John 12:12-19

The Triumphal Entry

¹² The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ¹³ took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

¹⁴ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

¹⁷ Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. ¹⁸ For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. ¹⁹ The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

As they saw the people leaving, those who witnessed the dramatic raising of Lazarus, and those who heard of it from the witnesses, their hearts must’ve failed within them, for in this they saw, finally, that Jesus had broken their oppressive grip on the people.

Caiaphas had prophesied that:

” (Jesus) would gather together in one the children of G-d who were scattered abroad.”(John 11:52)

Their plotting to kill him was intensifying, but Jesus knew what to do and stayed on mission, knowing what He was going to endure. How easy it would’ve been to slip away, to be seen no more, to give over control and the oppression that came with it back to the men who believed themselves empowered by G-d to twist His Word to their benefit.

But then, we would not have the final cry of Our Savior gaining victory over sin, death, and hell: “It is finished.”

He did well to try to get them to see that the Law they so loved to quote and add to was embodied in Him, that the patriarchs existed to guide Israel to Him, that Moses and the prophets were writing about and speaking of Him, but they refused to see.

It is with good reason our Lord tells us to set our minds on things above, for these men were lost in the trappings, living for the approval of men. Even now, ministers of the Gospel are falling prey to this in a world of immediate gratification and accolades for doing wrong and evil things.

And even in this, we see the Word of the Lord being played out before us. Nation against nation, brother against brother, divided houses of worship falling prey to predatory teaching and false doctrine.

We would do well to remember that in His capacity as Savior, our Lord admonishes us to remember these things: to watch and pray, that he who endures to the end will be saved, that there is no other name under Heaven by which we come to the Father, and we have been called out of this world, that we may receive the gifts of Grace, Salvation, and Eternal Life from the Wisest, as He received gold, frankincense, and myrrh for our sake.

Therefore I pray,

King Jesus, 

I ask that You bring to remembrance in me all that You’ve said to do, to bring to mind the promises of the Father for me through You. Help me to watch and pray, to fast in seeking, to build altars in my home, and set guards over my mouth and heart, that my meditation be pleasing to You.

As I celebrate Your birth, help me not to be sentimental, disconnecting its importance from Your resurrection to which Your own 12 witnesses and Mary Magdalene have seen, to which Thomas proclaimed You Lord and G-d, for having seen You, he saw the Father too.

In the year ahead I ask Your blessing over all my house and those of my family in You. I ask Your protection, that no weapon formed against me will prosper. I ask Your mercy once again over the wrong I know I will inevitably do as surely as sparks fly upward, and I thank You for the grace you will impart.

Help me, above all, to know that it is in You I live, and move, and have my being.

Thank You for paying the price of this servant; I would not grieve Your heart for doing it.

In You there is eternity, and as time grows shorter, draw this lost sheep closer, for I would be found by You even as I seek, as the father ran to the prodigal.

In Your Name above all names, I ask it.

Amen.