Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is a ministry of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Hello. Welcome to the Defender Bible Study Podcast. Today is Monday, 04/21/2025. My name is Chris Johnson. I serve as the senior director of church partnerships and external advocacy for Lifeline Children's Services.

Well, today, we are looking at the next section in John chapter number 12. We're going be looking at verses 12 through 36 and as as you are listening to this recording, we just recently completed Holy Week this past Sunday. Of course, it was Easter Sunday at the time that I shared this Bible study with our staff was actually the Monday before Easter which was very appropriate because it was the day after Palm Sunday and that's exactly what the passage focuses on that we're going to be looking at today. It focuses on Palm Sunday and then leading into the beginning of Holy Week and the the last steps, the last teaching that we received from Jesus before going to the cross and eventually to the resurrection as well. So, really glad to to share this passage again just very timely and how it fits.

I hope that you and your family had a good celebration of resurrection Sunday this past week and time with your church family and just reflection on the things of Christ. So, as we come into this passage, we know that in the first eleven verses of John 12, Jesus has been at the house of Lazarus. Lazarus, Martha, and Mary and he has been there in Bethany and we saw how that Mary came and anointed him with the the the spices and the oils and those things. But now is the time where Jesus is going to make his way to Jerusalem. Now, the reason that a lot of activity was happening in Jerusalem as we kind of know is this was moving toward the week of Passover and so, Jesus was going, of course, with his disciples to worship and to celebrate the Passover but going to Jerusalem was not something new to him.

We see all throughout his ministry. He'd been up to Jerusalem many times but the times that he'd come before, it was focused on him as a worshiper. He was coming to just participate in the feast or participate in the celebrations to to worship at the temple. But now, this time, we see that he's not entering the city just as a worshiper. He is entering the city as a king.

Things are gonna change here. This is going to be a very the the most pivotal of weeks in his ministry and so Jesus now is going to enter the city as as a king, as the Messiah, who is moving toward presenting his life as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. So, let's read our passage together. We're to see three different things in this passage today. We're going to see first of all, how that Jesus was a different kind of king.

He was a king of peace and not a king of war. Something different from what was being expected. So, let's read beginning in verse number 12 and let's read verses 12 through 19 to see about Jesus, this different type of a king. The passage says 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.

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 all or heard had heard excuse me. They heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him. So in these verses, we're seeing Jesus, of course, is entering.

This is the time he is coming entering into the city for the Passover. There are many people. This is would have been the most crowded time of the year at Jerusalem. More people would come there than any other time of the year to be able to celebrate this Passover. Of course, the Passover was a time where they recognized and celebrated what God did when he delivered his people out of Egypt when they were told to to slay the the perfect lamb, the spotless lamb, and to place the blood of that lamb on the doorpost of their of their home and if the blood was there, then the death angel would pass over.

If not, then the the life of the firstborn son would be taken. And so this was what God used to to release to have pharaoh release the children of Israel as and so they were able to leave Egypt and begin their their trek to the promised land. And so this was something that was celebrated regularly every year, even even still today, it is celebrated this time of Passover. So the the city would've been buzz buzzing. It would've been crowded.

A lot of people were there, and and it tells us that. But he says here in this passage, he really kinda gives us three different types of people that are there. Now, now there are a lot more details that are given around Palm Sunday, around the the happenings of this Sunday in the other gospels. John really focuses more on kind of the heart of things. He's really going to get to more of seeing Jesus tenderly caring for, teaching, loving on his disciples in these last days.

So, he doesn't give quite as much attention to the actual events of Palm Sunday because he's going to give more focus over the next few chapters on this this intimate relationship that Jesus had with his disciples but the thing that that I noticed in this passage is there are three different types of people that John references here that were that were there to celebrate Jesus coming in as king. First of all, there were those who had heard about his miracles and wanted a king on their terms. They had heard about the things that he had done and they wanted to celebrate him. They wanted to look to him as the king but they wanted a king on their terms. They want a messiah on their terms.

They were hoping that he and and and showing who he was, that he was coming into the city, preparing to go and set war against Rome, deliver them from the oppression of Rome. They were thinking that he wanted they wanted a king who would who would overthrow Rome. They were there in in town for the Passover and they and they but they wanted they wanted him. They they saw his miracles. They heard about his miracles but they wanted a king on their own terms.

What's really sad about it is many of these same people because they truly did not they they did not really believe in him. They not really did not really place their faith in him. Therefore, we know that Jesus did not adhere himself to them and so because they were not true followers of Jesus from the right sense with the right amount of faith and the right level of faith and the right faith in Jesus as the Messiah. These are the same people that just a few days later are going to be crying out, crucify him, crucify him and so they they they love the miracles. They loved the cool things about Jesus.

They wanted Jesus to step up and be a king. They would overthrow Rome. They weren't a king on their own terms. The next group of people that we see are those who actually had spent time with him. John speaks of those who who had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus.

They were there with him. They they walked with him. They saw him and they endured themselves to him. They believed in him as the Messiah. They believed in him and trusted him to be the kind of Messiah that he needed to be and so there was complete surrender and trust there.

They they had they had spent time with him. They witnessed his miraculous power. They saw him for who he was. Now, I think it's interesting that that the that John even admits here that even the disciples really didn't get everything. They didn't understand everything.

They had faith in him. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they didn't understand all the things that he said. And and even John says here, you know, hey. We didn't really get all this, and we didn't really understand it until after the death, after the resurrection, after the holy spirit has come to us. Then it all made sense when we looked back and we saw all the different things.

Now, again, they should have been looking at the prophecies. They should have known exactly what was happening, but they were human, and they didn't. It's one of the things again that I love about God's word that really just kinda authenticates God's word. If if it if it were not a true account of the story, then if I'm John, I'm kinda whitewashing this. Right?

I'm gonna go, I knew what was going on. I we disciples, we knew what was happening, but he didn't. He's honest about it here, and he shares and says, hey. We did all of this dearly didn't even make sense to us until later on down the road. It also encourages me to know that we can have faith and trust in Jesus without having everything figured out.

Right? We don't we don't have to know all the details. We don't have to know every little thing, every little aspect of of of it it really just requires faith. It requires a trusting that Jesus is Messiah, that Christ is the king, and and that he is worthy of our of our trust and our faith and that he is our only savior. So there were some that, man, they saw the miracles.

They wanted the cool stuff, but they wanted a king on their own terms. There were others who spent time with him and got to know him, saw the miracles that he did, and trusted him, placed faith in him as savior. And then, of course, we know that there were those who despised him and rejected him. Ultimately, they were jealous of him and they wanted him gone. This is the pharisees, the religious leaders.

They they didn't want him upsetting their their way of making money, their lifestyle, their notoriety. And so they were jealous of him and they wanted him put to death. They wanted his life ended. They wanted him out of the picture. We see this the same the same groups of people in our world today.

There are some that that that enjoy the the the kind of the the the pop and circus or the fun or the or the big highlights or the big miracle. They enjoy kind of seeing the the miraculous things but they've not really placed their faith and trust in Jesus. There are some that absolutely, they don't understand everything. They don't get it all but man, their faith is secure and trusting Jesus as Messiah And then there's some in the world today that just completely reject Jesus. And no matter what evidence is there, no matter what truth is there, they reject the truth and they reject our God.

But the thing that's that that is interesting that's common to all of these groups is all of them believed at least to some degree that Jesus was the Messiah. We know that based on their actions here. They they cried out, Hosanna. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And this was literally a quote from a messianic Psalm.

So they were attributing this this promise from this messianic Psalm that they would have known very well throughout Israel, throughout the Jewish nation. They were attributing this this this to Jesus, to this one coming into the city. They were quoting from Psalm 118 verses twenty five and twenty six that say, save us which is what Hosanna is. We pray, oh lord. Oh lord, we pray.

Give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the lord. We bless you from the house of Israel or the king of Israel. So, even those that rejected him, there was still a sense of recognizing. Even those that didn't have full faith in him.

There was a sense of recognizing that this Jesus was probably this messiah that had been prophesied. He was probably the one that had been talked about. Again, this is a reminder for us that it's not just enough to to just believe about him, but we must place faith in him. We must believe in him. We can't just believe good things about Jesus.

We've gotta place our faith and trust and believe in Jesus as our lord and savior and so that's what was missing here. A few things to note as we kind of look at what they cried out. First of all, the the term Hosanna. We tend today to kind of think of this as just kind of a praise term, a praise word, kind of praise, raise your hands, and and and and swing our hands, swing the branches, and say Hosanna as as as being kind of a praise term but the reality is that the word Hosanna was was a was a cry out that that literally meant save now. It was literally a cry to say, hey, we're we're under oppression.

We're suffering. We need a savior now. So, you save us now. You save us now. Now, again, for some, it was you save us from Rome.

For others, it was you save us from our sin and from the evil one and so it's important that we see that that was what they were were crying out there. Some had their own ideas about what that meant, but they were ultimately crying out, save now. Another thing to note is is Jesus riding on a donkey was significant. Again, there are more details about this in the other gospels, but prophets, what one of the reasons this was significant was from before this time and up to this time, prophets and leaders of peace rode on donkeys. While kings victorious in battle rode on horses.

So him riding on a donkey again signified that he was not a king of war, but he was a king of peace, and he was bringing bringing peace and and bringing peace into an opportunity to be at peace with God. The first time that Jesus comes as the Messiah, he came on a donkey as a Messiah bringing peace with God, establishing his kingdom but man, do we look forward to the next time that he will come in his second coming? He will come on a horse at that time triumphant in battle to establish his physical kingdom. So, now, Jesus is coming into the city to establish a spiritual kingdom. We know him on second coming that we read about in in the in the book of Revelation and other places that second coming, he will be coming to establish a physical kingdom.

This also him riding on a donkey also fulfilled prophecy. Zechariah chapter nine verse nine says, rejoice greatly, oh daughter of Zion. Shout aloud, oh daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. So this him him coming into the into the town on a donkey rather than a horse is very important and significant as well.

One last thing I mentioned is just the significance of the timing of of him entering into the city. This this particular Sunday on the day on the Sunday before Passover began on Friday, this Sunday was known as selection day. It was the day that they would select their spotless lamb to be sacrificed on the Passover. So here we have Jesus, the Messiah, entering into the city on the day that the spotless lamb would be would be chosen. Here he is, the Messiah, the perfect spotless lamb who would give his life as a ransom for all.

So we love seeing just this reality of Jesus was not a typical king. He was not the normal king. He was a different kind of king, a king of peace, and not of war. The next thing we see in verses 20 through 33 is that victory comes through death. Victory comes through death.

They again were crying out, save us now. Bring us victory but he was gonna be teaching them about a different kind of victory. Let's read together verses 20 through 33. Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. Now, the Greeks would have been Gentiles.

These would have been Gentiles who came to faith in in god. They had placed their faith in god. They had they had turned away from their false gods and had placed their faith in the true god and were taking on aspects of Judaism and they were worshiping the same way that the Jews worshiped and so they would have been in town there in the in the city there to celebrate the Passover as well. So, these came to Philip who was who was from Betheda in Galilee and asked him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew.

Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I have come to this hour.

Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had been thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him.

Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world. Now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Now, these Gentiles, these Greeks come to the disciples. They want they want to see Jesus. They want to spend time with Jesus. You know, it's kind of interesting that in the with the Jews, we saw saw so often. We've seen so often throughout this book of John that they're always about, hey, show us the signs.

Show us miracles. We want to see the miracles. We want to see the cool stuff. But these Gentiles came and they said, hey. We we wanna see Jesus.

We wanna spend time with Jesus. We wanna hear directly from him. You know, back in John chapter two when we first started the study in John, at the at the first Jesus' first miracle at the wedding in Canaan. He told his mother when they came when he when they when his mother came to him and said, hey. They've they've they've run out of wine.

We need something to happen. If you remember the statement that he said to his mom, he said, hey. My hour is my hour has not yet come. My time has not come. But here in this passage, he says the opposite.

He now proclaims that his time has come. It is now time for him to be glorified and for the father to be glorified by him walking and being submissive to the will of the father. He then gives an illustration of the grain of wheat and talks about why this is necessary. With a grain of wheat, it, you know, is necessary that that grain dies, that it falls off the stalk. It must then be buried in the ground and when it does so, when it's buried in the ground, it will then produce fruit.

And while the same thing is gonna happen to Jesus. Jesus is is is going to give his life. He's going to die a physical death. He's gonna be buried in the tomb, but we know that he then is going to rise again, and his resurrection is going to produce much fruit. He must die, be buried, and then he will produce fruit and that fruit is me and you.

That fruit is us. That fruit is all those who have placed their faith and trust in him. That fruit is what was promised to the Messiah way back in Psalm two when it said that that that god would give the nations to to the Messiah and so we're seeing that lived out and played out because of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. He then challenges those who are listening to to to do the same and the same must happen to us. We must die to ourselves.

We must give ourselves over to him. Die to ourselves. Be buried with him and we then will receive eternal life. We then will bear much fruit. This whole idea of dying to self and and and surrendering ourself to him and taking on his righteousness.

That's what the gospel is all about. The gospel is the great exchange. And so in salvation, the gospel, we we give our life, but we receive eternal life from Jesus. As we continue to live out this life of faith, we must die daily, surrender our lives daily so that we can take on the righteousness of God and live the life that God has for us. And so Jesus explains them to them here.

He says, hey. If you if you wanna if you wanna if you wanna if you love your life, you're gonna lose it. If you hate your life in this world, then you're gonna keep it for eternal life. So the idea here is that we would die to ourselves and surrender and trust him and continue to walk in faith to him. We then see Jesus' ongoing commitment to god's plan.

He he has told us over and over again throughout the book of John that he came to honor the father by completing god's plan of redemption. The father spoke from heaven giving his approval to that, and then Jesus spoke again of his death. In verses thirty two and thirty three, he said, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So he told them again, spoke out that that he would be raised on a cross, that he would that he would be be lifted up, and that he would draw people to himself through his death, burial, and resurrection.

So we see that he was a different kind of king. We see that victory comes through death. And then finally, the last few verses here, we see that light and life come only through Jesus, the one true messiah. Light and life come only through Jesus, the one true Messiah. Verses 34 through 36.

So the crowd answered him, we have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the son of man must be lifted up? Who is the son of man? So Jesus said to them, the light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.

The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. You know, as Jesus spoke of being lifted up, I'm reminded of what he had said way back again in John chapter three to Nicodemus in verses fourteen and fifteen. He said, as the son of as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus had already said, and he very clearly, now he's repeating again, in order for us to receive eternal life, a savior must die. The messiah must die. The the Jesus must give his life. Man, those who are listening, they were still struggling to understand what he was saying because their expectation of the messiah was that he would live forever. They didn't understand what he was saying about his death.

They even asked, well, is there another messiah? Are we gonna have two messiahs? What's the deal here? But Jesus, of course, explained that they didn't they didn't recognize that Jesus was going to die, but he was also gonna take his life back up and he would be resurrected. So Jesus again explains that he is the light that brings victory over the darkness, victory over death.

And if they wanna be in the light, then they've gotta trust and follow him. So we see then now that this is kind of really kinda wraps up the end of John's discussing the public ministry of Jesus. It says there in verse 36 in the last part when Jesus had said these things, he departed and he hid himself from them. In the next few chapters that we're gonna walk through here in the book of John, literally, he's gonna guide us through the final days of Jesus and the time that he spent with his disciples. He's gonna celebrate the Passover feast with them.

This will include washing their feet, instituting the Lord's supper, foretelling of his betrayal. He's gonna seek to comfort and settle their hearts in chapter 14. He's gonna promise them the holy spirit. He's gonna give them the secret to spiritual success, abiding in him. He's gonna pray over them and pour his heart out over them.

He's gonna go to the Garden Of Gethsemane, and he's gonna anguish over what was what is was ahead. You know how special these times must have been with Jesus and his disciples. Again, I don't think they fully grasp. We know they didn't fully grasp what was happening, but Jesus knew he was coming to a point where he would be, giving his life, and he would return to to heaven after completing the task that the father had given him. And so how special these last few moments and last few days must have been for him to spend with his disciples.

Of course, we know that then he would be betrayed. He'll endure he'll endure a a mock trial. He'll be beaten beyond recognition. He'll go to a cross and he'll lay down his life, but then he will rise again. He will conquer death.

He will conquer hell, and he will conquer the grave. Man, do we have reason to celebrate. Again, I hope you had a great celebration of the resurrection, just recently, but may we continue every day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thankful for this king that came to bring peace with God. I'm thankful for the victory that he brings, the victory over death, hell, and the grave.

And I'm thankful that he is the light and the life and that he will give us eternal life, and he will shine brightly through those who follow him. I hope and pray that that is your testimony today. Let's go to him in prayer. Dear heavenly father, we thank you god so much for the wonderful gift of salvation. We thank you Jesus for being willing to come to this Earth and give your life and go to the cross to pay the price for our sin, but we thank you that you didn't stay dead.

You showed your power and your mind, and you came alive again, and you continue to live today on our behalf. And so we celebrate that. We thank you for that, god. I pray that that we would have the right focus on that, that we would have the right that we would place our faith and trust completely and holy in you and god that we would lead others to do the same, that we would lead others to recognize you as as the king of peace, as the the one who brings victory, as the light, and the life. God, we pray that.

Lord, we pray that for vulnerable children. We pray that vulnerable children would know that you are their savior, that you they have a savior in you and that vulnerable children will be placed in behind homes and families and churches and situations where they will hear the truth of god's word, and they will place their faith and trust in Jesus. God, we pray that you would continue to do the work that only you can do, and we will trust you in it all. For it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info lifelinechild dot org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.