Rethinking Devoted Commitment John 12:20-33
1) Jesus’ for Others
2) Ours for Him
When you go see someone or something, you have a reason. Sometimes it’s out of sheer curiosity of what everyone’s been talking about like Taylor Swift who has sold out concerts across the world and part of the Super Bowl chatter. Maybe you want to see something for confirmation. Quality inspectors do not rely on reports alone. They make site visits and talk with people involved to make sure things are okay. Perhaps you see something to benefit from it. The latest blockbuster has it all: stunning special effects, a moving storyline, relatable characters, and a soundtrack you just have to feel reverberate through you. So, you go to the movies and see it on the big screen to be wowed and entertained.
There were once some Greeks who wanted to see Jesus. We’re not told why, but we can conclude why. They didn’t live close to Jerusalem given they were Greeks. They were Old Testament believers given how they traveled to celebrate the Passover Festival. They had certainly heard about Jesus who entered Jerusalem to the shouts of “Hosanna!” earlier that week. But they didn’t know too much about him. So, out of sheer curiosity to meet the talk of the town, they politely ask Philip to see Jesus. As we join these Greeks, we do it for a different reason: to rethink devoted commitment. For when we look at Jesus’ devoted commitment for others, it shapes our devoted commitment for him.
1) Jesus’ for Others
A person’s devoted commitment is determined by what they go through to reach their goal. In John chapter 12, Jesus is troubled down to his soul. In just a few days, he will experience the worst pain imaginable as he takes his final steps to the cross by being betrayed, abandoned, ridiculed, abused, and nailed to the cross. How horrible as this would be, this harrowing experience was part of what the reason why Jesus came to this world in the first place!
We see Jesus’ devoted commitment for others in that he’s willing to go through all this to glorify the God the Father’s name. God’s name is more than what we call him by. It’s his reputation in the world. Jesus wants God’s name to remain holy as it is. So he willingly goes through his coming troubles to prove that God is faithful to his promises. Back in the Garden of Eden, God promised to destroy the Devil’s
plans. And here was Jesus about to fulfill it. He also knows that we best see the Father’s love for us in Jesus’ crucifixion. We are so precious to God the Father that he gave his one and only Son so that we might become his adopted children through faith!
Jesus’ devoted commitment is also for us. He explains how with a kernel of wheat. A wheat’s kernel are the seeds in its bushy top, often waving in the wind. You grind the kernels up if you want wheat flour. To make new wheat plants, you need to pluck the kernel from the live plant and bury it in the ground. If the conditions are right, you’ll then have a new wheat plant and lots of grain to show for it. The wheat kernel must die if it is to produce much grain. In the same way, Jesus must die so that sinners may be forgiven and live forever in heaven. If he loved his life on earth too much to give it up for us on the cross, Jesus would have failed his mission to be our Savior and destroyed any chance for us to be right with God. But by putting us first, he willingly endured every hardship on his way to the cross so that we could have forgiveness and salvation.
Jesus’ devoted commitment is something else! He’s willing to do anything and suffer everything for others. But does that seem too good to be true? We see Jesus’ troubled soul and wonder, did Jesus go to the cross reluctantly or unwillingly like a child forced to obey their parents? If so, that’s not devoted commitment for others. We imagine Jesus to be like us and consider the current pain for later gain. Jesus knows all things, like how famous and important he would become from being crucified. Wouldn’t the later gain be worth the current pain? If so, then Jesus is doing this for himself, not for others.
But that’s not how Jesus’ devoted commitment is like. He doesn’t go to the cross for selfish purposes or against his will. Rather, it’s entirely for the sake of others. Listen to Jesus himself say, “Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this hour.” (John 12:27 EHV) Jesus doesn’t run away when troubled down in his soul. He doubles down! For thirty-three years he’s given up the full use of his divine power, glory, and might. He’s not going to stop now that he’s at the finish line! Though his crucifixion would catapult Jesus to history’s who’s who, he already had it all. As true God, there is no one greater or mightier than him. Besides, we have account after account of Jesus doing nothing for himself but everything for others. Read his biography in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Hear the next generation talk about him in the book of Acts and the New Testament letters. Jesus’ devoted commitment was for his Father in heaven and for us. And his continued journey to the cross despite his troubled soul is proof of that.
All others have benefited from Jesus’ devoted commitment. God the Father’s name is glorified and is our comfort, strength, and trust today. Jesus’ death produces our eternal life through faith as a kernel of wheat produces much grain. Our sins are forgiven; our guilt is cancelled; our home is now in heaven. We see Jesus’ devoted commitment and rethink it to be this: a selfless drive to do what’s best for others in keeping with God’s Word.
2) Ours for Him
As we rethink our devoted commitment, we do it in service to Christ and with our eyes drawn to the cross. At the end of these verses, Jesus says how he will draw all people to himself when he’s lifted up from the earth on the cross. That will happen in a few ways. Christ’s cross is the essence of the Christian faith, how Jesus won our salvation and opened heaven’s gates. As such, all people will be drawn to him when they stand in judgment before God himself. What do they believe about the crucified Christ? That he died to take away their sins? If so, they’ll be saved and welcomed into heaven! If they believe anything else, they’ll be condemned and sentenced to eternal suffering.
Besides last judgment, Christians are also drawn to the cross as the source for their Christian life. As John says in his first letter, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 EHV) Out of love for Christ and all he did for us, we love Jesus right back by serving him. This isn’t a forced or slavish service, it’s willing and freely given! And how do we serve Jesus? As he tells us here, by following him. Our heart is filled with faith in him as our Savior and remains centered on him. Our mind looks to God’s Word as the inspired and inerrant truth, desiring to hear, learn, and grow in it at church, Bible study, private devotions, and wherever we can. Our thoughts, words, and actions to one another are in line with God’s expansive law, seeking to win all over to Christ and his wonderful blessings. Our daily lives are recognized as God-centered which our sinful world cannot help but notice.
But let’s not forget the most important part of following Jesus: keeping our eyes drawn to Jesus, lifted up and crucified on the cross. His devoted commitment for others produces our devoted commitment to him. His love for others produces our love for him. We love him by serving him, following him in faith and service to our neighbor. We don’t do this because we have to, to prove something, or to show off our faith. It’s all out of thanks and praise to Jesus and what he’s he done for us and given to us through faith.
As we serve Jesus with this rethought, devoted commitment, we have much to look forward to. As we follow Jesus as his attendant servant, we’ll also be in the presence of God the Father. What more could we ask for? Who else would we want to be around? And the Father will honor us for our selfless service to Jesus. Think of an awards ceremony where you honor people for the work they have done or the qualities they demonstrate. These people don’t do what they do hoping to be honored. Rather, it’s who they are and what they naturally do. The honor they receive is a public recognition of what is already true. So, it is with the Father honoring his Son’s faithful servants. We don’t serve Christ to get something out of it. It’s what we naturally and willingly do with our eyes drawn to the cross. And our Father in heaven sees it, honors us for it, and lifts our spirits with the best attaboy we could ever receive.
Closing Encouragements
When some Greek Old Testament believers were traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival, they wanted to see Jesus out of sheer curiosity. We today look to Jesus so we can rethink devoted commitment. As Jesus demonstrates, devoted commitment is a selfless desire to do what’s best for others in keeping with God’s Word. Jesus did that when he doubled down on his desire to go to the cross despite his troubled soul. By doing so, he would glorify God the Father’s name and produce our eternal life through his death much like a kernel of wheat.
Jesus also draws all people to himself on the cross as the basis for eternal judgment and the source of our Christian life. As Christians, we serve Jesus by following him with faith-filled hearts and loving service to our neighbor because we can’t help but do so. And we keep at it with our eyes drawn to Jesus, lifted up from the earth and crucified for us on the cross. May we keep this rethought, devoted commitment in our heart as we serve our Savior every day. Amen.