Whoever serves me must follow me (John 12c)*

John 12:20-36

Key Verse 24 Very truly I tell you, 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. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their 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.

Introduction: After three years of hard work to reveal the truth, grace, and power of salvation, Jesus finally entered Jerusalem as the king. Many welcomed him as the coming king. In this way, Jesus began the last stage of his work as the Messiah. Soon after his entry to Jerusalem, some Greeks sought to see Jesus. Apparently, they needed something from Jesus, though John did not reveal what it was. Instead of answering directly to their request or their need, Jesus announced the arrival of the hour that he had been waiting since the beginning of his ministry. It was the hour to consummate his life and ministry as the Son of God in order to fulfill God’s purpose.

Isaiah prophesied that through His servant God would display His splendor, the ultimate work of Salvation. The final and ultimate touch of that splendor was for the servant Jesus to be lifted up on the cross as a seed so as to bear many seeds.  This display of the splendor of God Almighty would bear enormous consequences. For the world of unbelief, it marks the beginning of God’s judgment and for the believers, it is the beginning of the light of redemption. 

Yet for those who are under the power of sin, it was a hard teaching or even an impossible proposition to accept. Notwithstanding such difficulty, Jesus commanded his followers to believe Jesus for He is the light of life.

I pray that as we go through this passage, we may understand and believe fully in the splendor of God Almighty displayed in his servant Jesus as he was lifted up on the cross for the sake of sinners like us.

1.       Greeks need to see Jesus—the sign of the hour (20-23)

So far, Jesus demonstrated all the powers, the power to heal all the sick, power to drive out demonic forces, the power of the truth, and power to control the nature. People believe that Jesus was the Messiah, king God sent. On the top of all these, raising of Lazarus from the dead nailed down a conviction on many that Jesus was the Messiah without any doubt. Out of this conviction, these believers mobilized many people by spreading the word of Lazarus’ resurrection and they welcomed Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem as the coming King, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel!” This news reached even to foreigners crowded to Jerusalem for the biggest Jewish festival, the Passover. Simply the entire Jerusalem was in a hype of the coming of the Messiah.  In this hype, some Greeks sought to see Jesus. We do not know why; one thing we understand is that they needed something from Jesus. It was about life and the country or truth. Out of their eagerness to see Jesus, they bushed around the disciples’ camp that Philip and Andrew by turn asked Jesus to see them. But instead of meeting them, Jesus gave this answer;

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

Jesus took this as the sign from the Lord that he was to be glorified. This reminds us of Isaiah’s prophecy (49:1-3).

Isaiah 49:1 Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother's womb he has spoken my name. ² He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver. ³ He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendor."

Here the author is calling out peoples of distant nations for their attention to the servant. This servant is called Israel, it is a single person and in whom God would display His splendor. All nations must pay attention to this splendor of the LORD display in and through this servant. Obviously, this servant is the Messiah, Jesus. The occasion of this announcement is noted in Isa 48.  In Isa 48,

20 Leave Babylon, flee from the Babylonians! Announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it. Send it out to the ends of the earth; say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob." (Isa 48)

Because of their stiff-neckedness, they became treacherous (4, 8) they did not have any hope in themselves. They were worthy of total destruction, God for his namesake would delay his wrath (8). They could not find hope in Babylon either.  What they are to do is to “flee from the Babylonians! To announce this with shouts of joy and proclaim it and to send it out to the ends of the earth; say, "The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob."(20). They had no hope within themselves, and no hope with the mighty nation Babylon. The solution is this; to come out with a shout of the fact that the LORD has redeemed Jacob. How? This will be done by the servant, Israel, and by displaying the splendor of God through the servant.  Here ‘the servant’ is Israel. Israel might represent the nation Israel. But this is unlikely since the servant is a particular person. Also, Israel is a change of the word ‘Jacob’ in v 20. In this way, the servant bears a particular character that brought the change of the name Jacob to Israel (Gen 32: 28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.) Who overcame in a struggle with God and with human?  Obviously, we cannot think anyone else but Jesus. As was prophesied, on hearing the request of these Greeks, he came to realize the hour has reached for him to display the glory of the Lord not just for the salvation of Israel but also for the people of the world as Isaiah’s prophecy. It has a specific time and a specific place and a particular occasion; it is the time of the feast of the Passover, the time under Roman rule, the time when Greeks, the most educated and intelligent people were seeking the truth, the place Jerusalem and the occasion accorded to the day of Passover.

The Greek was the most advanced in their understanding of humanity; philosophy, science, and religions. Advancing far ahead of all other nations of the world, their philosophy, science, and mythology dominated the entire western hemisphere. And yet their dominance lasted only for 400 years and had to succumb to the power of the Romans. Even with such a superiority in human knowledge, they could not sustain their power, their kingdom and now are under Roman rule. Now they are seeking beyond what they knew, the unknown God as Paul noted in Athens. As much Israel was the end of the roll of their wisdom and strength, so was the most advanced Greek also at the end of the roll of their thought and could not make any breakthrough. Simply all men in their wisdom and power found themselves powerless to find the truth and life. They were in need beyond what they know of their lives. The reason? “There is no peace”, says the Lord, “for the wicked.”(Isa 48:22)

2.       The hour when God’s truth to be publicized to the world (24-26)

The people of the world was in need of the truth about life as much as Israel was in need of the coming of the Messiah, who would bring the truth for life. What is the truth for life? Jesus begins to unfold the truth with clarity and conciseness

24 Very truly I tell you, 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 is the principle of God that He had set in all farming. This does not just apply to farming only but also to all lives on the earth. All lives will die and the next generation is produced by their parents’ care for their young ones. This is so to all birds and all animals. This is no exception to human beings; after the fall of Adam, God said, ’since you came from the ground you will return to the ground’. This is not just all the living; God said that the world we are living will be gone and there will come a new heaven and new earth (Rev 21).  In his human ingenuity, Solomon recognized this (Ecc 3:18-19). Paul said that the whole world is waiting for redemption, including all the creatures of the world for since the fall of man, not God cursed the world and all living beings under the world got also corrupted along with the earth that God cursed.

The one and only process to regain life is death to produce new lives.  The seed beget the seed that are the same—seed of the perishable body begets perishable body. Adam’s only hope was bearing a new life after him through his posterity. But Jesus for the first time offers a new life within one person;

25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

As long as we love life now and are unwilling to relinquish the joy and richness of life on this earth, we will be lost in heaven. There won’t be an eternal life that can endure the holiness of the LORD. So Jesus teaches that we are to hate our lives in this world. To hate one is stronger than to dislike one. It is to disvalue, disdain, and denounce the life on earth in order to fully appreciate the richness of life in heaven. 

Jesus would show how one can have a new life after death. How can one be reborn in long and eternal life? That is to hate the life that brings death and powerless to do anything else in order to love the new and eternal life that Jesus would impart. Our perishable body can produce only perishable body. But Jesus has a seed that would produce an imperishable body. So, the seed that Jesus has is totally different from what we have had. The seed that is implanted in our perishable body will bear an imperishable as we perishable body dies to support a new seed of eternal life. So it says:  

1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ, all will be made alive.

We are to recognize that all those born in Adam died. There were no exceptions to this rule for God said to Adam, you will return to the ground for dust you are to dust you return. But for the first time in human history, the son of man with his perishable body dies and rose from the dead.  Only death of a seed will produce many fruits. The difficulty is that we have hope in this world and we want to enjoy life now in this world. Also, we fear pain and death. So we do everything to escape any suffering that leads us to death. But Jesus laid down a firm principle of truth that he is introducing: 

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.

Jesus is the Lord, King for us. In Him, we have protection from all harms and a guarantee for the eternal life. So we must follow Jesus. We are to follow when he loved sinners and cared for the weak. We also must follow him when he spoke the truth and demonstrated mighty powers to heal the sick and to control the storm. Also, we must follow him when he was sentenced to death with the charge of blasphemy. We must look up to him even when he was hung on the cross in pain and rejection by the people. This is how we serve Jesus by believing his Kingship, the Messiah for all sinners. Only then, God, the father will honor us and welcome us to His kingdom. 

3.       How can we handle the truth (27-30)

Is it easy to one’s life to death willingly? As we all experience daily, it is hard or even impossible for our mind and spirit to accept suffering and death as the way of life for it is built only to sustain the life we have now. In facing the true reality of death, Jesus said this;

27 "Now my soul is troubled,

The trouble is of sin and its judgment. God laid upon men for their sin and rebellion (Gen 3 15). No one can undo it and even God would not do away with it for God is the God of righteousness.  So in order to get to the life in the Lord, Jesus must accept and must go through it. Then, how one, a man of sin, can dare to overcome the power of death? For the first time in human history, Jesus managed to go through the pain, sorry of death. How did he do? First, he prayed;

“what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'?”

Out of anguish under the power of sin and death, Jesus presented his trouble to the father in prayer if God could let him get by without paying the full cost of sin.  But soon he came to realize God’s will and purpose. 

No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!"

In prayer to the Father, he decided to conform his heart to the will of the father. God the father planned this long before he came to this world in flesh. Father orchestrated his life on the earth; from birth, his ministry, his life in conflict with the Pharisees and teachers of the law who tried to kill him at their own time and purpose. But God did not let them do so because His son’ life-giving sacrifice must be publicized to the world with a clear message, God is the only one righteous. To do so, he has to die on the cross in full view of all human beings, at the time of Passover feast, in Jerusalem, and by the sentencing of blasphemy. To save the world, all these were to happen. How can he change the plan at the last moment? If he does so, then his life would be not any better than all those who died before.  If he does so then, his life would not give full glory to the Father. So in prayer to the father, he conformed to the will of Him; For this very reason, God sent him and Jesus will do what God wanted him to do. So finally he called Father and said, GLORIFY YOUR NAME!

For the glory of the father, Jesus decided to give his life as a ransom for many. It was to honor the father fully. Prayer is an effort or a struggle to know God’s will so as to conform one’s life to the will and purpose of the LORD. This is to dare to die in himself in giving full trust in the Lord, giving full honor as the Lord of justice and love. Out of full trust in the LORD, Jesus submitted his will, his life on God’s hand.

This is how we are to follow Jesus. Though Jesus was the Son of God in the essence of his being, he took upon himself the flesh that we have and called himself the Son of Man. As the Son of man, he struggled to pay for the cost of sin and in prayer, he overcame the power of sin and death and fully submitted his life in God the father’s hand. This was the most critical time of life whereby the most important decision in life and death was made. We are to make the same decision; to choose life now or to choose the life in Christ. In making a decision, faith in the father’s righteousness and love for all sinner is a must and that faith must be expressed with full submission to the will of the father. Jesus did it and God was so happy with it.

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine.

God, the father heard Jesus’ prayer and the word of commitment to Father’s will and responded with full commitment, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." In this way, Father gave him a full assurance to glorify his son even through such painful and sorrowful death on the cross. Also, the father’s voice was heard loudly to the crowd. It was like an echo to Jesus’ prayer. In this way, it was made clear to the crowd that the Father responded to Jesus’ prayer.  God, the father is one with Jesus, His Son. There was a doubt if Jesus was the Messiah since he said that he would be lifted up. Through the father’s response in a loud voice, it is confirmed that Jesus’ being lifted up is what Jesus was going to do and what the Father was happy to accept. To deny their own idea about the Messiah and to accept Jesus, the one who rode on a colt of a donkey, and the one who would be lifted up is the Messiah God sent, they must see that behind Jesus is God the father.

There was a crevice between those who shouted hosanna who comes in the name of the Lord and Jesus who rode on a colt of a donkey as he entered Jerusalem as king. The crevice was created in their heart because people were unwilling to accept Jesus on a colt of a donkey as their genuine king.  This crevice was again exposed when Jesus said that he must be lifted up. But here God the Father showed his accordance with His Son Jesus, to be lifted up on the cross as a ransom for many.

Even now many people walk around with an idea that if God is willing to accept them as they are and bless them abundantly without any condition. If God is love, then God should do such a thing. This is the mindset of almost all people. This is even common among many in the Christian community. They think that God has to bless them since they are willing to acknowledge Jesus as their Savior. So they are looking for a church where an unreserved blessing is preached. They are like fortune seekers. Pretty much almost all religions are designed to offer such fortunes. But the one and only creator God wants one thing, distrust and rebellion against Him must be done away with so as to accept any to His children.  What does this tell us? There is no other way but Jesus’ death to bring them to see their sin and come to the Lord with a true and genuine repentance, accepting God’s righteousness.

Then what is the implication or meaning of the splendor that the Son of Man, the servant of the LORD, displayed on the cross?  

4.       Jesus’ crucifixion, the sign for blessing and judgment for the world (31-36)

As God prophesied through Isaiah (49:3), the purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross was to display the splendor of God Almighty.    First, this display was not just for the Jews but for the world as well. Since God did this in full view of the world, the world has no choice but to consider the message that the cross embodies. If anyone rejects, he or she should bear the consequences. If anyone accepts God will reward him or her with rich blessing. Second, it was God’s splendor because, in the cross, a remarkable character of the LORD is vividly displayed. In the cross, God displayed his holiness that judges all sin, the sin of rebellion against the Lord; he demonstrated his righteousness by offering a forgiveness of sin for those who trust in the Son; it is the splendor because God showed his all-out love and compassion for all sinner. 

What do all these mean for the people of the world?

31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.

Paul explains what it means that now is the time for judgment:

Romans 3:25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--

The whole world has been under the prince of the world, Satan. Under the prince of the world, sin went unchecked. But God put off judgment and forbear with their sins until this time.  For God is right and just, He would not judge until he let the world know fully his condition of judgment and blessing. Until this time God did not make these clear to the whole human races. Though God did not reveal explicitly to the world in this regard, God revealed these conditions clearly to his chosen, Israel. It was the Law of Covenant. God disciplined and punished Israel according to the Law of Covenant. Because of this, Israel suffered under the law and yet they were unable to keep up with the Law. After all, it became obvious that even Israel who had the law fell to the same predicament as the people of the world. So the hour has come when Israel along with the people of the world badly needed a Savior who can redeem their sins. At the right time, God sent His son and displayed the splendor of God Almighty through him. Having displayed fully the splendor of GOD Almighty, it is fully justified for the Lord to move on to judge the world that rejects God’s splendor while blessing those who accept and honor the splendor of God’s glory in Jesus.

Just hours before his death, in his private meeting with his disciples, Jesus promised the sending of the Holy Spirit.  He taught them how the Holy Spirit will convict the world.

 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.  (Joh 16:1 NIV)

The old translation read ‘he will convict the world’.   The cross of Jesus, the splendor of God Almighty, speaks of sin, righteousness, and judgment powerfully, forcefully, and convincingly. No one can excuse himself or herself that they did not know. No one can turn their blind eyes to this splendor and accuse God of His judgment.

But the purpose of God was not to condemn and judge but to save. How would he save the people of his choice?

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die

In order to display the splendor, Jesus must be lifted up high on the air so that all may see. But it was not Jesus who did for himself but the Pharisees and religious leaders condemned him, shouting “crucify him, crucify him” ”According to the Law, he must die!” His father God let this happen to him, making him a spectacle of one condemned of blasphemy, though it was not Jesus but they that blasphemed by hanging the Son of God on the cross. So the crucifixion was all the works of those who claimed to be so right and just. This is an irony that no man can easily understand; the one who was so right just was condemned on the cross by the hands of those who claimed to be right and yet most vile and ungodly.  If God the Father was right and just, then, how could He let this happen to His own son? This raised a serious question on the purpose, or the will or the wisdom of God the father. Those whose hearts are pure will be drawn to see the rich grace of God in this. The pain and sorrow of the death of the righteous catch the hearts of many. How much more of the undue death of the Son of God, who was so loving, so truthful and so right, and so powerful, so holy!

Jesus’ life-giving death draw the hearts of many, not because he did something powerful, but because of his submission to the Father and because of his life-giving love for sinners like us. In this way, God displayed the splendor of LOVE of God for all sinners.  Underneath of this love sit God’s message of righteous judgment.  Since the world proves itself to be evil in condemning God’s own son, God has a right to judge all those who reject and condemn the Son.

5.       Believe in the light while you have the light (34-36)

Jesus taught people that he would be lifted up for glory. This was in a conflict with what they believed about the Messiah;

34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

When we want to justify what we do, our hearts are steered to see only the things that fit our position. So are this crowd. They only accept what they want to see. To them, the Messiah is the king and must restore an everlasting kingdom. The Messiah being lifted up was unheard of. Though what they claim was true and correct, this understanding glanced over the plan of God in which God deals with sins of men before restoration of the Kingdom. God cannot or will not accept any to be his people unless sins of men have been done away with and they are made holy as God is holy.  Redemption must come first! There is a gap between the two beliefs, one seeking immediate glory, and the other, the suffering on the cross must come and then to the glory. To them, the cross was never a way to life. How can this be overcome? Jesus taught the way to overcome this;

35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

The only way to overcome this is to believe Jesus in what he did and taught. In his works and teachings is the light that shined to the truth. The truthfulness and trustworthiness that he established during his ministry shall serve them to trust him even when he tells the things that are beyond their understanding and does the things that are beyond their comprehension. So by faith, they must accept Jesus’ word and by faith, they must follow Jesus as he was on trial, as he was carrying the cross and as he was nailed on the cross, and even when he breathed his last breath. “What is of value to believe in the one who is dead?”  Death is the darkest hour when we can see nothing. Can a dead rise up to keep his word? Passing through death is impossible for a man in sin unless he believes that Jesus is in the Father and Father was with Jesus event through his death.  The faith in Jesus even to the point of death will carry them to the light.  Now is the time to see the light as he is speaking and no one should lose that light in Jesus even through the darkest hours. Surely a new light will dawn on those who put their trust in Jesus the Messiah. Simply when one did not believe Jesus as the Messiah through the works that He did up to the time of his entry to Jerusalem, it is impossible to believe Jesus as he was going through arrest, sentencing, suffering, and death in faith.  So now, when the word of truth is at hand with us and his teachings are so close to us, is the time to learn Jesus’ power, his truth, and his love and to have firm conviction that Jesus is our Lord and Messiah. And then that faith will surely carry us through all the hardships, even through the suffering like crucifixion and death. Also, this faith must include God, the Father, and the creator of the heaven and earth, who planned all these for the sake of all sinners.  May God bless us to put our trust in Jesus who went ahead of us through all the suffering by faith to the glory of the Father!