Sir, We Wish to See Jesus

Introduction

Think about a time when you were anticipating something but it turned out to be way different than you expected.

My sixth grade year I had an experience like that. It was April 1986 and I stayed up later than I was supposed to because I was going to see something amazing on my television screen.

Intrepid reporter, Geraldo Rivera live on national television was going to open Al Capone’s secret vault.

Late into the night I watched in wonder as the workers drilled deeper into this once secret vault.

What would be in there? A large cache of money? Gold bars? Guns? Or, in my little sixth grade mind, it would probably be dead bodies and I would get to see them with my own eyes! The anticipation was almost more than my mind could handle.

Now, if you are familiar with Capone’s secret vault, you know the end of this story. They finally opened it up and the thing was completely empty! No gold, no cash, no guns, no dead bodies. Nothing!

Talk about disappointment!

Sometimes in life, what we expected and even hoped for ends up looking completely different.

Sometimes it’s horribly disappointing, like Al Capone’s secret vault.

Other times it’s more than we could have even imagined.

But, in the case of Jesus as the Promised Messiah, it wasn’t what any of the people expected, but ultimately it was far greater than anyone could have envisioned.

This morning we will continue to look at the beginning of Jesus Passion week, specifically seeing Jesus explain how His mission would be fulfilled and learning something about true discipleship along the way.

Turn to John 12:20-26

Body

Verses 20-22

An unnumbered group of Greek speaking people want to see Jesus...

Likely converts to Judaism (“to worship”); very likely they were Gentiles.

It’s an example of what the religious leaders were complaining about when they said, “the whole world has gone after him.”

The term “see” means that they want to interview, or examine Him closely...

They contact Philip first, possibly because he has a Greek name.

Philip talks with his ministry partner, Andrew, and they bring the request to Jesus.

For many commentators, the Greek-speaking people fall out of the scene at this point, as Jesus becomes the focus.

This is partial correct in that Jesus is certainly the focus of this passage.

However, contextually, Jesus seems to be responding to this request to “see” him.

Most interpret this as wanting to visit or interview Him. However, I suspect there is more than this because Jesus leads right into a teaching about true discipleship.

Go back to the wider context:

Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead and everyone was talking about it.

Jesus had just been led by a procession into Jerusalem, many of whom anticipating that He was the Promised Messiah who would throw off the chains of the Roman oppressors.

And it’s even possible that He had thrown the money changers out at this time, as we see in the Synoptic Gospels.

So, it’s very possible that these Greek speaking Gentiles were wanting to see Jesus in order to try an attach themselves to this movement; to get close to this potential messianic figure. Or, to gain a little glory for themselves.

Thus, what Jesus does is tells them, and everyone else listening, that His path to glory is not through victories, conquests, or displays of power, but through death.

Therefore, if anyone wants to attach themselves with Jesus, they must follow His example of self-sacrifice and self-giving for the benefit of others.

That’s the person God the Father will honor.

Verse 23

Seemingly, Jesus ignores the request in the (we don’t know whether He met with them or not), but Jesus tells those listening to Him, particularly the disciples, that His time has finally come.

Beginning in John 2:4 and continuing throughout this Gospel, Jesus tells people that His time had not come yet.

John 2:3–4 ESV

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

John 7:6 ESV

Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.

John 7:30 ESV

So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

John 8:20 ESV

These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

But now, Jesus tells them that His hour has finally come; He would now be glorified.

But, what does that mean?

For the people the path to glorification is through victory, conquest, and displays of power.

Thus, it’s a moment of anticipation for the people. It’s likely they were thinking, “Finally, He will reveal Himself as Messiah and the revolution against the Gentile oppressors is about to begin! God is about to give us victory over the Romans.”

However, Jesus will go on to tell all who will listen that He is a very different kind of Messiah that they were anticipating.

Verse 24

For starters, Jesus tells a mini parable from the world of agriculture that the listeners would have been familiar with.

When a grain of wheat falls to the ground it disintegrates, becoming something different. Jesus likens this to dying, and therefore bearing much fruit.

The seed must cease being a seed in order to become a plant and reach its full potential.

Though, at this point, they didn’t understand what He was speaking about, Jesus is telling them that His pathway to glorification isn’t through victory, conquest or displays of power. It was through death and resurrection.

Jesus would die and rise again, which would bear much fruit; for the Jews and even for the Gentiles!

For Jesus, the path of glorification is through death and resurrection.

And, for Jesus, this is the only path. This would be the only way.

Verses 25-26

Next, Jesus brings it back to personal discipleship. If they would “see” Jesus, they would need to follow the path that He trod.

Not becoming sin for others, that would be impossible and it would be unnecessary.

Jesus was the only one worthy to fulfill God’s salvation plan. And Jesus was the perfectly adequate payment for sins (meaning nothing more is required).

But, Jesus teaches what real discipleship looks like:

To love Christ Jesus more than the things of this world.

love of life/hatred of life...

Key phrase here is: “for eternal life”

The idea is we need to love eternal life more than our present life. Not in a rush to end this life, but living life like our eternal life matters more than even this life we live today.

Discipleship cannot start until we begin falling deeper in love with Jesus.

As we do, we will fall more and more out of love with the world.

This is something that is continual throughout our lives...

To follow and serve Christ Jesus.

The Greek speakers likely wanted to follow Jesus because there was a lot of buzz around Him. They were fascinated by Him. Maybe they believed they would benefit greatly by attaching themselves to Him.

Jesus tells them, and the crowds, that to serve Him is to follow Him. And to follow Him is not a path of self-glorification. It’s a path stained with blood, where they will likely experience rejection, they will be mistreated. In short, they will be hated as He is hated.

But, this is the path to being honored by God.

So, what Jesus is saying to them is if you would come “see me” you need to understand that my path is one of glorification through death and resurrection. Therefore, a follower must be willing to walk a similar path of glory through self-sacrifice and self-giving servanthood.

So What?

That hasn’t changed. The truth spoken in Jerusalem one week before Jesus death and resurrection is just as true today.

The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus is the only path to eternal life and abundant life on earth.

Discipleship is a call to self-sacrifice.

Discipleship is a call to self-giving servanthood.

Self-sacrificing and self-giving servanthood is the pathway to being honored by the Father.