have to. But he’s a king who went to the cross for you. Therefore you can submit to him out of love and trust. This means coming to him not negotiating but saying, “Lord, whatever you ask I will do, whatever you send I will accept.” — Timothy Keller

Seeing the desperate crowd

Seeing the upside down Kingdom

“…the way of true spiritual strength, leading to real fruitfulness in Christian life and service, is the humble, self-distrustful way of consciously recognized weakness in spiritual things.” ― J.I. Packer

“There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” — John 19:18-22