Prayer: Lord open our hearts and minds to your word this morning. Amen.
Are we there yet? That is the question we hear from the lips of children on a long drive perhaps heading to a lovely holiday destination. They are looking forward to getting out of the car and enjoying what is promised at the end.
As we read the gospels and journey with Jesus on his God given mission, it seems “Are we there yet?” is a regular question. Is the mission almost over, are you going to reveal yourself as the Messiah?
We first hear Jesus say that his “hour has not yet come”, in the second chapter of John when his mother tells him that the wedding party has run out of wine! He does, however, respond to the situation and some water is turned into some excellent wine! John says that this was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.
In John chapter 7 we read of people wanting to seize him, thinking he was wrongfully claiming to be the Messiah. Verse 30 reads; At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
In John chapter 8 we hear these words again as the Pharisees question who he is. Verse 20 reads: He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him because his hour had not yet come.
At other places we hear how he slipped away or seemingly disappeared before anyone could get him because his time had not yet come.
Today we come to John chapter 12 where Jesus announces that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. We are almost there, mission almost accomplished. He has been journeying with his disciples for about 3 years, teaching, healing, feeding thousands, driving out demons and even raising Lazarus from the dead. All these are signs pointing to who Jesus is, signs giving glory to God. But the ultimate glorification was yet to come.
How did Jesus know that now was the time? What was the sign for him?
Interestingly it seems the sign comes via a request from some Greeks to have an audience with him. We can read the opening to this passage and wonder!
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
The Greeks possibly went to Philip because Philip is a Greek name, so they might have felt a connection with him. Andrew also is a Greek name and Andrew was one of the first disciples and so Philip goes to him for some moral support as he goes to Jesus with this request. And who were the Greeks who had come up to worship? Most likely God-fearing Gentiles who had heard about Jesus…there would have been quite a buzz about him especially after word got out about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
So, what happens when Philip and Andrew go to tell Jesus that there are some Greeks who would like to see him. Does he say, “sure, that would be great to have a chat with them, bring them over.” Or “I’m a bit busy at the moment, find a spot in my diary and I’ll see them later…”
No, he doesn’t appear to respond to the request at all, and we hear nothing more of these Greeks!
But the request does seem to prompt him to announce that the time has come! He goes off on a bit of a meditative discourse as he talks about time and glory and dying wheat kernels producing many seeds and the need to hate your life to gain eternal life, and what it looks like to follow Jesus and that his Father will honour the one who serves Jesus.
I don’t know about you but if I was Philip and Andrew, I would be standing there a little bemused at Jesus’ response. What has all this got to do with some Greeks wanting to see you??
The eventual answer to the request comes in verse 32 when Jesus says that when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. We talked about this last week as we looked at John 3:14 that spoke of Jesus being lifted up like the snake in the wilderness and verse 16 how God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Do these Greeks represent the “world” that God loves and sent Jesus to save? Was this the sign that the time had come, that the world was beginning to turn to Jesus. In fact, if we look at the previous verse to today’s reading in chapter 12, after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, we read that the Pharisees are exasperated and say, look how the whole world has gone after him!
Jesus’ mission was to rescue the ‘whole world’, so the time had come. As Jesus is lifted up, he says he will draw all people to him. In his death and resurrection these “Greeks” and everyone else will be able to fully “see” him as they behold his glory. They will be able to come to him and if they believe in him, they will enter into his Kingdom and become members of his family.
Jesus alludes to how he will be glorified with his parable about the kernel of wheat that has to die to produce many seeds. The abundant fruit of his completed mission will come only through and after his death. He goes to his death on behalf of the whole world. It will look like a tragedy as he dies, but in fact like the death of the kernel of wheat it will not end in death, it will be a triumph that goes on to produce many new lives.
However, as he ponders that the time has come, Jesus becomes troubled….
“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. Father, glorify your name!”
Jesus knows the time has come and he’s ready, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t trouble him. Jesus was sent to earth by his Father as flesh, a man who would feel pain and suffering and humiliation. And he knows that on the cross he will feel the wrath of God as he takes on the sins of the world. As he takes on our sins. No wonder his soul is troubled.
In other gospels we read of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane asking his Father to take the cup from him. But there as here, Jesus knows that is not possible. This is what he came to do. This was his mission and to not go through suffering and death on the cross would be to abort God’s mission. Jesus doesn’t contemplate that path for long, which is why he quickly responds to his own question… “Shall I say save me from this hour? NO! it was for this reason I came to this hour. Father Glorify your name!”
Jesus is obedient to his Father, even unto the cross. Father hallowed be your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done… He knows it will hurt, he knows he is flesh and blood, despite being God himself, the death he suffers will be like any other man. But not my will, but yours God.
He knows that God will be glorified in his death. That his death will bring new life to many, many people that he will draw unto himself as he is raised…both on the cross and then exalted to the right hand of the Father.
What is lovely to read here is that as Jesus calls out, his Father answers him immediately. A voice comes from heaven…
“I have glorified it and will glorify it again”.
God confirms what Jesus knows, for all gathered to hear, that God has been glorified in Jesus’ life, the word made flesh who has brought the Kingdom of God to earth, who has shown the power of God through miracles of healing and feeding and driving out demons, through authoritative teaching. And God will glorify his name again as Jesus dies on the cross and raises him to life to make it possible for the world to be saved and have new life.
It won’t initially look like glory, it won’t be what the Jews were hoping for in a Messiah, but it will bring victory. As he defeats sin and death, he will defeat the Prince of this world, and as he is exalted, he will draw all people to himself. Even those Greeks (and all Gentiles) who want to see him will be able to truly come to meet him for who he is, the Son of God who offers new and abundant life.
Are we there yet? The sign that the “world” was going after him in the embodiment of these Greeks, signaled to Jesus that his hour had come. If we look at chapter 11 and 12 we can see other signs that show that the time was coming. The raising of Lazarus shows God’s power over death, the anointing of Jesus by Mary, he declares is perfume for his burial, and then the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey as he enacts an Old Testament prophesy, all show us the journey towards the cross. (We will go back to the beginning of this chapter next week for Palm Sunday). But strangely, it seems as we read this passage, that the Greeks wanting to see him was the final sign Jesus was waiting for, for God so loved the world, Gentiles included!
There are several more chapters in John before we get to the crucifixion and the resurrection. But from this point Jesus teaches his disciples about his coming death and what that means, he teaches servanthood as he washes their feet, he points to the bread and wine as symbols of his body and blood that will be poured out, he tries to comfort them as he speaks about going to his Father’s house to prepare a place for them, he tells them that he is going to send the Holy Spirit. He prays for them and all believers. And then he is arrested and the final days of God’s mission on earth through Jesus are recorded. We will come to those in a couple of weeks…we are not quite there yet!!
But I ask…Are we there yet? Like the Greeks, do we desire to see Jesus? Have we been drawn by Jesus and come to see him in all his glory on the cross and in his resurrection? As we see him, and then choose to follow him, he asks us to die to ourselves so that we may rise to new life in him every day.
One day we will arrive at the glorious, promised destination of heaven, when we can get out of the car and be met by the heavenly host and our Father welcoming us with open arms. But in the meantime, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and run the race with perseverance. The journey continues, but it doesn’t have to be boring, (there might even be some suffering!), for we can live an abundant life with Jesus and point others to see him in all his glory.
May we follow Jesus’ example who came to serve and to glorify his Father’s name.
Let us pray: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be your name, your Kingdom Come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…Thank you Jesus for completing God’s mission here on earth, being obedient to death on the cross. Help us to live as your people in your Kingdom here on earth as we await our destination in heaven or for your return to earth in all your glory when we will see your final victory and all creation will bow in your presence. Amen.