The Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 18, 2018
John 12:20-33
Jesus Is Encouraged by the
Scope of His Work
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Have you ever been given a project or taken on a project that seemed to simply overwhelm you? Perhaps you were given a project at work that no one else wanted to take on. Perhaps you were assigned a project at school that you just weren’t thrilled about doing. Perhaps you decided to take on a home remodeling project that turned out to be much larger than you had originally anticipated. As you are working on this project, however, have you ever reached a point where it all started to come together just as it was supposed to? Suddenly you get a renewed sense of energy, don’t you. All the months of hard work, all the sweat and all the sacrifice now seems worth it!
Now consider this: even the biggest and most overwhelming task that you or I could ever possibly undertake is nothing compared to the task, the mission that Jesus came into this world to accomplish. In fact, Jesus’ task, Jesus’ mission was one that only Jesus could accomplish! With that in mind let’s study this portion of Scripture under the theme: Jesus Is Encouraged by the Scope of His Mission. There are two things that we want to see concerning the scope of Jesus’ mission. First, let’s see that Jesus’ mission would result in glory. Then let’s see that Jesus’ mission would result in judgment.
Our text for today takes place on the Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus had just been welcomed into the city of Jerusalem as the King of Israel. (See John 12:13) Jesus had once again cleansed the Temple of the Lord by overturning the tables of the money changers and driving out the merchants who had once again set up their market place in the Courtyard of the Gentiles. Then something happened which to most people may have appeared to be a rather insignificant event. John says in the opening verses of our text, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’ Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.”
Why did these Gentile believers want to see Jesus? Did they want to thank Jesus for cleansing the Courtyard of the Gentiles and restoring it to a holy and sacred place— a place where they could joyfully worship the Lord their God, a place where they could humbly pray to Him without all the chaos and the cacophony of a market place in the background? Why did they approach Philip with their request? Why did Philip feel it necessary to consult with Andrew before bringing this request to Jesus? John never answers any of those questions, does he. In fact, John never even tells us if these Greeks were ever granted their request to see Jesus! Instead, John reveals to us that this request by these Gentile believers served as an encouragement to Jesus. Even though Jesus knew that His crucifixion and death were now just days away, He was encouraged by the fact that His mission here on this earth was coming to completion. Jesus was encouraged by the fact that once His mission was complete it would result in glory. Here in our text John enables us to see three aspects of the glory that Jesus’ mission would achieve.
First, look at what our Savior says in verses 23 and 24 of our text, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” From our vantage point as 21st century Christians we know exactly what Jesus is talking about when He says, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” Jesus knew that while His suffering and death on the cross would outwardly look like complete and utter defeat, in reality His death on the cross would bring Him unparalleled glory! This glory would be openly revealed on Easter Sunday when Jesus physically rose from the dead. This glory would emanate from the fact that Jesus’ death and Jesus’ resurrection would proclaim that He is the Victor over sin, death and the devil!
Part and parcel of Jesus’ glory will be the glory He receives as the Savior of all mankind— both Jews and Gentiles alike. Using the picture of a kernel of wheat, which when planted in the ground “dies” only to produce “many seeds,” this request by these Gentile believers encouraged Jesus to stay focused on the fact that since He was about to suffer and die to pay for all the sins of all the people, His death and His resurrection would result in securing the glory of eternal life for all who put their faith and trust in Him— including you and me!
Stop for a moment and think about what that means, my friends. On the Tuesday of Holy Week— just days before He would suffer and die on the cross— Jesus was encouraged to complete His mission by thinking of you! Jesus knew that the scope of His work included saving you! Jesus knew that the glorious victory He was about to achieve would envelope and embrace you! Jesus knew that just as His death would be followed by His glorious resurrection, so also your faith in what