Matthew uses 15 verses to cover the Triumphal Entry, Mark uses 11, Luke uses 16, ten on the standard story and then another six for his further comments. John takes just 8 verses. His account is the shortest but punchiest and he omits a lot of the detail the other Synoptic writers choose. But he copies elements of Luke’s account or picks up allusions from it. He includes the standard links to the Old Testament in the form of
“they kept shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He and praise to Him Who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel! [Ps. 118:26.]”
John 12:13
as it is written in the Scriptures,
“Do not fear, O Daughter of Zion! Look! Your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” [Zech. 9:9.]
John 12:15
In other words he includes the same standard Old Testament quotes to show us that all of this has been predicted. But notice that he adds the words “even the King of Israel”. He is following Luke in this as we will see tomorrow.
Then he includes the following – “His disciples did not understand and could not comprehend the meaning of these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified and exalted, they remembered that these things had been written about Him and had been done to Him.” Remember John’s theme about His time is not yet . . . is coming . . . and is coming and is now here. Take a sneak look ahead and look at John 12:23 Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory.” Something significant has happened in the space of a few short verses and now the time has come. John told us in John 11:40 “Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?””
What has just happened? Only everything that the Scriptures have been pointing to in terms of the moment of the revealing on the Son of God, the Messiah. The moment when all of Israel recognises the Messiah has come in the flesh. It didn’t happen at His birth. Only the Angels in the realms of glory sang about it and a few shepherds on the hillside around about noticed something was happening. It didn’t happen when He died on the cross. Only the Roman soldier could see that “truly this was a son of God”. But on this occasion “all Israel” (all of “the sons [and daughters] of God”) lined the streets and shouted “Hosana! Blessed is He, Who comes in the name of the Lord.” The very words that were reserved for Messiah.
Now John begins his GLORY theme. Now he says the time has come.
To understand this more we need to look into Luke in the next Gem. We will spend a few days understanding this concept of what has just happened to make John’s time theme come to fruition and the moment of the revealing of Messiah to climax. But something clearly has happened and now there is no more need for public ministry to take place. Now it is all to do with setting the face toward Jerusalem and the Cross. This is a major theme of all the gospels – viz Luke 9:51.
Notice too that it seems the Resurrection of Lazarus from the dead has sparked the response as the entry into Jerusalem, turning it into a Triumphal Entry. Notice how John sandwiches the triumphal entry with the Lazarus story by adding “The people therefore 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. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after him.” John 12:17-19
Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
Benjamin Franklin
He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Jim Elliot, missionary martyr at the hand of the Waorani in Ecuador.
I managed to get a good job working for a pool maintenance company, but the work was just too draining.