Sermon notes April 6th, 2025

Palm Sunday

John 12                                                      New King James Version

1  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead. 

2  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him. 

3  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

4   But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 

5   “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 

6   This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

7   But Jesus said, “Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. 

8  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”

9  Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 

10   But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 

11   because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

12   The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 

13   took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:

“Hosanna!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

The King of Israel!”

14   Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; 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 were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

17   Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 

18   For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 

19   The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!”

20   Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 

21   Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

• Philip, one of Jesus' apostles, had a Greek name, Philippos, meaning "lover of horses," and was likely a link to the Greek community, as evidenced by his role in interacting with Greek-speaking Jews.

22   Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

23   But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 

24   Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 

25   He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

26   If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

27   “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 

28   Father, glorify Your name.”                                                                   Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.”

29   Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.”

30   Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 

31   Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 

• The ruler of this world is Satan. In a very real sense, Satan was utterly defeated at Calvary. He thought he had succeeded in doing away with the Lord Jesus once for all. Instead, the Savior had provided a way of salvation for men, and at the same time had defeated Satan and all his hosts. The sentence has not yet been carried out on the devil, but his doom has been sealed. He is still going through the world carrying on his evil business, but it is just a matter of time before he will be cast into the lake of fire.

32   And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 

33   This He said, signifying by what death He would die.

34   The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

35   Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 

36   While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.

37   But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 

38   that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: “Lord, who has believed our report?                                                       And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

39   Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:

40   “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,                      Lest they should see with their eyes,                                                             Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,                                            So that I should heal them.”

41   These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.

42   Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 

43   for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

44   Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. 

45   And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 

46   I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 

47   And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 

48   He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 

49   For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 

50   And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

John 19:1-15                                                 New King James Version

1   So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 

2   And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 

3   Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.

4   Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

5   Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

6   Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

7   The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

8   Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 

9   and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

10   Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

11   Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

12   From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

13   When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 

14   Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

15   But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

Unfulfilled Expectations 

When the Sanhedrin brought Jesus before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, Pilate could not find any fault in Jesus, and he said so three times (Luke 23:4, 14–15, 22). Late in the trial, Pilate sought a way to free Jesus (John 19:12). It was a Passover festival custom that the governor release a prisoner to the people, so, in a ploy to appease the crowd of Jewish leaders who had gathered and to secure Jesus’ release, Pilate allowed them to choose between a convicted criminal named Barabbas and Jesus. Instead of choosing Jesus, as Pilate had hoped, the crowd chose Barabbas for release. Shocked that they would free a hardened criminal, Pilate asked, “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” (Mark 15:12). The crowd cried out, “Crucify him!” (verse 13).

It is well that Pilate was confused by the crowd’s reaction, for barely a week earlier the people of Jerusalem had welcomed Jesus into the city with the waving of palm branches and shouts of “Hosanna!” (Matthew 21:1–11). What Pilate may not have known was the extent to which the religious and political leaders hated and opposed Jesus. Over the course of Jesus’ ministry, His teachings had alienated and angered the Pharisees, the scribes, the Herodians, and the Sadducees. Not only did Jesus point out their extreme hypocrisy on many occasions (see Matthew 23; Mark 7:1–14; Luke 20:45–47), but He also claimed to be God, which was blasphemy to the unbelieving teachers of the law (see Mark 14:60–64). The religious leaders wanted to utterly destroy Jesus (Matthew 12:14; Mark 3:6). Only His death would satisfy them.

• In Jesus’ time, crucifixion was reserved for the worst of criminals. The torture a person endured on a cross would last for hours, and killing Jesus in this manner likely appealed to the religious leaders who hated Him so deeply. In an effort to hide their move against Jesus from His many supporters, the Jewish leaders arrested and tried Jesus in the middle of the night. When Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate—the only one with authority to order a crucifixion—it was still early in the morning (Matthew 27:1–2). 

When Pilate presented Jesus and Barabbas to the people, the chief priests whipped the crowd into a frenzy, encouraging them to call for Barabbas’s release (Mark 15:11). When Pilate asked what they wanted done to Jesus, the crowd, again influenced by the chief priests, shouted, “Crucify Him!” Pilate, the people-pleaser, gave them what they demanded. He had Jesus flogged and then turned Him over for crucifixion.

At the beginning of the week, there was a crowd in Jerusalem celebrating Jesus as the Messiah; by Friday, there was a crowd crying, “Crucify Him!” The striking change of the city’s heart naturally causes some perplexity. It’s good to remember that not everyone at the Triumphal Entry was celebrating the Lord. Most of the city was puzzled: “When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’” (Matthew 21:10), and the Jewish leaders were indignant (verse 15). Some of the same crowd who shouted, “Hosanna!” may also have been part of the crowd shouting “Crucify Him!” but we can’t be sure. If some people did join both crowds, it may be because they had grown disillusioned with Jesus when they discovered He was not going to set up the kingdom immediately—or perhaps they disliked Jesus’ insistence that they repent. Also, it’s quite possible that the crowd gathered before Pilate at that early hour had been assembled and suborned by the Jewish leaders.

• In the end, it wasn’t the crowd’s cries of “Crucify Him!” that put Jesus on the cross. Our sin did that. From the very beginning, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, the Lord had promised to send a Savior who would crush the reign of sin and death (Genesis 3:15). Throughout the ages God wove His plan to send a Savior, and that plan culminated in the person of Jesus Christ: God’s own Son who became the perfect God-man so He could take upon Himself the punishment for sin. Although wicked men were involved in Jesus’ death on the cross, His sacrifice was ultimately the will of God (Isaiah 53:10; John 10:18). The shedding of Jesus’ blood fulfilled God’s promise to mankind to provide a Savior and sealed the New Covenant (Luke 22:20). Jesus would then defeat the power of death and the grave by rising again three days later and ascending to His Father’s right hand in heaven.