“The Hour Has Come”
[John
12:20-26]
July 31, 2016 Second Reformed Church
In 1969, Charles Manson sent a
number of his “family” to commit murder.
One of his followers was a man named, Charles Watson, who is serving
life in prison for his crimes.
Charles Watson tells his story in the
book, “Will You Die for Me?”, explaining how Charles Manson would occasionally
test the loyalty of his followers by putting a gun to their head and asking,
“Will you die for me?” – the possibility was always there that Mason would fire
the gun.
After being in prison for some
years, Watson professed faith in Christ and explained that Jesus Christ puts
the same question to each of us that Mason did: “Will you die for Me?” Are you willing to die for Jesus Christ as a
witness to the Gospel?
This is not a strange or perverted
question. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German
pastor and one of those who attempted to assassinate Hitler wrote in his book,
“The Cost of Discipleship,” “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die” (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/98256-when-christ-calls-a-man-he-bids-him-come-and).
Jesus lived and died that we would
have life abundant, and Jesus calls all we who believe to live and die – and to
even be willing to be put to death – for the sake of the Gospel.
We may remember that the crowd from
Bethany – from the party for Lazarus – and the crowd from Jerusalem – who were
gathered there for the Passover – joined together and lined the streets as
Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem.
Under the prompting of the Holy Spirit, the crowd cried out to Jesus as
their Savior and the rightful King of Israel.
And the Pharisees were outraged.
The Pharisees even accused each other of their failed plans to stop
Jesus saying, “The whole world has gone after Him!”
And there is a sense in which their
words were true.
Let us turn to our text
“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.”
First, we see that Jesus is the
fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations through him.
We read, “And the angel of the LORD called
to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, ‘By myself I have sworn,
declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son,
your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your
offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And
your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my
voice’” (Genesis 22:15-18, ESV).
And here we see, Jesus first went to the
Jews with the Gospel and shunned the Gentiles – the non-Jews – but now, the
Greeks – non- Jewish believers in the God of Israel – came to Him and He
received them.
The field is fully opened – every living
person is the right person to tell the Gospel.
There is no one too rich or poor, dumb or smart, right color of wrong
color, right background or wrong background, or anything – everyone is to be
called to the Gospel – called to repentance and belief. And you are the right one to do it. Every Christian – every Christian – is called
by Jesus – commanded by Jesus – to tell everyone – the whole Creation – the
Gospel – Who Jesus is and what He did.
Tell someone.
Second, the coming of the Gentiles was the
sign of Jesus’ glorification.
“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.’
Up to this point, we had heard Jesus say
it was not yet time.
Now, with the Gentiles coming to faith,
the time had come. Specifically, the
time for the Son of Man – (“Son of Man” was Jesus’ favorite title for Himself)
– to be glorified.
It was time for Jesus to be revealed to be
the prophesied Savior – to make much of Him – showing all of His greatness and
worthiness – through His death. With the
coming of the Gentiles, Jesus knew it was time for Him to be revealed as God
the Son and Savior through His death.
Jesus said, “truly, truly” – and we may
remember that repetition like this means, “listen up, this is important” and Jesus
gave this analogy: if a grain of wheat
is not dead and buried in the earth, nothing happens, but if it is dead and
buried in the ground, it will “rise from the dead” – it will grow and bear much
fruit.
Any of us who have planted something in
the garden will understand this: If you
buy a packet of seeds and leave it alone and don’t do anything with it, how
many plants will grow? But, if you take
the dead-looking seeds and plant them in the garden and water and fertilize
them, then what will happen? They will grow
and bear whatever kind of fruit you planted, right?
Jesus said, “If I do not die and be
buried, there can be no salvation. There
can be no growth unless the Gospel is completed through death and burial –
after which, it will bring much fruit. I
will rise from the dead and give you the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, and
you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth – I will bear much fruit
through you.”
When we plant a seed, it grows up, puts
out branches, and fruit grows on the branches.
That is the Glory of Jesus Christ realized in the hour of His death and
burial, which resulted in His resurrection and our salvation to bear much fruit
for Him.
Our response to His glorification, Jesus
explained, is, third, we are to hate our life in this world.
‘Whoever loves his life loses it, and
whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.’
Is Jesus saying we ought to be
suicidal? Is He saying that we should
hate being alive? Is He saying that we
should hate the way we live and all that we have and are?
John Calvin wrote about this text, “When,
therefore, the godly are distressed by various afflictions, when they are
pressed hard by the difficulties of their situation, when they suffer hunger,
or nakedness, or diseases, when they are assailed by reproaches, when it
appears as if they would every hour be almost overwhelmed by death, let them
unceasingly consider that this is a sowing
which, in due time, will yield fruit” (Calvin, John, v 2, 28).
Jesus was saying that Christians ought not
to be overwhelmed by suffering. If we
are crushed and destroyed by every loss on earth – by every pain – if we “can’t
live” after such and such happens. Well,
then, your life will be lost, and you will be inconsolable, even if you are
received into the Kingdom by the skin of your teeth.
On the other hand, if we enjoy all the
good that God has made – and do so to His Glory – and recognize that we are in
a world corrupted by sin, so things will go wrong, we will suffer and we will
suffer for the sake of the Gospel, we will suffer loss and pain –
And yet, Paul reminds us: “For I consider
that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not
willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom
of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has
been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the
creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who
hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it
with patience.
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our
weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who
searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit
intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for
those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called
according to his purpose” (Romans 8:18-28, ESV).
Rather than being in love with the world
and our comfort – to the point that the world and even ourselves become idols
for us – that we hold them in higher esteem than the Triune God – we are to
keep the world and our suffering in its place – far below Jesus and all that we
receive from Him – including the glory to come.
And if we suffer for Christ and His Gospel, we are to rejoice – not to enjoy
the pain, but give thanks to God that we have been recognized as Christians and
found worthy to suffer for Him.
As Peter wrote, “Beloved, do not be
surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though
something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share
Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is
revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because
the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a
murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a
Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it
is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with
us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And ‘If
the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the
sinner?’
“Therefore let those who suffer according
to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1
Peter 4:12-19, ESV).
Jesus said:
“Whoever loves father or mother more than
me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy
of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it” (Matthew 10:37-39, ESV).
“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone
would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world
and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?’” (Matthew
16:24-26, ESV).
“’Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to
preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell
you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the
other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and
the other left.’ And they said to him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where
the corpse is, there the vultures will gather’” (Luke 17:32-37, ESV).
Whatever we suffer as Christians and for
the sake of Christ is nothing compared with the glory we shall be received
into. And whatever we suffer as
Christians and for the sake of the Gospel is for our benefit, for our good, for
the growth – the bearing of more fruit – in the Gospel.
Jesus continued, fourth, promising that He
is always with those who serve Him and vice versa.
“If anyone serves me, he must follow me;
and where I am, there will my servant be also.”
If we are believers in Jesus Christ, then
we are no longer slaves of sin, but we have been transferred into the Kingdom
of our beloved Jesus, and we now serve Him instead.
If we truly serve Jesus, we will follow
Him – we will do all those things that He has commanded; we will obey Him. And if we truly serve Jesus wherever He is,
we will be found beside Him – for there is nowhere else we would rather be.
Fifth, the Father honors those who serve
Jesus.
“If anyone serves me, the Father will
honor him.”
No matter what we endure in this life and
for the sake of Jesus Christ and His Gospel, God the Father honors we who serve
Jesus – all those who have repented of their sins and believed in Jesus as God
and Savior.
God honors us for the sake of the Work of
Jesus in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and we are forever right
with God – reconciled to God, no matter what may happen to us. And God will glorify us as the perfect and
holy brothers and sisters of Jesus when the Kingdom is ushered in fully.
Paul writes, “The saying is trustworthy,
for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we
will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are
faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:11-13,
ESV).
So let us be faithful and obedient to our
God and Savior, and spread the Gospel throughout the Creation. Tell everyone you can – show how much you
value Jesus and all He has done to save us.
Let us not worry about whatever might
happen to us or be taken away from us, but, instead, trust in the God Who has
saved us and given us the privilege to be His servants and the promise that we
will be His forever.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for being the
One True and Sovereign God, for sending Your Son to live and die and rise and
ascend back to His throne. Thank You for
impressing upon us why it was absolutely necessary that Jesus die – that He
would be glorified and we would be honored and glorified for His sake. Help us to be faithful and obedient servants,
spreading the Gospel and enduring tribulation, looking forward to the glory of
the Kingdom. For it is in Jesus’ Name we
pray, Amen.
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