Title: Jesus Entered as the Passover Lamb
One day, a father came to visit his son's university. The son greeted his father with several friends. However, his father's appearance was very shabby. Literally, he was a typical country man, dressed in shabby clothes. Then a friend asked. “Who is this?” At that time, the son was bewildered and replied, “You are a village man from the countryside.”
When his father heard the story, he was puzzled. At this tragic sight, my father shed tears on the spot. The son's ignorance and bravado, who could not call his father his father, nailed his father's heart. That's right. Human ignorance and bravado failed to call God our Father. They did not recognize Jesus Christ, whom Heavenly Father sent as a sign of love to this earth. In particular, the Jews thought that Jesus was too humble to protect their self-esteem. Such a humble person thought they could not take responsibility for them. Jesus appeared in humble form. He wasn't a glamorous conqueror, and he didn't come like that.
1. Background of the text
John 12:1 begins with the story six days before the Passover. There was an incident where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in Bethany six days before the Passover. What we are going to look at today is what happened the day after that event (12:12). So, 5 days before the Passover, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.
Verse 12 begins with “The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.” The festival referred to here is the Passover. At that Passover, gifts to God are presented centering on the temple in Jerusalem. So, for the feast of the Passover, many people gathered in Jerusalem, where the temple is located.
Here we need to look at the Jewish view of salvation. The Jews were proud to live near the temple of Jerusalem. I even thought it was salvation. And during the festival, all the Jews who were scattered in other regions thought that salvation was to visit Jerusalem and participate in the festival.
So they go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem during the festival. They said that salvation is only possible through a pilgrimage to the holy city of Jerusalem. In this sense, we should no longer use the word pilgrimage. That term raises a problem with the view of salvation. It should be just a local excursion or tourism.
The problem, however, is that, in order to keep the feast of Pentecost on the 50th day after the 49th day after the Passover feast, a holy city was built in Jerusalem during the Passover. If you attend the Passover and wait about 50 days, you are participating in two feasts. Then they thought that their salvation would be more certain. So, especially during the Passover feast, many people began to gather.
Jesus entered Jerusalem during the Passover feast. He entered on a donkey. Did Jesus come to Jerusalem to participate in the feasts like other Jews in order to be saved? no. The purpose of coming to Jerusalem itself is different. The key to today's message is to look at how they are different.
2. Jesus came as the Passover Lamb.
In the Old Testament there is a saying: Zechariah 9:9. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your King comes to you, just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, the foal of a donkey, the foal of a donkey.”
Through the prophet Zechariah, the coming Son of God is said to be “just and having salvation, humble and riding on the colt of a donkey.” According to these words, Jesus is entering Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb on a donkey humbly for the sake of God's justice and salvation.
So, in John 12, John sees Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. Jesus, who saw that appearance and fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament, is said to be the Messiah, that is, the King who came for God's justice and salvation. The Messiah is the expression of the Old Testament, and Christ is the expression of the New Testament.
How is the Messiah the King described in the Old Testament? It is described as the Passover Lamb. The coming Messiah is the Passover Lamb and is speaking of God's “righteousness”, “salvation” and “humility”. This was the prophecy of the prophet Zechariah. The text we are going to examine today introduces Jesus who came according to this prophecy. Jesus is introduced as the Passover Lamb. Jesus, who became the Lamb, is described as the One who accomplishes God's justice and salvation by sacrificing to God.
Jesus did not enter Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover like the Jews did. The Jews did not keep the Passover, but had to believe in Jesus, who came as the fulfillment of the Passover. The fact that so many people entered Jerusalem for the Passover festival means that they do not believe in Jesus yet. God's salvation is not achieved by keeping the Passover, but is possible through faith in Jesus.
When building an apartment, first build a model house. Through the model house, you can see the original appearance of the apartment you are going to build. When this apartment is built, the model house will be demolished. The model house has now been absorbed and incorporated into the present apartment.
Likewise, the Passover of the Old Testament corresponds to the model house. The true form that the Passover wants to show is Jesus. If Jesus had come, we would no longer keep the Passover. The meaning of the Passover feast is now absorbed and incorporated into Jesus. During the Jewish festival, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to make it known that He was the Passover Lamb for God's justice and salvation.
3. Jesus came as a humble king riding on a donkey.
Like Moses, the Jews want a leader who rescued their people from oppression in Egypt for 430 years. So, referring to Jesus, he shouts, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel” (verse 13). The Messiah expected by the Jewish crowd was the one with the power to overthrow the Roman government by force. They expected Jesus to be the Messiah. So we shouted “Hosanna!” (Save us).
The Jews thought that if Jesus was the King and the Messiah, he should be able to do the same thing as Moses. So they did not know the intention of Jesus who came on a donkey. Even the disciples did not know. However, it is said that it was only known after Jesus was glorified (verse 16).
So, what did Jesus enter on a donkey? It is that Jesus was not the King who came with the power to conquer the world. At that time, donkeys were classified as noble animals because they carried people's burdens. They would also enter cities on stallions when conquerors asserted their authority. But Jesus came riding on a colt. Jesus is clearly the one the Old Testament prophesied. Another meaning is that Jesus did not come as a conqueror of such power, nor as such a grand and splendid king who rules the world by force. He only revealed that he has come as a king of peace and a humble king.
Jesus came as the Prince of Peace. He came as a humble king. He came to bring reconciliation between God and us. All of our problems stem from our separation from God. That disconnection and destruction destroys our lives. makes me anxious. It makes me sad. But Jesus made a good relationship between God and us. So we can have a good relationship with that God.
The cause of all problems appears when our relationship with God is not ideal. If we have a good relationship with God, our lives will change. There will be fruits of good faith.
I hope that you will be able to see what the fruits of my faith life are. If the fruit of the flesh, bad fruit, is being produced, it is evidence that the relationship with God is breaking down. We must repent and pray for the restoration of normal relationships through the cross of Jesus Christ again.
4. There were many kinds of people around Jesus.
Among the crowds who followed Jesus, there were those who truly believed in Jesus. There were also bystanders. There were people who misunderstood Jesus and followed Him. There were also the Pharisees who actively rejected Jesus. At that time, they enjoyed religious privileges. They saw Jesus with a large crowd. As the number of people who believed and followed him increased, they feared that their vested rights would be violated (verse 19).
In the parable of the fishing nets in Matthew 13:47-50, Jesus said that there are all kinds of fish in the nets, but he will judge all kinds of people in the last days as if they were taken to land and sorted out. Those who are showing various reactions around Jesus now will be classified.
Those who do not believe in Jesus or who have misunderstood must repent immediately. Ignorance of not knowing before God cannot be an excuse at all. How are we reacting now?
Looking at our lives and the reactions of our faith life, I am afraid that we do not look like those who believe in Jesus at all. still fighting It still reveals and exposes the shame and wounds of the opponent. I envy you. Still not praying. Are they really believers in Jesus? no. We now live in a world where wheat and ghee coexist. Am I wheat or tares? Are the reactions of wheat appearing in my appearance?
invitation to the word
What does these words have to do with me today? If you think of it as a distant story that has nothing to do with me, there will be no change for me. I hope you can diagnose the cause of the problem while meditating on whether the fruits of my religious life are a response to my faith.