20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
"the feast" - that is the Passover feast
Who are these Greeks? There is no explicit answer. Are they God-fearers? Potential converts?
21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Whoever these Greeks are, they have heard enough about Jesus that they've come to find out more for themselves.
In John 12:19, the Pharisees said, "Look, the world has gone after Him!" And now, here we see a symbolic representation that those from outside Judaism -- Gentiles (the world) -- are actually trying to get to Jesus.
I'm sure the Pharisees didn't realize how immediately right they were.
Are they seeking the miracles? The teachings? Who can say!
Either way, we can be sure that they returned to their respective homes and told others about this Jesus they had encountered.
23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Jesus' language has changed... He knows that He is about to be delivered over into the hands of His enemies, and He will not seek a way out.
His glorification -- His death and resurrection -- which will be the symbols of His power, His majesty, and the hope of salvation for all the world (including these Greeks).
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
A grain or seed are broken, so that from them, a living plant would sprout up and grow.
"to hate your life" is intentionally overstated language (perhaps the better word is dramatic)
Let's use pizza to explain. I've had some decent gluten-free pizza. I've had pizza with cauliflower crust... It all works, technically, but relative to how I feel about gluten-filled pizza it is nothing to me!
It operates from the perspective of eternity. I love my life, my wife, but in comparison to Jesus...
Or, without Jesus, those things are truly meaningless. My life is truly meaningless. Without Jesus, I have no life. I have no hope. I have nothing.
Again, let's use pizza. If I don't have a crust, then there's nowhere for the sauce or the cheese to go. You have to start with the crust, and the crust informs the rest of the pizza.
I don't know. Make of that what you will.
27 “Now my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.
Troubled - As any man would be, at the prospect of a violent death.
Jesus knows the brutality that awaits him. He knows the nature of His death, the pain that awaits Him. And in the fullness of His humanity, He is troubled by that knowledge, as any of us would be.
And yet, He knows there is no other way. This is why He came.
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
It is such a strange thing to associate the cross with glory, and yet, they are inseparable.
God chose this medium for His own glorification before the world, through His Son.
It is at the cross that we see God's greatest work, our greatest victory, and hope for all people.
"I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again," conveys the sense of amplification, or total fulfillment. God's glory will be unmistakable for all time through the work of Jesus.
29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
I've mentioned this idea before, but all of these things that the followers of Jesus witnessed were for more than temporary amazement. They are anchors of memory.
When persecution comes (which it will), or doubt, or fear, these moments will remind them of their Savior, of the things they witnessed, of what it was like to walk with Jesus, experience His power, and to see His relationship with the Father.
"Now is the judgment of the world" - the enemies of God and of His Son will defeated. The enemy of all -- Satan -- will be defeated at the cross. He has no hold over those who are raised to life in Jesus.
From John 3, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake... so the Son of Man must be lifted up," and just as all the Israelites who looked at that bronze serpent found life, so it is that all who look upon the cross of Jesus Christ will find eternal life.
The cross is the unmistakable image of the Church of Jesus Christ throughout time and space, all throughout the world. A terrible symbol of death and humiliation is now our symbol for life. God is funny.
33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
The "how"... lifted up, upon the cross, in view of the people.
It is terrifying to think that Jesus knew the exact nature of His death. A question I ask myself is, "How long did He know this?"
Can you imagine the toll that would have on your own psyche?
34 So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
They aren't wrong. Christ does remain. He is forever King.
We know that He is with us. But, we also know that He has gone before the Father.
But, these people can't know or understand how both are true, for they have not received the Holy Spirit.
"Son of Man" is used throughout the Old Testament (Daniel and Ezekiel come to mind). Yet, the Son of Man is indicative of the Messiah. Jesus is identifying as the archetypal "Son of Man", the perfect man, the God-man the man sent into the world.
35 So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”
The Light has departed from the world, but His light now lives with us.
The imagery of tongues of flame at Pentecost come to mind for me. Light in the midst of a dark world.
Be "sons of light". I've been told throughout my life that I look like my dad.
People should look at us (Christians) and say, "You look just like your Heavenly Father."
When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:
When I taught this Bible class, in person, I went over the difference between the Jews in John's Gospel, and the account of the Samaritan woman and her community in John 4.
The Jews saw miraculous signs, the witnessed real demonstrations of Jesus' power, but they would not believe in Him. They would not take Jesus at His word. They needed more proof.
To illustrate my point, from John 6:30, "So they said to him, 'Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe in you? What work do you perform?'" - This is RIGHT AFTER HE FED FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE.
Contrast this with what happens in John 4...
The Samaritan woman, by contrast, believed Jesus (her natural born enemy -- a Jew) on the basis of the words He spoke to her. She did not ask for a miraculous demonstration of His power.
Her community also came to believe Jesus at His word. They believed in Him, welcomed Him into their community. From John 4:39, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, 'He told me everything I ever did.' So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers."
So, not only do they believe His words, they believe the testimony of a known sinner! That is the power of faith and the power of God's Word! NOT our ability to see, comprehend, or experience miraculous works.
If you think about, all of us first come to know about Jesus by the testimony of the Spirit working through sinners.
“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”
The people could not believe? Is that what this passage from Isaiah tells us?
Or, is God making it impossible for them to believe? Is there a difference between those two statements?
It means that Israel did not believe the Prophets, so they could not believe the testimony of the Prophets about the Messiah. Therefore, they would never receive the Messiah, as He is promised.
God blinds eyes and hardened hearts, as a form of discipline when the people reject Him, when they reject His will, and now as they reject His Messiah.
The blame isn't on God; the judgment is on the world.
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Again, the blame is totally on the people.
They have chosen the things of this world, over the Son of God.
They have chosen success, power, acclaim, good-standing.
"No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." - Matthew 6:24
44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Believe in the one sent from the Father.
Jesus invites us to believe in Him, first. That is why He was sent into the world. Once we know Him, we are called to walk with Him in new life.
We are working towards the ends of saving those who are in the world. We do not set out to condemn and judge the world.
There is an inescapable truth that He will come again to judge both the living and the dead.
Until He comes, though, our job as "sons of light" is the bring the Light to those living in darkness.