How To Hate Your Life - John 12:12-26
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Introduction on the shocking language of Jesus.
So often, Jesus says shocking statements that are meant to make us see the stark difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth. Yet, well meaning bible teachers often see it as their job to soften the words of Jesus. One example you might have heard was after Jesus speaks to the rich young ruler. The young man wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus tells him to sell everything he has but the rich young ruler walks away. Then Jesus says in Matthew 19:24 “24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.””
How do we soften that? There is a commentary from the 1850s that mentions a gate called the eye of the needle. I’ll tell you a secret. There is no such gate.
Jesus meant it. Following Him is impossible if we love this world too dearly.
Today we will read about the triumphal entry of Jesus, and a group of Greek men who wanted to follow Him. His words are for them and all would-be followers. Today we will discover what He means when He says “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Read John 12:12-26
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
Pray
1. Triumphal Entry
1. Triumphal Entry
A. Historic/ Biblical Context
A. Historic/ Biblical Context
(Since we’ve gone over these details recently, we won’t spend too long on this portion.)
12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (Psalm 118:25) 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
All four gospels mention this account that’s rare. Only 4-5% of events in the four gospels are found in all four. The feeding of the 5000 is the only other we’ve seen so far. A few months ago we celebrated Palm Sunday and walked through Matthew’s account in Matthew 21.
John adds some unique details the others don’t, though. He is the only one to mention, palm branches, the title “King of Israel”, the only one who emphasizes the reason the crowds were so amazed by Him, and the pharisee’s reaction.
John 12:16 “16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”
The disciples didn’t understand the significance here. But by the time of writing of course they do- after all, all four quote the same line from Zechariah.
* Zechariah 9:9–10 “9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.”
B. The Witnessing Crowds:
B. The Witnessing Crowds:
See here the theme of glorification. Jesus will reference back to this in part 2.
17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
Evangelism 101:
Truly seeing Jesus makes you an evangelist. The question earnest Christians have is “how do I learn to evangelize”- you don’t! You might learn methodolo
gy- but the heart of evangelism is excitement and thankfulness.
If I were to find a brand new restaurant- I’d tell you all about it. No training necessary. Sure, I could do a better job with culinary training- but all the same this comes from earnest excitement/thankfulness.
The triumphal entry of Jesus, like we pointed out a few months ago was intentional. Jesus arrived in Bethany to a crowd He knew would do this. He procured a donkey and essentially set up this scene. Why? Because He didn’t want anyone to miss it.
What we need to see very clearly is that Jesus was intentional about this. Luke says it plainly:
Blank: Luke 9:51 “51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.”
Jesus took this first step toward the cross with intention. It was always His intention to go to the cross. It was always His intention to sacrifice Himself for us- to deny Himself.
2. Understanding the Context
2. Understanding the Context
To understand this next part, we will need to understand two concepts. #1 Who these Greek men are and #2 The Semitic Idiom “Love this, hate that”.
A. Context #2 - who were these “Greeks”, and how did they know of Jesus?
A. Context #2 - who were these “Greeks”, and how did they know of Jesus?
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective The Approaching of the Greeks (12:20–36a)
Greeks… (Hellēnes pronounced hell-ain).… The term “Greek” was presumably used as an umbrella term for “gentile” owing to the dominance of Greek culture and language in the Greco-Roman world at large (note that the term Hellēnistēs (pronounced hell-ain-ees-tais) is used in
Many Jews would see them as spiritual tourists. Believing God, but without making commitments to Him.
“Now, as to the three festivals, which were celebrated every year in Jerusalem, it was the custom of our forefathers to come to them from all parts of the country, and from beyond its limits also. And an innumerable multitude came to these festivals together, not only out of the neighboring cities, but out of the remote parts of the country also, and from beyond the Euphrates, and from out of the most distant regions of the habitable earth, under the hope that they should then enjoy the purer worship of God in the temple.” Josephus, Wars 2.1.3 (§42–43)
What prevented them from being referred to as hellenistes (Greek speaking Jews)? Practically, the step that prevented them was circumcision.
Exodus 12:48 “48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.”
Typical Jewish Male Clothing (1st Century Judea)
Jewish men were distinctive. They had 1. A Tunic (ketonet) 2. Outer Coat- rectangular garment worn over shoulders (tallit) 3. Tzitzit - the tassels that hung off the corners of the robes. 4. sometimes a cloth over their head . (not a yarmulka; those are 3rd century A.D.) and of course- a beard!
Leviticus 19:27 “27 You shall not round off the hair on your temples or mar the edges of your beard.”
Greek men of this time followed the example of Alexander. Beards were seen as old-fashioned or barbaric.
B. Context #2 - The Semitic Idiom of “Love this, hate that”
B. Context #2 - The Semitic Idiom of “Love this, hate that”
23 And Jesus answered them, “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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
The phrase “hate this, love this” is really common since it is a Semitic idiom. Arabic, Aramaic and Hebrew speakers use/used it a lot. It’s found in the Talmud and even some Aramaic texts.
This phrase always occurs when there are two options and one is chosen or preferred.
Examples:
Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. These brothers form two nations.
Jacob who becomes Israel is the founder of the nation. Esau’s nation is Edom. You and I know that Israel in the OT is God’s chosen nation.
*Malachi 1:2–3 “2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have you loved us?” “Is not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob (Israel) 3 but Esau (Edom) I have hated...”
Jacob was tricked on his wedding night ended up marrying wrong sister, Leah. After eventually marrying his second wife, Rachel, he loved his chosen wife Rachel more than his first, Leah.
*Genesis 29:31 “31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.”
This carries into the new testament. Although the language changes from Hebrew to Greek, these are still Jewish people whose idioms remain. Jesus uses this one many times:
Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
We see the nuance here. Does this mean Christians shouldn’t have money? No. But- Christians should often make decisions that would make you wonder “Does that guy hate money?” Tithing, charity, lifestyle are all things that affect the Christian so it should seem like we hate money.
Luke 14:26 “26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (compare to 5th commandment)
Finally we see the full reasoning here. In these cases, to love something is to show such extreme preference for one option, that the other seems to be hated.
3. How to Hate your life like Jesus
3. How to Hate your life like Jesus
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
A. How Jesus exemplifies “hating life”.
A. How Jesus exemplifies “hating life”.
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
The wrong way to read this passage would be this:
“Aha, the Jewish people have finally understood who Jesus is and they are glorifying Him. Just look at the road of cloaks, palms and songs of praise. And to top it off- the Greeks are here. Thanks to Lazarus’ resurrection, Jews and Greeks, the whole world is finally getting it. Now they’re glorifying Jesus.
(Be mindful this theme is fully examined next week)
Encountering John: The Gospel in Historical, Literary, and Theological Perspective The Approaching of the Greeks (12:20–36a)
Rather than granting their wish or squarely turning it down, Jesus refers to his “hour”: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified....And what is this “hour”? It is the hour of Jesus’s death: “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” According to John, Jesus is glorified not despite the cross, but through and in the cross. -Andreas Köstenberger
No, Jesus isn’t saying “see, now you guys are getting it.”
The presence of the Greeks is acknowledged by Jesus as a sign. Now that they are here, the whole world will be able to see the glorification of Jesus. When He is “lifted up”.
John 3:14–15 “14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
The play on words here is obvious. Glorification is lifting someone up in a metaphorical sense- to make a big deal of them, much like a crowd at a wedding lifts the groom. However here, the image is more somber. The only time Jesus was lifted up by men was when He was put on the cross. Yet- the enemies lifting Jesus on the cross would be more glorious than anything the friends of Jesus could ever do for Him.
B. Putting the context together
B. Putting the context together
The Greeks ask to see Jesus.
John 12:21 “21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.””
Jesus is not recording as seeing them. Instead, we have advice for them.
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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
These Greek people stood out like sore thumbs during passover. They were obvious tourists who were fans of the Jewish religion and perhaps to their God, but not at all committed. They came into town, heard the news about Lazarus and wanted to see Jesus and maybe serve Him. Jewish men would look at them and know intrinsically- “these men have not made a covenant with God”. They had not yet made the sacrifice and everyone knew it. They are walking examples of fence-sitters.
Jesus’ response to them is a challenge. He knows the hearts of men so he says “if anyone serves me (perhaps them), he must follow me. What does it look like to follow Jesus? To hate your life in this world. Not to truly hate or be ungrateful for our lives, but to choose the kingdom of Heaven so obviously that it seems like we hate our lives.
Application. Can that be said of us? (Remember we don’t earn salvation or truly sacrifice anything we won’t get back.)
Do you want to serve Jesus? Follow Him where He goes.
Where does our Lord go? To the grave for three days where He resurrects Himself.
To follow Jesus is to walk through the grave.
Exalting Jesus in John His Victory Comes through Death
*Here the destination is eternal life. And you can miss it by loving your life—that is, by making your goal in life to be safe and secure and comfortable and surrounded only by pleasant things. That is the pathway to perishing. Or, Jesus says, you can take another path and arrive at eternal life. That path is called hating your life in this world. Notice that he adds “in this world.” Hating your life in this world means that you will choose to do things that look foolish to the world. You will deny yourself things, and take risks, and embrace the path of suffering for the sake of love. This, Jesus says, will lead to eternal life, not death. (“Where I Am”) Piper
Praise Team Please Come Up
Lottie Moon Picture Slide
Charlotte “Lottie” Moon was born into Southern wealth and privilege in 1840, but gave it all up to serve Christ as a missionary in northern China. Highly educated and fluent in multiple languages, she could have lived a life of comfort, yet she said, *“I would I had a thousand lives that I might give them to the women of China.”*¹ For nearly 40 years, she labored among the poor, enduring isolation, opposition, and deep cultural barriers for the sake of the gospel. She chose to live like the Chinese people, writing, *“Missionaries must become one with the people if they would win them to the Savior.”*²
She opened her home to children, taught women to read, and shared Christ with thousands who had never heard His name. As famine swept through China, Lottie began giving her food away, saying, *“How can I feast while so many are hungry?”*³ Weighing less than 50 pounds, she was eventually forced to return home — but died aboard a ship in 1912, whispering the name of a Chinese believer she loved. She had written to churches in America, *“Why should we not do something that will prove we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of Him who… for our sakes became poor?”*⁴
Lottie Moon’s example is an exceptional one. Yet, among Christians, her heart should not be.
This year I would like us at Christmas time to give to the “Lottie Moon Christmas Offering”. 100% of funds is sent directly toward our international missionaries. Last year, Southern Baptists gave a record $206.8 million.
Application: Two things to take away
For the unbeliever- I need you to see Jesus today. Jesus, God the Son, took on humanity in flesh. Not to experience what it is like, but for His whole 33 years in pursuit of the Cross. The Cross is the place where Jesus purposefully laid down His life in this world expressly for you. He was innocent, so His death on the cross, by the wrath of God, paid not for His sins but yours. Jesus loves you so much, that in comparison He seemed to hate his own life. Hebrews 12:2 “... Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” That Jesus is Lord, and if you repent, confess and believe on Him you will be saved. You can do that today.
For the believer- does your life resemble these remarks at all? What is it you have hated in order to love Jesus? Jesus’ advice isn’t salvific. I don’t mean that if you don’t give up things you won’t be saved. His advice is for all would-be disciples. Do you want to follow Him today? To follow Him requires daily putting to death our sin, and daily choosing Him with such preference that it overshadows all else. The decision to follow Him is a daily one. Luke 9:23 “23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Pray
Lord’s Supper
