King and Crucify

We have come to the last week of Jesus' life in the book of John. And of course that week is kicked off by the Palm Sunday story found in John 12:12-19. We all know the story of how Jesus came into Jerusalem on a young donkey to people yelling and cheering for Him. But we also know that in the not so distant future they would be calling to crucify Him. The question is why the change and what does that have to do with us today?

First, why did those people that were so adamantly cheering turn around and want to kill Him a week later. The answer to this can be found in verse 13 when the people were cheering for Jesus as "even the King of Israel." While yes, Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we have to remember that those people on the first Palm Sunday were NOT looking back at Jesus' life and all the writings of the apostles and that they were in a state of occupation by the Romans. When these people were yelling for "king" they wanted a physical king who would lead them from their captivity. This was the type of king they were expecting. This was the prophecy they were expecting Messiah to fulfill when he came. When it became obvious that Jesus was not going to lead an insurrection against the Romans, they felt betrayed and it led to them shouting "crucify" less than a week later.

So how does this mind set on the first Palm Sunday relate to us? If we don't know who the real Jesus is and the real reason Jesus came to Earth and the reason He is coming again, we have a great chance of ending up like those people in Jerusalem yelling "king" one minute and "crucify" the next. This even happens in our lives today. We go to church on Sunday singing songs of praise, but during the week our lives are yelling "crucify". When we know Christ and His plans, it permeates our whole lives and we are much less likely to live the double life of king and crucify.