Glorified Through Death

Introduction

Good morning, CWC students! Thanks for having me here today. I know some of you, but not all of you, of course. My name is Mitchell and serve as Campus Pastor at Edgewood Community Church here in town.

You guys just had Spring Break last week and now you’re getting back into the swing of things and if you’re a follower of Jesus, this is a big week…

Who can tell me what this week is called? (Holy Week)

What happened yesterday? What is yesterday called? (Palm Sunday)

What happened on Palm Sunday? (Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey)

What’s coming up this weekend? (Easter, Good Friday)

This week marks the most impactful event that has ever happened in the history of the world.

Even non-Christians would tend to agree: what happened on Easter is astronomically amazing. It changed the world. It’s why Sunday is part of the “weekend”.

Did you know that before the Resurrection of Jesus, Sunday was the first day of the workweek?

Now, even non-Christians don’t work on Sunday…

What happened on that first Resurrection Sunday changed everything.

But, so much of what God does is not how we would expect.

Jesus, the One who would come to save the world, was born from a human being. He didn’t just arrive from the clouds. He was born from a human, as a human… miraculously so, but human none-the-less.

Jesus, literally God, was born in a barn… laid in an animal feeding trough… because we had no room for Him here.

Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey… a lowly, humble donkey… not a great, strong war horse, but a lousy donkey…

Then, later that week, Jesus allowed Himself to be mocked, beaten, spit on, whipped, humiliated, hung on a cross, and killed… He died a criminal’s death… even while we hung on the cross He was mocked by an actual criminal on a cross next to Him…

But, Jesus was supposed to be the King who saves…

The crowds shouted “Hosanna” on Palm Sunday, meaning “Lord, come save us!”, but just later that week He would die a horrible, criminal’s death.

Jesus didn’t come as we’d expect and He didn’t go as we’d expect.

Remember: it all makes more sense to us now as we look in hindsight, but if we were alive in that day, we would likely be just as confused.

God’s way is so different than what we’d imagine, yet His ways are perfect and intentional. He knows what He’s doing.

Our question for today is How can Jesus be glorified through death?

How can life come from death?

For Jesus, glory came through His sacrifice… but, how?

Let’s pray…

Father, would You speak to us today in Your Word… we understand that this is the very Word of God… show us what we need to see… help us understand… change us by it…

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Passage

John 12:23–24 ESV

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.

Jesus says that the time has come for Him to be “glorified”.

Ordinarily, we would think that this means He is going to defeat Satan right then and there, show the world that He is the victorious King, and all who believe in Him are saved, and that’s the glorious ending to the story.

That is actually true — except the story isn’t completely finished until His return… but, the way that it happened is certainly not what we would see in a Super Hero movie.

Jesus compares the way that He will be “glorified” to a grain of wheat falling into the earth and dying — and unless that grain of wheat dies into the ground, life won’t come…

Who has ever seen a Mongolian Giant Sunflower?

(Mongolian Giant Sunflower photo)

These sunflowers typically grow from 10-14 feet tall, but they have even been known to grow over 30 feet tall!

It takes one seed to grow one of these flowers.

When the sunflower grows, the head of the sunflower grows many more seeds.

Those seeds will dry out, and then fall out or blow away.

Those seeds then land on the ground, and if they land on good soil in good conditions, the seed grows into another sunflower plant.

If you grow one sunflower, you could easily grow a dozen more sunflowers from the seeds of the first sunflower.

But, those seeds must first dry out and fall to the ground to plant more flowers…

Look at how sunflowers can multiply…

(Mongolian Giant Sunflower field photo)

Jesus uses the illustration of wheat to describe how He was going to be the victorious King.

He came to carry a cross, not a crown.

He came not to live a life of ease and honor, but to die a brutal and shameful death.

His Kingdom was to begin with a crucifixion, not a parade.

His victory was not to be won with a sword, but from His own death.

Jesus’ death was necessary for life to come.

The law from the Old Testament wasn’t going to save anyone…

Hebrews 7:19 ESV

19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

This “better hope” is Jesus.

Old Testament sacrifices weren’t going to save anyone…

Hebrews 10:4 ESV

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The law and sacrifices in the Old Testament are just a shadow of what was to come through Jesus Christ.

No one can obey the law perfectly.

No one can offer a sacrifice that would cleanse their sin.

There had to be a Rescuer.

There had to be Someone who would come — who was perfect and who would pay for the sins of the world.

This is why Jesus was human — fully man.

And this is how He was perfect and without sin — He was fully God.

His death was necessary for life to come.

Jesus’ death, like a grain of wheat, was to be the root of renewal… the root of spiritual revival… the root of forgiveness… the root of eternal life.

He was the seed that died and fell into the ground… only to spring up a field of new life! The harvest is plentiful!

If you are a Believer in Jesus Christ today, you are in that harvest field!

—

The Pharisees thought they were putting an end to Jesus’ movement, but it was only the beginning.

This is has happened since then as well.

Who knows the story of Stephen in the book of Acts?

Stephen was stoned to death for following Jesus Christ.

The people who stoned him to death thought they were putting an end to the “Jesus movement”… and they thought that by killing Stephen they would not only end his ministry, but they would scare everyone else who were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Stephen was killed, but what happened after that?

Disciples scattered and preached the Word of God.

Like Jesus, Stephen was a seed that died and fell to the ground… and then sparked a revival not only in one location but eventually around the world because followers of Jesus were scattered all over the place, like seeds scattered and planted, taking root, and Christianity grew and grew and grew.

—

It was Jesus’ death that brought life.

It wasn’t His miracles or merely His teaching.

It was His death that brought life.

So what does this mean for you?

Jesus died for our sins so that we could live.

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Jesus paid the penalty on the cross for our sin. - Now, we can accept or decline that gift.

To decline that gift means you’re going to trust yourself, that you can be perfect and earn your own salvation… and that in and of itself is sin, so you’ve already failed.

To accept that gift means that we need to die to self…

Meaning, we acknowledge that we can’t earn salvation.

You will never be “good enough” to earn the gift… because it is a gift to receive.

You may say that you receive that gift, but your actions and attitudes might contradict that…

Here’s how you can know…

You try hard to please God — which is good — but when you mess up (and you will), you don’t only feel guilt, but you feel condemnation. You think you’ve ruined it all.

You try to read your Bible everyday, but when you miss a day you feel like God is mad at you… you try to make up all of your missed Bible readings to try to earn God’s love again… to make up for it.

When something bad happens, you wonder if it’s because you deserved it from a sin you previously committed… like karma.

When you sin, God isn’t mad at you, wanting you to “make it up to Him” somehow.

When you sin, God is disappointed for you… because you’re missing out on true freedom of His forgiveness… this is why Jesus died for you… so you don’t have to live this way anymore.

This is a call to die to our effort to earn anything and live to God.

The work has been done for you by Jesus on the cross.

You can’t lose it. You can’t mess it up.

We need this reminder daily.

It’s counter-cultural because everything else in life works the opposite way.

Everything else in our life we have to earn.

Work = gain.

In Christianity, the work has been already done by Jesus on the cross.

So, we trust in His work done for us.

Jesus’ death was necessary for His resurrection.

Us dying to ourselves is necessary for our own resurrection as well.

We must surrender our effort to earn our salvation in order for us to live in true freedom.

We all want to see a miracle, we all want to see deliverance, but in order for that to happen there must be a death, there must be a desperate circumstance. The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 describe character traits of the follower of Jesus…

Are you “poor in spirit” — humble, knowing you’re not good enough?

Do you “mourn your sin” — your own sin and imperfection breaks your heart?

If so, then you’re in a good place.

Jesus died so you don’t have to.

Jesus died so you may live.

By His wounds you have been healed.

Trust in what He has done for you and you will resurrect from being “dead in your sin” just as Jesus resurrected from the grave!