Hope is...

Big Idea of the Message: Unless Jesus died on the cross, there would be no hope for anyone. His death assures the believer of life eternal.

Honor

Do you ever have a question that you don’t know how to ask;

Do you want to approach Christ with it but do not quite know how;

Are you sometimes afraid to approach Christ;

As we jump into yet another narrative we see “some Greeks” wanting to see Jesus;

So who are the “some Greeks” they are a non Jewish people who believe in Yahweh - possibly Gentiles;

While they did not practice all the traditions they practiced what should be the most important, worship;

They came to show honor to Jesus - they wanted to know Him the wanted to be in His presence;

Why do you want to “see Jesus” - out of a desire of worship or out of desire of self - why are you here;

Life

Jesus, unlike many religious elite of then and now, was willing to share with them, His time, His wisdom, His love;

As with many parables - stories - that are used b Jesus this one too had an agricultural undertone, why because it was something they could relate too;

Jesus shares that unless “unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone…”;

One grain of wheat can produce eight or more heads with over 40 seeds per head. And the grains harvested from one acre -- which is about the size of a football field – can provide a family of four with flour to make enough bread for ten years. www.informeddemocracy.com/bread/activitiesFrmSet.html

Jesus is telling them that sacrifice - which could include death - is needed for a harvest to come;

What are yo willing to sacrifice for the harvest that God is preparing;

Faithlife Study Bible Chapter 12

Jesus is willing to suffer for the cause God has set before Him. He suggests that His value is substantially less if He is unwilling to follow through on God’s will.

Lost

Have we lost the reason of the final sacrifice - the death of Christ;

The life God gives is meant to be seen as a gift and filled with wonder. However, we tend to lose the wonder when we stop seeing what God has done for us. Ministry Pass

Today as we consider Hope is I pray that each of remember the reason - we talk about it, we read about it but do we remember it with all our heart, soul and mind;

Jesus shares in v. 26 - “26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

The New King James Version. (1982). (Jn 12:26). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

Have you gotten lost on the path of life - I’m not talking about loss of salvation - but the path of service to Christ;

Have you allowed your mind to overwhelm your faith and trust;

Have you allowed the world to tell you there is no point;

Have allowed hurt to push you away from your first love - Christ;

“ For many, Christianity has become the grinding out of general doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts. But childlike wonder and awe have died. The scenery and poetry and music of the majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach at the back of the refrigerator” (John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, rev. ed. [Colorado Springs: Multnomah, 2011], 100).

Have you allowed tradition to drown out relationship, have we forgotten the reason for the cross;

If we are to consider the depth of Jesus’s sacrifice for us, then we must be willing to see with open eyes the cause of his death. Our sin led him to the cross, and nothing short of the cross would bring us back into a right relationship with God. Ministry Pass

Application Point: Jesus’s death alone provides the answer to our greatest question: Does God love us?