Signing on with Jesus

John 12:20-26

We can see from the text that John is showing us the reaction of various people to the person of Jesus. We are a day or two maybe more into the passion week. The Pharisees are worried that the ‘whole world is gone after Him’ and they don’t know what to do but kill Him. Then John introduces us to some Greeks who were either of Jewish background or were proselytes of Judaism who were there to worship the God of Israel.

Now it may be that they witnessed the throwing out of the moneychangers from the court of the Gentiles in the Temple or they just heard about Jesus. Either way, they wanted to see Him so they came to Philip to get an audience with Jesus. They may have had some acquaintance with Philip or they connected him with his Greek name.

Note with me that they were there to worship the Lord, and they wanted to See Jesus. Jesus will point out that to worship the true God will require complete surrender to God.

Why they wanted to see Jesus is not really known. But it begs the question why any of us want to see Jesus. Was it because of the signs He did, cf. v.18? Many people come to Jesus because of the signs He does. It is a search for the sensational, or for some fulfillment of some felt need. It is almost as if they seek Jesus for the benefits He can provide for them. Their search reveals their self-centered goals and desires. But Jesus disallows that. He is only truly revealed to those who choose to follow Him as God and are willing to surrender their lives to serve Him and worship Him.

To understand this request we must understand what they were really asking.

The word to see- means more than the act of seeing, but also perceiving, thus, having personal acquaintance with Him. They wanted to get to know Jesus for themselves.They wanted insight into His person. They were wanting to understand Him. In other words they wanted to become involved with Him. Their desire was to see Jesus. It was not just that they wanted to sight Him. No! They wanted audience with Him. They wanted to be taught by Him. So when Andrew and Philip make the request to Jesus He goes into what is required of those who want to be followers of Him.

Why did you come to Jesus?

In the business or vocational world you might find someone you really respect in the field you are interested in and read all their writings, or attend their conferences or hook on to them in some way in order to learn as much as possible from them. They become your mentor. The same is required in becoming acquainted with Jesus.

Here we have Jesus laying down the gauntlet to any of us who would really want to know Him.

When He was calling His disciples and two who were with John saw Him and wanted to follow Him, they approached Jesus, made the request and Jesus told them He had no place to lay His head. That was a precursor of the kind of sacrifice required to follow Him.

When you signed on with Jesus did you realize that?

Here is what Jesus says,

I. Signing on with Jesus means Following Him to the death v.23-24

'the hour has come, that the Son of Man may be glorified.' ie. you shall see me, cf. v.32.This is clearly an allusion to Dan. 7:1-13. There He is described as the one who comes to God to rule after all the kingdoms of the world have been destroyed. So John's readers would have been thinking of this conqueror. But Jesus shocks them with his speech about dying not conquering. A. The principle illustrated, v.24

'truly I say to you, accept a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it dies it will bear much fruit.' He speaks here of His crucifixion.

Death leads to life!

B. the principle applied v.25

'the one who loves his life shall lose it, but the one who hates his life in this world shall keep if unto eternal life.' the one who loves his life is like the corn of wheat that abides alone. the one who hates it and gives it up is like the corn of wheat that dies and bears fruit.

In other words, just as Jesus would die, so also must His disciples/servants be willing to die, to follow Him in death.

C. The response required, v.26

'if anyone will serve me, let him follow me (die to self like the corn) and where I am there also will be the one who serves me and if anyone serves me the father will honor him (bear fruit).

The word follow is in the imperative.

Three things are said in this verse:

II. Signing on with Jesus means personal sacrifice

You cannot serve Christ without following Him. A disciple always follows his rabbi. We must follow His methods, His example. We must walk as He walked. Go where He leads. It clearly requires a complete surrender and yielding of one's own desires and wedding them to Christ's desires. Taking on Christ's desires for your own. This requires a dying to self then.

John Walvoord, of Dallas Theological Seminary points out “Anything in life can become an idol including goals, interests, and loves (cf. Luke 12:16-21; 18:18-30). A believer should undergo a spiritual death to self (Rom. 6:1-14; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 6:14).” Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (2:317). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

There must be a willingness on your part and mine to give up our own interests for His, our own desires for His. Following Him will cost you. It is like an apprentice who pays close attention to his mentor and does as he does. But the exchange rate for the sacrifice is phenomenal.

III. Signing on with Jesus means personal fellowship with Jesus,

It requires the servant to be where His master is. It is service to Him, waiting upon Him, receiving instructions from Him. The servant is about doing what His master requires. This too requires complete surrender to the will of the master.

The ego eimi is a familiar term in John. We see it in John 8:14 as well as in John 14:3.

He is with the servant. There is one on one time with Him.

IV. Signing on with Jesus means honor from the Father

The father will honor the one who serves Christ. Honor with the presence and direction and fellowship of the Son. He will also honor them by giving them life better than what they spent in serving Him. To keep the analogy of bearing fruit, I think He will also allow them to bear fruit, spiritual fruit both personally in the inner man, but also in the lives of others.

Hearing well done thou good and faithful servant.

In other words, the sacrifice and dying to self required of those who would see Jesus is worth it. It will bear much fruit in your life and the life of others.

Conclusion

So the answer to the Greeks- it is not enough to see Him. It forces the question: why do you want to see Jesus? Because of the signs He did (cf. v.18)? or do you really want what Jesus offers?

Pat Boone, the movie star and singer tells of his personal sacrifice in Today’s Christian magazine. His commitment to Christ almost led to his firing as an actor. He was supposed to make a film with Marilyn Monroe, but because of its theme of infidelity he refused to make it. He later went on to make the film State Fair which was a hit.

The initial question of v.21 involves, as you can see alot more than just sight. And the question remains for us, if we would see Jesus we must be totally committed to following Him and surrendering our lives completely to Him. Don’t forget the paradox here when you are discouraged - death to self leads to life.

There were some leaders who signed on with Jesus secretly, but failed to realize the full truth of what was required, v. 42,43.

Since you signed on have you been getting the full benefit of your faith in Christ?