Palm Sunday – April 10, 2022

Posted on Apr 08 2022

John 12 = Entry into Jerusalem
Bible Background: 1. We skipped over this in reading through John, so it would ‘fit’ the calendar today. We know John’s storyline is a bit different than in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Digging Deeper: 1. Recall that in John, the decision to arrest Jesus and do away with him happens after he raises Lazarus from the dead. Chapter 12 begins with Mary (sister of Lazarus) anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive ointment. Jesus comments “she bought it for the day of my burial”, a foreshadowing remark.

2. A large crowd of Jewish pilgrims gathers in Jerusalem for the Passover festival-now 6 days away. They hear that Jesus is coming, and they give him a royal welcome with palm branches! (Only John mentions actual ‘palms’!). They hail him as “the King of Israel” and they shout “Hosanna=save us!”

3. In John, Jesus doesn’t seem to need much help ‘doing’ things. He finds the donkey (rather than sending the disciples to find one.) Riding into town, John sees Jesus fulfilling a word from Zechariah 9:9, about “Behold…your king is coming!” John also notes that the disciples don’t yet understand it all.

4. The Pharisees (devout, Jewish laymen) are concerned that “the whole world has gone after (Jesus)”. Then what happens? Some Greek people show up asking to see Jesus! It’s true!

5. Then Jesus declares “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” and talks of a seed being planted in the soil…only if the seed ‘dies’ can it generate new life…and fulfill its purpose! Jesus is ready for this ‘hour’. In John, he does not agonize over it, in contrast to the other gospels where, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prays that there might be some other way!

6. In Matthew/Mark/Luke, the last week of Jesus’ life is marked by going into the Temple and driving out the merchants; teaching/debating with the religious leaders; and then getting ready for the Last Supper. In John, we go straight from the Palm Sunday entry to (in pages, at least) a very long last supper! Also, in John, the ‘cleansing of the Temple’ happened back in chapter 2, as one of the first ‘signs’ Jesus does.