Good evening. We're going to be continuing our study of John's gospel. So if you want to go ahead and start looking at John chapter 12. If you don't have a Bible with you, it is in your worship guide. We also have some Bibles available in the welcome room.
Jeffrey Heine:And then this growing stack of Bibles that people keep leaving here. So if that's you, if you're just now realizing that you don't have a Bible, and you should, it might might be over there. My name is Jeff, by the way. If we haven't met before, I'd love to, to get a chance to meet you after the service. It's a privilege to open up God's word with you this evening.
Jeffrey Heine:We have been looking at Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the grave. We looked last week at the worship of Jesus by Lazarus's sister. And so now we come together to this point in John's gospel, which is, usually a text that is read at the end of Lent. And here we are the very first Sunday. But, we're just going to get a jump on things, if that sounds good to you.
Jeffrey Heine:John chapter 12. I'll begin reading in verse 12. Let us listen carefully for this is God's word. The next day, the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, Hosanna.
Jeffrey Heine:Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 'Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.' 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. 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. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
Jeffrey Heine:So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let's pray together.
Jeffrey Heine:Almighty God, only you can save us. Only you can bring grace and rest to our souls today. Help us to trust in Christ, our king tonight. Help us to obey him from our hearts. Help us to hear your truth and respond with all that we are.
Jeffrey Heine:Speak, oh, God. Your servants are listening. We pray these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. First off, happy Valentine's Day.
Jeffrey Heine:I actually think that it's quite fitting that we are reading about the triumphal entry on Valentine's Day. Because there might not be any other day in our calendar with more of an opportunity for unmet expectations. You can be married, single, dating, and you all have an opportunity today for disappointment. That's the magic of Valentine's Day. A little over 10 years ago, I proposed to my wife, Jess, the week before Valentine's Day.
Jeffrey Heine:I did that because I wanted the timing, to be a surprise. And so, a few days before Valentine's Day, I proposed I had never been more creative or romantic or spent more money on like, it just it was actually something that I had planned on writing out for years to come. Like, that was my romantic moment.
Connor Coskery:But
Jeffrey Heine:the very next week, Valentine's Day comes, and there's this cultural expectation that you do romantic things on Valentine's Day. And so I'll be honest, I scrambled. I scrambled trying to come up with something. I had no more money or creativity or or anything left, but but I was trying my best to be romantic. I try to get dinner reservations.
Jeffrey Heine:It's difficult on Valentine's Day to to make that happen. You call and people just laugh at you. If you're wondering tonight, should you have made a reservation? Yes. You should have made a reservation by now.
Jeffrey Heine:You're not you're just gonna be standing in line with the other people that didn't call ahead. It's gonna be anyway, next year, January 14th, set a reminder. Just go ahead and set it now. A month ahead, make the reservation. I was scrambling around.
Jeffrey Heine:I tried to come up with a creative gift, which means free. I tried to, you know, like, have to make something. It was rough. The picture that kind of captures the whole day is me running into the Krogers in Nashville, going up to the flower section, and there being 1 battered rose left in the whole display case. It was the Charlie Brown of Valentine's roses.
Jeffrey Heine:It just looked so sad. And as I stood there looking at it, another guy ran up next to me. And we just kind of looked at each other, owning our shame and how pathetic we were. And then we both had a realization at the same time. The only thing worse than that beat up rose is no rose.
Jeffrey Heine:And so I reached out for it because I was there first, and I just saw him kind of sink a little bit. And as I walked to the parking lot, I knew that no matter how bad my Valentine's Day was going to be, his would be worse. Expectations are a dangerous thing. Expectations determine how we respond to life. They help shape what we think and how we act and how we feel.
Jeffrey Heine:And if we have unmet expectations, we're going to be disappointed. Unmet expectations always lead to disappointment. And in John 12, we see huge expectations at play. Expectations of the Messiah. Expectations of what the king of Israel would come and do.
Jeffrey Heine:So what I'd like for us to do with our time together in God's word tonight is to look at the scene, to really look at what's going on here in John 12, to consider the the images and the symbolism that's at play. And then I want us to move and consider this lesson in expectation that John offers us. So first off, the scene. All 4 gospels give us the story of Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus is heading toward Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.
Jeffrey Heine:You'll recall that from when we studied Exodus together. Celebration of God sparing the firstborn of the faithful Jews as they were in Egypt. A time to remember God calling them to freedom. And so Jesus was going for this celebration. That's why everyone was making their way into the city of Jerusalem.
Jeffrey Heine:And a crowd that had been following Jesus for some time, some devoted disciples, others who just kind of got caught up in he raised this Lazarus guy from the dead. They're all celebrating that. They're all wondering who this rabbi is. They start making their way to Jerusalem together. And in Jerusalem, there awaits these Pharisees, these leaders, these rulers, who for some time now, as we have seen in John's gospel, have been seeking to execute Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:They wanted him dead. They even wanted Lazarus dead. They just wanted to wipe out everybody who was gonna keep this whole thing about Jesus going. And so they start to make their way from a place called Bethany to Jerusalem, about a 2 mile journey. That's like from where we are now to Saint Vincent's.
Jeffrey Heine:Not not a terribly long distance. Many of you ran quite further than that today and kept me from getting places I needed to go. So they start making their way to Jerusalem. And as they reach the Mount of Olives, just outside of the city, Jesus tells his disciples, he tells 2 of them to go into the village and find a donkey. And they find a donkey that's tied up and they bring the animal to him, and Jesus sits upon it.
Jeffrey Heine:And he begins to ride into the city. The people, they start to take their cloaks and place them on the ground, cut branches, palm branches. They would wave them in the air and place them before the donkey. And the crowd went before Jesus and and around him and behind him as they were moving cloaks and branches, and and the whole time shouting. Shouting cries.
Jeffrey Heine:Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel. Hosanna to the son of David. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David.
Jeffrey Heine:Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest. This is a procession for royalty. This is a royal welcome. And the people knew what they were doing.
Jeffrey Heine:They were calling out for everyone to hear that the King, the Messiah, the one who is coming with the kingdom of David to take the throne of David, who is coming in the very name of Yahweh, is here. And the Pharisees despised this celebration. They despised that Jesus and his followers still wanted to connect this rabbi to Yahweh, that he was sent of God, that he was sent by the Father, bearing the name I am. They despised that Jesus was being received as king, king of Israel. And so we see recorded in Luke 19 that the Pharisees tell Jesus to tell his disciples and those in the crowd following him to stop saying these things.
Jeffrey Heine:Stop these people from from calling you king. Stop these people from saying that you're the one who is coming in the line of David to take on the throne of David. Stop saying these things. And it is in this context that Jesus responds, oh, if these people stop, the very rocks will cry out. That is to say that this truth, the truth that these people, this crowd is calling out, this truth that they are calling and crying out.
Jeffrey Heine:All creation longs to declare this truth. And if I quiet them, the rocks will cry out. So Jesus is coming into Jerusalem as the true and humble King, and the people are overwhelmed in celebration and overwhelmed with derision. Overwhelmed in celebration of the king and overwhelmed with the desire to kill him. There are a number of symbols in this story that help us understand the scene better.
Jeffrey Heine:For 1, kings often entered into cities on a donkey. This is not altogether unique. But what is unique is that a rabbi, the son of a poor carpenter, would be welcomed by such a large company of people with such praise and fanfare riding on the donkey. The Pharisees are right. This is terribly inappropriate for some rabbi to do this, unless he's the king.
Jeffrey Heine:The donkey is also symbolic. It was used when the king would enter into a city, not as a conqueror or a victor, but when he would enter in peacefully and humbly. Next, the palm branches and the cloaks, they they are more symbols of a warm welcome for a visiting king. The people were welcoming a king, and in his presence, they were welcoming his power and his authority of the kingdom. And the branches were this humble recognition by these people that Jesus is the Messiah.
Jeffrey Heine:And lastly, the shouts of praise. Shouts that he is Israel's king, shouts that he is the one expected in David's royal line to take David's throne. Shouts asking for salvation. That expectation that Jesus would be the one to bring that salvation. And all of this is going on in the streets of Jerusalem, the epicenter of Jewish life and worship.
Jeffrey Heine:And this was occurring at a time when the city was at its most vibrant inactivity. This is like New Year's Eve Times Square. And in all of that activity, attention is being paid to a rabbi on a donkey. All of this is happening. There's so much going on in this story.
Jeffrey Heine:There are a number of scenes in John's gospel that we have looked at together over the last couple of months, where something is going on, something is happening in a scene, and yet something further is also happening. And what I mean by that, that there is a deeper meaning than what we see at first glance. Examples would be, Jesus weeping, tears of grief over Lazarus, his friend, who had died. There were tears of grief and tears of grief over sin and death. Also, Caiaphas and his prophecy, it was a plan, a wicked plan to kill Jesus, and it was a prophecy of salvation accomplished, the one for the many.
Jeffrey Heine:Mary's adoration of Jesus with the oil, it was grateful praise and a foreshadowing of his burial. Lazarus, being raised from the dead. It was a great miracle, and it points to the resurrection of Jesus. There's something further, something more in each of these scenes. It's like the saying, this is about that.
Jeffrey Heine:This, in many ways, is even more so about that. Are you tracking with me? So, just like those scenes, the royal procession that the crowd was offering, this celebration of the long promised son of David, it was the entry and celebration of the king of Israel, and it was the entry of a humble and crucified king, whose suffering that very week would bring about the salvation they are longing for. The king was entering the city not to conquer Rome, but to conquer sin and death. And what the people expected of the Messiah was a mixture of right and wrong expectations.
Jeffrey Heine:Their expectations shaped how they received Jesus and what they wanted from him, and what they thought he should do. The people expected the kingdom to come immediately. We read that in Luke 19. They thought that the kingdom would come immediately. And for Jesus' role as the Messiah would be one of political and social change.
Jeffrey Heine:The people expected Jesus to take on the rule of the Romans so they would not suffer under a foreign power any longer, and they expected a revolution. This isn't altogether unheard of. There were many kings of Israel who took on foreign superpowers, and so that's what they thought this messiah would do. But that is not what the messiah was coming into Jerusalem to accomplish. They were right to welcome the true king, but they did not understand what he was there to do, or how their cries of hosanna in less than a week, would turn into the shouts of crucify him.
Jeffrey Heine:They didn't understand how Hosanna, save us now had to be answered in his blood. Peace in heaven was coming, but it would come at a great sacrifice. That's not what they expected. And their unmet expectations become tremendous disappointment that week, where they are welcoming him into the city. They will join in the cries of crucify him.
Jeffrey Heine:And as they see him beaten up, as they see him bruised and bleeding, they walk home disappointed. This was not the messiah that they had expected. So now, hear the lessons in expectations that I think that we can we can see here in John chapter 12. Four things. First, what we think we need most orders our expectations.
Jeffrey Heine:What we think we need most orders our expectations. The people thought they needed to be saved from Rome, so they expected the Messiah to do that. The people thought they needed a political uprising, so they expected the messiah to do that. The people thought that they needed a return to prosperity, so they expected the Messiah to do that. They thought that they needed a king to bring power back to Israel, and so they expected the messiah to do that.
Jeffrey Heine:What they thought they needed most became what they expected most from the Messiah. So the question comes to us, what do you think you need In your life, where you are right now, the season of life that you are in, the context that you are in, the community that you are in, what do you think you need most right now? It matters how you answer that question, because what you think you need most will order your expectations. And as I said earlier, what we expect determines how we respond to life, how we act, think, and feel. And one way to diagnose our expectations, if you're having a hard time thinking about expectations and and your needs, one way to diagnose these things is to follow our disappointments.
Jeffrey Heine:That's the second lesson. Our disappointments help us know what we expect. Some of us today, here together, are disappointed in God because we expected things we haven't received. We expected to be happier. We expected to have better health, more money, a better job.
Jeffrey Heine:We expected that our families would fulfill us perfectly. We expected that church wouldn't be messy and complicated, that faith wouldn't be messy and complicated. Some of us are disappointed with God because we thought that if we kept all the rules, that things were gonna be better than they are. Some of you fought hard to make good decisions in your dating life. You fought hard for purity in your relationship.
Jeffrey Heine:And now that you're married, it's not easy, and you're disappointed that God didn't keep his end of the bargain. And some of you are disappointed because you thought that you would be married by now. Or you thought you would at least be seeing somebody seriously by now. Perhaps you thought that you would have children by now. Or if you have children, you thought that they would listen to you and respect you.
Jeffrey Heine:Tracing our disappointments with God can lead us to what we think we need most and what our expectations are. Because our perceived needs, what we think we need most, can become demands and deals with God that he never agreed to. He never signed off on those things, and yet we blame him when they don't come. What do you think you need? How do those needs shape what you are expecting right now?
Jeffrey Heine:Number 3, God transforms what we think we need. That's it's it's what Paul says to the Romans, that that we would we would be transformed in our thinking, That God is not simply interested in changing what we think about, but how we think. The very way in which we look at the world and we look at our needs. God transforms what we think we need most. We need God to calibrate, to change, and reorder our expectations and our needs.
Jeffrey Heine:And by his Spirit and his Word, he does that. Sometimes it's painful. Sometimes he has to show us the things that we thought were going to fulfill us, or he withholds the things that we think would fulfill us as a way of teaching us what we truly need. And that can be difficult. And some of you are walking in that struggle and that pain right now, of either getting what you want or being denied what you want, in order that God would reorder your needs and expectations.
Jeffrey Heine:So what does the Bible say that we need? What do we need most? First, salvation from death. Reconciliation with our creator. Atonement for our sins, redemption from the master sin, and re creation.
Jeffrey Heine:This this is what we need most. And no mere earthly king could do this. No political revolution could accomplish these ultimate needs. For that, we need a crucified king. The chief problem with the expectations of the crowd that was following Jesus from Bethany into Jerusalem was not that they had unrealistic expectations, it's that they had realistic expectations.
Jeffrey Heine:They wanted temporal, earthly things. Power, health, food, freedom. They wanted salvation for the body, but not for the soul. They wanted an earthly, realistic king who would fulfill these earthly and realistic expectations. But Jesus is not a mere earthly king.
Jeffrey Heine:In 6 chapters in John's gospel, 6 chapters from now, we will hear Jesus stand before the ruling authority of his day and say, my kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is from heaven. His throne is divine and eternal. The problem with the crowds is the same problem for many of us following Jesus today. Our expectations are not unrealistic enough.
Jeffrey Heine:We want earthly answers to earthly things. We don't set our minds on the things that are above, as Paul calls the Colossians in chapter 3 of his letter to the Colossians, where he says, if then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on the things on earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. That doesn't mean that we neglect the earthly things or have to pretend that they aren't real or don't matter. By no means.
Jeffrey Heine:In fact, it's setting our mind on the things that are above that helps us to properly engage the things that are around us in the day to day life. It puts them in their proper place. It orders them rightly that we can tend to those things and care about them. We're expecting too little of our king. I remember last summer, we did a theological talk back with Mark Ginnilette, one of my favorite teachers, and and he said, whatever your view of Jesus is, it's not big enough.
Jeffrey Heine:I come back to that a lot. It's not big enough. You expect too small. We don't have a small king. And I have some really good news for you.
Jeffrey Heine:This this number 4 here, the the last one that we will look at. The good news is this. And I really needed to be reminded of this because as I as I spent time in this passage and kind of work to this point, I was feeling this heaviness of what I expect and how I'm disappointed with God, how my needs are out of order. And then there's this lesson. God is not beholden to our expectations.
Jeffrey Heine:Our expectations do not dictate what God does. The crowds did not get to dictate what Jesus was coming into Jerusalem to accomplish. My poor understanding of my needs, my ill conceived expectations, my weak view of Christ's kingship and his kingdom do not thwart or in any way hinder what God is accomplishing. It's not up to me, and it's not up to you. That's liberating.
Jeffrey Heine:We can get so wrapped up in our own thoughts and feelings and forget that God is accomplishing what God has set out to accomplish, what he has decreed before the foundations of the earth. And there's comfort in that. The crowd didn't get to say, we really like all these healings. We we've got this really nice storefront we're going to set up for you in Jerusalem. We're just going to file them in and out.
Jeffrey Heine:It's going to be like a dock in the box for healing. Everyone leaves. They didn't get to do that. They didn't get to say, no, we're gonna we're gonna sit down. We're gonna get some powerful people together.
Jeffrey Heine:We're gonna have a very nice breakfast, and and we're gonna talk through how you need to be our political revolutionary. They didn't get to do that. No. What Jesus was coming to do, Jesus came to do. He came to do the will of the Father, and nothing would hinder that.
Jeffrey Heine:What that does hinder, for us, is our attention and our joy to really behold our King, rightly, to expect of him greatly and deeply, to meet the very deepest needs of our souls? What are you expecting from Jesus right now? What are you expecting of your King? There aren't any, existing writings of Saint Valentine. Don't don't bother yourself this evening googling around for that.
Jeffrey Heine:There there aren't any. Nothing exists written by Saint Valentine. So I'm gonna pivot to a different saint. Saint Augustine, who said, the soul is restless until it rests in thee. The soul is restless until it rests in thee.
Jeffrey Heine:That our expectations and our perception of our needs and what we need most in our life and our disappointments, all of that restlessness, it will not find a home until our souls are resting in Christ our King. And as he orders our expectations, as he transforms what we think we need most, as he leads us as a shepherd king who cares, who loves, who shows great compassion. There and there alone do we find rest for our souls. Let us go to our King in prayer together. Jesus, the increase of your kingdom and of peace will never find an end.
Jeffrey Heine:Help each one of us tonight to think honestly about what we believe we need, what our expectations are, and what disappointments we might harbor against you. And by your Spirit and the truth that you have given us in your scriptures, reorder our thinking and our understanding, that we might serve you, our King, with our whole heart, and that we would declare your kingship in all that we do. God, we ask that you would bless this time as we respond, that we might trust and hope in Christ alone. We pray these things in His name. Amen.