With Dale Ratzlaff
John 12:20-36
Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. “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. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
The inquiry of the Greeks who wanted to “see Jesus” appears to mark a major transition in the ministry of Jesus. Phillip was a popular name among the Greeks, and it is speculated that Phillip was fluent in Greek as well as was Jesus. (See Proclamation!, Spring, 2016, Vol. 17.).
Obviously, by asking to “see” Jesus, they meant more than just a casual look; they wanted to visit with Him. Why Phillip could not bring them directly to Jesus, we do not know. Andrew seems to be the one who brings people to Jesus. At the beginning of Christ’s ministry, Andrew brings Peter to Jesus (Jn. 1:40,41.) Just before Jesus had fed the five thousand, He asked Phillip, “Where are we going to buy bread for these?” Phillip was good at math and estimated it would cost more than 200 day’s wages. Andrew, however, brought the boy with five barley loaves and two fish. Phillip calculated the difficulty; Andrew took inventory. Today, some churches have “Operation Andrew” where instruction is given to members to bring people to church.
In our passage in John, after Phillip and Andrew tell Jesus the Greeks wish to speak with Him, something happened in the spirit of Jesus of such magnitude that the seeking Greeks seem to disappear from the narrative. They are not mentioned again. Rather, Jesus answers them saying,
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
“Has come” is in the perfect tense. His hour has come, and there is no going back. The encounter of the Greeks seeking Jesus was a spiritual continental divide in the ministry of Jesus. The Jewish leaders had rejected Jesus and were plotting how they could kill Him. Now, with the Greeks seeking Him, Jesus senses that it is time for the call of salvation to extend beyond the Jewish nation and go to the whole world. What the Samaritans’ had concluded now must be extended beyond the borders of Palestine.
So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world” (Jn. 4:40-42).
It seems that the despised, half-bread Samaritans had deeper spiritual insight than the learned Jews. Jesus is no longer “owned” by the Jewish people. He is the Savior of the World. Later in John’s epistle to the church, he testified to this truth:
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world (1 Jn. 4:14).
This does not mean that the whole world—everybody in it—will be saved, but eternal life is available to whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ. Before the free offer of salvation could happen, however, Jesus must go to the cross:
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.
The way to fruitfulness is through death, not only in the plant kingdom, but in the spiritual kingdom. This fact was true not only for Jesus but in a limited way for us as well, as we will soon see.
He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.
Jesus often uses hyperbole. He does not expect us to pluck out our eye or hate our mother and father as He says elsewhere. Rather, we are to have spiritual discernment. When Jesus says, “he who loves his life loses it, ” he is speaking of “soul life” (ψυχὴν) not “physical life” (ζωὴν). “Loses” in Greek actually should be translated, “destroys it for himself.” Both negative and positive illustrations of this principle abound. Many wealthy and popular Hollywood elites, seeking pleasure and self-gratification, end up addicted to drugs, sex, and ugly selfishness. While eternal life is free simply by believing—trusting in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—living the Christian life requires personal surrender to the sovereign will of God. We may have to give up on cherished personal goals and humbly serve others. However, the outcome is that we will keep “It”—our soul life (ψυχὴν), to life eternal (ζωὴν)—a good deal indeed.
If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
This short sentence has three important aspects. First, service for Christ is open to “anyone.” It is a personal invitation for each of us. It is also a statement that excludes no one—age, race, sex, or social standing. The offer implies that this service will be continual. Therefore, one should consider carefully before making the decision to be a Christ follower. By “follow me” Jesus means that we do not walk on the path of our own choosing, but follow His word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Later Jesus will make this plain to the disciples who have chosen to follow Him.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come (Jn. 16:13).
Second,
…where I am, there My servant will be also.
“Where Jesus is” is a moving target, and “follow” implies that His position may change with time. When it does, our position will also change. And herein is a clue to better things to come. Paul makes it clear that after the resurrection, the Father
…raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6).
A little later in John’s Gospel, Jesus, speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit will say,
And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged (Jn. 16:8-11).
I must wait until we get to John 16 to develop this idea more fully. But for now, note that sin is ONLY described as unbelief in Christ. Righteousness is found ONLY with the Father (where we sit with Jesus at the Father’s right hand). The ruler of this world who is Satan HAS BEEN judged. “Has been judged” is perfect passive. This was done by Christ on the cross, and it was done once and for all time.
Third,
…if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
There are multiple references to the exultation Christ will have because of His sacrifice for us. If we fully understand what it means to be “in” and “with” Christ, then when Christ receives the honor He deserves, the Father will honor us, not because of what we have done, but only and always because we have believed, trusted, and followed Christ.
This honor is not for everyone, only for those who follow and serve Christ. To the unbelieving Jews, Jesus said they could not follow Him.
Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come” (Jn. 8:21).
Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
In His human nature, Jesus’ soul was troubled. The Greek word implies that Jesus was deeply troubled. He could look ahead and see the rejection, feel the horrific pain of the scourging, the crown of thorns, and the torment of the nails driven through his hands and feet. The people He came to save would be mocking Him with disdain. Perhaps He was also fearful of what would happen to His disciples. Would they understand? In His divinity, He could look ahead and see the horrors of the destruction of Jerusalem because the Jewish rulers had cried out “His blood be upon us and our Children.” In His human nature, He prayed,
“Father, save me from this hour.”
However, no sooner than He had uttered that prayer, showing the reality of His human nature, He knew “this hour” was the real purpose of His life and He would not deviate one minute from fulfilling His Father’s will.
“But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
Here we see the two sides of the “salvation coin,” the horror of the cross, and the determination to do the Father’s will come what may.
“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes.
The word for “voice” is really “sound.” We have here an event that years later Paul would experience. When Christ met Paul on the Damascus road, Paul understood the words of Christ, but his fellow companions only heard the sound. Thunder in the Old Testament is often associated with the activity of God. Many examples could be given; here is one.
“Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king.” So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel (1 Sam. 12:17-18).
John records that the crowd only heard the sound and did not understand the words. Yet at the same time, Jesus said that this event was not for Him, but for those Jews standing by. Perhaps the Father sent this “sign” to get their attention. They could have taken this as a warning and inquired further to discover what it meant. When Jesus turned water into wine as recorded in John two, we read that this event was a manifestation of Christ’s glory with the result that His disciples believed.
This sound got the attention of the crowd. Jesus then gives them insight to His coming death.
“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.
Here we find “theological seed” that is not fully developed. Jesus’ coming death will be “the judgment.” It will result in Satan being “cast out.” The good news is that the uplifted Christ “will draw all men” to Himself.
But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”
The perplexity of the crowd came from their understanding of the law. There are many references in the Old Testament, which they could have had in mind.
Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever And his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, And the witness in the sky is faithful (Ps. 89:35-37).
Jesus understood that the unbelieving crowd did not fully comprehend what He was saying, or what He was about to do on the cross. However, He gives them their current duty. As long as Jesus is present, they are to listen and believe in Him. If they follow truth as it is revealed, they will be safe tomorrow.
Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. “While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them.
Application
- Like Andrew, even if we do not know how to meet the spiritual needs of someone, we can bring them to church or to someone who can help them.
- The way of fruitfulness often may come from apparent failure and sacrifice.
- All of us are invited to serve Christ. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow me.” Let us ask ourselves, how are we serving?
- We should recognize that sin is defined as unbelief.
- We must know that righteousness is only in Christ at the Father’s right hand.
- In order to experience true Christian life, we must know where we are—in heaven with Christ at the Father’s right hand. (See Gospel Transformation for more in-depth teaching on this and what it means to be “in Christ”).
- It will help us in our battle with evil to know that Satan has been judged and “cast out.”
- We will share Christ’s honor!
- The Christian life may have many instances where we do not fully understand what is taking place at the moment. But if we follow what we know to be “light”—God’s truth revealed through His word interpreted by the Holy Spirit, we will be eternally safe no matter what comes in the future.
Prayer
Father, may I take to heart your call to service. I renew my commitment to do you will if you make it clear to me. Help me to share your word with others in a way that will bring them to faith. May I understand and apply the truth that sin is unbelief and all saving righteousness is “in Christ” seated at your right hand. Help me to understand that Satan has been judged and how to apply this truth to life here and now.
In Jesus name.
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