12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the king of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:
15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.
17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
Read John 12:12-19 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
If there was ever a moment that, as a group, the Pharisees felt defeated by Jesus, it is probably in this passage. There are plenty of places where we read about questions or tricks that they unsuccessfully challenged Jesus with, but following the event in this passage, we read a very revealing phrase that only John includes in his gospel.
Following the great celebration where Jesus rides a young donkey into Jerusalem, John includes a little side-note about who the crowd was, the crowd’s response, and the Pharisees reaction to what was happening. John tells us, “Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, ‘See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!’” (v. 17-19)
While the Pharisee’s statement is interesting, the really big lesson we can learn is from the crowd itself.
John tells us the crowd started with those who had witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus, and they were the biggest evangelists of Jesus in that region. John says that, “Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign [resurrecting Lazarus], went out to meet him.” (v. 18)
This leads us to one of the big things we can learn in this passage/event: Personal evangelism has always been one of the most effective ways of sharing. It was this way in the first century, and it is still this way today. A solid network of dedicated fans can draw more people in than the best mass-marketing efforts available. In Jesus’ case, His network of fans prompted the Pharisees to say that it felt like “the whole world has gone after Him!” – The more we lift Jesus up – pointing people to Him and what He has done for us – the more effective our evangelism and sharing will be.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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