John 12.1-19

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The silence of Jesus is remarkable in these two stories. After many chapters full of dialogue, arguments, sharp exchanges and long speeches Jesus falls silent for a short time - or nearly silent - and let's things happen to him.

Two Crowds

The dinner in his honour in Bethany attracts a crowd. Although it is Lazarus as much as Jesus who is the attraction. Because of Lazarus many people are going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him (12.10). So many in fact that the earlier plot to kill Jesus (11.53) is now extended by the chief priests to include the killing of Lazarus as well.

There is another crowd in Jerusalem that has gathered for the great Passover festival. They hear about Lazarus from the crowd who saw him come out of the tomb (12.17). And on the fifth day before the Passover they go out to meet Jesus as he comes into Jerusalem. They have heard enough about him to sing Psalms and throw palm branches on the ground. It sounds like a happy boisterous crowd, full of enthusiasm, and especially happy to call Jesus King. No doubt people had different ideas about that, but at this time he was very popular, perhaps at the height of his popularity.

Jesus' Silent Sign

The crowds were obviously enthusiastic, anything might have been possible that day. But what about Jesus? Did he say anything? He was capable of speech. He could have roused the crowd and led a popular uprising. Or he could have tried to calm them so they would not provoke the authorities.

What he did was give a silent sign which no one recognised at the time. He rode on a young donkey. He was certainly capable of walking. He had walked all over Galilee and Judea. He must have been one of the fittest people in Judea. So he did not need to ride. By sitting on the donkey he was giving a clue - obvious later, but hidden at the time - to what he thought of the crowd's acclaim.

It was Zechariah's donkey (Zech 9.9-13). And it pointed to Jesus as a humble and gentle ruler. It undermined ideas of political and military power. Indeed the king Zechariah spoke of was to remove the war horses and soldiers from the land. The donkey was affirming the crowd's acclamation that he was a king, but showing that he was a particular kind of king. Zechariah gave a small clue to another dimension of the rule of this king by his reference to the blood of the covenant. The reason God would bring a victorious saviour to his people was because of the covenant he had made through Moses. But a new covenant in blood was to be ratified with the blood of Jesus himself.

The Fragrant Dinner

The day before all these exciting crowd scenes, Jesus had been guest of honour at a dinner in Bethany. Mary had poured very expensive perfume on his feet and wiped them with her hair. Some, especially Judas objected to the waste. Why hadn't this perfume been sold and the money given to the poor?

And Jesus breaks his silence and explains something that Mary herself probably did not know. She should not have sold it. She was right to have kept it for Jesus' burial. Mary had not even used it for Lazarus' burial. Lazarus was smelly after his time in the tomb and maybe could have used it. But Jesus says this perfume was for his burial.

Maybe it was not very good dinner conversation, but in the only speech of Jesus in these two stories, he points to his death. But the perfume filled the whole house. It must have been an extraordinary experience and have quite overshadowed the potential gloom of talk about burials.

Silent messages

So the popular acclaim the next day was perhaps a bit of a waste. And yet it also gave important information about Jesus. These two stories give us important clues about who Jesus was and what he was doing.

He was the King of Israel, even though most of the crowd may not have understood very well what that meant.
He was the king on a donkey - humble, gentle but the victorious saviour.
He was a king who was to die.

The Sequel

Was there anything like these crowd scenes after Jesus' true identity and purpose was revealed? Perhaps the crowds on the day of Pentecost, or the riot at Ephesus (Acts 19.26) may be parallels. But we should look not to the noisy clamouring crowds but to the believing crowds. John tells us that many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him (12.11). That is what we see later. Large groups of people putting their faith in Jesus once he has been buried and been raised again.

The Smell

And then there is the smell. Lazarus in the tomb was smelly. Mary anointed Jesus for his burial so he would not be smelly. But when the message of his resurrection was proclaimed it had the smell of Mary's perfume attached to it. At least for some.

Paul says that for those who were going over to Jesus and believing in him the message had the smell of life. For others the story of Jesus' death had the smell of death (2 Cor 2.14ff). And not only the message, the messengers themselves have the aroma of Christ about them as well. Some people think they smell like death, but for those who are believing, they have the smell of life itself.

So the crowd had found the right scripture. Like them we too can praise God and say "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord." We bless Jesus for coming as the gentle King to set us free. We also bless his messengers who bring us this message of life. And each day as the King continues his rule in our lives we bless him for coming to us and remaining with us.

Dale Appleby

Silent in the Crowd: John 12.1-19

Zechariah 9.9-13; Psalm 118.15-29; John 12.1-19 January 15, 2006