Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction:

*The presence of Greeks at the Passover was not unusual.

The original text indicates that these Greeks “were accustomed to come and worship at the feast.”

They were not curious visitors or one-time investigators.

They feared God, they were Gentiles who attended the Jewish synagogue and sought the truth because Greeks characteristically were seekers of truth "/For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;/" (1 Corinthians 1:22).

The force of the Greek language behind “we wish to see Jesus” is continuous” (v.21).

The idea is they kept repeating their request.

They really wanted to hear Jesus.

!! A.                  The King Is Pursued.

!!! 1.

Some Greeks Representing the World Sought Jesus (v.20-22)

!!!! a)                  Jesus was accepted as king, 12:12f (v.20).

!!!! b)                  Some Greeks requested to see the King (v.21).

!!!!! (1)                 Jesus had just been hailed as the coming King and Messiah by thousands of people: “The world is gone after Him” (John 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.

!!!!! (2)                 Some Facts About the Greeks

!!!!!! (a)                 A great number of Greeks accepted Christ In Corinth ( Acts 18:4); Iconium ( Acts 14:1) Thessalonica ( Acts 17:1-4).

!!!!!! (b)                The Greeks were considered unclean by the Jews ( Acts 21:28)

!!!!!! (c)                 Paul felt that he was in debt to preach the gospel to the Greeks *( Romans 1:14-16)*

!!!!!! (d)                Paul preached the gospel to the Greeks throughout all Asia ( Acts 19:10)

!!!!!! (e)                 Paul preached the message of repentance to the Greeks *( Acts 20:18-21)*

!!!!!! (f)                  In Matthews Gospel we read that wise men from the East came to see Jesus at His birth, and here in John’s gospel shortly before the cross, we see wise men from the West coming to Jesus

!!!!! (3)                 One Of John’s Major Themes Is That Jesus Is The Savior Of The World, Not Simply The Redeemer Of Israel.

!!!!!! (a)                 He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

!!!!!! (b)                “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16).

!!!!!! (c)                 The Samaritans rightly identified Him as “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

!!!!!! (d)                 He gave His life for the world and He gives life /to/ the world (John 6:33).

!!!!!! (e)                 He is the Light of the world (John 8:12).

!!!!!! (f)                  The universal emphasis of John’s Gospel is too obvious to miss.

Jesus will bring the “other sheep” who are outside the Jewish fold (John 10:16; 11:51–52).

“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd."

(John 10:16, NASB95)

/"Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad."

(John 11:51-52, NASB95) /

"For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;" (Romans 10:12, NASB95)

/"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

(Galatians 3:28) /

 

 

!!!! c)                  Philip and Andrew tell Jesus (v.22).

!!!!! (1)                 Whenever you find Andrew in John’s Gospel, he is bringing somebody to Jesus: (1:40–42, 6:8–9, 12:22).

What an example as a soul-winner!)

!!!!! (2)                 Christ Had Taught His Disciples To Avoid The Gentiles (Matt.10:5;

15:24).

!!!!!! (a)                 He taught not to proclaim the kingdom message of salvations to non-Jewish people.

But we read that He had already ministered to both Gentiles and Samaritans.

He had healed the Gentile centurion’s servant (Matt.

8:5–13) and had first revealed Himself publicly as the Messiah to the Samaritan woman of Sychar, who believed in Him herself and led other Samarians to saving faith (John 4:7–42).

!!!!!! (b)                In Christ’s last words to the apostles before His ascension, He specifically names Samaria as a field of ministry (Acts 1:8).

!!!!! (3)                 Why Did Jesus Restrict The Apostles’ Ministry (Matthew 10:5-6)?

!!!!!! (a)                 Jew’s Were God’s Chosen People, Through Whom He Ordained Salvation To Come.

(i)                   As Jesus explained to the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22); that is, it came to the Jews first and, through them, comes to the rest of the world, just as God had promised Abraham.

(ii)                 The Messiah came to the lost house of the sheep of Israel (Matt.15:24).

(iii)                Even Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, always began a new ministry in the local synagogue whenever he was able (see Acts 9:20; 13:5; 18:4; 19:8).

Jews were the first to hear the gospel and the first to preach the gospel.

(iv)               Had the apostles gone first to the Samaritans and Gentiles, the Jews would have been very reluctant to listen to them, because they would have perceived the apostles as bearers of a pagan religion.

Although they had greatly distorted and disobeyed God’s revelation, the Jews were right in their belief that His revelation to them was unique and that they had a unique role in His plan of redemption.

!!!!!! (b)                They Were Barely Up To The Task Of Witnessing Effectively To Their Own People-much less of witnessing to Gentiles and Samaritans, whose cultures and ways they little understood and greatly despised.

(i)                   After Pentecost, Peter was not convinced the gospel was for Gentiles.

The Lord had to persuade him through a special vision and by firsthand witness of the Spirit’s work in Cornelius and his household (Acts 10).

(ii)                 Peter’s prejudice was so strong that many years later he, along with Barnabas and other Jewish Christians, broke fellowship with their Gentile brothers in Christ, “fearing the party of the circumcision” (Gal.

2:12–13), who taught that Gentiles had to be become Jewish proselytes before they could become Christians.

!!! 2.                  Misunderstanding 1: His glory (v.23-26)

The Greeks had just seen Jesus /glorified/ as Messiah by thousands.

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 glory, 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)                  His hour had come (v.23-24).

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.

Jesus was always focused upon His purpose for coming to the earth: /to face His hour, to die for mans salvation./

!!!!! (1)                 *He Had To Die First (v.24a).

*

!!!!!! (a)                 The Illustration: “a grain of wheat”.

When you hold a kernel of wheat in your hand, you cannot see what is in it.

Literally each grain contains, a million similar offspring.

In planting season, a grain is cast forth into the ground as if in a tomb.

Then it dies, is set forth from its encasement, and becomes a resurrection plant, and its many grains are resurrection fruit! 

!!!!!! (b)                 When a grain of wheat produces a mature wheat plant with a head full of grain, /the original seed no longer exists/.

The seed must cease to exist in its original form before it can *come to life* in its final form as a plant.

Before Christ could bear the fruit of salvation for us, He had to die (Isaiah 53:10-12; Heb.2:9-10).

Likewise, before we can participate in the fruit of His resurrection, or bear fruit in His service, we too must die.

“He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal” (v. 25).

!!!!! (2)                 *Then He could bear fruit (v.24b).*

!!!!!! (a)                 Jesus was telling the crowd /he would fulfill his kingly role by dying and thereby reproducing his life in others/! 

!!!!!! (b)                Before fruit can be born—death is a necessity.

Jesus must die before He can be enthroned as King and bear the fruit of subjects and a kingdom.

!!!! b)                  The Glory Of Christ Is the Glory of the Cross-Jesus was now ready to:

!!!!! (1)                 make the final sacrifice for man, and to pay the supreme price, His life (Phil.2:5-8).

!!!!! (2)                 secure an eternal righteousness for man by dying as God willed (Romans 5:1).

!!!!! (3)                 perfectly satisfy God’s justice, to be a propitiation for our sins (Romans 3:24)

!!!!! (4)                 triumph over Satan by breaking Satan’s power over death and over the souls of men.

!!!!!! (a)                 Jesus spoiled principalities and power, triumphing over them in the cross (Col.2:13-15)

!!!!!! (b)                 Jesus destroyed the works of the devil (1 John 3:8)

!!!!!! (c)                 Jesus broke the power and fear of Satan over lives and death (Heb.2:14-15)

!!!!! (5)                 glorify God through His Obedience (John 13:31-32).

God was glorified by the supreme obedience of Jesus dying on the cross

/“For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.

“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.

I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

This commandment I received from My Father.”"