Seven Sundays To Easter: "sir, We Would See Jesus" Series

(Note: this message is based on a sermon preached at First Baptist Church of Sigourney, Iowa in March 2019 and is not an exact reproduction.)

Introduction: The Lord Jesus Christ was on His way to Jerusalem, where in just a few days He would be crucified and would die for the sins of the world. Some Greeks were on their way to worship at the feast (Passover, John 12:1) when they met Philip, one of the Lord’s disciples. These Greeks made a request of Philip: they wanted to see Jesus. What happened after they spoke to Philip may have been something they weren’t expecting.

As an additional note, a pastor had this verse in view on the pulpit of the church where he served. I myself saw this and never forgot it.

Text, John 12:20-26, KJV: 20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast: 21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. 22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

1 The request

This was of course the Passover feast, held during the first month of the Jewish lunar calendar, mid-March to mid-April in our solar calendars. The first Passover was observed way back in Egypt (Exodus 12), over 1000 years before the days when our Lord walked this earth. Passover was one of the three feasts where every Jewish male was required to come to Jerusalem (Exodus 23:17 and 34:23; and Deuteronomy 16:16 per Nave’s Topical Bible) and Jesus, plus the disciples, were heading that way to observe this feast.

Certainly the Jews of Israel would attend this feast, but other Jews were coming too. After the kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon around 588 BC, a number of Jews returned to Judah but many stayed in Babylon, Persia, and other places. Some historians and commentators mention how Alexander the Great and others invited Jews to settle in other parts of the area now called the Middle East (witness the number of locations mentioned in Acts 2).

Besides these Jews of the “dispersion”, or other lands besides Judaea and Galilee, some Gentiles were converts to the Jewish faith. Some of these Gentiles became circumcised and were accepted into the Jewish faith. The exact number may never be known, but one of these was Nicolas of Antioch, who was one of the original seven deacons (not using that name) in Acts 6. Others were called “proselytes of the gate”, according to some, who did not become circumcised but renounced pagan worship and followed the Law of Moses. All of these were welcomed to take part in the Passover.

Some of these were “Greeks”, according to the text, but whether these were Jews who spoke Greek as their heart language and lived outside the borders of “Israel”, or Gentile converts, may never be known. What is certain is that these men, whoever and how many there were, all were on their way to worship at the feast.

But there was something that they wanted to see or, better, experience while they were there. And that was to see Jesus Himself. The Bible’s original language has several different words for “to see,” ranging in meaning from simply to look at something, to experience something. That last word was the one these Greeks used when they wanted to ask a question of Philip.

Now, why did these Greeks find or come to Philip? One common opinion is that he had a Greek name (as did Andrew) so these Greeks may have felt more at ease with someone whose name was similar to their own. Another idea is that Philip might have been the first disciple of Jesus they met on their journey—word about Jesus was everywhere in those days. The reverse of this is stated in John 7 where some of the leaders asked (themselves?) if Jesus was going to go into “the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? (John 7:35)”.

2 The referral

Philip decided to find Andrew and probably explained the situation to him. Why Philip didn’t go to Jesus by himself is never specified and it’s probably best to leave that reasoning to him. At any rate, he and Andrew went together to find Jesus and tell Him there were some people who wanted to see Him. In a moment we’ll see the Lord’s reply.