The Last Week: Do You Know Jesus?

1/9/23

John 12:12-15

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
    see, your king is coming,
    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

Last week I talked about Jesus having perfume poured on His feet and the things we can learn from Jesus, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Today, we look at what Jesus did the following day.

What is the greatest entrance you can think of? Maybe you saw your favorite artist come on stage that they command the stage. Or perhaps you attended a football game and bought into the hype of 70,000 fans cheering as the home team ran onto the field.

We have seen unique and amazing ways people or teams enter a stadium throughout the years, but their entrance differs from how Jesus entered Jerusalem a few days before He went to the cross. This was a planned entrance so Jesus could fulfill the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9.

Who was in attendance?

The people who just saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. They praised God for giving them a king, but they did not realize who Jesus was. Because Jesus was not who they thought He would be, they turned on Him a few days later. They did not try to stop His crucifixion.

We learn from these people that a commitment to Jesus based on the popular things He did fades quickly.

The disciples. The twelve who Jesus chose and trained to be His apostles did not understand Jesus either. They did not realize, yet, the prophecies Jesus was fulfilling.

The disciples, in this story, teach us that a desire to learn more about Jesus draws us closer to Him.

Do you know who Jesus is? The people failed to understand, and the disciples did not realize who He was at the moment.

Today, you have more information to understand who Jesus is. We have the full Word of God available. The people did not, nor did the disciples, have what you have to learn about Jesus.

Have you taken the time to know Jesus? Do you grasp who He is? Today, you can know Jesus on a personal level, and that starts with a personal relationship with Him.