Year 2, Week 36, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 2, Week 36, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Mark 11; John 12.

Today’s reading consists of the last two Gospel accounts describing Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at the start of the week in which He would be crucified. Luke 19, from yesterday’s reading, and Matthew 21, from the reading two days ago, synchronize with Mark 11 and John 12 to provide a faithful description of the start of Jesus’ last week of ministry. Mark 11 records the festive celebration voiced in response to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey: “And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mark 11:9-11, with an allusion to Psalm 148:1). Mark 11 also describes some of Jesus’ words and actions that occurred on the second and third day of His last week: “On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it…As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” (Mark 11:12-14,20-21). John 12 also describes how Jesus was acknowledged as He entered Jerusalem on that last week of His life: “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!” (John 12:13). While Jesus received a festive welcome, John notes how the Scriptures were fulfilled through the widespread unbelief towards Jesus: “Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:37-38, quoting Isaiah 53:1). The rejection of Jesus by many was a reality that the LORD revealed to Isaiah: “Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them” (John 12:39-40, quoting Isaiah 6:10).

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the emphasis that John provides in his Gospel account on Jesus’ understanding of His last entrance into Jerusalem: “And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). And while Jesus declares that He would be glorified through the events of this last week in Jerusalem, He makes it clear that such glory would unfold through a surprising means: “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” (John 12:24). As Jesus speaks of his being glorified, He likens the way in which He would be glorified in the way a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies. Jesus’ glory as well as life would occur through His crucifixion. However, the glory of Jesus’ life occurring through death would result in the bearing of much fruit, that is, the salvation of His people. And the pathway through which Jesus would be glorified also had great implications for the kind of perspective and life that His followers would need to embrace: “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” (John 12:25-26).

While Jesus is aware that “the hour has come”, and He is confident of outcome and results, He is also heavily burdened over the reality that He is actually facing: “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” (John 12:27-28a). Jesus is not casual or indifferent about the reality of His impending suffering through crucifixion. Jesus is well aware of the serious trouble that He has taking upon Himself, but He explains that He will not seek the Father’s deliverance from the hour of his death—and the excruciating pain it will involve—on behalf of others, for His very purpose in life was to arrive at that hour and be slain for the salvation of His people. It would be such work that Jesus prays would in fact glorify His Father. The  Son’s glory through His crucifixion would be the means in which the Father would be glorified. The Father reassures His Son: “Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:28b). Nothing has changed: the plans remain as they have been established. The Father would glorify the Son, and the Son would glorify the Father, in and through the redemptive work of the Cross.

Jesus explains, to the crowd, the significance of the Father’s voice: “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”(John 12:30-33). The Cross would appear to spell defeat for Jesus; but in reality it would be Satan’s defeat. The Cross, through which God would glorify Himself, would not only result in the overthrow of Satan but it would also be the means of salvation for sinners.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe