John 12, Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Jesus changes His response, finally. Throughout His earthly ministry, when He has been approached with the threat of harm, threat of establishing Him as an earthly King, He has always said the hour has not come. Here, in Jerusalem, after the triumphant entry, He expresses the things that are to come as “The hour has come”. God’s Will was quickly being fulfilled, and His Will was to soon be done.
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.
Greeks … Would See Jesus: some Greeks, representing the world, sought Jesus. The scene was as follows. Jesus had just been hailed as the coming King and Messiah by teeming thousands of people: “The world is gone after Him” (Jn. 12:19). Some Greek pilgrims who had come to attend the Passover Feast wished to see this Jesus who was being proclaimed King. In the author’s mind, these Greeks represented the Gentile world, all the God-fearing people of the world who would see 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.
Jesus Christ, Glory of—Jesus Christ, Purpose: the first misunderstanding is the Messiah’s glory. The Greeks had just seen Jesus glorified as Messiah by teeming thousands. It was as if the world were going after Him. They wanted to be part of the movement, so they requested an interview with Him. What Jesus did was try to correct the misunderstood idea of the Messiah held by the world. He wanted to prepare both the Greeks and those standing around (the whole world) for His death. He wanted to teach that the way to glory is not through triumph and praise, not through domination and subjection. The way to glory is through death to self and through service to God and man. Jesus did two things.
a. Jesus said that His hour had come: the Son of Man was now to be glorified. His hour, of course, referred to His death (as the next verse clearly states and this whole passage shows. See note—Jn. 2:3–5.)
Note that Jesus revealed His death by using the picture of a grain of wheat. As stated, Jesus said that He would now be glorified, but His glory was not to be the glory of an earthly potentate. His glory was to be the glory of the cross. It was to be by death that He was to gain the allegiance of men and be exalted as King.
⇒ God would exalt Him as King because He had done exactly what God wished: He died for the sins of the whole world. (See note—Jn. 10:17–18 for important discussion of this fact.)
⇒ Men would become His subjects because He had died for them and given them an eternal inheritance with God the Father.
The picture of the wheat can be simply stated: before the glory—before fruit can be borne—death is a necessity. Jesus must die before He can be enthroned as King and bear the fruit of subjects and a kingdom. (See note—Jn. 13:31–32 for more discussion.)
Thought 1. The glory of Christ is the glory of the cross.
(1) It is the cross that stirs God to exalt His dear Son above every name that is named.
(2) It is the cross that stirs men to offer themselves as living sacrifices to God’s dear Son (in appreciation and love for saving them).
b. Jesus also said that man’s hour had now come. Man must do the same as He did.
1) Man must lose his life. If he does, he will gain eternal life. What did Jesus mean by this unusual statement? Very simply, the person who abandons this life and world, who sacrifices and gives all that he is and has for Christ, will save his life. But the person who keeps his life and what he has and seeks more and more of this life, will lose his life completely and eternally.
The person who “saves his life” …
• who seeks to avoid aging and death and denies Christ—will lose his life eternally
• who seeks to make his life more and more comfortable and easy and secure (beyond the necessary) and neglects Christ—will lose his life eternally
• who seeks to gain wealth and power and fame by compromising Christ—will lose his life eternally
• who seeks the excitement and stimulation of this world and ignores Christ—will lose his life eternally
As said above, the person who loses his life for Christ and sacrifices all he is and has for Christ saves his life and saves it eternally. The person who keeps his life and what he has for himself will lose his life and lose it eternally. The call of Christ is just what He says—a life of denial that takes up the cross and follows in His steps.
2) Man must serve and follow Jesus. The man who does is assured …
• of Jesus’ presence: “Where I am, there shall also my servant be”
• of the Father’s (God’s) honor. The Father will honor any person who honors His Son—His only Son whom He loves with His whole Being
**** DEEPER STUDY # 1
(12:23–24) Jesus Christ, Hour of: the phrase “the hour” or “my hour” is a constant symbol of Jesus’ death. “The hour” refers to all the events of the cross and all the trouble and sufferings surrounding the cross. Note two facts.
1. “The hour” is a set, fixed time in the purpose of God.
⇒ Jesus said, “The hour is come” (Jn. 12:23–24, 27; 13:1; 17:1; Mt. 26:18, 45; Mk. 14:41).
⇒ He had said some time before, “Mine hour is not yet come” (Jn. 2:4; see 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20).
The hour of Jesus was inevitable: a definite period of time, a set of events, a number of experiences that He had to face and go through. As He said, He must die in order to bring forth fruit (v.24).
2. The hour was to have a definite beginning. There was a set time for the trouble to begin (v.27), a set time for Him to begin suffering for the sins of the world. There was a fixed hour when He was to begin suffering the pain and anguish, the agitation and disturbance, the pressure and weight, the strain and stress of having to be separated from God in behalf of man (see notes—Mt. 20:18; 27:46–49).
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.
The second misunderstanding is the Messiah’s cause or purpose. Note six points.
a. Jesus was experiencing a “troubled” soul. Troubled (tetaraktai) means agitated, pressured, heavy, weighed down, strained, stressed, disturbed.
b. The reason His soul was so troubled was that He was about to face the great cause for which He had come into the world. His hour was at hand, staring Him in the face; the terrible sufferings were now beginning (see DEEPER STUDY # 1, Hour—Jn. 12:23–24). Note two things.
1) His supreme purpose was to face the hour God had set for Him: He was to die. He had come to die, and to die was the supreme cause of His life.
2) His supreme obedience. Imagine the terrible sufferings of the hour. Should He pray, “Father save me from this hour?” He could not, for He had come to die. He must obey God, and to obey God was the supreme act of His life (see note—Jn. 10:17–18).
c. Jesus prayed for the glory of God. He prayed for the Father to glorify His own name. This is significant. It shows a complete selflessness on the part of Jesus. It shows that the primary concern of Jesus was to complete His purpose and cause on earth, which was to glorify God by doing exactly what God wanted. How was God glorified? By Jesus’ obedience. God was glorified in the same way a superior is honored and respected. His Word was carried out and obeyed.
Note: the verb “glorify” is in the Greek aorist tense which points to a single act or event which would glorify God (v.28). The single act concerned the cross. Jesus was asking His Father to glorify His own name through the cross.
1) God would be glorified in the cross by the supreme act of obedience on the part of Jesus. It was God’s will for Jesus to die for the sins of men. By dying, Jesus would show that God is the supreme Being of the universe. God is the One who is to be honored and respected and obeyed. He would thereby be glorified.
2) God would be glorified in the cross by men seeing the love of God in the cross. God gave His only Son to die for men that they might not perish but have everlasting life. Some men would see and believe this glorious truth; therefore, they would bow down, surrendering their whole beings to God. They would begin to follow and obey His will, honoring and praising Him for all He had done and was doing for them. The name of God would thereby be glorified by the cross. (See note, pt.1—Jn. 12:23–26 for verses of Scripture.)
d. God accepted and approved Jesus’ prayer. Note that the approval was audible. God actually spoke from heaven, saying that He had glorified His name and that He would glorify it again. Note three things.
1) Jesus prayed according to God’s will: “Glorify [honor] thy name” (see Mt. 6:9). Therefore, God answered His prayer.
Thought 1. God will answer any prayer that is according to His will (1 Jn. 5:14–15). This stresses the importance of knowing God’s will. Studying God’s Word is the only way to know the will of God.
2) God accepted Jesus’ prayer. This means He accepted Jesus’ death in behalf of man. We can rest assured that we are delivered from death if we believe on Jesus (see Jn. 5:24).
3) God will glorify His name in the future. He will keep His Word and fulfill all His promises. We can rest assured of the promises of God.
e. The people standing around were confused. Some thought the voice was merely thunder; others thought that an angel had spoken to Jesus.
f. Jesus plainly told the people that a voice had spoken. It had spoken for their sakes in order to help them believe that He was the Son of God.
The point is this. By the thousands, people had just welcomed Jesus in the triumphal entry, welcomed Him as their earthly King and Messiah, the One who was to bring heaven and utopia to earth. (See outline and notes—Jn. 8:21–24.) Jesus had to correct the misunderstanding of His cause. He had come not to rule as an earthly King for man; He had come to die for man. God’s concern was not just for the seventy years of a man’s life; God’s concern was to save man eternally.
31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.
32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
The third misunderstanding concerns the world. The world is not what it should be. It is not what it was created to be: perfect and permanent. The world was perfect in its distant past: it was created perfectly, just as it should be. However, man misunderstands the world. He ignores and neglects the fact that the world …
• is not perfect; is not in its original state or even close to it; is not what it should be; is not in the condition for which it was meant.
• is not permanent as it is; will not always be here; was not always here.
• is to be changed and recreated into a new heavens and earth just as God intended.
Standing there, the people had welcomed Jesus in the triumphal entry, thinking He was going to set up a worldly kingdom upon this present earth. They thought in terms of the physical earth, in terms of worldly kingdoms and material wealth and power. Jesus had to correct their misconception. He had to show them that God’s concern was not for man and his world to exist for just a brief span of time, but for eternity.
What Jesus said was an alarming revelation. Note the phenomenal claim in the word “now.” He said “Now,” it is I—my being lifted up, my cross and death—that would cause these things to happen.
a. Jesus said that this world is to be judged (see DEEPER STUDY # 2, World—Jn. 12:31).
b. Jesus said that the world is ruled by an alien power (see DEEPER STUDY # 3, Satan—Jn. 12:31).
c. Jesus said that both the world and Satan would be conquered by the cross, by His death (see DEEPER STUDY # 4, Cross—Jn. 12:32).
34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.
The fourth misunderstanding concerns the Messiah (the Light). Note: the people clearly understood that Jesus was speaking of death, but it was this that confused them. They had just acknowledged Him to be the Messiah, and they had always understood the Messiah was to live forever (see Ps. 89:36; 110:4; Is. 9:7; Dan. 7:14). Was He really the Messiah? Could they be mistaken? Was the Son of Man someone else? Jesus answered two things.
a. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, the Light of the world (see DEEPER STUDY # 5—Jn. 12:35–36; DEEPER STUDY # 1—8:12). But He stressed a critical point. The Light was to be with them for only a little while longer; the Light was to be extinguished.
b. Jesus pointed out the twofold need of man.
1) Man must walk in the Light while he has light. If the Light was to be extinguished, it would not always be present for men to see. And once men lost the Light two things would happen.
⇒ Darkness would overtake and overcome men.
⇒ Men would not know where they were going. They would be groping and stumbling, falling and dooming themselves to an eternity of darkness.
2) Man must believe in the Light. If men believed, something significant would happen. They would become children (huioi, sons) of the Light.
⇒ Believe (pisteuete) is continuous action.
⇒ Become (genesthe) is a once-for-all act, a personal experience that happens all at once.
A man who truly sees Jesus Christ as the Light of the world believes and continues to believe. And the very moment his heart leaps toward Christ in belief, he becomes a child of the Light, a child of God Himself. The man sees the Light and begins to walk in the Light, living the kind of life he should.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
