John 12:20-26


John 12:20-26
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21 these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

The fame of Jesus has clearly started to spread as there are now Greeks who are coming in search of Jesus.  The disciples are not quite sure what to do with this, so they pair up and go to inform Jesus of this development.  Strangely, Jesus seems to go off onto a long speech that seemingly has nothing to do with the original question.  We can rest assured that Jesus knew exactly what He was doing and there was a clear purpose as to what He said and why He said it at this time.  There are times when we might ask the wrong questions, but it is great to know that God always has the right answers.

SEEKING TO SEE: The origin of these Greeks who were going to Jerusalem to worship is unknown.  God had called Abraham to be a blessing to all the nations.  Clearly, Israel had not been very productive at being a blessing as they were much more exclusive than inviting.  However, there were a few who did come to see what Israel was all about and worshiped in Jerusalem.  As Gentiles converted to Judaism, they would have been aware of the promised Messiah.  The rumors they heard about Jesus had to have made them curious as to who Jesus really was.  They came to Philip, perhaps because he was not from Jerusalem either so perhaps, they felt more comfortable coming to Him.  Philip as not sure what to do so he took the matter to Andrew who took it to Jesus.  Their request was simple; they wanted to see Jesus.  I have seen this verse inscribed on numerous pulpits.  The greatest need any man has is to trust Jesus.  The task of every disciple of the Lord Jesus is to help others to be able to see Jesus.  This should be done through our actions as well as our words.

SACRIFICING AS SEED: Philip tells Jesus that there are some Greek men who what to see Him and Jesus responds by saying that the time has come for Him to be glorified.  He then says that a seed must fall to the earth and die in order to bear fruit.  Clearly Jesus is saying that He will be glorified through His own death which will produce much fruit.  The question is: Why did Jesus respond to the Greek’s inquiry this way?  I am not sure that I know the answer to that question, but here is my stab at it.  The Greeks want to see Jesus because the miracles He performed peaked their curiosity as to whether Jesus was the Messiah.  It is important to remember that the Messiah was correlated to a Jewish kingdom.  Jesus had become famous and there was a movement beginning to swell that was leading to rebellion from Rome and a kingdom under Jewish reign with Jesus as king.  When Jesus said it was time for Him to be glorified, certainly the first thing on His hearer’s minds would have been this earthly kingdom.  Jesus then makes it clear that His glorification would come though death.  The Greeks were hoping to see a Messiah become a Monarch.  Jesus lets them know that all they will see is a Servant becoming a Savior as a Seed that falls to the ground.

SAVING TO SERVE: God give His life so that we might be saved.  He saved us that we might experience His joy as a Servant.  God served us by saving us.  We serve Him by giving our lives so that others might also be saved.  When we grip our life, our goals, our desires…our kingdom, Jesus says we will lose our lives.  We do not have a strong enough grip to secure our own lives.  However, if we will release our grip on life and learn to hate the sinful, selfish lives our hearts desire; we will experience the joy of eternal life.  The definition of discipleship is following the Lord Jesus.  Jesus led a life of self-sacrifice, suffering and service for the salvation of the nations.  If we will follow Jesus in that pattern, we will experience the joy of our Master.  Just as God honored Jesus, He will honor those who follow Jesus.  The path to true satisfaction is through sacrificial service.  It is an exercise in futility to try to promote our own joy by building a kingdom unto ourselves.  True joy is found in following Jesus and promoting His kingdom.  This kind of joy is not passing or fading but will last for eternity.

APPLICATION: One of the major focuses of our lives must be helping others see Jesus.  Many people still do not know of Jesus and do not even know where to seek to find Him.  We need to avoid the temptation of building our own kingdoms instead of promoting the kingdom of the Lord.  Focus on the glories of eternal life and not on our own agendas.  Be servants of God and others so we might be instruments that help others see Jesus.

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