Great Things God Wants Us To See Series

Great Things God Wants Us to See

The Gospel of John

John 12:17-26

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - May 24, 2017

(Revised December 13, 2019)

BACKGROUND:

*Please open your Bibles to John 12:12. Last week, we looked at the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday. It was a very public entrance with strong visual testimony that Jesus was the promised King who was coming to His people in peace. The well-known sign that the Lord came in peace was the donkey Jesus rode into the city. By riding on that donkey, Jesus was also deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of the coming Messiah in Zechariah 9:9.

*It was just a few days before the cross, and we read about the Lord's entry starting in vs. 12:

12. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13. took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' The King of Israel!''

14. Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

15. Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt.''

16. His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

17. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

18. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.

19. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!''

*That's how it seemed to them on Palm Sunday. But just a few days later a mob of those same people would be crying out for the Lord's crucifixion. And even the Lord's closest followers would be scattered. Jesus told them about that on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. In Matthew 26:31 Jesus said, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: 'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'"

*But in tonight's Scripture, we are still a few days before the cross, and we will read about some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. Those Greeks wanted to see Jesus in an up close and personal kind of way, and God wants us to see some very important things in their story. Please think about that, as we read vs. 17-26.

INTRODUCTION:

*I've seen some great things in my life. On July 20, 1969, at 10:56 p.m. I was standing in front of the TV with my dad, and there we watched Neil Armstrong take man's first step on the moon. Over 500 million other people were watching when Neil climbed down the ladder and said, "That's one small step for man. -- One giant leap for mankind." (1)

*That was a great thing to see, but I've seen much greater things than that! In 1984, I saw my 68-year-old mother receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. I also got to see all of my children put their trust in the Lord.

*I have seen all kinds of great things in my life, but those Greeks wanted to see the greatest thing anybody ever can see. They wanted to see Jesus! And God wants us to see some great things in their story.

1. FIRST: HE WANTS US TO SEE THE ESSENTIAL DESIRES IN THIS SCRIPTURE.

[1] SO THINK ABOUT THE GREEKS' DESIRE TO SEE JESUS.

*Everybody needs to have the same kind of heartfelt desire they had in vs. 20-21: "Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'''

*John Phillips helped us understand the scene: "These Greeks were not Jews. They were Gentiles, but they had come to the feast of Passover because they believed in the Old Testament Scriptures, and they had come to worship God.

*Since these Greeks had come to the feast, they were probably in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and they had seen the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem."

*They must have also heard a lot about Jesus, because vs. 17-19 tell us that:

17. The people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.

18. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.