JOH 12:17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.
18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."
22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 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.

This portion of Scripture is in the context of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as He receives the praise from the crowds who greet Him with Hosanna’s, which is what we saw in verse 13.

JOH 12:13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"

As exciting as this must have been for our Lord’s disciples we’re told that they really didn’t understand all of the ramifications of this event which was actually about to lead up to His death, though it appeared it looked as though it was leading to His coronation as King and Conqueror. And this is where we ended last week.

JOH 12:16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.

And so, as we come to our text the excitement persists with the crowds continuing to spread the word that the Son of David, the King of the Jews, has arrived to celebrate the Passover, which spoke of a time of coming out from under the yoke of the oppressor.

JOH 12:17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.

This particular group of people in verse 17 is significant in that they were eye witnesses of the raising of Lazarus by Jesus and would have been the more credible group who undoubtedly, in their excitement, would have been the most convincing in bringing people to Jesus.

And by the way, this really speaks to the attitude all of us in Christ should have. If we have experienced the miracle of a new birth in Christ in our own lives; if we have been the recipients of resurrection life in our Lord, then should we not be at the forefront declaring to the world that Jesus is here and that all should seek Him?

If what we have in Christ is real, just as Lazarus was real and the recipient of the miracle of resurrection, then like these eye witnesses we ought to be the kinds of witnesses who don’t shrink from our responsibility to proclaim the Lord of glory. And instead, like these eye witnesses in our text we ought to delight in announcing the risen Lord who came to take away the sin of the world.

These eye witnesses to Lazarus’ new life from Christ were undoubtedly running through the streets of Jerusalem announcing without any reservation that Jesus was coming. And it is precisely because of this declaration that we read in verse 18.

JOH 12:18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.

The miraculous sign we give to people is the sign of Jonah we talked about last week, which specifically tells the world the truth that Jesus was put to death for the penalty of our sins, but who, like Jonah, spent three days and three nights in the belly of the earth only to come out of that tomb on the third day as He rose bodily and victoriously from the grave, giving us the victory and eternal life as we trust in Him alone for our salvation.

JOH 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

Now, what the Pharisees meant by this is that all of Jerusalem, and possibly all of Israel, was going to be convinced that maybe Jesus is their new King and that everyone will be going after Him leaving the Jewish leaders without any power or authority in Israel.

And since they knew the attitude of Jesus toward them, there would be no way He would bring any of them on board if and when He was set on David’s throne. And of course this takes us back to the high priest Caiaphas who explained to the Sanhedrin that it is “better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish."

In the minds of these Pharisees at this time those words never rang more true. There didn’t seem to be any other option. But here is where the irony grows. Just as the Jewish leaders reject Christ the Gentiles are seeking Him out.

JOH 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."

Now, it may be asked, why would Gentiles be seeking out Jesus? Well, we know that Jesus came for the Jews, but we also know He came into this world for the Gentiles.

The promise that God gave to Abraham included the saving of the Gentiles as well as the Jews as is found in the twenty second chapter of Genesis.

GEN 22:17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies,
18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

GAL 3:8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you."

The apostle Paul makes it clear that this promise in Genesis would be extended to all people, both Jew and Gentile, who came to Christ by faith.

ROM 4:11 And he [Abraham] received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised [Gentiles], in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
12 And he is also the father of the circumcised [Jews], who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

And this is why Paul wrote the Galatians, some of whom were trying to add the law of Moses as a requirement to be saved. He points out that any person can have salvation in Christ as they believe the promise found in the Messiah.

GAL 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

And what we see in our text is the beginning of this promise given to Abraham concerning the blessing of all the nations coming to fruition as these Greeks seek to meet with Jesus.

We get glimpses of this during the ministry of Jesus as some Gentiles chose to be associated with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

You might remember the Centurion who came to Jesus asking our Lord to heal his servant. But what you might not remember is that this particular Centurion was a God fearing man who loved the Jews. We read about this in Luke.

LUK 7:3 The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.
4 When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this,
5 because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue."

This centurion actually spent his own money to build a synagogue for the Jews. His faith in Christ was such that he knew the Lord could heal his servant without having to go to him. And of course the Lord had responded, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel."

A Gentile who loved the Lord. We also have another centurion mentioned in the book of Acts.

ACT 10:1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment.
2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

ACT 8:27 So he [Philip] started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship...

And so, it’s not as though there weren’t Gentiles who understood the grace that the one true God extended to all men. But they also understood that it only came through Israel and the God of Israel.

And so, in a sense we are seeing at the end of the ministry of Jesus as these Greeks were seeking Jesus out a sort of firstfruits, as A.W. Pink points out, as the fields which are white unto harvest are just beginning to ripen among the Gentiles as well.

The irony here is that just as it was a group of Gentiles who first sought out the King of the Jews shortly after He was born in Bethlehem as wise men from the east came to worship the Christ-child, now it is a group of Gentiles who are seeking Him out just before His death. (A.W. Pink)

But it is interesting that when these Greeks mentioned in our text desire to seek an audience with Jesus they go to a particular disciple mentioned here in verse twenty one.

JOH 12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus."

Now, as to why they approached Philip we aren’t told. Some have speculated that since this Jew named Philip had a Greek name, which by the way means, lover of horses, they were attracted to him as one who might be sympathetic with their request.

Maybe one of his parents was Greek, could have been their reasoning, and so he would have been more inclined to identify with them as well, giving them a better shot at seeing Jesus, since he was close to the Lord.

We really don’t know, but what we do know is that Philip doesn’t immediately take them to Jesus. In fact, he defers such a decision to Andrew, who by the way also had a Greek name which meant manly.

So, “lover of horses” and “manly” then decide to take this request to Jesus.

Now, we are not told that Jesus met with these God-fearing Greeks, but again some have assumed that He probably did since we are also told that all who seek Christ will find Him.

Keep in mind too that they apparently were not seeking Jesus to get a miracle from Him or gain any sort of advantage; they only wanted to see Him, probably have fellowship with the One sent from the Father who has proved that He was the Son of God who could raise the dead.

But what is fascinating here is that Jesus doesn’t respond to Philip and Andrew with an affirmative answer at this juncture, but instead gives a response which at first seems quite encouraging to these two disciples and probably to the crowd that surrounded the Lord.

JOH 12:23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

This would have caused the hearts of every Jew listening to jump and leap like the deer. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

Yes, this is what we’ve been waiting for; God is going to glorify and lift up His servant to come and bring justice and freedom back to Israel as Jesus is the One chosen to take His rightful place on David’s throne.

This, by the way, is a statement which up to this point has not been on the lips of Jesus any time prior to this. Instead, what have we heard?

Be it at the wedding feast at Cana when His mother asked Him to do something to help save the fiasco of having run out of wine, or when Jesus confronted the Jews about who their real father was in the devil, who then wanted to kill Him but couldn’t. On each of those, and similar other occasions, it is stated, my hour has not yet come.

And yet, here in our text, only days before His crucifixion, Jesus makes it clear that His hour has come to be glorified. But these Jews would have been quite remiss in their thinking that Jesus was to be glorified as He ascended the throne of David in Jerusalem as He goes on to qualify what He meant by being glorified.

JOH 12:24 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.

Wait a minute. I thought we were talking about life and victory and being glorified. What is this talk about death and dying?

This must have taken the wind right out of their sails. One moment they’re on the mountain, and in the next breath they’re in the valley of confusion. And Jesus must have known they would have mistaken His statement about being glorified as the words, I tell you the truth immediately follow the previous statement about glorification.

We don’t see it in the translation of the NIV, but in the original Greek there are two words which precede Jesus’ following statement in verse 24, and they are the words amen, amen which could be translated, of a truth, of a truth.

This is why the NASB and the KJV says, verily, verily. It’s a double expression to add emphasis, to get the attention of the listeners. It would be like Jesus saying, My hour has come to be glorified, but listen to Me. This is the truth, this is the truth as it relates to My glorification.

All eyes are now on Jesus. All ears are ready to receive. And what is this 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.

One commentator makes an interesting observation. Up to this point the Jews didn’t seem interested in plain language, like, I am the One sent from the Father. I am the Son of Man who came to die for your sins. Instead, Jesus now reverts to the most basic testimony of the truth concerning Himself, and that is nature.

This was basically an agricultural nation. They understood something about sowing and reaping crops. And every Jew would have understood the truth concerning how a seed left unplanted serves only one purpose, to be put in soup and eaten by an individual.

But you plant that one seed and now it serves the needs of potentially hundreds of people. But Jesus adds the imagery of that seed dying. If you’ve ever planted a seed you’re familiar with this process.

Part of the imagery of a seed dying here in our text includes the idea that a seed is planted in the earth, not unlike how the dead are often buried. In other words, they enter into the ground.

But what happens next is rather interesting. The seed casing begins to break down as it splits from moisture being added. It shrivels and for all intents and purposes it looks as though it were dead.

But from the ashes, if you will, a small but distinct life form begins to emerge with just a hint of green. But before too long a shoot pops it’s head from the ground as it emerges alive and vibrant.

So, what does this have to do with Jesus being glorified? Everything. His glorification depends on His death. In fact, His glorification is His death. How can this be? How can His death be seen as glorification?

Well in light of the fact that the very purpose of Christ coming into this world was to fulfill the Father’s will which is clearly stated earlier in this gospel.

JOH 6:38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Well, how is that done? Through the death of Christ. In glorifying the Father Jesus receives glory. And Jesus glorifies the Father through His obedience, even death on a cross.

And so, the first part of that statement that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed, indicates that death is essential for Jesus if He is to be glorified.

But the second part of that statement is also true and much more apparent when it pertains to the glorification of Jesus Christ. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The implication here is that unless Jesus dies the many will not benefit from His life which will proceed from Him being placed in the earth. He is that seed that must be bruised as the Lord God told Satan, along with Adam and Eve in the Garden after they rebelled against the Lord. We can’t forget that.

GEN 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your [seed] and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

We know for a fact that Jesus Christ was the one being spoken of here in Gen.3:15 as Paul points out for the Galatians.

GAL 3:16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

And so, Jesus in our text makes it plain that He is the seed, and that everyone knows for this seed to produce other seeds it must first die. But following that process it once again lives.

And this is the part of Christ’s glorification which is quite obvious; His resurrection from the dead.

Without His bodily resurrection no one will have life. No other seeds will be produced. In fact, the apostle Paul drives this point home for the Corinthians when talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ which he says is essential if any of us would have eternal life.

1CO 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
17 ... you are still in your sins.

The risen Christ is the only reason you and I have eternal life in Him alone. To suggest that we can have salvation with our Savior if He is still in the grave is to make a mockery of our faith as Paul says. In fact, it would be better not even to preach such a vain religion if it’s based on a lie.

But the truth is that Christ has risen from the grave and He has been glorified by the Father in that resurrection. This is what Jesus looked forward to as He prayed to the Father before going to the cross.

JOH 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

That glory Jesus had before the world began is the glory He shared with the Father in eternity past on the throne, and now He looks forward to being reestablished to that position with the Father as the God who came into this world, who took on flesh to die in our place, and now returns to His throne in victory as He gives us victory through His death and resurrection.

But what that victory produces is really what this salvation is all about. It produces life to be shared with our God forever in fellowship and communion with Him. Unless we consciously consider this aspect of our salvation we’ll only see it as fire insurance.

God wants our fellowship now and forever. And when we allow the world and trials and any other things to get in the way of that fellowship with our God and Savior, then we miss so much of what it means to have life in Christ.

Because part of receiving the glorified Savior by faith, is to give Him glory with our lives as we seek Him and love Him more and more each day. If we are not giving Him glory with our lives then we’re not living out this new life to its fullest.

But praise God He has given us His Spirit for this very purpose so that we might be empowered and filled to do His will and work His works and glory in His life as He is High and lifted up in our lives.

It’s never too late to start getting back on track if we find ourselves swerving off of the course. And there is no sweeter sounding phrase that our Lord longs to hear from you and me than, Lord help me to love you more and to serve you more.

But that prayer comes from the desire to put off the old and put on the new. Like that seed that must be put into the ground to die, we must die daily to self, desiring to live the resurrection life we have in Christ.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (LUK 9:23)

Dying to self is no easy thing because we live with self everyday. But in Christ we have not just that old nature which desires to sin, but we have a new nature in Christ with a new life, a resurrection life. And as we deny self and sin by the power of the Spirit we die daily to sin and it’s traps. Peter understood this.

1PE 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

I love that exhortation by the Lord as given to the prophet Jeremiah which is what we should consider everyday of our lives.

JER 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

He will be faithful to answer that prayer as He fills us with His Spirit and uses us as we then are found faithful to follow Him wherever He leads. And next week we’ll expound on our text which specifically addresses what it means to be a faithful follower of Christ Jesus.

JOH 12:25 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.
26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

EPH 2:4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -
9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

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