Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!

 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.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

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

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

Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

- John 12:9-19

Yesterday, we read that  the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.  Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  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.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  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.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

 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.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.  This is the third and final Passover recorded in John's Gospel, and it is the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' earthly ministry.  His final and seventh sign has been done, the raising of Lazarus (see readings from Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week).  The Jews refers to members of the religious establishment from Jerusalem.

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, 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!"  Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion;  Behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."   Jesus is greeted as King and Messiah.  John's Gospel puts it clearly to us that it is the raising of Lazarus that has capped this ministry as its final sign, and created such a reception into Jerusalem.  We're told that the day before He was in Bethany to the East on the Mount of Olives; this entrance into Jerusalem is the one prophesied of the Messiah.   The people shout verses from Scripture welcoming the King of Zion:  Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 118:26 (it's worth reading the full psalm to get a sense of what it proclaims).

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.  John includes the sense in which the Holy Spirit will affect all of the disciples, and the Church.  He gives us to understand the comprehension the disciples found later of this moment, and even the sayings of the people as they greeted Jesus in Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.

Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  John reinforces the effect of the sign of the raising of Lazarus from death.  And we see the result among the rulers in the temple:  they are simply dead set against Him in some sort of engagement of political struggle.   They feel they are accomplishing nothing, and the world has gone after Him!

John's Gospel gives us a sense of a political struggle happening among the leadership that really has very little to do with faith.  Surely they criticize Jesus for healing on the Sabbath (they accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath) and they accuse Him of blasphemy (making Himself equal with God in clear statements, such as "I and the Father are one" in this reading).  But the sign of the raising of Lazarus is so stupendous and so clear that even many among the leadership come to believe that Jesus is really the Christ -- not a man who is beside Himself, or who has a demon.  The terms here indicate much more of a political fight for the leadership positions, one which demands to know by what authority Jesus does what He does as He is not a member of the recognized establishment, not the pupil of a famous rabbi, nor a member of the elite classes and parties which rule in the temple.  This becomes all about a struggle for power in the viewpoint of John.  Even the term "the Jews" is used as a political term, not a religious or ethnic one.  We can view John's Gospel as that which gives us a taste of the great struggle in the world, between what we could term the "sacred" and the "profane."  God comes into the world and is at work in the world.  All kinds of marvelous wonders and good works happen that are meant to glorify God.  But there is a way of looking and seeing, a particular viewpoint, that works out of envy, jealous of place, and cannot see these things for itself.  There is a perspective that is immune to the work of God both internally and externally, neither perceiving nor understanding the things of God which happen before them nor the work of the Spirit which would give them sight and hearing.  But the disciples understand, and we're told they grow in understanding later on after He is glorified.  And so we have a picture of a struggle, between a "worldly" point of view and one transfigured by grace and growing in that light.  One becomes more blind, and the other more illumined.  For those who simply envy, everything is a power struggle.  It is the opinions of the world that count, not the opinion of God (12:43).  Beyond the immediate story of Christ, we must recognize the world we live in, the circumstances into which we are born and in which we live our lives and our faith.  There are those who just don't see; there are those who don't want to see.  What remains is the struggle to live a life of faith in a world that won't understand it or can't see it.  There will be those who simply see life as a struggle for power, occasion for envy.   The leaders say, "The world has gone after Him!" and that's what they really care about.  Even people in the crowd who welcome Christ in today's reading may be among those stirred by the leadership at the end of the week to call for His crucifixion.  Where is grace for you?  What is your experience of your faith?  How does the light shine for you, and in you?