Jesus the King and Seed Church In Toronto Sermon Audio

Jesus raising Lazarus was like a pebble being dropped into calm water, as ripples move out from the center. Some ripples see people believe in Jesus. Others have the Pharisees plotting to kill Jesus. Still other ripples see the Pharisees adding Lazarus to their hit list. But the ripples don’t stop. Those who had witnessed Jesus raising Lazarus were later in Jerusalem letting people know what Jesus had done. This stirred up more ripples & many who were in Jerusalem waved palm branches while proclaiming Jesus as their conquering king as he entered the city (Jn 12:12-13).
But as they welcomed him as king, what kind of king did they expect him to be? They wanted a political king who’d defeat Rome. But that was not how Jesus came to them. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey rather than a warhorse. They needed to see he came as a king who would die for them (Jn. 12:23-24); a seed who willingly fell into the ground & died. And while you might think that seems like a strange way for Jesus to take, he calls his followers to follow his pattern through death. If Jesus was willing to die, he would produce much fruit. If we will lay ourselves down & not live a life centred on ourselves (jn. 12:25-26), then we too will be ripples that affect those in our lives.