John 12:20-33 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
Lent 5 March 18, 2018 “Jesus Glorifies God’s Name”
If you had the chance to do it again, what would you do differently? A question like that gets us thinking, doesn’t it? But no matter what we think of in our lives that we might wish to change, we can’t. We live our lives in one direction. We are always working from the present into the future, so we don’t know until later how our decisions will work out. We can’t get or have or use information about what the future holds. The “what if we could” question makes for interesting conversation and some creative stories. Movies and books abound with all sorts of time travel concepts that create worlds where people can change their pasts, which of course changes their presents as well. What would you do if you could change things? Would you stop a school shooting? Would you prevent a terror attack? Would you end a war before it begins? These are the sorts of things we think we’d like to change. When we consider them, we think, if only someone had known what was going to happen, it could have been prevented. If we knew what someone was planning in secret, we could figure out a way to stop it. That is one aspect of what makes what Jesus has done for us so amazing. He knew what was coming. He knew when it was coming. He made it clear on multiple occasions. He spoke about it openly. He knew what was going to happen to him, and he let it happen anyway. The account before us today from the twelfth chapter of John’s Gospel is just one example of Jesus predicting what was going to happen to him. And here as in many of those cases, we find him explaining why he would let it happen. Jesus glorifies God’s name. This account comes from the Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus was in Jerusalem as many were for the upcoming Passover, and he was found frequently in the courts of the temple teaching. This Tuesday was a final opportunity for that. In just days, Jesus would be arrested, tried, and executed. Some Greek believers wanted to see Jesus. We know very little about them, just what is found in this account. It seems that they were Greeks who had become adherents to the Jewish religion. That would explain their presence in Jerusalem. Like many in the city, they had heard about Jesus and wanted to know more. They spoke to Philip, a disciple with a Greek-sounding name, and made their request. What’s interesting is we don’t even know whether they ever had their chance to see Jesus. The request came through the disciples to Jesus, but what we’re told next is that Jesus used this opportunity to talk about what people would see in him. And what they would see was glory. “The hour has come,” Jesus said, “for the Son of Man to be glorified.” And that glory would be the Father’s glory, too. Jesus went on later, “It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Jesus shows his glory and he glorifies the Father by his suffering and death. This is what Jesus knew was coming. This is what he shared with those who were listening to him. “The hour has come.” Jesus compares himself to a seed, a kernel of wheat that needs to fall to the ground and die before it produces a harvest and a crop. So Jesus would be going to his death, but would do so in order to produce incredible results. Jesus would go to his death knowing full well what was going to happen. He didn’t back out. He didn’t avoid it. He says, “Now my soul is troubled,” because of the suffering he would endure, “and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” This is the glory of the occasion: that Jesus was setting aside his own self-interest, his own comfort, even his own life because of his love for others. This is what his entire life and his entire ministry had been leading toward. His perfect life was aimed at sacrificing it for others. Jesus withstood every temptation for a world of sinners that had fallen short frequently, even constantly. His sacrifice would provide forgiveness for all who would believe in him, for all who would follow his example of self-denial. And so he is talking to and about you and me when Jesus says, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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 would bring glory to God’s name by putting God’s love on display for people who didn’t deserve it. And God would give eternal life to all who believe in Jesus and follow his example of self-denial and self-sacrifice. And the single seed of Jesus Christ with his perfect life and innocent death would result in the production and harvest of many seeds. What Jesus was driving at was the defeat of Satan himself. The devil would be forced to unleash control over so many. His slaves would finally be set free. This is what Jesus was saying: “now the prince of this world will be driven out.” Jesus wasn’t going to try and stop what was coming. He wasn’t looking for a way out from his suffering and death. He knew what was coming and was going to charge straight into it for your sake and for mine. He was going to defeat our greatest enemy and give us the opportunity to share in his glory! And so he said, “Father, glorify your name!” And God the Father answered him, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” God’s name was glorified when Jesus came into the world. It was glorified as he lived perfectly for us and in our place, as he defeated each and every one of the devil’s temptations, and as he set his heart and his mind on reaching the cross just outside of Jerusalem’s walls. And God’s name would be glorified when Jesus would go to that cross and complete his sufferings and give up his life. And in that gruesome death, Jesus would draw all people to himself. That’s what he said, about which John comments, “He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.” Jesus would be lifted up on the cross. That usually doesn’t draw people. It terrifies them. It repulses them. That kind of death is not glorious, it is shameful. It is shameful except when it is done in love for the sake of a world in need, a world of sinners, a world aching for freedom and salvation. Jesus would draw all people to himself by willingly facing the shame that they deserved, the punishment that they had earned. He would draw them to himself by being a loving and self-sacrificing Savior. That was what Jesus accomplished for all the Jews who were gathered in Jerusalem. Jesus came as a Jew and focused his ministry on them. Many would be drawn to Jesus as the Messiah, the perfect fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises, the perfect Passover Lamb. But Jesus would draw many more to himself as well. He would draw to himself Greeks like the men who had come to see him. Some, like these had learned about him from the Old Testament and by becoming adherents of the Jewish religion. Many others would meet him for the first time following his death and resurrection as his Word was preached to them. And that Word is not for Greeks alone, but for all nations throughout the world to whom this message has now been preached again and again. Drawing us to himself is what Jesus accomplished for you and for me. He has glorified the name of God by drawing us to faith in him, by washing away our sins through his baptismal gift, and by feeding our souls with his own body and blood. This is how he has glorified God’s name, by showering his love on us, by making his love for us more important than even his own life. And since he has done so, he draws us to respond. He invites us to join in bringing glory to God’s name by denying our own interests and by serving God’s will. We glorify God when we give our joyful and generous offerings, when we serve in various ways, when we are even willing to suffer for what we know God wants us to do and how he wants us to live. We glorify God’s name when we share his Word with our children, our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers, or with anyone else whom God give us opportunity to meet and know and serve. Jesus knew exactly what was coming and that it was coming soon. He didn’t try to change it, even though he had the power to do so. Instead, he continued down that path that led to his suffering and death. He did it for God’s glory and for our eternal good. May his attitude be ours. May we join in saying, “Heavenly Father, glorify your name now and forever.”
The Text: John 12:20–33 (NIV) 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. 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. 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. 27 “Now
my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
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. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 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.