Sermons

It's Time to Die

January 13, 2013 Speaker: John Hansen Series: The Gospel of John

Topic: Sanctification Passage: John 12:20–12:26

John 12:20-26

English Standard Version (ESV)
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 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. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.26 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.

Review: Jesus has been hiding out in Perea, but now he’s moving back into the public arena. He came back to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead (11), Mary anointed him (12:1-8), and then Jesus goes back to Jerusalem mounts a donkey and parades through the town as people cry out “Hosanna to the King of Israel.”

You Might say, “Jesus is Playing with Fire”
• The Jews have been plotting his death.
• Now, the Romans hear the Jews proclaiming Jesus to be king.  This later becomes the chief charge against Jesus that sticks. When he is crucified, Pilot places an announcement above Jesus’ head that says, “The King of the Jews”.
Jesus knows what he’s doing:
• Vs 23 – He says IT’S TIME: The hour has come.
• Vs 24 – It’s time to die: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies.
It’s time to attract attention and set in place the series of events that will lead to Jesus’ death.
1. Jesus had done just that:
o Jewish leaders tried to get Jesus to silence the adults and the children that were worshipping him. He refused them to their faces in front of crowds of people.
o Murmuring and plotting amongst the Jewish leaders is now hitting its crescendo.
o Romans are starting to see Jesus as a potential threat.
o And as all this turmoil unfolds behind the scenes in the Jewish community, John reminds us that Jesus is not only the savior of the Jews, but he also the savior of the non-Jews, the Gentiles; Jesus is the savior of the world.
Section 1: Some Greeks come to see Jesus. (20-23)
1. Hellenes, not Hellenists (Jews from Greek:
o Hellenes were the early inhabitants of Greece (in our time now, Greece is still officially known as the Hellenic Republic, after the ancient Hellenes). From the Hellenes came the term "Hellenism," which was used to describe Greek language and culture; from that, "Hellenists" were non-Greeks who spoke Greek and lived according to Greek ways. Thanks largely to the grand imperialistic accomplishments of the young Greek king/warlord Alexander the Great (a photograph of a statue of him is shown below, see also Alexander The Great In Prophecy) whose military conquests covered a vast region from across southern Europe, through the Middle East and deep into Asia (see Ancient Empires - Greece), Hellenists were found in many varied nations, and the Greek language in the ancient world was used very much like English is now in the modern world (the fact that the New Testament was originally written in Greek is the most obvious evidence of that).
2. Came to Philip
3. Request: We wish to see Jesus.
4. Philip consults with Andrew: Would Jesus want to see these Greeks?
• Just Israel?
o Matthew 10:5-6: These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:5-6)
o Matthew 15:24: He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 15:24)
• Other sheep?
o John 10:16: I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. (John 10:16)
5. Do they ever see Jesus?
• John MacArthur says Yes: He thought the Greeks were with Philip and Andrew when they went to ask Jesus. MacArthur said: I've never seen Jesus yet turn down an honest seeker.
• Crowd (29): a whole crowd of people there.
• Jesus is the Focus: We don’t know. And that’s ok. The purpose of the text is not these Greeks and what happened to them. I think John includes these Greeks because they help us see that Jesus is deserving of world-wide renown. He is not just attracting the attention of the Jews and the Romans, but also the Greeks. Jesus is not just the savior of Israel, but he is the savior of the world. I know you’re curious about the Greeks, what happened to them, did they see Jesus, etc., but John would say to us, that’s not the point. I didn’t include these Greeks so you would obsess over them, but so that you would obsess over Jesus. Jesus is the point. He is the focus of the text.
o Let me remind you of John’s purpose in writing this gospel: These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)
o Vs 29 - A crowd around Jesus: It seems likely that the people around Jesus included people from Bethany who saw him raise Lazarus, people from Jerusalem who praised him during the triumphal entry, the 12 disciples and probably these Greeks as well.
6. John Piper: The Greeks want to see Jesus. Did they get to see him? Does Jesus show himself to them? Physically, we don’t know. John doesn’t say. But this may be for our sake. Because Jesus does show himself to them the same way he shows himself to us. He speaks truth about himself that becomes a truth about us. This is how Jesus shows himself in power: he gives truth about himself that becomes truth about us.

Section 2: Jesus preps his followers for the crucifixion with 3 short lessons. (24-26)
1. The hour has come. (23)
• Hour: not a literal 60 minutes, but a general designation of time; Get ready; I’m going to the cross very soon. The time has come for a series of events to occur that will lead to my death.
• It’s time:
o Past: The Hour Had Not Yet Come: Jesus had said over and over that the time had not yet come
 John 2:4: And Jesus said to her (Mary), “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
 John 8:20: These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
o Now: The Hour Has Come. It’s Time: It’s Holy Week! And almost all of the rest of this book will be focused on the final week of Jesus life. It’s time!
 John 13:1: Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (John 13:1)
 John 17:1: When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, (John 17:1)
o Time really matters to God.
 He says for us to do things in the church decently and in order.
 Jesus was born of Mary in the fullness of time.
 Jesus avoided death for months because it wasn’t time yet.
 Now, Jesus announces: The hour has come!
• Time for what?
o To be glorified (23): Dean said, and I think rightly, this was the time of Jesus’ humiliation. He was born in poverty in a stable, not in a palace. He mounted a donkey, not a noble steed. He’s headed to a cross, not to a thrown. He’s not gathering a huge army to fight Rome, but rather his following shrinks rapidly the closer he gets to the cross, until even the 12 turn against Jesus, 1 betrays him, and others deny they know him. Glorified? How in the world is this being glorified?
 Transfiguration: Blinding light, Moses and Elijah appear. Now that’s glorified!
 At the end of the age: Jesus returns on a white horse in clouds of glory! That’s what I think of when I think of glorified.
 But tortured and put on a cross while his closest friends abandon him, how does that equal glorified?
o Jesus would be glorified
 As the Son of God
 As the King of Israel
 As the Savior of the World
 As the lamb of God who would die for the sins of God’s Children
o I think Jesus glory shown brightest when he went to the cross.
o How was Jesus glorified on the cross?
 This was Jesus greatest opportunity to display the greatness of His glory. The display of his glory is shown in the display of his character. His character shines brightest as it illuminates history set against the backdrop of our sin, our rebellion, our treachery, and our betrayal.
 While were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is glory!
 Consider the glory of Christ on the cross: The glory of His…
1. Humility: He the creator of the universe, would humble himself to live amongst those he created, to be rejected by them, abused by them, and killed by them in order that he might save them.
2. Mercy: He showed his mercy as he gave his life to spare those who deserved his death.
3. Steadfast Love: He showed his steadfast love as he died for those who were at that very moment denying him. had broken his laws.
4. Grace: Jesus by His merit earned eternal life and the riches of heaven, which he chose to lavish on us who did not deserve it.
o God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense – That is Grace! Grace like you’ve never seen anywhere else.
5. Forgiveness
6. Longsuffering
7. Truth: He never lied. He told them he would die, and he fully intended to do so. He completed the work God gave him to do.
8. Power: By his power, he set his seal upon us, claimed us for himself, cleansed our sin, and gave us eternal life. Who else has the power to do that?
9. Creativity: Jesus shocked the world by coming as an infant; not coming as a war hero, but coming as man who lived every day of his 33 years under a death sentence, a man who could call the legions of heaven to his side at any moment, chose not to fight, but to die.
10. Planning
11. Genius, Brilliance or His Wisdom: Creation, fall, law, sin, suffering, death, prophets, John the Baptist, messiah, cross, resurrection, ascension, return as the king. What a beautiful, amazing, romantic story…all put together and planned by the mastermind of the universe.
12. Position: Due to this heroic act, God set Jesus up as the supreme ruler, not just of Israel, not just of the earth, not just of the universe, but as the supreme Lord over all existence.
Phil. 2:6-11: [Jesus Christ] Being in very nature God…he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:6-11)

Transition: This is the hour to be glorified (23), and Jesus makes it very clear in the next verse that this glory would be achieved in his death.
To die (24): 24 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.
• We try to avoid death.
• Jesus ran to death. He knew his death would be his crowning achievement
• Grain of Wheat: The grain has to be put into the grown. The outer shell has to rot and die so that the seed might grow into a plant, which produces more seeds and in turn more plants.
• Seed had to die; Jesus had to go to the cross:
o Or it remains alone
o Jesus, God’s only son went to the cross to save us “in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom. 8:29)
• Light the Bomb so that it will explode
• Open the clam to get the pearl
• You rot the seed so the life inside will grow
• Jesus is saying: I have to die. All these good things will be accomplished in my death. Unless the seed dies, it will bear no fruit.
• He also says to us: You have to die.
o Take up your cross and follow me.
o Die to your flesh: passions inside us that we have to say no to, desires that we have to die to.
o Phillip Glanville: “For me it means surrendering to God’s will for my life and giving up what I want for what God wants. Also, I feel it means to really let your faith shine and not to be afraid to share it with others. I think it is one of the most important things for us to think about.”
o

2. The cost of loving your life.
25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
• Do I love my life?  I think if I’m honest with myself. I really do love my life. I enjoy being awake, and I enjoy sleep. I love my wife and my children. I like being in physical health. I love the relationships I have with my family and friends. I enjoy my work and my time at Mercy Hill. I love my life!!!
• Solemn Warning: This passage says that if you love your life, then you will lose it. And from the context, we see that John is talking about losing your life in eternity. If you love your life in this world, if your fixation and your heart is set on this world, then you will not have eternal life.
• So where does that leave me?: Is the kind of “love” I have for my life a love that would condemn me to hell and keep me from experiencing eternal life? I think it comes down to our attachments. Am I more attached to the pleasures of this earthly life than I am to Jesus Christ and life he gives? What’s more important to me? Are these things I enjoy in this life idols of the heart, things that I value more than Jesus Christ? If so, I am in serious danger.
• How do I respond to this warning?: I cling to Jesus Christ. I put my love for other things in the right perspective. Christ is my life. He is my everything. My health, my comforts, my wife, children, work, church, hobbies, etc….These are gifts from my savior, and I will follow my savior to my death if he calls me to do so. I will lay aside all these things, in order to pursue Jesus.
• John, Do you hate your family?: Does that sound like hate? I think that’s what Jesus is getting at. My devotion to Jesus needs to be so strong, that when you compare my love for the comforts, the things and the people in this life, it looks like I hate them in comparison with how much I love Jesus.
• Jesus who emphasized the importance of honoring mother and father also said, (Luke 14:26): “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
• Do we love the world? Is there anything we wouldn’t give up for Jesus? Are there things we love too much? Perhaps Jesus may ask you to surrender something this morning. Maybe it’s something he wants you to give up…
o Hobby: If Jesus asked you to give up your hobby, would you say yes.
 TV/Movies
 Golf
 Video Games
o Dream: If he asked you to give up your dream, would you say yes.  He’ll give you another dream. Maybe he’ll even give you your old dream back, but are you willing to surrender it.
o Habit: Maybe you’ve been looking at pornography, drugs or alcohol and Jesus is saying: No more. Will you give that up for Jesus?
o A Romantic Relationship or Sexuality: I love him. I love her.
 Romantic Relationship
 Desire to Get Married: I had a friend that said, “Jesus wouldn’t dare come back before I got to get married.” Getting married had become an idol of his heart.  Some say…I’ll follow you Lord; just don’t ask me to be single.
 Sexual Habit You know is wrong
 Homosexuality: Maybe you’ve been struggling with homosexual feelings, and God would say to you, I want you to die to that. I know it’s hard. I know you may be setting aside some of the greatest longings your heart has ever felt. Will you do that for Jesus? Will you die to that? Will you choose to say by your actions, I love Jesus more!
o Work: I love you Jesus, but I could never give up my job. I love it too much.
o Clothing:
 Nice Clothes: Is it your wardrobe? Maybe the Lord is asking you to get rid of some of your clothes. Perhaps to be less flashy.
 Modesty: Perhaps to be more modest. If he asks you to give these up, would you fight him? – Modesty = less skin and looser fitting. Has the Lord convicted you that some of your clothes are too form fitting…or too showy.
o Travel - Vacations
o Health: What if he took your health? He allowed you suffer with cancer. He made you weak and frail and left you bed-ridden for months or years.
o Food: Boy do I love food. But how important is it to me? Is it more important than it should be?
o Music: Is it your music?
 CD’s or MP3’s - The music you listen to
 Music You Play – instrument you play
o Financial Stability: Or your financial stability? What if he should choose poverty over riches for you? To allow you to struggle with a money crunch and have to live very frugally.
o Family Members - Your Spouse, Children, Grandchildren: Are you willing to give up loved ones? What if he took your spouse or your children? Would you keep serving him? Can you treasure Jesus more than them?
 Mark 10:29-30: 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
o What is it for you? What is that one thing that if Jesus put his finger on it and said, I’m going to take that from you, Jesus would be met with resistance.
o What is that one thing that you would cling to should Jesus say, I want you to surrender that?
o If you’re having trouble surrending, perhaps God would say to you as he said to Satan so many years ago, “Consider my servant Job”.
o JOB: God took his wealth. God took his family. God took his health. It got so bad, his wife told him, “Curse God and die.” “Honey, your life is terrible. Get it over with.” But Job wasn’t clinging to this life. Compared to his love of God, he hated his life. In the face of all this suffering and in the face of all his friends and even his own wife turning against him, he stuck his heels in the ground. He said, “I will not budge. I will not move. He is my life. The Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord.” He may prosper me or he may shower me with pain and suffering; he may take away all my comforts and pleasures in this life, but I will not be moved. “Though he slay me, yet will I serve him.”
o Or maybe it’s something God wants you to continue to struggle with… Maybe he wants you to remain… Is God asking you to stay?
 In that difficult marriage.  Maybe you’ve determined that your only chance of ever feeling in love again is to divorce and find someone new. And God says to you in the words of the book of Malachi, “I hate divorce. Do not break faith with the wife of your youth.” And in the words of Jesus from the book of Mark, “What God has joined together, let no man separate.”
 In that job you hate.
 To stay in that relationship that is driving you crazy.
 Maybe he wants you to stay, press through and do it for Jesus.
 Would you do that for Jesus?

Consider the cost my friends: There is a cost to following Jesus.
• The man sold all he had in this life to buy the field with the treasure in it.
• Stephen, the first of many martyrs during the life of the church, went to his death for the sake of the gospel.
• Paul gave up his homeland; he was beaten and stoned for the sake of Christ.
• Jesus went to the scourging and to the cross, to save us.
• Luke 14:27: 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
• Luke 14:33: 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

3. The requirements of serving Jesus.
26 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.
• If you follow Jesus, where are you going? You’re going to the cross.
• These Greeks may have gotten a lot more than they had anticipated. Perhaps they wanted to hear some clever sayings or see a miracle. Instead, they arrived in time to hear Jesus demand everything from them…including their very lives.
• If you want to serve Jesus, you have to follow him: If you want to call yourself a Christian, you have to walk in his ways. You have to give up what he asks you to give up, believe what he asks you to believe. You have to be willing to give up your dreams and let him give you new desires for your heart. Jesus doesn’t want to be your new hobby or your part time job. He demands your complete devotion and he demands your life.
Prayer: Has he placed his finger on your heart this morning?
Has he asked you to surrender something? Perhaps you don’t know if you can do it. Right now you want to. Your heart is screaming the words of these Greeks, “I want to see Jesus.” I want to be with Jesus. And I don’t care what it costs me! I want you to come forward, and I want to pray for you. Come forward and stand, or come forward and kneel, but come.
Or, maybe he’s asked you to stay? To stay in that job. To stay in that relationship. To stay in that place…when all you want to do is run. You’re thinking, “I want to Jesus. I want to stay for you. I love you and I’d do anything for you. Everything in me wants to bolt. To leave. To run. But because I love you, I’m going to stay…but I need your help!” I’d like you to come forward. I want to pray for you.
Closing: 4. The Benefits of Serving Jesus
• If I had to give all this up with no hope of any future good in return, I would despair. I would lose hope.
• Good News for you today. God News. Good News is God News: This death that Jesus is asking of us results in great benefits. After all you will give up for the sake of Christ, it will be worth it! 3 great benefits:
1. Eternal Life (25): Whoever hates his life in this world, will keep it for eternal life. What a paradox! To hate your life is the only way to save your life. To let go of your hopes for this this life and cling to Jesus Christ, is the way to eternal life!
 Do you want to live forever? This life is so short compared with forever. Say you live 70, 80, 100 years. What does that compare with eternity? In eternity, after you have lived 100’s of trillions of years, you will still have 100’s of trillions of years to live on and on and on. Can you give up some things for a few decades to gain eternal life? Or will you be like Frodo clinging to the ring as he descends into the flames?
2. To Be with Jesus(26): Jesus says “Where I am, there will my servant be also.” The Greeks come saying, “We want to see Jesus.” I think Jesus is responding to this request. He’s saying, “If you want to be with me, this is what it will cost you…everything!” Are you still interested? It’s worth it. Sweet intimacy with Jesus Christ. This will be the most fulfilling relationship of your life. Nothing compares with knowing Christ, being known by him and enjoying sweet intimacy with your savior. You get to be with Jesus!
3. The Father will honor you (26): Riches, glory, honor, unimaginable pleasures that will be heaped upon you forever. Maybe you’ve heard someone say, “My uncle gives really good gifts. He has a lot of money, and when Christmas comes around, get ready!” Try to imagine what kinds of gifts God could give you. God loves you and is looking forward to dazzling you with his gifts. God knows you, and he know what would make you feel more joy, more fulfillment, more loved than anything else. That’s the one who’s going shopping for you. The Psalmist says, “In his right hand are pleasures forever more.” There is no one on the planet today nor has there ever been in history that I would rather be honored by than God.
 Jonathan Edwards: He made it his goal to be the godliest man alive.
 2 Disciples: We want to sit at your right hand and your left.
• Jesus does not rebuke them.
• He tells them how to be great in the kingdom of Heaven: By being least here on earth.
 Strive for the honor that God gives! As Jesus said store up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.
In short, he asks for a lot, but it’s so worth it!

 

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