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 to 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 

 

On Saturday we read that when Martha had finished speaking with Jesus, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.  Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.  Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there."   Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  And He said, "Where have you laid him?"  They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."  Jesus wept.  Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"   Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, "Take away the stone."  Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there has been a stench, for he has been dead four days."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."  Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

 

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 lectionary has skipped over John 11:45-57, in which the plot to put Jesus to death unfolded as a result of the raising of Lazarus, and also John 12:1-8, which gave us the story of Mary's anointing of Christ's feet, and the objections of Lazarus, plus the rebuke by Jesus to those who criticized Mary.  The latter took place at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Bethany, thus is the setting for the beginning of today's reading, which notes that a great many of the Jews knew that He was there.  In John's Gospel, we remember that the term "the Jews" is used as a political term, to denote the members of the ruling Council of the religious leadership in the temple.  Bethany is close to Jerusalem, and there had been those also from Jerusalem who had come to mourn Lazarus' death with Martha and Mary, so the story of the resurrection of Lazarus was very well-known.  In these verses, Lazarus sums up the effect of that seventh and final sign in this Gospel:  that the chief priests now plot to kill both Jesus and Lazarus because of the profound effect of this miracle  and the faith in Jesus it engendered.

 

 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to 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."   Today's reading describes Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, celebrated as Palm Sunday, which most Churches of the West (and the Armenian Apostolic Church. a branch of the Oriental Orthodox) celebrated yesterday.  My study bible comments that by Christ's time, Jewish nationalism had led to the expectation of a political Messiah, who would delivers the Jews from Roman control, and reestablish David's kingdom.  By riding on a young donkey, Jesus expresses that He has not come to establish an earthly kingdom.  A donkey's colt is a sign of humility and peace (see Zechariah 9:9, from John quotes here).  This entrance into the Holy City is a declaration of the establishment of the Kingdom of God, my study bible adds.  It's also a promise of the final entrance by Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem, with all believers and His acceptance of the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).   The people's cry, "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!" was associated with messianic expectation.  It was recited daily for six days during the Feast of Tabernacles (also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom), and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"   See Psalm 118:25-26.

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 links the final sign given in the Gospel, the raising of Lazarus, directly to this event of Palm Sunday (Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, and the people's reception of Him as Messiah).   Note that the people from Jerusalem who had come to mourn with Mary and Martha are mentioned here by John as those who bore witness, and therefore the people also met Him.  But the Pharisees respond with their own concern:  "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!" 

John's Gospel has expressed to us the growing separation within the Jewish population regarding Jesus and people's opinions about Jesus.  This hasn't simply been an easy "black-and-white" division between those who think Jesus is Messiah and those who don't.  There have been a variety of opinions shown to be held among the people regarding Jesus, which developed as His ministry expanded, and as the people become also gradually more aware of the growing hostility of the religious leaders to Christ.  We can see this expressed through the events of the various religious festivals in Jerusalem attended by Jesus, and the controversies that surround His teaching and the miracles such as healings that He performs, the objections of the religious leaders, and the opinions of the people.  But all of these events, these divisions, and the growing hostility of the religious leaders coupled with the responses of both the people and the leaders to Jesus' signs or miracles culminates here, at the beginning of what we call Holy Week.  After having seen the stupendous sign of raising Lazarus from the dead -- and of Lazarus' death, which came four days before this event, there was no doubt possible -- clear divisions are drawn.  The people welcome Jesus to Jerusalem as those who were with Mary and Martha who came from Jerusalem witnessed the raising of Lazarus, and in turn they witnessed to the people in Jerusalem.  As at the Feast of Tabernacles, the people wave palm branches to welcome the Messiah, and what they no doubt expect will be a revival of the kingdom of David and the good fortunes of Israel.  But the contradictory opinion of the religious leaders is now set in stone, so to speak.  That is, of those who oppose Jesus, which we're told includes the most influential among the Pharisees, although there are those Pharisees who follow Christ, such as Nicodemus (see John 3:1-21, 7:45-52).  This powerful single unifying event, the raising of Lazarus, marks the final separation of the people who believe Jesus is the Christ from those who implacably oppose Him, and His threat to their places of power and authority.  What that does for those of us who read or hear the Gospel is to give us an important picture of reality that is not sugar-coated or sanitized.  It allows us to observe human nature in response to the unexpected, even to the things of God, and in continuation of the Old Testament Scriptures that came before.  As with the people of the Old Testament, the people demand kings of a certain kind, they want a life of a certain kind, they reject the word of God, they reject those who bear that word into the world.  Elsewhere we read Jesus' lament over Jerusalem:   "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Matthew 23:37), and the parables we're given that speak of the repeated rejection of those who were sent by God, especially the Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers, given in Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19.  But in John's Gospel, we're given the more complete sense of the unfolding of the responses to Jesus, including the many misunderstandings, the confusion at the use of the language with which Jesus illustrates the concepts He gives, drawn from every day experience, but meant to illumine the mysteries He brings into the world to give to human beings.  All through these many conflicts, confusions, and misunderstandings, the Pharisees have stuck steadfastly with accusations of violating the Sabbath rule, with various other ways by which they've rejected Jesus (such as mistakenly claiming that no prophet ever came from Galilee in John 7:52), through vilifying His signs as being performed through the power of demons, and condemning and casting out the man blind from birth who received his sight (see this reading), and now, in today's reading, seeking also to put Lazarus to death as witness to Jesus' final sign.  Through all of these parts of the stories given in the text, we have also the responses of Christ's disciples, who most often really do not fully understand what is happening, and yet they continue in faith.  After many of Jesus' disciples deserted Him over His teaching on eating His body and drinking His blood, Jesus asked the Twelve whether they would leave also.  Peter responded, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  In today's reading, we're told of these events of this day that 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.   So the Gospel gives us the full panoply of responses to Christ.  They're not at all uniform; some understand better than others.  Often people begin in some faith but must continue in order to grow in that faith and come to fuller understanding.  The religious leadership among the Pharisees become more and more implacably bound against Christ to the point of deciding to destroy Him and plotting crucifixion.  The people are baffled, wearied, afraid to talk in front of the leaders, and they dispute among themselves.  There is nowhere we can find an absolute clear and pure response, except through faith, and that remains a faith that wavers, builds, shares doubts, even denials.  Nevertheless, the Gospel affirms Christ's identity for us right from the beginning, that He is the Logos, the Son.  Let us take into account the wisdom that can put on display for us all of the responses and opinions, and all of the confusion -- even the confusion and paradox of this day when the people are certain that Jesus is the Messiah who will reestablish David's kingdom and restore the worldly fortunes of the kingdom of Israel.  Let us remember that the Gospel gives us the fullness of the responses of the people, the fullness of the response of the religious leaders, the fullness of the truth of Christ.  Nothing is left out or merely alluded.  Nothing is made merely easy or simple.   There is no "clean up" of unfortunate facts and misunderstandings.  We are invited into this story for all that it is worth, and more -- for what we ourselves will find in it for ourselves.   And with all of that, we will say as well, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!"