Serve Him to Follow Him

Serve Him to Follow Him

John 12:20-26

September 29, 2024

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In 1994 I was hired onto a fire crew to fight fires for the forest service. As a local kid from Cascade, I grew up in the backcountry. The woods and mountains was where I was most comfortable so it made perfect sense. It is interesting that as a kid, you think your knowledge is greater than every adult that ever lived.

I remember one particular event that has never left my mind. As a ground crew, our job was to race to the fires so that the helitack crew would not get to it first. You see, whoever gets to the fire first can own the fire and call off competing crews. In this situation, we were racing to this fire in our district.

My crew chief took off from the truck and we were right behind him. As we were running up the mountain, I could tell he was getting winded and I thought he was picking paths that were too long. Why not just go straight up? He was starting to pick zig-zag paths, and I did not understand why we all had to stay in a line. After all, if I could get there faster than him, what’s the harm in that?

Well, as I stepped out of formation, the rebuke was swift. I still remember him saying, “Von! We get there as a team or we don’t get there at all! Get back in formation.” The words cut me but I knew I was wrong. Even though I knew I could outrun him, I knew I could never run that fire without him.

Today we will see the mandate for both service and following. The two are not able to be isolated or separated. The expectation is that we as followers of Christ come to Christ willing and able to both obey His commands and follow in the large footsteps He has given us. We are “willing” because He has equipped us for this service (Eph 2:10)

Our passage today gives us all the details on how. We see the time, the how (way), the who and then the action. It is all here for us in a tight package ready for us to unpack.

1. The Time.

When we read this passage it is very strange. I gave it to Heidi as a trial and asked her, what is going on here? Why did Jesus completely ignore the Greeks? Why didn’t He at least say hi before jumping into His sermon on grain, death and everything? Honestly, I struggled with that for years. Why would John the author include this in the passage?

When you read this, you may have struggled with the same question. But, the inclusion of this passage is critical to understanding the entirety of Christ’s ministry here on earth. You see, the visit from the Greeks here in this passage is the final box, the final step, or the final gateway to the cross. John includes it because it is the final requirement before our Lord’s trip to the cross.

Allow me to show you how. The Jews at this time, thought no person would ever come to God unless they were Jewish or converts to Judaism. They were the most exclusive religious people. They closed the door to the world thinking that God would only speak through them and that they were the means to salvation only.

Now, look back at our text:

Vs 20 “Now among those wo went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.”

It is important to understand that these were NOT Jewish half-breeds. These were 100% Gentiles. The Spirit made their hearts tender to seek the salvation of the Lord. When they got to the city we must understand what had just happened. Jesus had just cleared the temple of the money changers for the second time.

Mark 11:15-17 “16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”[1]

This action by Christ opened the door to what is going to happen next. Look closely then at verse 17 of Mark 11. “All Nations”. This is so important to the context of our passage. He, Jesus, is opening the door to all nations, tribes, and languages. Clearing the temple is one prophecy fulfilled but now turn with me to

Isaiah 56:6-8:

“And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

and to be his servants,

everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,

and holds fast my covenant—

7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,

and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt offerings and their sacrifices

will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

for all peoples.”

8 The Lord God,

who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,

“I will gather yet others to him

besides those already gathered.” [2]

Church, John records the interaction with the Greeks because of how important it is. No words are wasted in the Bible. The Greeks coming is the bookend of Christ’s earthly ministry.

Also, notice that the disciples acted hesitantly. Philip is approached and he does not go directly to Jesus but goes to Andrew. All of Jesus’s earthly ministry was directed to the Jews primarily. When He sent out the 72 apostles, in Luke 10. He said do not go to the Gentiles. But, now, the time has come. The door was open and the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy was at hand. Jesus is clearly opening the invite to all nations.

This is a marking of “THE TIME” and the final checkpoint on the journey to usher in “the hour”. This is the reason He says,

Vs 23 “And Jesus answered them, “the hour has come.”

Jesus references “the hour” nine times in the Gospels. This is the 4th. It is however the first time that Jesus says that “the hour has come.” In short, it’s now. Now that the Greeks have come, now that the gentiles have come, now that all prophecy of His earthly ministry is done, “the hour” has come. Now is the time.

God’s timing is perfect, and so is the way that He executes on that time. Just as His time is perfect, His way is equally perfect.

2. The way and the who.

Verses 24-25 give the way in which we should focus. In typical fashion, Jesus uses a timeless analogy that even us Americans should get. Farming will never end and so to the words of Jesus.

“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[3]”

Remember the term “Son of Man “is a direct reference to Daniel's prophecy. He is both God and man in one. When He says it, verse 24 comes with it profound meaning and purpose. He has the authority to say unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth…” The truth here is obvious to us. We have been blessed with the end of the story. Unless Christ dies, heaven is completely devoid of human souls. Unless Christ dies, no one is with God.

This plan is THE WAY! It is the path, it is the narrow Gate, It is the narrow way, it is the ONLY way. Unless Christ lays down His life, no man woman or child will ever see God. Rather, only the justified position and residence in eternal separation, hell. But, thanks to the Lord, Christ recognizes the way is through His death.

But, He does not stop with Himself. Look back at our text.

Vs 25 “Whoever loves his life loses it, whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

The way is death. The way is putting the self to death for the eternal. As in my introduction, we stay in formation, following where He goes and we all arrive together. Christ is showing us, we are to follow Him in putting self aside for the Way, Him.

What does that look like today? How are we to hate this life to lose it here but gain it there? The farmers in this room have the answer. If we never fertilize the ground, what happens to the soil composition?

Jesus is 100% right! Unless the ground absorbs the decade material, the soil will not yield. Unless we die to self, the yield is not going to happen. Unless we too follow the way, our lives of self-preservation end shallow, hollow and unyielding. Oh you may die with the greatest toys, but none of those you can take with you.

Vs 25 “Whoever hates his life in this world”

The word Hate: To strongly dislike or have aversion toward someone or something that usually results in separation between the one who hates and the thing hated.

Christ is using as strong of a word as possible. He is expecting complete surrender of self. Why? Because He understands that the greatest hindrance to following in obedience to salvation is found in our hearts. Self is the biggest hindrance to personal salvation and the Gospel message through you to others. It comes shrouded in pride and self preservation.

Matthew 10:37-39:

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. [4]

But who is Jesus talking to? Who is it that should die to self?

This is an easy one. The who is you. The who is me. He is talking to us and using contrast to get us to understand that there are those who will and those who will not. I love what JC Ryle says:

“The mark of the follower: He must not look for good things here,—for crowns, kingdoms, riches, honors, wealth, and dignity. Like His Master, he must be content with a cross. He must, in a word “take up his cross and follow Me.”

There are people who will never die to self. They may love being around people of God (I would argue that these are even here today) and then fewer are those who actually ARE dying to self daily for the sake of the Gospel. Judas loved being around the men of God and was never one of them. Judas is alive and well in every congregation and every setting.

These are the ones who hold onto self and because of this, they are self-deceived that they are actually following where Jesus is walking. When faced with the cross of life, they are quick to say, yea, that is not for me. I’ll go ahead and let someone else carry that ugly wretched device of death.

To those, Christ says, “Whoever loves his life loses it.” There will come a time when you will have to make that decision. Will you carry that cross or walk off?

The contrast is those who are following their Lord in obedience. As in my introduction, did I get out of line? Yes! But after a quick and sharp rebuke, I was pulled back in line. Look, we all fight the flesh daily. Like any great military commander, we need to know our enemy, know his ways.

For the Christian it is the world, the flesh, and the devil. We will always be looking at how to step out of line. But, when you are rebuked (and He will do it), do you willingly get behind Him again and follow Him?

I’ll give you a real-world test to see if you are out of line. When you look at your footsteps, are they in line with His Word? If you don’t know His Word enough to answer that question, YOU ARE 100% walking on your own and He will straighten you out. But if you know His Word, in it daily, you will know if you are following Him.

We have been talking about the cross of Christ, dying to self, and following after Him. But, how does that look on a daily basis? How does this actually apply to you and me here and now?

3. The do: Serve and follow Christ.

When I was a kid, we actually had a playground that was awesome at school! Nothing was bubble-rapped and there was not foam on all the hard edges. One of my favorite fixtures on the playground was the teeter-toter. It has been years since I have seen those. For the kids out there who have never seen one, it looks like this: SHOW PIC

Now, what we would do is take a small kid and put them over here. Then we would take all the big kids and his buddies and push down as hard and as fast as possible on one side and launch the little kid as high as possible. It was amazing! But, as I look back at this, it is no wonder we don’t have these toys today.

The issue with the teeter-totter is that spiritually speaking, we operate like that today. We love one side of the board and ignore or launch the other. We will always default to two extremes. Following, or serving. But the balance is hardly ever maintained.

You see, obsession or affinity to one and not the other is a lopsided teeter and it looks like this. All service and no doctrine leads to shallow and temporary application. Feed the hungry as their souls walk to hell. Now the opposite is all doctrine and no service. Beat them senselessly with facts while they are starving to death in the streets.

Many great ministries exist and they usually start with an attempt to balance the two. But, soon the balance is lost due to expediency and pragmatism. To the world, things are getting done. To the Lord, things are getting off track. An A down here is an F up there: Christ’s grading system is Death to self, life to Spirit.

Vs 26 “If anyone serves me, he must follow me.”

This one line is the main point of our passage today. It is very clear, we are to do both. It looks like this:

a. Following Christ is not easy. John 15:33= 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. [5]Anyone try to do this? It’s NOT easy. It’s hard and will not be received.

b. Following Christ costs greatly: Luke 14:33 = So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. [6]Church, this is your notice, it will cost you everything. Family, friends, careers, retirement.

c. Follow Christ is a life of service: John 14:4-5= He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. [7]” No greater example of how to follow Christ then to serve as He did.

d. Following Christ puts you on the same course: John 12:26= 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.[8]” The greatest course points to where He is. Heaven is Him, the destination is a bonus.

e. Following Christ is the greatest life story you could ask for: John 10:10= The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” That abundant is full! You want to know your purpose in life? Follow Him and you will see that the dash on your headstone was time well spent. Ignore Him, and you will face eternity saying, what was the point?

f. Following Christ produces the same fruit. Phil 1:21-23 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.[9]

Serving Christ and Following Christ are mutually important and necessary. One without the other is to ignore the entirety of what is expected by our Lord. It is my desire that we all follow His exact command:

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me.” I want you and I to not just say I follow Jesus. I want all of us to say I serve AND follow Jesus and really mean what we say.

Unbeliever, this is a message that was intended for you just as much as it is for those who would claim they follow Him. But did you not see the message for you? By not believing that Christ is the only form of salvation, you are doing this thing called life by yourself. The verse “Whoever loves his life loses it.” Is for you.

To walk through life on your own means you will lose that life you think you are in charge of. But, if you place your faith, trust, and heart into the means of your salvation, Christ, you will see heaven opened to you. God, sent Jesus to give that option to you. He came, completely innocent to pay for the sin you have amassed throughout your life. He came so that you do not have to pay the penalty for your sin.

God, rich in mercy poured out His wrath on Jesus so that it would not land on you. Now, believe in the LORD as your salvation and that wrath will not land on you! Trust in Christ, and He will save you.

In our passage, we saw that His time is now and so is yours. We also saw how and who this applies to, YOU. Finally, we saw exactly what we are to do, serve and follow. My prayer is that we all do this. Serve Him and Follow Him.