From death to life
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. As we get nearer to Holy Week, Jesus’s focus on Jerusalem is becoming sharper. Today, Jesus describes his coming suffering and death to his disciples in a very honest way and even admits that it scares him. Yet, his determination to bring glory to God’s name is far greater than his fear of what’s to come.
Jesus’ death brings life for humanity.
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 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.
John 12:20–22 (NIV)
Jesus’ ministry has gotten to the point that even Greeks want to see this Jewish rabbi from Nazareth. His fame has spread across the region. If you can imagine this happening today, we’d be seeing videos from people’s phones on the news and on social media, showing a man performing miracles and giving radical teaching. Comment threads would be full of varying opinions about him.
These Greeks approach Philip, a fellow Greek and maybe even from their neighbourhood, saying that they would like to see Jesus. For whatever reason, Philip doesn’t feel like he can come directly to Jesus but instead brings the request to Andrew. Together, they bring it to Jesus.
Jesus had previously honoured this kind of invitation, often healing or even raising people from death upon request. This time, though, Jesus’ focus has changed. He’s done the groundwork, showing people from all around the region who he is and teaching them about God’s kingdom.
God the Father has already brought glory to his name through Jesus as he has done all these great works and his fame has spread. As God tells his Son here, he intends to glorify his name again by having his Son “lifted up”, indicating the kind of death he was going to die.
Jesus responds to this request by addressing the disciples. We don’t know if he ever even gets to the Greeks who have asked to see him.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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.
John 12:23–24 (NIV)
Jesus uses all kinds of different images to explain who he is: the true vine; the Bread of Life; the way, the truth, and the life etc. Here, it’s a much more humble image: a seed that germinates. I won’t pretend to be an expert in biology or agriculture (to do so would be very risky in a rural farming community), but I know that death is a necessary part of the cycle.
If Jesus gave in to his fear and escaped the suffering and death he knew was coming, his entire life and ministry would have been worthless. Saving his own life would leave us in sin and death. Everything in Jesus’ life and ministry was leading towards Jerusalem—his suffering and death—but the ultimate outcome is life for the whole world and glory to God’s name.
For Jesus, the outcome is far more important than his own safety or comfort. His death brings life for humanity.
Eternal life is far better than life in this world.
Jesus continues with his response to the disciples:
25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12:25 (NIV)
What Jesus is going through himself—fear of what’s to come, but recognition that the cause is far greater—applies directly to the disciples and, in turn, to us as his followers too. It’s important that we hear Jesus correctly, here.
Eternal life in God’s kingdom takes preference over mortal live in this world. Eternal life—that is, the life that Christ was raised to, and which we are baptised into—is our real purpose. Eternal life is our destination, while life in this world is just a short journey, a pilgrimage.
“We are in the world, but not of the world.” It’s a common phrase that we hear around the place. It’s certainly true and its point is biblical, but it’s not actually a quote from Scripture. John describes this reality in his first epistle:
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15–17 (NIV)
To “hate” this life does not mean we should detest it, not want it, or not be thankful for it. God breathes his life into every human being that ever lives, and the world is his creation. However, ever since sin entered the world, it has just been a shadow of what it was intended to be. This is why God is preparing a new creation and desires all people to be saved and enter into it.
We were born into this world and it’s all we know at this point, but we belong in God’s kingdom, in his presence, in the new creation with all the holy people of God.
To “love this life” means to direct all our attention on it. We move through life in stages, setting ourselves up for the best life we feel can get. We spend decades working to purchase a house and set ourselves up for a comfortable retirement and then leave a good legacy for our children and grandchildren. For many people, that’s kind of it. For us, whose true home is in God’s kingdom, it’s just the journey.
Enjoy this life for what it is and use it to the best effect you can, but place more importance on the life to come.
Where Jesus his, there his servants are.
Jesus has a bit more to say about how to live out our lives in this world:
26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.
John 12:26 (NIV)
To serve Christ is to follow him and to stay close to him. When he speaks these words, Jesus is about to travel to Jerusalem, which will be a place of betrayal, intense physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering, and death. He says that whoever serves him must follow him, even to that place.
Whenever we find ourselves in a time of suffering, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual, we can be sure that Jesus is just a step ahead of us. He leads us through those times, through the darkest valleys. He is our Good Shepherd, calling us by name even when we can’t see the way forward.
We could always have more faith. We could always worry less. We could always depend on our own strength less and God’s strength more. The thing is, we don’t have to get our act together, nor do we have to go looking for him because he doesn’t ever leave us. Jesus showed us on the cross that he comes to us.
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
John 12:32 (NIV)
Jesus was lifted up on the cross for the world to see, so that we can all look to him and live. May he draw us to himself again this Easter, this Lent, and each and every day.
