Jesus Entered To Acclaim, And Apprehension

What Did Jesus Do?

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
even the King of Israel!”...So the Pharisees said to one another,
“You see that you are gaining nothing, the world has gone after him.”
John 12.13, 19

As we also know from the accounts in the synoptic Gospels, John reports that the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem was a triumph (see. Matthew 21.1-11; Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-40). “Buzz” is no recent phenomenon even if it is part of the vernacular of the 21st Century, for Jesus certainly had the entire city “buzzing,” even with its population swollen by pilgrims who had come for the Passover feast (Matthew 21.10). The outcry was so great that some Pharisees begged Jesus to silence his disciples, but, even if he had, a “rock” concert would have broken out (see Luke 19.39-40).

Many of the witnesses to the raising of Lazarus were present, and, well, they just kept on witnessing, if you will (John 12.17). Truly, it looked as if the people were prepared to proclaim Jesus king right there on the spot (John 12.13)—the very heir to the throne of David (Matthew 21.9)! Such acclaim had not been given to anyone probably since the time of David, or perhaps David's son Solomon. Of course, we know that many in that crowd who were full of acclamation would soon be overflowing with condemnation. And this is because the ones who were doing the acclaiming were not alone, there were also present those who were filled with apprehension on account of Jesus. To them, it appeared as if the whole world was ready to throw all its support behind Christ, (John 12.19), and this they simply could not and would not stand for. To put it plainly, regardless of how the “world” felt about Jesus the Pharisees just could not tolerate him.

Interestingly, today, as Jesus truly has passionate disciples throughout the whole world, there remain many who still cannot tolerate him. It is even funny, in a tragic way, that no few modern champions of “tolerance” are the ones who find Christ, and Christians, so intolerable. While believers still acclaim Jesus as the blessed Son who comes in the name of the Lord, the apprehensive still lose sleep worrying about what could happen if the the world indeed went after Christ. And, the sad truth is, the world, or I should say, much of the world, has not, is not, and will not go after Jesus.

But, thanks to those who still acclaim him, and to those who still witness, there are still those who, every day, turn from the world and start to follow Jesus. The Pharisees were right about one thing though, those who oppose Christ gain nothing (john 12.19), but instead end up losing everything. The question we need to ask ourselves is this, are we “acclaimers?” Do we let others know who Jesus is, and what he has done? Do we refuse to let the apprehensive and intolerant silence us? Do we seek to encourage the world to go after him? If not, we better take a good look in the mirror and see if there are any signs of apprehension in us!

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4