The text this morning is from the Gospel according to John, the 12th chapter:
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 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?” 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. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, “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.” Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 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; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
Sir, we wish to see Jesus. I’ve heard stories, and I like the idea, of pastors who carve this verse into their pulpits, making the letters wide and deep so that they would not be forgotten. It’s something we always have to remember, that, this week, amidst the Easter eggs, and the egg hunts, and the baskets, and the bunnies, and the good candy, that this week is about Jesus and how that should be what we are showing the world. Sir, we wish to see Jesus.
Now, did you catch how weird this is in the text today? We wish to see Jesus, they say, and Philip tells Andrew and they went to tell Jesus and then Jesus answers with something weird. I mean, you’d expect Jesus to say yes, bring them, or no, turn them away. It’s not the first time Jesus would’ve said something seemingly bad about the Greeks, the Gentiles. He called a Canaanite woman a dog once. It’d be no thing to have Him send the Greeks away. But He doesn’t. But He also doesn’t really welcome them, does He?
Instead, He answers with what seems to be a glorified parable about His glorification. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Whatever has that to do with sir, we wish to see Jesus? Everything.
These Greek men were believers in Yahweh, holding to the teachings of the Jews from the Old Testament. Yet, their faith was not complete, their eyes perhaps had been held. Yet, here they want to see Jesus. They want to hear from this man who had been welcomed into the city with palm branches and shouts of Hosanna! They wanted to see Jesus. Could He be the Son of David? Could He be the Messiah? Could He be the promised one?
So, they thought, let us put our eyes on this Jesus. And perhaps they did. But putting eyes on Jesus, seeing Him, doesn’t do anything. Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is believing. And how does one even begin to believe? It is through faith, given to one by the Holy Spirit, faith in the One who would suffer and die, who would fall into the ground, who would rise up and bear much fruit.
This is One who would humble Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. He would despise its shame, yet submit Himself to the forceful, cruel hands of men who would see Him dead. It’s not as if Jesus were not troubled over what was to come. And remember, He knew what was ahead. Not only had He diligently studied the Scriptures, but He also had been talking with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration about His “exodus,” His departure from this life into death. He knew what was coming and was troubled.
Yet, He went willingly to the slaughter, for that is the whole purpose of the Son of God, to lay down His life for the world. For unless He were to fall into the ground, He could bear no fruit at all. An unplanted seed brings forth nothing, but that which is given into the ground split open to reveal a harvest. He wanted these Greek men to be a part of that harvest, and so He speaks that they may hear and understand by faith. He gives them what they need, not eyes to see, but ears to hear the Word of the Lord.
And so they do, and not just Jesus, but the Father. There are few places in the Scriptures where the Father speaks. All through the Old Testament, we should imagine the very voice of the Son of God speaking to His saints. It is not as if the Old Testament is the Father’s business, the New the Son’s, and now the Holy Spirit’s. That’s the talk of the heretics. Instead, whenever we see God interacting with His creation, we should see and hear the Son of God. Yet, the Father does have a voice and uses it on occasion. What occasion? To point to His Son. “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.” And, in response to Jesus’ request, “I have glorified it and I will glorify it again.”
Now is the time for Jesus’ glorification, where He shall be glorified and bring glory to the Father. And how is this to be done? When He is lifted up from the earth, He will draw all people to Himself. This isn’t the ascension, this is the crucifixion, this is the Son of God, being nailed to a post, and lifted high upon a hill for everyone coming into Jerusalem to see. The people there listening, perhaps even these Greek men, heard Him, they understood Him. They would ask if He’s claiming to be the Messiah, how can He also claim that He is going to die. The Messiah is supposed to live forever. Yet, if they truly understood the Scriptures, they would know that the Lord would not let His Holy One see corruption, they would know that He would rise from the dead, they would know that the blood of the New Covenant would set His people free, but only in the life everlasting found in the dead and soon to be risen Jesus.
But they didn’t know this. They couldn’t believe. There’s a sign outside of the birthplace of Hellen Keller: “See what she couldn’t.” She was blind, how could she see, that’s the idea. Maybe offensive, maybe funny. Regardless, when you are blind, you cannot see. And for those who had come to see this man who rode into the walls of the City on a donkey, their hearts were hardened and their eyes were blinded. They wish to see Jesus? How can they see when you are blind? You can’t, so what are you left with? Only what you hear.
Jesus’ glorification is truly seeing Jesus. Jesus’ glorification is truly hearing Jesus. And Jesus’ glorification doesn’t look like glory to us; it looks like death, like beating, like murder. For when the Son of Man is lifted up, there is He glorified. He is never more glorious than when He is raised on high.
Do you see then? Jesus is answering the Greeks. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Then see Him in His glory. See Him in His death. See Him on the cross, crucified for your transgressions. The death of the Christ is His glory, where else shall you turn? Will you see Him? Will you look at Him? And if you do, will you truly see or shall your eyes be held?
It all depends on if you hear His word or not. Would you hear the Word of the Lord? Would you hear it call you a sinner? Would you hear it accuse you of breaking the Law of God? Would you hear it claim how far you’ve fallen from righteousness, from holiness? Would you? You want to see Jesus? Do you hear what He’s saying first? Do you hear Him calling you to repentance? Do you hear Him from the mountaintop calling you to Himself that you might turn from their wickedness?
Or do you wish to have your heart hardened and your eyes held? Do you wish to be content in your sin? Do you wish to hear the voice of God and think it only an angel or just some distant thunder? Do you want to call a thing what it is or do you wish to have speak in a way that He hasn’t?
You see, if you would see Jesus, if you would see Him in His glory, it is to hear God’s Word and understand by faith. It is to speak of yourself the way Scripture speaks of you. That’s called confession. Confession literally means to speak the same thing, and in this case, it’s to speak the same thing that Scripture, the Word of God, the Word of Jesus, says. I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess to You all my sins and iniquities, with which I have ever offended You and justly deserve Your temporal and eternal punishment. To confess that is to say what the Scriptures say. To confess that is to hear the Word of God. To confess that is to know that you have seen Jesus, you have seen Him in His glory.
But His glory doesn’t just end in condemnation, for His glory is borne for you, that you might be forgiven of your sins, that He might die in your place, that He might die for your sake, and on the third day be raised for your justification. The Word of God just doesn’t accuse you, it also forgives you, delivers mercy to you, shields you from the wrath of God by the very blood of Jesus. That is why I get to say, “Upon this, your confession, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God to all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
God speaks to you and you confess your sin. God speaks to you and your sin is forgiven. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. And so you have. He has died for you and was buried in the ground. And, on the third day, just as the seed of a plant, He rose up from that ground and bears much fruit, He bears you, you are His fruit, His harvest. That you believe is because of His death and resurrection that you might have life and have it abundantly. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. You will. You will see Him. You will see Him face-to-face, for just as He was raised from the dead, so, too, shall you be. The fruit does what the plant does. If He is raised, then you will be raised. And you shall see Jesus. He won’t send you away, but He will welcome you into His loving arms, for you have heard His Word and believed it. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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