Friday 31st March
Read John 12:14-16
“Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon 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 realise that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.” (NIVUK)
Have you ever watched a mystery movie a second time? Second time around all the clues stand out because you can’t ‘unsee’ their significance when you know how the movie ends. Important objects in the background of scenes become obvious, phrases said by characters are loaded with significance. When you watched the movie the first time though, often you completely miss these markers. Your own preconceptions and misconceptions can often be used by a clever director to mislead you into considering other things as important. Sometimes people you watched the movie with will say that they knew how it was done all along. They want to demonstrate how smart they are perhaps and not admit to being fooled.
The surprising and encouraging aspect of this episode is how frank John is about how ignorant they were about Jesus. There were no false boasts about what they knew. As Chrysostom wrote in the 4th century: “But observe the wisdom of the Evangelist, how he is not ashamed to parade their former ignorance. That it was written they knew, that it was written of Him they knew not. For it would have offended them if He being a King were about to suffer such things, and be so betrayed.” The boldness to express such ignorance about Jesus, from someone who knew him and walked with him and listened to him, gives us confidence the events John describes occurred.
As ignorant as they were before the cross, they were as enlightened after the event. The resurrection of Jesus was the event they couldn’t ‘unsee’. They now knew how it ended. Once they had seen Jesus glorified everything else became clear – everything they saw when they were with him and heard him say and everything that happened to him – all became crystal clear. With the Spirit’s help they recalled Jesus’ words, and like watching a movie the second time, they understood what he was saying and doing. John’s commitment to the truth of their ignorance, just as the other gospels also routinely present the disciples knowledge as flawed and misguided, provides us with great confidence that these accounts are accurate. He truly came as king, just not the king they were expecting. Let us also strive to be as honest about what we know and understand as John.
