John 12:20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Sermon Text

 There are many triumphs in a life of faith, as there are many triumphs in Christ’s story. When we look at the progression of Lent and the texts we’ve looked at, we should see that there are highs and lows for God’s people. Sometimes we are rejected by others because we pursue righteousness, yet other times we are lifted up to do something exceptional. There are times when we are called to shake the foundations of this broken world we live in and times where we are permitted in faith to simply live in the knowledge that God has done the hard work for us. We are able to do all of this, not because of our own skills or worth, but because God was willing to take on all hardship for us and raise us up in the same way Christ was raised. Every calendar year, every Church year, every aspect of life is wrapped in this ebb and flow, this rise and fall.

Today, we stand seven days from Palm Sunday, the height of Jesus’s acceptance before he was rejected and crucified. If next week brings us a high, then today we are allowed to see a low. Christ stands before his disciples and has something of a crisis as he hears that people are interested in hearing him speak. It seems strange, that Jesus should have this moment of realizing his death is near and expressing how troubled he is just because several men are asking to hear him speak, but I think there’s more to it than that, there almost always is.

The passage tells us a few things in quick succession that set the stage. Several “Greeks,” come to Phillip and ask to speak with Jesus. These are not Greek speaking Jews, there’s a different word to describe them, these are Greek God-fearers – Gentiles that worship the God of Israel.[1] They go to Phillip, who is named as a disciple from Bethsaida, a town relatively south in Galilee, but far away from central Judea. It was a place where people spoke Greek as much as they did Aramaic. They find Philip, perhaps because he was speaking Greek, and ask if he can take them to see Jesus. Philip decides to check before he does so, and so finds Andrew, and only after the two of them discuss the matter do they go on to Jesus. Jesus hears that the Greeks are looking for him and then he has the chilling reaction we read about here.

The sudden arrival of Gentiles into the story means that Jesus has succeeded in his mission of reaching the people of Judah. The selective Gentile believers here and there were just a side-affect of this outreach, but now Jesus has become known beyond his own people in a much bigger way. The era of Christ’s ministry to Judah was ending and soon his universal, resurrected ministry was going to begin. The resurrection of Christ requires something before it can happen though, and that is death. Now Christ’s time had come to free all humanity from Sin, now he was to destroy death and chase out Satan from his throne, now was the time for him to die.

We are given clues throughout Jesus’s ministry that one of the things that was given up when he took on humanity was the ability to see exactly how the future was written. Though not losing Godhood, Jesus lost many of its benefits in becoming human. There is an ability then for Jesus to be surprised, to react to something as it happens, and in this case, to have a sudden realization. Christ always knew his journey ended in a cross, but in this moment, when this message comes to him, the sudden weight of what is to come overtakes him. Jesus is no longer composed, not even especially holy, he speaks frankly to his disciples.

“I am so worried. What should I even do, ask for help? That’s not what I’m here for… I came to do this… but does that make it easier… Father, glorify your name.” A voice booms from the Heavens, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it.” The crowd thinks an angel has spoken to comfort Jesus, but Jesus responds differently, and I won’t modernize his response because the language cuts deep, “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself”

Jesus was speeding toward the hardest day of his life, the day he would die a miserable death. Facing the realization of how inescapable that fate was and how close it had become, Jesus could not be comforted. A voice came from the Heavens, but not for him. His disciples would spend days with him, doing their best to lessen his pain, but Jesus moved forward intentionally, not yielding in his focus. He was worried, he was afraid, and yet he kept going because he knew what he had to do. Jesus was going to bring all people together and Jesus was going to do it by giving his life for everyone.

There is a deep sadness in this passage, but as we make the move toward Easter, I hope we can also see that there is a strange hope to it as well. Jesus unflinchingly walked toward Death, not just because he was strong – but because it was that important that he completed the work ahead of him. Jesus was afraid, Jesus wanted anything but what was set ahead of him, and yet he was willing to keep moving. Why? For us.

The voice of God thundered from Heaven, not to comfort Jesus – he knew that God was going to follow through even in this dark moment – that voice was for us who hear it even today. Christ lived a life of sacrifice, a life meant to bring life to others, and Christ did so despite fear and anxiety and a strong desire to avoid this awful pain.

If you ever feel like you cannot face what lies ahead of you, know that Jesus had that moment too. If you are ever deeply concerned, know that Jesus was too. Still, in the midst of all our worry and our fear, remember what Christ faced all his trouble for. He faced this to free us from needing to fear, from needing to face troubles alone or without hope. Christ suffered so that the judgment of the world would be settled, so that evil would lose its claim over our lives, and so that our faith would be confirmed in our consolation. Take heart, for Christ has overcome the world. – Amen

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[1] The word for “Greek,” is “Ἕλλην,” (Hellen,) while the word for “Greek Jew,” is “Ἑλληνιστής” (Hellenistes.)