Wednesday in the Word...John 12:20-28...Things are coming to a head!

This summer I made a friend named Tom who is a runner.  I watched him cross the finish line in first place at the annual Blueberry Run in Machias, Maine.  Work has moved him on but he has been crossing some more finish lines.  Sometimes in 1st place but always determined to finish the race.  I thought of Tom as I walked through these verses about our Savior, Jesus Christ who is approaching the ultimate finish line of all history.

Today's Wednesday in the Word covers John chapter 12 and verses 20 through 28.

v.20, 21 - Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Jesus has come into Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey.  Cloaks are laid down and palm branches are waved to the sound of the crowd shouting "Hosanna."  Some are believing that Jesus is the Son of God while others are pointing blaming fingers at each other for the rising popularity of Jesus.  Now we are introduced to another group visiting Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, the Greeks.

The Greeks brought to our attention here is important because it ventures into the realm of non-Jews asking about Jesus.  He has been around non-Jews on the east side of the Sea of Galilee.  The feeding of the 4,000, not the 5,000, was to a non-Jewish crowd and He had spent 3 days teaching them.  So here is a group of Greeks, non-Jews, in the city of Jerusalem to worship at the festival.  This means that these non-Jew Greeks were possible proselytes (new converts) to the Jewish faith.  So some new converts to Judaism are seeking out enemy #1, Jesus.

They sought out one of the disciples, Philip, and we are given his home town of Bethsaida of Galilee which is on the north side of the Sea of Galilee.  Maybe Philip, being from the north, looked a little like them.  What will Philip do?

v.22 - Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

Philip finds Andrew, the one who brings people to Jesus.  Andrew brought Peter to Jesus and he also brought the young lad who had the 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  Maybe Philip didn't know what to do with the request and so he went to Andrew to get some more guidance.  Andrew's predictable response would have been to bring them to Jesus. 

This is a good side track to look at our lives in light of what we should do when we don't know what to do or when someone asks us about Jesus.  Do you have an Andrew to go to?  Do you have someone who is like Andrew that would suggest that you look to what Jesus says or go with you to inquire of Him in prayer and the Word?  Would your friend see this as a spiritual opportunity?

v.23-26 - And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  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.  He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.  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."

"Some Greeks want to see you Jesus."  and Jesus seems to say it is time for this to happen.  His hour has come to be glorified and that means it is time for Him to go to the cross, visit a grave, and rise on the 3rd day to ascend into heaven and the right hand of God.  After acknowledging that it is time then Jesus turns to what to do with those who are coming to Him.  

Jesus goes to another agricultural illustration.  The seed dies and then sprouts to bring new life.  One seed will produce many seeds.  Death is a crucial and necessary part of this process.  Jesus' death is crucial and necessary for our salvation and while we are dead in our trespasses and sins, we need to die to ourselves to develop fruit that won't come unless it happens.  Jesus calls for us to experience real life which means we must die to what the world offers and seek only what He can offer us.  

How is this played out?  It is seen in our service to Him.  This service to Jesus isn't service if we think it will save us but it is service when we see it as an appropriate response to what He has done for us already by the cross.  Our rightly motivated service of Jesus puts us ultimately in His exalted presence and also the honor of God.  Will you die to yourself and the world to accept the death Christ experienced for you?  Will you serve not looking to get by your own efforts but will you serve in response to what you could never do?

v.27, 28 -  “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

Jesus knows what is ahead of Him in relationship to "this hour."  He is giving us a picture of what is going to happen in a few days when He sweats drops of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.  This was another opportunity to say, "Not My will but Thine be done."  Jesus came to save sinners and He was coming up to the finish line when He would say from the cross, "It is finished."  Jesus didn't come to just be a good teacher or to give us great moral lessons to mimic.  He didn't come to offer another type of religion to the world or even to correct some of the Judaism religion that had gotten off point.  Jesus came to save sinners which was the will of His Father and therefore He came to glorify His Father's will.

God speaks.  He has done this before at Jesus' baptism and at His transfiguration on the mountain.  We have another opportunity to read God's words in God's Word, the Bible, that is directly from His mouth to our eyes and their ears.  God tells us that He has glorified Himself and He will glorify Himself again in a few days.  God is verifying what Jesus is saying about His hour that has come.  This is the plan of God for His Son to be imputed with our sin so that we could be imputed with Jesus' righteousness.  If we have Jesus' righteousness imputed to us then we will be able to stand in His presence one day like the thief on the cross.  

Jesus is giving His disciples and those who would follow after them and ultimately us so much near prophecy of what would happen in the near future.  The disciples would remember these words spoken by Jesus prior to the event and it would support the faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  They would stand upon Jesus' words even to some deaths that looked like their Savior's rather than recant that He rose from the grave.  Does God's Word do that for your faith?  Let us pray.

"Heavenly Father, what Your Son did but also did so willingly that we might know eternal life and also that You would be glorified, may we, today, see where we can serve You because of what has already been done.  Thank You for doing what no one else could do.  Amen."

Pastor Adam