John 12:12-19                                                                                                                                  ¹² “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel.” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷ The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Over the past ten weeks, I have been preaching a series of sermons on Basic Bible Doctrines. This coming Sunday, as the Lord allows, I will preach the fourth of seven sermons on the subject of Christology entitled, Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Israel. This is, of course, Palm Sunday. So, I will be focusing on the Messiahship of Jesus.

The word “Messiah” means the “Anointed One.” It is the same as the New Testament word, “Christ.” Jesus fulfilled dozens of prophecies of the coming Messiah. In fact, you will have a list of 47 of them that Jesus fulfilled in His lifetime.

Another happy and sure thought is that since Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, HE will also fulfill the remaining prophecies of the Messiah including the fact that He will return to the Mount of Olives and establish a literal 1,000 year Kingdom on earth.

There are four specific themes taken from these verses that I want to apply to our lives in this sermon:

Jesus presents Himself to Israel as their Messiah on the week of Passover – exactly at the right time. This is the time that the Jews celebrate the exodus from Egypt and looked forward to the coming of the Pascal Lamb, Who would take away their sins.

He came to them, but they rejected Him five days later!

At first, the people responded to His arrival as they should have. They welcomed, worshiped, and celebrated Him. It is sad that they did not mean it and that they finally rejected Him when He did not do what they wanted.

Jesus came as the King of Peace. It is easy to overlook the importance of peace. We think about holiness, righteousness, justice, and deliverance; but, peace is a gift of God that cannot be underestimated.

It was true then, and it is still true today, that many people only want to follow Jesus when He provides them what they want. They want to see miracles and they want to be taken care of. One of the reasons this godless “Health, Wealth, and Prosperity” word-faith teaching is having such a wide impact on people is this very thing.

Jesus did not come primarily to do something for us or to give something to us. (That does happen, but it is not the primary reason He came.) Jesus came to glorify His Father and to accomplish His holy will.

Finally, we will see again that unsaved religious people hate Jesus and really want Him out of their lives and out of their way.

Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah of Israel. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He came to die for His people and He will return to set up His Kingdom.

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. It is all about Jesus.

I hope to see you Sunday with a smile on your face, your Bible in your hand, and your family and friends by your side!