John 12: 28-36

(John 12: 28-36)

Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.  Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.  This he said, signifying what death he should die.  The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?  Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.  While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.

 

A large crowd came to see off Jesus as he entered Jerusalem. Then, waving palm branches in his hand, he shouted of joy. 『Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. 』 Each of them shouted Hosanna. Hosanna has the meaning of “Save me”. The Israelites wanted to be liberated from Roman rule, sought a king to fulfill their longings, and cried out for political freedom. Therefore, the hero they wanted and waited for was the one who would sit on the throne of Israel and rule them and deliver them from Rome, and Jesus they saw was the most suitable person for this.

Among the miracles of the Lord who fed five thousand people and raised Lazarus from the tomb, what they wanted was the powerful power of God, like magic to free them. The heroes of this age who can use God's power at will, that is the image of Jesus they were looking at. Therefore, the Israelites and disciples did not understand at the time what it meant when Jesus entered the ass on a donkey.

But regardless of the heroes they wanted, Jesus was waiting for the last Passover on earth. On the occasion of the Passover, a feast commemorating the use of the blood of the Lamb on the doorposts to preserve the life of the firstborn before Israel escaped from Egypt in the days of Moses, the Lord was destined to become the Lamb of the Passover soon. I knew it. Already six days before the Passover, the Lord had finished preparing for the funeral by washing her feet by breaking the perfume alabaster at Bethany.

However, the people viewed Jesus as the longevity who would advance toward the enemy and the hero of war who would save them. Therefore, they sang a song of victory while greeting the king of victory, waving palm branches and shouting cheers. 『The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. 』


Jesus who raised Lazarus. Jesus fed 5,000 people. The miracle they saw and heard was to remind them of the appearance of a powerful general holding the right hand of God as if entering on a battle horse. They looked at a hero who possessed a heavenly sword that would at once destroy the Roman soldiers who were harassing and hardening them with the power of God.

Jesus understood the heroes they wanted. Nevertheless, he was focusing everything on God's will for himself, his mission on earth. Therefore, Jesus was not even interested in the seat of the throne that the Israelites longed for, and he was not shaken at all by their longings, burning with nationalism. So, Jesus entered in the form of a lamb on a donkey. And the Gospel of John mentions that the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-10 is fulfilled according to God's will of entering on a donkey.『 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. 』

 

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