RISEN

Part 1: Palm Sunday - Hosanna

Scripture

John 12:12-24

² The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³ 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!” ¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!”

¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷ The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ 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.

Sermon Recap

This message launched the church's new Passion Week series called "Risen," designed to walk the congregation through the events of Holy Week and anchor them in the hope of the gospel. Pastor Pete opened by drawing a parallel to the church's Jordan missions trip — a journey where virtually nothing went according to plan and yet God did far more than anyone expected. That framing set up the sermon's central theme: the danger and the gift of expectations, especially expectations placed on Jesus. The text was John 12:12–24, the account of Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

To help the congregation feel the weight of what the Jewish crowd was expecting, Pastor Pete introduced Simon Maccabeus, the Jewish hero from around 142 BC who led a revolt against the Seleucid Greek Empire, won independence for Judea, and was welcomed into Jerusalem with palm branches and songs — the very imagery echoed in John 12. That historical background, drawn from 1 Maccabees, made clear that when the crowd was shouting "Hosanna" and waving palms, they weren't thinking about spiritual salvation. They were expecting a political liberator — someone to drive out the Romans the way Simon had driven out the Greeks. Jesus was being welcomed as a king who triumphs, a king who saves, and a king who resurrects (given the witness of those who had seen Lazarus raised). But he was also fundamentally misunderstood.

The pivot in the passage comes when a group of Greeks approach Philip and Andrew asking to see Jesus. Pastor Pete pointed out that Jesus had already been setting the stage for this moment — through the feeding of the 5,000 near Bethsaida in a Greek-influenced region, through the healing of the demon-possessed man in Gerasa who then testified throughout the Decapolis. By cleansing the temple courts — the space made for Gentiles to worship — Jesus had been making room for the nations all along. When the Greeks arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus recognized the hour had come. His plan was never just the kingdom of Israel; it was the kingdom of every nation, tribe, and tongue. And the path to that kingdom ran directly through the cross. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit."

Pastor Pete closed with a pastoral challenge: if you decide in advance what Jesus must do, you will likely miss what he is actually doing. The crowd who shouted Hosanna on Sunday was probably among those shouting "Crucify him" on Friday — because their expectations were disappointed. God's plans are always bigger than human plans. Human plans would have given Jesus a small, temporary dynasty. God's plan was the salvation of the entire world through his Son's death and resurrection.

One Thing: Expect Jesus to save — but surrender your expectations of how, trusting that his plans are far greater than anything you could conceive.

Discussion
Questions

Connecting

Think of a time when something turned out completely different than you expected — and it was actually better. What happened?
If you could have Jesus "fix" one thing in the world right now, what would it be?

Considering

In John 12:12–19, what clues does the text give us about what the crowd expected Jesus to do — and what does verse 16 tell us the disciples understood only later?
What does Jesus mean in John 12:23–24 when he says a grain of wheat must fall and die to bear much fruit? What does that tell us about what kind of king he came to be?

Confessing

Two unhealthy responses to disappointed expectations: placing very specific demands on God, or avoiding situations that require trusting God altogether. Which of those do you tend toward, and how has it affected your walk with God?
Is there an area of your life right now where you've been quietly telling Jesus how he should save you or fix things — rather than trusting his plan?

Committing

What is one expectation you've been holding onto — about your life, your relationships, your future — that you need to surrender to Jesus this week?
Who is one person in your life you could personally invite to an Easter service or share your testimony with before Sunday?

Next Steps

As part of our annual theme, Deep & Wide, we invite our church family to go deeper in relationship with God so that we can be the greatest blessing to one another and the world around us. Each week, we will follow up from the sermon with simple, practical steps to help us receive God’s blessing and apply the truths of the gospel more deeply into our lives.