3. Jesus and the Gentile Visitors (12:20-36)
Following His entry into Jerusalem, our Lord cleansed the temple for the second time. He quoted Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11: “Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Mark 11:17). Perhaps these Greeks heard that word and were encouraged by it.
One of John’s major themes is that Jesus is the Savior of the world, not simply the Redeemer of Israel. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). “For God so loved the world” (John 3:16). The Samaritans rightly identified Him as “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42). He gave His life for the world, and He gives life to the world (John 6:33). He is the Light of the World (John 8:12). The universal emphasis of John’s gospel is too obvious to miss. Jesus will bring the “other sheep” who are outside the Jewish fold (John 10:16; and see 11:51-52).
The original text indicates that these Greeks “were accustomed to come and worship at the feast.” They were not curious visitors or onetime investigators. No doubt they were “God-fearers,” Gentiles who attended the Jewish synagogue and sought the truth, but who had not yet become proselytes. Gentiles came to see Jesus when He was a young child (Matt. 2), and now Gentiles came to see Him just before His death.
These men “kept asking” Philip for the privilege of an interview with Jesus. Philip finally told Andrew (who was often bringing people to Jesus), and Andrew gave the request to the Lord. No doubt there were many people who wanted private interviews with the Lord, but they were afraid of the Pharisees (John 9:22). Being from out of the country, the Gentile visitors either did not know about the danger or did not fear the consequences.
We can commend these Greeks for wanting to see Jesus. The Jews would say, “We would see a sign!” (Matt. 12:38; 1 Cor. 1:22), but these men said, “We would see [have an interview with] Jesus.” There is no record that Jesus did talk with these men, but the message that He gave in response contains truths that all of us need.
The central theme of this message is the glory of God (John 12:23, 28). We would have expected Jesus to say, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be crucified.” But Jesus saw beyond the cross to the glory that would follow (see Luke 24:26; Heb. 12:2). In fact, the glory of God is an important theme in the remaining chapters of John’s gospel (see John 13:31-32; 14:13; 17:1, 4-5, 22, 24).
Jesus used the image of a seed to illustrate the great spiritual truth that there can be no glory without suffering, no fruitful life without death, no victory without surrender. Of itself, a seed is weak and useless; but when it is planted, it “dies” and becomes fruitful. There is both beauty and bounty when a seed “dies” and fulfills its purpose. If a seed could talk, it would no doubt complain about being put into the cold, dark earth. But the only way it can achieve its goal is by being planted.
God’s children are like seeds. They are small and insignificant, but they have life in them, God’s life. However, that life can never be fulfilled unless we yield ourselves to God and permit Him to “plant us.” We must die to self so that we may live unto God (Rom. 6; Gal. 2:20). The only way to have a fruitful life is to follow Jesus Christ in death, burial, and resurrection.
In these words, Jesus challenges us today to surrender our lives to Him. Note the contrasts: loneliness or fruitfulness; losing your life or keeping your life; serving self or serving Christ; pleasing self or receiving God’s honor.
I read about some Christians who visited a remote mission station to see how the ministry was going. As they watched the dedicated missionary team at work, they were impressed with their ministry, but admitted that they missed “civilization.”
“You certainly have buried yourself out here!” one of the visitors exclaimed.
“We haven’t buried ourselves,” the missionary replied. “We were planted!”
Our Lord knew that He was facing suffering and death, and His humanity responded to this ordeal. His soul was troubled, not because He was questioning the Father’s will, but because He was fully conscious of all that the cross involved. Note that Jesus did not say, “What shall I do?” because He knew what He was ordained to do. He said, “What shall I say?” In the hour of suffering and surrender, there are only two prayers we can pray: either “Father, save me!” or “Father, glorify thy name!”
In one of my radio messages, I made the statement, “God does not expect us to be comfortable, but He does expect us to be conformable.” No sooner had the program ended than my office phone rang and an anonymous listener wanted to argue with me about that statement.
“Conformable to what?” the voice thundered. “Haven’t you read Romans 12:2–‘Be not conformed to this world’?”
“Sure I’ve read Romans 12:2,” I replied. “Have you read Romans 8:29? God has predestined us ‘to be conformed to the image of his Son.’”
After a long pause (I was glad he was paying the phone bill), he grunted and said, “Okay.”
Comfortable or conformable–that is the question. If we are looking for comfortable lives, then we will protect our plans and desires, save our lives, and never be planted. But if we yield our lives and let God plant us, we will never be alone but will have the joy of being fruitful to the glory of God. “If any man [Jew or Greek] serve me, let him follow me.” This is the equivalent of Matthew 10:39 and Mark 8:36.
The prayer, “Father, glorify thy name!” received a reply from heaven! God the Father spoke to His Son and gave Him a double assurance: The Son’s past life and ministry had glorified the Father, and the Son’s future suffering and death would glorify the Father. It is significant that the Father spoke to the Son at the beginning of the Son’s ministry (Matt. 3:17), as the Son began His journey to Jerusalem (Matt. 17:5), and now as the Son entered the last days before the cross. God always gives that word of assurance to those who willingly suffer for His sake.
The people heard a sound but did not know the message that had been conveyed. Yet if the voice was for their sakes and they could not understand it, what good was it? In that the voice assured Jesus, who was to die for their sakes, the voice was for their good. They heard Him pray, and they heard a sound from heaven in response to that prayer. That should have convinced them that Jesus was in touch with the Father. We might translate John 12:30, “That voice came more for your sake than for Mine.”
Jesus then openly spoke about the cross. It was an hour of judgment for the world and for Satan, the prince of the world. The death of Jesus Christ would seem like a victory for the wicked world, but it would really be a judgment of the world. On the cross, Jesus would defeat Satan and his world system (Gal. 6:14). Even though he is permitted to go to and fro on the earth, Satan is a defeated enemy. As we serve the Lord, we overcome the Wicked One (Luke 10:17-19). One day Satan shall be cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:10), and eventually he will be judged and imprisoned forever (Rev. 20:10).
We have met the phrase “lifted up” before (John 3:14; 8:28). Its basic meaning is crucifixion (note John 12:33), but it also carries the idea of glorification. “Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted” (Isa. 52:13 nasb). The Son of Man was glorified by being crucified!
The phrase “all men” does not suggest universal salvation. It means “all people without distinction,” that is, Jews and Gentiles. He does not force them; He draws them (see John 6:44-45). He was “lifted up” that people might find the way (John 12:32), know the truth (John 8:28), and receive the life (John 3:14). The cross reminds us that God loves the whole world and that the task of the church is to take the gospel to the whole world.
The people did not understand what He was teaching. They knew that “Son of man” was a title for Messiah, but they could not understand why the Messiah would be crucified! Did not the Old Testament teach that the Messiah would live forever? (See Ps. 72:17; 89:36; 110:4; Isa. 9:7.)
But that was no time to be discussing the finer points of theology! It was an hour of crisis (see John 12:31, where the Greek word krisis means judgment) and an hour of opportunity. The light was shining, and they had better take advantage of their opportunity to be saved! We have met this image of light and darkness before (John 1:4-9; 3:17-20; 8:12; 9:39-41). By a simple step of faith, these people could have passed out of spiritual darkness and into the light of salvation.
This marked the end of our Lord’s public ministry as far as John’s record is concerned. Jesus departed and hid Himself. It was judgment on the nation that saw His miracles, heard His messages, and scrutinized His ministry and yet refused to believe in Him.