Jesus Christ, the Suffering Man

Sunday, April 13, 2025

Theme: "Jesus Christ, the Suffering Man."

Text: John 12:12-19

12. The next day, a large crowd of people who had come to the feast, having heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13. took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel!" 14. Jesus found a colt and sat on it, as it is written: 15. "Do not be afraid, 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, they remembered that these things were written about him, and that they had done them to him. 17. All who were with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness to him. 18. And the crowds gathered around him because they had heard that he had performed this miracle. 19. The Pharisees therefore said to one another, "You see, you are gaining nothing; look, the world has gone after him."

Let us remember:

Jesus is the suffering man, like someone who did everything to instill trust in the hearts of his contemporaries, yet the same people deny all the works he had accomplished. It is painful to live in an environment where hypocrisy is rife. In the days following the resurrection of Lazarus, a huge crowd rallied around Jesus because of this miracle. The Jews were ashamed to see the crowd following Jesus. They wanted to kill Jesus and Lazarus to eliminate the author and the beneficiary of the resurrection. But the crowd grew even larger when they heard that Jesus was going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. The people who were searching the Scriptures understood that these things were written in advance in the Law of God, see Zechariah 9 verse 9. They applied the Word of God to him. Thus, a multitude of people took branches of palm trees and went to meet him, shouting: Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel! And there, for the Jews, it was a point of no return because it was too much. Jesus recognized by the crowd as King of Israel, this was not acceptable to them. They resolved to make Him suffer death. Jesus was not fooled, He knew well what danger He was running but He had to fulfill the Law. These things written in advance had to be accomplished. He suffered to see such a crowd behind and before Him, the same crowd that would deny Him in the following days. Such denial is the cause of inner suffering for Jesus. And even the disciples did not understand these things due to a lack of revelation. The daughter of Zion celebrates King Jesus sitting on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The Pharisees were furious to see that they were gaining nothing because the world was always after Jesus. Suffering, Jesus moved forward. Have a great Sunday. Amen.

Alain Louz.-