The Hour Comes

Introduction

Illustration: Imagine you were given a chance to share your own eulogy. What sort of things would you say to put an end cap on your life and say farewell to the people who knew you? Of course, that doesn’t really happen. Most of us don’t know we’re on our way to death’s door.

Jesus however is not most people. He knew when He was going to die, and how, and what it would accomplish. For that reason He gets an opportunity to share one last speech for the people before He goes to the cross. We find ourselves this week at about the halfway point of John’s gospel. The first 12 chapters cover a span of 3 or 4 years (depending on which festival Jesus goes to at one point that is just called “the Jewish Festival”) and the second half zooms in on just one week. For the rest of the gospel Jesus will only be speaking to His disciples or to His accusers. His public ministry is coming to an end. So here is His last short speech before He withdraws to share more intimitely with His close friends in the lead up to the cross. It serves as a great summary of what has come before, clearing the road to the cross.

So let’s take a look at John 12:20-50 together and see what Jesus’ last public speech in John’s Gospel has to teach us about how to be disciples of Jesus.

John 12:20–50 CSB

Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus responded, “This voice came, not for me, but for you. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die. Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them. Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God. Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Now there’s quite a lot to cover here. Jesus says a lot of important things, and John even adds some important commentary on Jesus’ ministry. For that reason in my preperation for this sermon I’ve had to focus in on a few particular points in order to focus our attention on some key ideas that Jesus shares here. For one thing, Jesus refers to His hour of glorification coming. This odd way of referring to the crucifixion shows us how important it is, and how what should have been the most humiliating and painful moment of Jesus’ life became the moment that saves us and gives us hope. We also see that Jesus needed to be lifted up to draw all men to Himself. His death made a way for people from all tribes and nations to have hope and eternal life if they will follow Him. Finally we see that although Jesus came to be light many chose the darkness instead. We should learn from their example and willingly walk in the light every day.

Glorified through Death

Illustration: Good authors are often very mean to their main characters. They often put them through terrible horrible things before the resolution of the plot, often bringing them to the brink of giving up or maybe even past it.

They say that art imitates life and I think that this is very true. In this case I think the best stories carry echoes of God’s redemption story. If we look at the history of God’s salvation of mankind than indesputably there is a main character. It’s not any of us, of course, it’s Jesus Christ. As the main character of the story written by God Himself Jesus is put through the ringer so to speak.

Jesus has arrived at this part of the story in our passage this morning. He is on the doorstep of His torture and death at the hands of the Romans by order of the Jewish leadership. He is about to be lashed dozens of times in multiple sittings and made to carry a heavy wooden cross to the top of golgotha so that they can nail him with massive spikes through His forearms and legs to that cross. Then He will slowly and painfully sufficate and die a humiliating death for everyone in Jerusalem to see.

So here at the moment before this comes, how do you think Jesus will describe it? When He says the hour has come, does He say the hour has come for His humiliation? His torture? His painful death? Let’s take a look at how Jesus describes this in our passage this morning.

John 12:23–28 CSB

Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit. The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now my soul is troubled. What should I say—Father, save me from this hour? But that is why I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

So Jesus refers to the crucifixion as the hour of His glorification. Perhaps not the most natural way of refering to it given the description we just went over. Crucifixion was designed to be humiliating and painful, not to glorify. The whole point of it was to be so visibly aweful that it made everyone terrified of the possibility that the Romans might do the same to them. It was a deterrent for serious crime. So what inspires Jesus to flip the script and refer to it as a moment which would lead instead to His glory?

Well we don’t have to guess. Jesus tells us why with His illustration about the grain of wheat. Imagine if you had a single grain of wheat and you were too afraid to lose it to plant it. All you would ever have is that single grain of wheat. Not enough to do anything with except eat and still be hungry. But if instead you take that grain and bury it like you would a dead person, it can sprout and grow and produce fruit, more grains of wheat that can all multiply and grow.

Jesus is about to lay down His life so that He can save us from our sins and give us new birth. Every person who puts their faith in Jesus and inherits eternal life is the fruit of this metaphor. Jesus finally answers the mystery of Isaiah 53 that the suffering servant would somehow be “made a guilt offering” and die for His people and yet also “prolong His days” and “see His offspring.” That’s because His offspring only come as a result of His death on their behalf. Because He died we can become children of God.

This is why this moment is Jesus’ glorification. It’s the low and terrible moment that makes the way for the greatest act of love ever performed. This is why Christians throughout history have put crosses on display as a tribute to this death. Why one of the most terrible death sentences known to man has become a symbol of hope and salvation. Why Jesus’ terrible death is His glorification.

But that’s not all. Jesus takes this moment which is primarily about His death and glorification and extends the principle to all of us. After all, Jesus taught with words but He also was our example. He wants us to follow after Him and do as He did. So He says that anyone who wants to gain eternal life needs to give up their life just like He did.

Of course this doesn’t mean that we all need to go get literally crucified. Thankfully. But it does mean that we have to in some meaningful sense give our lives up for the sake of God’s Kingdom. That our own glorification is found in the sacrifice of our lives. Now Jesus’ disciples in the first century mostly literally laid down their lives for the sake of the gospel, almost all of them dying violent deaths because of their refusal to compromise the truth about Jesus.

Here and now though no one is threatening to kill us for following Jesus. So what does hating our life look like in the modern day and age? What does it look like for a Christian in 2025 to give up their life to produce fruit? It means putting the gospel first. It means being willing to sacrifice anything in our lives that holds us back from living the life that Jesus wants us to live. Even if that means that our friends abandon us, or even our families. Even if it means we lose our job or sell the things we own that are really owning us. Is anything in our lives off limits if Jesus asks us to lay it down? If so than we are loving our life and losing it, and we need to better hate our lives to gain eternal life.

This is not a one size fits all kind of application. I think it takes serious contemplation and self-reflection and most of all prayer to see what we might need to be giving up for the gospel. And it can also be a process. Growing in our faithfulness to Jesus every day to lay down our lives one day at a time.

Lifted Up to Draw All Men

Illustration: Lighthouses, although much less used today, served an important function. They helped ships to navigate, especially in the dark. They warned of where there was dangerous coastline, yes, but they also marked out where you could find safe harbor. You can image a ship that’s lost its way searching desperately for safe harbor, and the relief they would feel at finally spotting the light of the lighthouse in the distance, beckoning them to safe shore.

Life can be a lot like sailing a ship at sea in the dark. Which is really terrifying, since you can’t see anything but the stars. It can feel like you’ve got no direction, no plan. Like you’re lost. That’s life without Jesus. That’s why we refer to people who haven’t yet decided to follow Jesus as “lost.” They are sailing around in the dark. So that’s why Jesus came down to earth and died for our sins. So that He could become the lighthouse that guides us in to shore.

This is the sort of picture that Jesus was giving the crowd when He continues to speak to them in verses 31 to 36.

John 12:31–36 CSB

Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die. Then the crowd replied to him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become children of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Jesus speaks of being lifted up to draw all men to Himself and in nearly the same breath talks about Himself as the light that they need to believe in. He is the light of the world, and He came to shine. But in order for that light to be visible in the distance it needs to be lifted up. The cross and the resurrection are the key moment in the ministry of Jesus. The act which all of this has been building towards.

Try to imagine the impact Jesus would have had without His death and resurrection. What would He have been to us? Certainly He said many wise things and gave us lots of practical life lessons. Yet that isn’t enough, is it? After all they already had the law, and if you study Jesus words enough you’ll see that pretty much everything He said was already in the Law of Moses. Yet the Jewish people failed time and again to keep the Law. That’s why Jesus had to come. Because it’s not enough for us to know what we should do, I think most people know what they should do. We are broken and lost and in need of a savior.

It’s the cross that makes the way for us to die and be born again. It’s Jesus being lifted up as the light of the world that makes it so that all men may be drawn to Him. Without it we would be hopeless. Instead we are given infinite hope through the perfect Son of God.

There’s a reason that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2

1 Corinthians 2:2 CSB

I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Because that is the foundation of our faith. If we see Jesus first as a teacher we can get the mixed up idea that Christianity is about living by the rules. That it’s about always doing the right thing and fearing failure all the time. Instead if we know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified we will know that it’s never about what we do but about what Jesus already did. That our faithfulness is an act of returning Jesus’ love for our salvation, not an act of earning it. That’s real Christianity, and the light that Jesus continues to shine today.

Choosing Darkness Over Light

Illustration: When I lived in Grand Bay, our house used to have its driveway on a different street, so there was still a bit of a lane between the two houses on that street and sometimes I would go that way as a shortcut to get to the convenience store if I was walking. There was a streetlight right at the end of this lane that lit the whole thing up. On occasion though for whatever reason this light wouldn’t be working. I hated that because I found it creepy walking between the houses of two people I didn’t know in the dark. For those with only honest motives it’s better to have those lights shining.

Yet there are some who prefer the dark. In fact in some more highly populated places like cities there’s a rush to fix streetlights that go out because often those places attract criminals who take advantage of the dark to do wrong. Criminals prefer the cover of darkness because it makes it easier for them to keep committing crimes.

This is actually exactly the image that John uses at the beginning of His gospel to explain why many didn’t believe in Jesus. Because they loved the darkness more than the light because their deeds were evil. This is what John is talking about when He comments on Jesus’ public ministry at the end of this morning’s passage.

John 12:37–50 CSB

Even though he had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet, who said: Lord, who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said: He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they would not see with their eyes or understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke about him. Nevertheless, many did believe in him even among the rulers, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, so that they would not be banned from the synagogue. For they loved human praise more than praise from God. Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me. And the one who sees me sees him who sent me. I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and doesn’t keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and doesn’t receive my sayings has this as his judge: The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said. I know that his command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

It’s a tragedy really. Jesus came down as a light to the world, and most of the world rejected Him. Though the cross was the plan and saved us from our sins, it’s still the result of God’s people rejecting God when He came to them in the flesh. Why? Because they cared more about the opinions of other people than about God. Because they loved the darkness because their deeds are evil.

This choice however is not without consequence. Jesus says that His words will stand in judgment over all those who reject Him. God’s word has spoken and now we are left with a choice. Do we want darkness or light?

The Bible makes it clear that light is the right choice. My friends, let us choose light this morning. I know that most of us here have already decided to follow Jesus and live in the light, but for those that haven’t it is so worth it. The darkness has nothing on the light, and the eternal life that comes with it. For those of us walking in the light already let us never give in to the temptation to return to the darkness. There’s nothing there for us. The sin we love is not worth hurting God or worse, walking away from Him. Let us choose to walk in the light and in love every single day that we are alive. Jesus is worth it.

Conclusion

So it’s no surprise that Jesus’ final public speech and the summary of His earthly ministry would be full of important lessons for us. In fact too much to cover completely in one sermon. I’m sure you’ve noticed things in it that I didn’t mention, but for the sake of everyone’s time sometimes things need to be left out. Today we have seen from this passage first that what seemed like Jesus’ humiliation on the cross was actually truly His glorification, because it was His victory over death and the way He made us all into children of God. We see also that Jesus as the light of the world had to be lifted up on the cross to shed His light to all people and give us hope of a safe harbor for eternity. Finally we see that although Jesus is the light some love the darkness more and choose it over Him, and we should be diligent to make sure that we continue walking in the light every day.

This my friends is the gospel. We are quickly approaching the moment that Jesus saved the world on the cross. He isn’t leaving the interpretation of that moment up to us. He shared with us what it meant before it even happened. The responsibility we have as disciples is to know well the meaning of the cross not only for the sake of our own salvation and walk with Jesus, but so that we can share it with others and extend this hope to them.

So then Fredericton Christian Church, let us go out reflecting His light to this city, so that we can help draw people to Him for their hope and eternal life.