Sunday March 29 John 12:20-33

Good day to all. Our text jumps from John 3 to John 12. This is Jesus’ third passion prediction in John. To fill in the text a little bit this is right after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem for Passover. He has come in on a donkey and been heralded as a king. The symbolism in that entry is too extensive to discuss here. Jesus is in the city and some people come to talk with him.

V20 Some Greeks came to talk with him. Why would Greeks come to a Jewish Passover celebration? These were Greek speaking Jews from the Diaspora who lived outside the Promised Land. They had heard about Jesus and had some questions.

V21 They would like to see Jesus so Andrew and Philip went to get Jesus.

V23 Jesus replies to Andrew and Philip that His hour has come. The word “hour” is used twenty times in the book of John. It is a bell tolling in the background. “My hour has not yet come”. Now it has come, the final tolling. The hour He was referring to was His crucifixion. He, the Son of Man, the representative of the “true Israel” will be glorified.
We don’t know if Jesus ever talked with the Greeks.

V24 He then tells a parable about this “hour”. He pictures what will happen for His disciples as a grain of wheat falling to the ground: dying and growing a new plant which bears many seeds. In His death He will sow a seed which will produce much fruit.

V25 Those who follow Jesus and give life away in service to others will find a greater life. Those who love their life and live for self will ultimately lose it.

V26 Who ever wants to be with Jesus must serve and follow Him, doing as He did. Whoever follows Jesus with their life will be honored by God.

V27 Jesus is troubled by the events He knows that are coming but He doesn’t ask his Father to stop them because He knows this is why He came. He has to go through it to glorify His Father.

V28-29 A voice from heaven came. This was one of the ways through which God would communicate with His people. In verse 28 a version of the word glorify is used three times. The dictionary defines glorify as to give majesty and honor. In dying on a cross Jesus will give majesty and honor to His Father. His ultimate honor of His father will be giving His life away on a cross.

V30 The voice (sound) heard was not for Him but for the ones around Him.

V31 Now is the judgment of this world. Now Jesus will be judging the world; the world will not be judging Him. Even though He is the one on a cross and we think we have judged Him and found Him lacking so we are crucifying Him; He is actually judging us on our servant walk. We tend to think that the Romans killed Him or the Jewish leaders killed Him. There were trials and He was judged guilty so He had to be executed for the crime. What we fail to see is that He went to that death willingly. He let them (Romans, Jewish leaders, US) kill him. In John 19:30 He says from the cross “It is finished” which means in Greek “it is paid in full” and was written on a certificate of debt. He bows His head and gives up His spirit of His own will; no one takes it from Him. In giving up His life he conquers the ruler of this world: Satan. The last thing Satan wanted was for Jesus to die. Jesus was the ultimate servant even to the point of giving up His own life. Satan wants us to live for self, not in service to God. Everything Jesus did was to glorify (honor) God. He did nothing to serve Himself. That was what the three temptations’ were about. Will you do these things to serve yourself? Will you make bread because you are hungry, will you jump off the temple so God will catch you and show the people a miracle for fun, and will you give yourself to me (Satan) for all the land? Jesus said No, everything I do will honor my Father.

V32 When I am crucified I will be vindicated in my service to others. God will stamp His approval on My work by resurrecting Me.

V33 The third prediction on how He was to die.

So if Satan was conquered on the cross why do we still have all this mess the world is in?
Why are financial markets collapsing, governments collapsing and people losing everything? The answers are many and to discuss them would take time but what if we had lived a servant lifestyle and not for self? What if we had cared more for our fellow man then for what we could get out of the world for me? What if we had continued the clean up mission Jesus started instead of looking out for number one? Jesus conquered Satan at the cross but we sure haven’t cleaned it up in His footsteps have we? My question is; do you think we will finally start now?

Peace be upon you. Kim