Think of the greatest grand finale you’ve ever seen—this was a bazillion times greater than that.
He raised Lazarus (who’d been dead four days), and then,
before the amazement of that settled, He fulfilled multiple Messianic prophecies,
in one event, in one day.
Ø He, The Passover Lamb, entered Jerusalem,
on the very day the Passover lambs were chosen. Exodus 12:3.
Ø He, The King, entered by means of a donkey
ride that was prophesied. Zechariah 9:9.
Ø He did it on the very day, that was
predicted by an angel, 173,808 days prior. Daniel 9:25.
A Perfect Prophetic Messianic Trifecta.
Yet, this was only the grand finale for His public ministry. There’s
more to come—lots more. Within a week He will have gone through, false
indictments, mock trials, beatings, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. (Interesting:
His 12th hour of public ministry is recorded in this 12th
chapter.)
Now, let’s drop into this exceptional passage of Scripture, at
the tail end of the donkey ride.
As we do, we’ll see five classes of people.
1)
Learners
2)
Tellers
3)
Listeners
4)
Destroyers
5)
Seekers
They are all focused on, The Seed.
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. John 12:16.
1) Learners.
Imagine
that. The hand selected disciples, chosen by Jesus, didn’t understand the perfect
Messianic trifecta they just witnessed.
They
were still learning.
Following
Jesus doesn’t require understanding, it requires obedience.
Notice,
Jesus chose regular folks to be His disciples, fishermen, a tax collector; not Pharisees
or Sadducees, not theologians.
He chooses foolish things, weak things, to confound the wise and mighty. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29.
Jesus
understood that they wouldn’t understand…at first. John 14:26, 16:12-14.
But
after He was glorified, (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 2:8-11), they would.
Because
He was glorified, we endure our trials with joy, knowing that in Him, we have
ultimate victory. Philippians 4:13, Romans 8:37.
17
Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb
and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
2) Tellers
Those
that were with Him, bore witness (told others) about Him.
“That’s
the One who raised the dead guy! I know, I was there, I saw it with my own two
eyes!”
They
spoke up. They shared their testimony. They planted seeds of what they’d seen. Can
we do that?
God
did the rest. He caused the seeds grow.
18
For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done
this sign.
3) Listeners
They
not only heard, they listened. We know they listened, because they acted. They,
met Him.
Faith
comes by hearing. But hearing is of no value unless acted upon. Hearing and
head knowledge is as dead as the Dead Sea, unless there’s an outlet.
19
The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are
accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”
4) destroyers
These
folks were filled with head knowledge; or, like Jesus said, dead men’s bones.
They
were only concerned with keeping their position, prestige, power and
prosperity. That’s a lot of P.
Jesus
threatened their authority.
The
demons that drive them, know Jesus is ultimate Authority. They’re fueled by
fear. That’s why they lash out at Jesus no matter how much Good He does.
Today,
many demons have traded pharisaical robes for the garb of politicians.
The
Pharisees should’ve acknowledged the perfect Messianic trifecta. Instead, they willingly
rejected Jesus, their Messiah and King.
Now,
watch what happens.
Israel
(via the religious leaders) slams the door on God, “Look, the world has
gone after Him!”
And
just like that, a door opens, to the world. The Greeks (gentiles) come
knocking.
20
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21
Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him,
saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22
Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
5) Seekers
Folks
from the west, came to worship at the Passover, then, they seek The Passover
Lamb. Wise men, indeed.
In
the beginning, at the sunrise of Jesus earthly life, wisemen from the east came
seeking Him.
Now,
near the sunset of His earthly life, wisemen from the west come seeking Him.
Those
words from verse 21 are inscribed inside pulpits of old, for only the preacher
to see.
Sir, we would see Jesus.
It
speaks for the people:
Sir,
we don’t want opinion, psychobabble or politics, we want to see JESUS.
23
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should
be glorified.
If
Jesus would’ve stopped right there, a riot might’ve broken out.
In
the minds of the masses, He was a Super Hero on Steroids. He raised a man from
the dead, and then topped it off with a perfect Messianic trifecta. Now, He says,
it’s time for Me to be glorified (exalted, praised, honored).
Hundreds
of thousands of Jewish worshippers are in Jerusalem, it’s the perfect time for
a revolt, to overthrow the Romans and take back the throne of David.
The
Roman soldiers hearing that, may have brandished their swords.
The
invisible enemy fighting the invisible war since Genesis 3:15, was certainly at
the ready.
Up
until now, Jesus repeatedly said, “My time has not yet come.” But now He says, “It’s
time.”
You probably could’ve heard a pin drop—especially
in the spirit realm.
But
what Jesus says next, has all their jaws dropping.
24
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
If
any soldiers were listening, they may have gotten that deer in the headlights
look. What in the world is He talking about? Whatever it is, doesn’t sound like
a call to arms. So, they could sheath their swords.
But
the spirit realm was an entirely different story. If the serpent was a rattler,
he’d be rattling.
Now
in the closing remarks of His public ministry, Jesus talks about a seed. More
accurately, a Seed. Even more to the point, The Seed; in the head crushing
curse on the serpent in Genesis 3:15.
Since
the beginning of time, murder after murder, slaughter after slaughter, from pharaoh
to herod, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of
Barachias, every attempt to kill the head crushing Seed, was to no avail. Now,
even if the snake wanted to stop it, he couldn’t, the fuse of fury was already
lit, and killing Him, wouldn’t put an end to His plan, but played straight into
His hand.
Murdering
Him, wasn’t stopping Him, but planting Him.
A
Seed!
The
Seed!
He came to His own, and His own received Him
not. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children
of God… John 1:11-12a
Let’s
pray,
Lord
Jesus, as You were preprayered and ready for the day, and time, when You said, “the
hour has come” we pray that we too, will be.
We
love You, forever.
Amen.
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