Sabbath 4/16/16 Seventh Day Baptist Daytona Pastor Wray sermon “We Would Like To See JESUS” John 12:12-19
Imagine you are in Jerusalem 2000 years ago and it’s busy with large crowds of people who have come to celebrate Passover. Over 2 million people were involved in the Passover feast where 250 thousand lambs were sacrificed. In this mass of people, who were in a festive mood, word came that Jesus was coming to the city. All four gospels record the event of Jesus coming to Jerusalem. We should consider that this was very important. The crowds waved palm branches as Jesus came into the city on a donkey. The crowd may have been filled with people like ourselves.
AMEN
Imagine you are in Jerusalem 2000 years ago and it’s busy with large crowds of people who have come to celebrate Passover. Over 2 million people were involved in the Passover feast where 250 thousand lambs were sacrificed. In this mass of people, who were in a festive mood, word came that Jesus was coming to the city. All four gospels record the event of Jesus coming to Jerusalem. We should consider that this was very important. The crowds waved palm branches as Jesus came into the city on a donkey. The crowd may have been filled with people like ourselves.
- The Roman Soldiers: The crowd was excited over Jesus, so the soldiers had to keep the crowds in control. Nothing is recorded about the Roman viewpoint of Jesus that day. They had to make sure there wasn’t a riot so they may have been edgy. Then here comes Jesus on a donkey. The soldiers may have smiled, laughed when they saw Jesus on a donkey because it was not like what they did in Rome. When a Roman general came into the city, he would ride in a gold chariot with a big Roman triumphant parade and all that. Our Lord Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem was nothing like this. Today some people still laugh and make a joke about Jesus and the Christians who follow Him. They don’t believe in Jesus’ healing of the blind, deaf and lame. They think Christians are crazy to believe these stories and laugh at them.
- The Jews: These people heard about Lazarus who Jesus raised from the dead. They were here to see the show and not to see the Master. They were half sincere about God and just wanted to get in on the party and see Lazarus. They really wanted to get into the partying crowd. It was a social, festive atmosphere. Wherever Jesus was, there was action and they wanted to see the show, the party. They didn’t go to worship the King. This is like people who go to church today. They go to see who is singing and get some food. They are at church to get what they can and not there to see Jesus. This is why some congregations are becoming megachurches. This is because they have great concerts, an exciting atmosphere but if this is lacking then people don’t go to church. People want to see what they can have and get done for themselves. They ask “what can you do for me”? In the book of Isaiah, God said “these people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”. On the outside-look righteous, on the inside-wicked, corrupt.
- The Religious Leaders: They were in the crowd and saw the people following Jesus. These religious leaders were people who were always looking to be in the center of attention. They wanted to have all the praise of men. They didn’t like Jesus taking the focus away from them. This was their political position and they rejected Christ for social and political gain. These church leaders were only interested in the prestige of their leadership. They would oppose anyone who took away any power, prestige or attention off of them. God does NOT like leaders who do this. They praise themselves and don’t take care of the flock in the church. They preach “prosperity” gospel to give the people the sermons that they want to hear. They preach what crowds want to hear and not what the Bible says. They want people to follow them and not God. They point to themselves and not to Jesus. They are dogs with mighty appetites and never have enough! These are bad shepherds!
- The Greeks vs. 21: They wanted to see Jesus and all of us should say what they said. “We want to see Jesus”. When we see Jesus and worship Him, God is glorified.
AMEN