with you this morning. If you have your Bibles, we're going to turn to John 12. John 12. We're going to be looking at verses 12 through 19. This is a fairly familiar, at least part of the gospel narrative, this is fairly familiar for us this morning. widely known as the triumphal entry as Jesus enters into Jerusalem. John 12, verses 12-19. Let's just go ahead and read the text and then we will make our comments. It says, "'On the next day, much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 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. And Jesus, when He had found a young ass, sat thereon as it is written, Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt. These things understood not His disciples at the first, but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of Him and that He had done these things unto Him. The people, therefore, that was with Him when He called Lazarus out of the grave and raised him from the dead bear 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 you how you prevail nothing. Behold, the world is gone after him. And so just a reminder, we've just come out of John chapter 11. This is where Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus. He raised him from the dead. When we get into John chapter 12, this is six days before the Passover. Jesus goes to this supper where Lazarus was, and the Pharisees hear about this, and their desire is not only to kill Jesus, but to kill Lazarus so that they could stop the spread of Jesus' fame or at least calm down the people who are really starstruck by Jesus, and they're going to Him. John says they are believing in Him, and the Pharisees want to put a stop to that. And then it says at the beginning of the text we read this morning, on the next day. So that would be five days before the Passover. So we're getting close to the crucifixion day here. So on the next day, Much people were come to the feast when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So a lot of people were flocking into Jerusalem. This was the time of the Passover. There would be lots of people who did not live in Jerusalem who would move into that city. it's estimated that the population of Jerusalem would more than double during the time of the Passover. And number estimates vary a lot, and so we don't know exactly how many, but we know the population would double, if not more than double, during that week. So, just to say, lots of people coming in, they heard about Jesus being there, and they all flock to see Him. Now, anytime we look at a passage, particularly a passage that's familiar to us, it can be a bit of a challenge to try to organize that and to really try to put it where it belongs, explain how it belongs. What is it that's going on as Jesus rides this donkey into Jerusalem? We say, well, that's easy. That's the triumphal entry. True enough, I mean, that's what it is. I don't know how triumphal it was really, but that's what it is. We know the details of the story. But the real question that we really want to ask is, as far as the text is concerned, what in the world is actually going on here? And I think the answer to that is that really, as opposed to John 6, where Jesus realizes in verse 15, He perceives that the people who were around would take Him and make Him their King, and so He departs. And then we find other times in the Gospel of John and the other Gospels where Jesus does something and people begin to believe and He says, just keep that quiet. Don't go tell anybody about that. Well, in contrast to that, as Jesus rides into Jerusalem, the way that He rides in, this is really a public declaration of who He is. Okay, so the big question, I think, that could help us think through this the way that it ought to be thought through as far as the way it's presented in the Gospels, is just this question. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? That's what the fuss is all about. The Pharisees are upset because of the way some people are answering the question, who is Jesus? The people are flocking to where He is because of their answer to the question, who is this man? The disciples are walking with Jesus and they're seeing some things unfold and they're not really understanding all of it, but they're figuring it out too. Who is this man? And so I want to look at this morning really four answers to the question, who is Jesus that we get from this passage? Now, it's it's worth noting that this again, triumphal entry, that's what it's known as. It's not really the best title for it, but that's what you'll know it for. This is one of the few instances that's that's recorded in all four Gospels. You find it in all four, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And each of those give, you know, different details and different nuances as to how this unfolded because they emphasize different points or different meanings that were coming out of this. We're going to, for the most part, Keep it in John 12, but we will look at Mark for our first point. So the question again is who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? Well, answer number one to that. Is that he is? The face of the glory of God. Who is Jesus? He's the face of the glory of God. Now, I'm going to tell you how we're getting there from this passage, but you're going to have to wait a second. What we have going on as Jesus mounts this donkey to ride into Jerusalem is that the glory of God is entering into Jerusalem. It really is a magnificent scene when we think about it. the glory of God is entering into Jerusalem. Now, you'll remember back in Exodus 40, whenever Moses had built the tabernacle, And it had been done just exactly the way God said that it needed to be done. And then when they finished, the glory of God came and filled that tabernacle in a visible way. And it was a way that the people could not miss. I mean, it was a bright light. They saw it. Later on, in 2 Chronicles, after Solomon built the temple, and he dedicated the temple, the glory of God entered into that temple, again, and it entered into it in this bright light. By the way, that's 2 Chronicles 5, 13-14. And it filled it, and the effect was such that the priest could not enter into the temple. they couldn't miss it. And so really, the whole identity of the Jewish people was based on this fact that the glory of God dwells in our midst, in the temple. The temple was a central aspect of not only political Jewish life, but obviously the religious Jewish life and just their identity as a people. The Shekinah glory dwelt in the Holy of Holies there in the temple. But as the Old Testament continues to unfold, what we find, if you turn to the book of Ezekiel, I'm just going to give you a couple of references here. In Ezekiel 10, Ezekiel is writing around the same time as Daniel. Ezekiel lived in the same time frame that Daniel lived in. He lived through the exile and even before that. And so by the time he was writing, Israel, the northern kingdom, had already been destroyed by Assyria. And that left Judah, the southern kingdom. And they were being ruled by one wicked king after the next. And in Ezekiel's day, as he's writing in Ezekiel 10, verse 18, he says, the glory of the Lord departed off the threshold of the house and stood over the cherubims." Now, here's what he's saying, if you were to go back. In Ezekiel 10, the glory that filled the temple in 2 Chronicles 5 is departing, and it's leaving the temple. Why? because God's people had forsaken God a long time ago. Then you look in Ezekiel 11, and what you find in verse 23 is that the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city and stood upon the mountains, which is on the east side of the city. And again, we're making bigger points here. I don't care about you getting into all the details here, but here's the progression. In Exodus 40, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And then Solomon built the temple, and in 2 Chronicles, the glory of the Lord filled that temple. And then in redemptive history, lots of years went by and lots of wicked kings ruled and reigned, and lots of rebellion and disobedience took place. and Ezekiel 10, the glory of God leaves that temple. Ezekiel 11, the glory of God leaves the city and it departs from the east side. That's kind of a funny detail for Ezekiel to give us. Now, it's obvious when we read the rest of the Old Testament, but particularly whenever we read the New Testament, the people didn't recognize that the glory of God had ever left. Right? I mean, you get into the New Testament and the Pharisees and the scribes and the chief priests, I mean, they think that they are it. They had no idea that the glory of God had departed not only from the temple, but from the city hundreds of years earlier. Now, it's worth paying a little bit of attention to this fact that when the glory of the Lord departs, it says that it departs from the mountains on the east side of the city. That's the Mount of Olives geographically. It goes up and it departs from the Mount of Olives. Now, in Mark 11, you can turn there. Mark 11. This is one of those times in Scripture where we see that really there are no insignificant details. If we take the time to pay attention and run some of these things down. Mark chapter 11. This is Mark's account of Jesus' triumphal entry. This is a little bit before he actually gets there, but it says, when they came, verse 1, near to Jerusalem unto Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sends forth two of his disciples, And he sends him to go and get the colt. And they bring that colt back to him. And Jesus gets on that donkey and rides from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem. What's the point? The point is the glory of God is entering back into the city the exact same way it left. It leaves the temple. It leaves the city. And then you'll remember in John 1, the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory. and that glory here in John 12 is entering into Jerusalem. And unlike Exodus 40 and 2 Chronicles 5, where it was just unmistakable, the brightness of the light that filled both the tabernacle and the temple, it was unmistakable that God's glory was coming into the place. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem, almost no one really notices it for what it really is. Now you might say, wait a second, what about them cutting down the branches and the kind of greeting He gives? We'll find out that's short-lived. Those people were royally confused as to what they were doing. Probably a better term for this scene, rather than the triumphal entry, is the royal confusion. of the people. They had no idea what was really going on. Even the disciples, the text tells us. And so the glory of God is entering into Jerusalem. The reality is what the people are seeing there. The people that had come to the Passover. They're seeing what God refused to show Moses. You remember in Exodus 33, verses 12 through 23, particularly 18 and 20, Moses wanted to know how he could be sure that he had found grace in God's sight and how he could be sure that God's presence would be with him as he led the people. And then Moses says, Lord, show me your glory. You remember God's answer. No man can see my glory and live. I'm going to put you in the cleft of the rock, and when I pass by, I'm going to put my hand over that because you cannot see my face and live. But I'll remove it and you'll be able to see my backside. As I move forward. Well. As Jesus. mounts the donkey and makes his way into Jerusalem, they're seeing the face of God's glory enter into the city. And they miss it. They miss it. Again, in John 1, verse 14, He says, the Word was made flesh, it dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Or we could think about Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1. Again, the question is, who is Jesus? Well, He's the face of the glory of God. God, who in sundry times and in divers manners, Hebrews 1, verse 1, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power." And I'm going to stop there. Again, who is it that's riding into Jerusalem? Well, it's this man who is the brightness of the glory of God. He is the express image of His person. That is, you want to know what God looks like? Look at Jesus. You want to know what the glory of God looks like in His fullest? Look at Jesus. Or we could look, and this will be our last place for this, we can look in 2 Corinthians 2 Corinthians 4. Verse 6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Again, just as Moses came to the Lord and said, well, how can I be sure that I found grace in your sight? How can I be sure that your presence is with me? Show me your glory. And to some extent, far less than he has with us, Moses got a tiny glimpse. Well, the question for us this morning as it relates to this. How will you ever know? If you found grace with God and how can you ever be confident that God's presence is with you? And I would argue this. Because you've seen the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There's no greater proof. that your eyes have been opened to see what an entire city missed. And that is, Jesus Christ is the glory of God embodied. That is, all of His majesty, all of His worth, all of His magnificence, is wrapped up in this person. Who is Jesus? He's the face of the glory of God riding into Jerusalem the exact same way it left. Secondly, who is Jesus? This is the one that many of us will be familiar with as we think about this passage. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. This is part of Psalm 40, and this is quoted in Hebrews to apply to Jesus. But in Psalm 40, verses 7 and 8, It says, "'Then,' said I, "'Lo, I come in the volume of the book. "'It is written of me. "'I delight to do thy will, O my God. "'Yea, thy law is written within my heart.'" Jesus is the fulfillment of this psalm. The one who comes in the volume of the book. The one who delights to do the will of God. This is not just simply in His perfect obedience, but this also applies to His perfect fulfillment. You know, Jesus knew He was fulfilling prophecy as He rode into Jerusalem. I mean, He knew that. He specifically told, you don't read this in John, but you read it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. He specifically told His disciples to go and get the donkey. The one who had not yet been ridden before. and to bring it to them. So as we think about this aspect, Jesus fulfills at least three prophecies in this triumphal entry. Number one, Genesis chapter 49. You'll turn there. Genesis chapter 49. Now, in Genesis 49, Jacob is blessing his children, and he gets to Judah, and in verse 8, he says, "'Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies. Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's will, from the prey my son now art gone up. He stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as an old lion, who shall rouse him up? Now, 10 and 11 are really the two you ought to pay attention to here. The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come. and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine, he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." Now, as we read this, it doesn't immediately become altogether clear what exactly is he talking about? I mean, if you were just reading it without John 12. It's poetic language, it's figurative language. But you'll notice this, that in verse 10, he says, "...the scepter will not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come." The word Shiloh there is just a word for Messiah. This is not going to happen until Messiah comes. And then what will happen? he will gather the people. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine, he will wash his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes." What is Jesus getting ready to do as He rides into Jerusalem? He's getting ready to give His life a ransom for many. He's getting ready to have the flesh torn off His back. He's getting ready to have a crown of thorns pressed into His skull. He's getting ready to shed His blood for His people. And as He rides into Jerusalem, He is fulfilling what Jacob had prophesied long ago about Judah in the midst of His blessing. Secondly, and this is really one of the same as far as the actual prophecy is concerned, Zechariah 9, verse 9. This is the one that is directly quoted in this passage. Zechariah 9, verse 9. says, "'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.'" In John 12, 14 and 15, this is a clear reference to Zechariah 9.9. Now, John does tell us in verse 16, the disciples didn't really understand these things at first. So in other words, as Jesus was riding into Jerusalem, they didn't know what was going on. They didn't know that He was fulfilling this prophecy. But later on, after Jesus was glorified, and after he sent the Holy Spirit to bring all these things to remembrance, they begin to connect the dots. So Jesus is fulfilling prophecy. Genesis 49, with the blessing of Judah. Zechariah 9.9, And then the last one I'll mention, I said at least three, maybe there's more, but there's at least three. The last one that I'll mention is that as Jesus begins to ride into Jerusalem, He is beginning to fulfill the prophecy, the latter end of the prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks. This week should have been on the calendar of every Jew. it was not hidden from the standpoint of, again, they didn't have any of the New Testament. Their Bibles ended in the Old Testament. Daniel would have been a big part of that. Not only that, but in Daniel 9, I'm not going to say it's the clearest thing in the world for everything, but the timeline is clear. I mean, if you're wanting to know what's the timeline that these things are going to happen and what are some of the major points of what's going to happen that we can kind of check off, some of those things are very clear. So in Daniel chapter 9, 24 through 27, There's a prophecy of 70 weeks or 70 sets of seven years. 70 sets of seven years. Every Jew would have known that. OK, it's kind of weird to us because it's worded as seven, but that would not have been weird to a Jew. They would have understood that 490 years is what's being talked about here. That wouldn't have been confusing. The 70 weeks were to begin from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. So that's when you start counting. That's what Daniel says. And we know from Ezra 1, verses 1-4, that this happened the first year of Cyrus' reign. The king of Persia. Now, seven weeks in, or 49 years from that command, the temple was rebuilt. Daniel prophesied about that. This was happening. Just like he said it was going to happen. Matter of fact, Nehemiah tells us in chapters five and six that it was rebuilt, the city was rebuilt in what he calls troublous times. There were difficulties surrounding the rebuilding of this and it happened exactly the way Daniel said it would happen, exactly when Daniel said it would happen. Now, again, you may say, all these weeks are kind of confusing. I don't know if I can keep all this together. Well, that's fine. Daniel is certainly not bathroom reading. But if you study it out and take a little bit of time, you can track along with where he's going. Take a little bit, but you can track along with it. So then we go further. So the decree for Israel to be sent back home. That's clear. That happens with Cyrus. Forty-nine years later, the temple is rebuilt. That's clear. And then Daniel says 62 weeks later, or 434 years later, 62 sevens. After the rebuilding of the temple, Messiah the Prince will come. Well, in Luke 3, verse 1, I've mentioned this before, but it's worth going back. This is one of those details that, again, we could just completely gloss over it and miss how strategic it is that the Holy Spirit put this in here. Luke 3, verse 1. Now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip, Tetrarch of Iteria, and the reign of Tricontius, or however you said that, and he goes on. This is the chapter where Jesus is gonna be baptized by John. This is where his earthly ministry is gonna be inaugurated. Another thing, and this is an interesting note, you can put it down, Luke 3, verse 1 is the only time stamp you get in the New Testament. There is no other passage in the New Testament that gives you a time stamp, that is, a date that you could actually figure out. How is that? It's the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. I wonder why Luke would give us this time stamp. Well, as it turns out, it's 434 years after the rebuilding of the temple. What happens? Messiah comes. Jesus is baptized by John. His ministry begins here. He's identified as the Messiah by John the Baptist, who was the forerunner. And then by the time we get to Jesus making His way into Jerusalem, again, if we're in Daniel 9, verse 26, the Jews should have known that they were in the 70th set of sevens. There was a seven-year span where the Jews should have known something's going to happen. Messiah is coming. And you know, God even made it clearer than that. They should have known that in the middle of that seven years, something significant was going to happen. Something was going to happen in the first half of the week. Something was going to happen in the second half. And at the end of the first half, Messiah was going to be cut off. Three and a half years. You know how long Jesus' earthly ministry was, don't you? Three and a half years after His baptism. They should have known. They should have been expecting something significant. I've mentioned this already, but John 12, verse 16 tells us the disciples had no idea what was going on. They had no idea. Now, for the disciples and for the common man, the common person, we might be able to cut a little bit of slack because they weren't carrying around Bibles back then. And there was not a Bible in every home. The scribes, they had the written Scriptures. The chief priests, the Pharisees had access to those kinds of things. But the average man did not walk around with scrolls. They just didn't have that. It was memorized, what they did have. So the disciples missed it. It wasn't until later that they went back and understood because the Spirit brought it to mind. But Luke 19 also gives us one more piece of information. Luke 19. This is after Jesus has ridden into Jerusalem. He gets there. And then in verse 42, or maybe I should say back up to verse 41, it says, When He was come near, He beheld the city and He wept over it. saying, if thou had known even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace. But now they are hid from your eyes. What's Jesus saying? Essentially, Jesus is saying this Jerusalem, that's who he's weeping over. The time of your visitation has come. If we were to take Haggai's words in Haggai 2.7, the desire of all nations has made his way into Jerusalem. And you missed it. You missed it. Luke 19.42 would just say, they didn't have eyes to see. They saw the Lord of glory in flesh and blood come into the city exactly the way He said He was going to come into the city at the exact time that Daniel said He was going to come into the city. And they missed it. They weren't even looking. Who is Jesus? He's the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Number three. Who is Jesus back in John 12? Verse 15, let's not miss what the actual prophecy is from Zechariah. This is John 12, verse 15. "'Fear not, daughter of Zion! Behold, thy king cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.'" Who is Jesus? Well, He's King of kings. That's who He is. Jesus is, and we find this in other passages as well, He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He comes riding into Jerusalem as the Zechariah 9-9 king of the people. And the people rejoiced to see Him. That's made plain in the text. John 12-13, they took branches of palm trees and they went forth to meet Him and they cried, Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." Now, different people give different significance to the palm branches. Some say that was a national symbol. Varied views on that, but one thing we know from Scripture is that palm branches were a sign of joy. Okay, Leviticus 23, verse 40. Leviticus 23, verse 40, and Revelation 7, verse 9, both of these passages, palm branches are used as a symbol of joy. Well, the people were rejoicing as they see Jesus come in. Their King is coming in. They greet Jesus as He's coming in by reciting Psalm 118.25-26, Hosanna, blessed be the King who comes in the name of the Lord. I may have that wrong. Let's see. Yeah, blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. They're quoting Psalm 118 there. Well, they're thrilled. Their King has come. 1 Timothy 6 tells us that He is the only potentate. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords who dwells in a light that no man can approach. But there was a problem. Many of the ones who cast palm branches are likely the ones who yelled, crucify him, crucify him, give us Barabbas and crucify this man. The problem was he was not the kind of king that people wanted. The Jews were hoping for a king that would free them from Roman rule. They wanted political freedom. They wanted to be an independent nation again. They didn't want Rome telling them what to do. They didn't want Rome ruling over them. They were looking for the glory days of King David and King Solomon, where Israel was a nation in their own right, and they were receiving the blessings of God in tremendous ways. You see, they wanted a king that would conquer all their political enemies, and that's not what Jesus came to do. Jesus came to set up a different kind of kingdom than what they were looking for. He talks about that in a couple of chapters further in John 18, as He's talking to Pontius Pilate. He's there kind of on trial with Pontius Pilate. In John 18, verse 33, It says, then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and he called Jesus, and he said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it of me? And Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you unto me. What have you done? And Jesus answered, And this was the problem. My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is My kingdom not from hence.' Pilate answered, Are thou a king then? And Jesus said, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth, Everyone that's of the truth hears my voice. I'll stop there. You see, Jesus comes riding in on the donkey, and all that the people can see is we're going to be liberated from Rome. We're going to be unshackled from our political enemies. And Jesus essentially says, you're thinking about the wrong kind of kingdom. I did not ride into Jerusalem in order to conquer your enemies. I rode into Jerusalem in order to conquer your hearts, to conquer your wills, Psalm 110 verse 3, thy people will be willing in the day of thy power. I've come not to do away with all the enemies that live in a fallen world that make your life difficult. I've come to give you a new heart. I've come to conquer my people one heart at a time. To build my kingdom one soul at a time. until I come back and make my enemies my footstool." Revelation 19 tells us about that. One of these days, He will come back. One of these days, He will conquer His enemies, and He will be heralded as King of kings and Lord of lords. But that's not today, and it certainly wasn't then. You see, the people were disappointed in Jesus because they wanted Jesus to conquer everybody else except them. Christ is in the business of conquering hearts. Has He conquered yours? You know, there's always remnants of this sort of thought about Jesus conquering political powers and political enemies. There's a lot of this going around today. Jesus' kingdom is not an earthly kingdom from the standpoint of flesh and blood. Jesus has set up a spiritual kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world, but it is in this world. And in this kingdom, He means to conquer your heart and to fully sanctify your heart. until you're face to face with Him. So He's the King of kings, the one who's ruling and reigning and whose desire is to rule over you, not your enemies at this point. Number four, and we'll do this one quickly. Not only is Not only is Jesus here the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, not only is He the face of the glory of God, not only is He the King of kings, but whenever we go back to John 12, we see this response of the Pharisees in verse 19. after Jesus comes in, the people who had heard of His miracle that He did, raising Lazarus from the dead, they're flocking to Him. The Pharisees come along and they say among themselves, look how you prevail, nothing. What do they mean when they say that? Well, again, you'll remember back in John 11, they got together and said, what do we do about this? Caiaphas says, you guys don't know a thing. It's better if one man die and we save a nation. Essentially, the plan is, let's kill this guy. Then it was, we've got to kill Jesus and Lazarus. Now when they come together and say, in verse 19, you perceive how we are prevailing nothing? Essentially, they're saying, we've got to get off our hands and do something. Because the whole world is going after this guy. The next thing we read is that there were certain Greeks that came up to worship at Jesus. and engage with His disciples. Not only is He the King of kings, but He is the Savior of the world. We're talking about the way John talks about this. The Savior of the world. You see, Jesus knew exactly why He was riding into Jerusalem. Look in Luke 18. Luke 18. And think about this as we read it. In Luke 18, verse 31, it says, Then He took unto Him the twelve, that is, Jesus took the twelve and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spit on. They shall scourge Him and put Him to death, and the third day He shall rise again." Jesus knew exactly why He was going into Jerusalem. As He rode the donkey in, And the people greeted him with the palm branches and they greeted him with Psalm 118. Jesus knew exactly what he was writing into. They will take me. They will mock me. They will abuse me. They will torment me and they will kill me. And then I will rise again on the third day. You see, the fact is, Mark tells us this in Mark 10, verse 45, to give his life a ransom for many. To give his life a ransom for many. Or as John would say it earlier in his Gospel, John 3, Jesus has been giving hints about this all along, and we'll get more as we go. But in John 3, verse 14, why is it that Jesus is riding into Jerusalem? Well, in verse 14 of chapter 3, he says, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Why is Jesus going into Jerusalem? To give His life a ransom? To be lifted up? And to save? We've talked about this recently. I don't remember. Maybe it was an afternoon recently. This whole business of Jesus being the Savior of the world. There's a couple of different aspects to that. What we're talking about here is the fact that there is one atonement, and that's through Jesus and Jesus alone. That's worldwide. Not worldwide without exception. It's not as if the atonement was made for everybody without exception. It's worldwide without distinction. Jew and Gentile are all atoned for. under the blood of one atonement. That was a foreign idea in a Jewish mindset. He's the Savior of the world, both Jew and Gentile. He brings us together in one body to God. It's talking about, in one aspect, the non-exclusivity of what He's doing from the standpoint of it's not just the Jews, it's the whole world. Every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. In another sense, it's highlighting the extreme exclusivity of this. Out of every kindred, nation, tongue, and people, there is one name under heaven. whereby men ought to be saved." And that is Jesus Christ. His atoning sacrifice that covers the sin of His people. See, He's the Savior of the world. The only hope for sinners that this world will ever have. And so the question is, Where do you turn when you're burdened by the weight of your sin? Well, there's only one place. Matthew 11, 28-30 tells us, do you need rest? Turn to Christ. He's the one who's gentle and lowly. That's the one that Zechariah 9-9 spoke of riding on the foal of an ass into Jerusalem. Are you burdened by your sin? There's only one hope for you, and that is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. Go to Him. Embrace Him. Obey Him. And rest in Him. And so, as we seek to answer the question, who is Jesus? We look at this passage. Again, He's the face of the glory of God. He's the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and He is the Savior of the world. Let's pray. Father, once again, we thank You for Your Word. Father, we thank You just for the intricacies of it, for the detail that You have poured into it. And we thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit that gives us eyes to see, ears to hear. Father, we're thankful that You've blessed us to even scratch the surface of what You've given. And I pray that as we think about this question of who is Jesus, that those of us who have known Him and have been walking with Him for years, would be confirmed in our faith, that we would be encouraged, that we would be just stirred up in our hearts as we consider these aspects. And Father, I also pray for those who have never professed faith, who have never seen the glory of God in the face of Christ, that You would, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, open their eyes. Bless them to see Your glory in the face of Your Son. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.