Will You Choose Jesus? (John 12:27-50) Series

Let's start today by reading part of last week's passage, John 12:20-26:

(20) Now, there were some Greeks from among the ones going up [to Jerusalem],

in order that they would worship at the festival.

(21) Then, these ones approached Philip-- the one from Bethsaida of Galilee--

and they were asking him, saying,

"Lord/sir, we wish, Jesus, to see.

(22) He comes-- Philip--

and he tells Andrew.

He goes-- Andrew, and Philip,

and they tell Jesus.

(23) Now, Jesus answers them, saying,

"The hour has come,

that he will be glorified-- the Son of Man.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a seed/grain of wheat, falling to the earth, dies, by itself, alone, it abides.

Now, if it dies, much fruit it bears.

(25) The one loving his life, loses it,

and the one hating his life in this world, for eternal life, guards/protects it.

(26) If me, anyone serves, me, he must follow,

and where I am, there, also my servant will be.

If anyone, me, he serves, He will honor him-- The Father.

When these Greeks come to the disciples, seeking Jesus, this marks a turning point in the Gospel of John. That is the signal, to Jesus, that the time of his hour is at hand. And what that means, concretely, is that it is time for him to be crucified. [And note how AJ doesn't describe the actual interaction between Jesus and the Greeks here. That's not the important thing-- what matters, is that they came].

And so that's what he tells his disciples. Jesus is like a seed of wheat, and unless he dies, he will "abide" alone. But if he dies, he will bear much fruit.

And what's true for Jesus, is also true for us. We are supposed to look at Jesus' example, and copy it. We have to hate our lives; we have to die to ourselves. We have to live in service to Jesus, following him.

Jesus then continues, in verse 27:

(27) Now my soul/life has been agitated/troubled,

and what shall I say?:

"Father, save me from this hour" ?,

but for this reason I came-- for this hour.

(28) Father, glorify your name.

As we continue reading the Gospel of John, we should understand that Jesus doesn't want to die. But Jesus, nevertheless, chooses death. He knows that the Father sent him for this hour. He knows that this will bring glory to his Father. And so he concludes, by praying just that. "Father, glorify your name."

Next, we read this:

Then, it came-- a voice-- from heaven:

"I both glorified [it],

and again I will glorify [it]."

God has glorified his name through Jesus throughout Jesus' ministry. And now God will glorify it through his death.

Verse 29:

(29) Then, the crowd-- the one standing and hearing-- was saying,

"Thunder, has happened."

Others were saying,

"An angel to him has spoken."

(30) Jesus answered/responded,

and he said,

"Not for my sake, this voice has happened,

but for your sake.

Now the ruler of this world will be cast outside,

and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, all, I will draw toward myself."

(33) Now, this he was saying,

signifying what type of death he was about to die.

The crowds hear the noise of the Father speaking, but they misunderstand it. Some think they heard thunder. Others, an angel. None of them realize that God was the one speaking. They don't recognize God's voice. And that, is a huge problem. That's a huge red flag. John 8:47:

47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

We had been really happy about the way the gospel of John was going. Huge crowds "gave allegiance to" Jesus after he raised Lazarus from the dead. But we are seeing cracks in this allegiance. Flaws. Last week, they gave allegiance to Jesus as the king of Israel, expecting Jesus to save them from Rome. This week, the same crowd doesn't even recognize God's voice. So what does that tell us about them? They are not "of God." They don't belong to him. They aren't part of God's flock.

Now, this doesn't have to be the end of the world. No one automatically understands who Jesus is, and what he came to do.

And so Jesus responds to their struggle here, by trying to help them. He explains what is about to happen. Jesus will be "lifted up" from the earth-- on the cross-- and he will draw all people to himself. What happened with the Greeks, on a small scale, will happen with the entire world on the other side of the cross.

Verse 34:

(34) Then, it answered/responded to him-- the crowd--

"We heard from the law