Week 18, John 12:20 36 Hook Main Point: Jesus is the one who sacrificed. Main Application: Respond to Christ s sacrifice. Current Event: Chris Kemoeatu was a lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2005 to 2012, during which time he earned two Super Bowl rings. However during the last three years of his career with the Steelers, Kemoeatu was fighting significant kidney pain. After the 2011 season, the pain had grown too great and Chris quit playing football. His condition was bad enough that his brother Ma ake, a Washington Redskins defensive tackle at the time, left his football career to be with his ailing brother. When it became clear that Chris would need a kidney transplant, Ma ake insisted that he would be the donor. Speaking of the time, Ma ake said, When we found out he needed a transplant, we had to stop our careers because his health was most important to us. 1 Ma ake decided that his brother was worth the sacrifice. On August 27, 2014 Ma ake successfully donated his kidney to his brother. Discussion Questions: Have you ever had someone make a significant sacrifice for you? What was your response? 1 www.ftw.usatoday.com/2014/09/baltimore-ravens-maake-kemoeatu-gives-kidney-pittsburgh-steelerschris-kemoeatu
Is there something that you would not sacrifice for a family member or close friend? Why? What leads someone to sacrifice?
John 12:20 36 Book Main Point: Jesus is the one who sacrificed. Main Application: Respond to Christ s sacrifice. Text Summary: Jesus shows the people in this passage that His death brings fruitful life to those who follow Him. He says that the Son of Man must be lifted up, in His death on the cross and lifted up in glory. This life that comes from death is the focal point for Jesus followers. They must desire the life that Jesus brings, not the life this present world brings. This is what He urges them to grasp, that death here means life forever. And this life is made possible through the death and glorification of the Son of Man. John 12:20 26 (Read) Sub Application: Die to self. Greeks come to Jesus. He shares that His hour has come and that new life will come through His sacrifice. Jesus states that those who love their life will lose it and that whoever hates his life in this world will keep it eternally. John has taken time in his narrative to highlight the fact that the Greeks were now flocking after Jesus. The usage of Greeks here does not necessarily refer to those who were born in Greece and had travelled to Jerusalem. Rather, it indicates anyone who is from the Greek-speaking world. This was apparently a common phrase used to encompass all Gentiles who lived in the Greco-Roman world. And here, John says that some come before Jesus. The Greeks that had begun to approach Jesus asked Philip if they could see Him. Philip told Andrew and the pair went and made this request known to Jesus. While it is possible that the Greeks chose the two men because of their Greek origin (their names), there is no textual evidence to support this. But the two depart and go before Jesus with the request from these Greek men. In response to their question, Jesus makes the proclamation that the hour for Him to be glorified has finally come. Leading up to this point, Jesus has frequently spoken about His hour, but it was always in a future tense. Now, He makes it clear that His hour has come, and that it is an hour of glorification. Jesus reference to the glorification of the Son of Man (12:23, 1:51, 3:14, 8:28, 12:32-34) may well harken back to Isaiah 52:13, where it is said that the Servant of the Lord will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. 2 This glorification, Jesus says, will take place in His own death. And He helps His listeners see that by drawing on the agricultural 2 Andreas Kostenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary On the New Testament: John. Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, 2004, p. 378.
example of wheat. Jesus says, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. This example of wheat, however, is followed by a second. Jesus says that whoever hates his life in this present, evil, temporal world, will gain eternal life. On the other hand, whoever loves his life here will lose it eternally. But these two examples are interconnected. Jesus death will produce the fruitfulness of other seeds and much wheat to be harvested. His death will produce other lives that exemplify His sacrifice. In other words, here the movement of thought in this passage runs from Jesus uniquely fruitful death (the death of one seed producing many living seeds) to the mandated death of Jesus followers as the necessary condition of their own life. 3 No longer are Jesus followers consumed with their own lives and their own personal gain. Now, they look to Jesus death in order to die to themselves and in return, get His life that came from His own denial of self. Why would you follow someone who demands everything, including your life? Describe a time when you or someone you know denied themselves for the sake of the Gospel. What led to that decision? What does it mean to hate his (your) life in this world? Should a Christian be depressed or despondent about life on earth? What was Jesus response when men came to see Him? Why do you think Jesus responded this way? Why does Jesus explain that true life must come from death? John 12:27 36 (Read) Sub Application: Live for Christ. Jesus shares that the Son of Man must be lifted up. Jesus instructs people to believe in and walk in the light. Just as Jesus has placed this hour within the larger context for His followers, He, nevertheless, approaches the cross with a seriousness and anxiety. Jesus explains in verse 27 that His approaching death is troubling. It is troubling to the point where He wanted to ask His Father to take it away. The next statement explains that Jesus offers either a hypothetical question, or a prayerful plea about the Father taking this coming fate from Him. In either case, Jesus immediately dismisses the idea of God taking this from Him, because it is for this exact 3 D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1990, p. 438-439.
purpose that He came and lived. Jesus knows why He has come to earth. So Jesus resolves to complete God s will and, in turn, cries out with confidence for God to glorify His name. In response, the Father responds with a voice from heaven, one of only three instances during the ministry of Jesus when this took place. 4 Although Jesus hears the voice and understands it, this instance caused discussion about whether it had thundered or if an angel had spoken to Him. Both of these conclusions drawn by those who witnessed it are inaccurate. However, this provides Jesus the opportunity to clarify what just happened. Jesus makes clear that this voice from heaven is heard for their sake rather than for His own. It is for them to see and believe. Jesus goes on to explain that once He is lifted up, He will draw all people to Himself. Jesus is not only lifted up on the Cross, He is lifted up (i.e., exalted) to glory. 5 In verse 33, John says that Jesus says these things to show the people what kind of death will take place. Yes, this refers to the nature of the execution itself, but also hints at the point made throughout the passage: Jesus death is the pathway to His glorification, indeed an integral part of it. 6 Jesus proclamation about this death leads the listeners to question. They had an understanding that the Messiah would reign forever, so what did Jesus mean with all this language of death? Jesus seems to largely ignore this misunderstanding that was taken from much of the Old Testament. Rather, He instructs them to manage their time well, while they have Him. Walk with Him while He is still here so that when He leaves, they will still live as sons and daughters of He who has shown them the light. Why does Jesus say that the Father s voice from heaven was for the listeners sake and not for His own? What is it about the people s reference to the Messiah remaining forever that shows their misunderstanding of the eternal and the temporal? What did Jesus mean by walk in the light? 4 Ibid., p. 441. 5 D. A. Carson, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 1990, p. 444. 6 Ibid.,
Week 18, John 12:20 36 Took Main Point: Jesus is the one who sacrificed. Main Application: Respond to Christ s sacrifice. In Today s Culture: Vincent Coleman was a train dispatcher in Nova Scotia, Canada. On Dec. 6, 1917, Coleman was faced with a horrible decision. His rails were located near a busy harbor where, that morning, a French munitions ship caught fire; the result would be a massive explosion. Coleman began to collect his things and flee from his post (no more than 800 feet away from the ship) but something stopped him. The dispatcher knew that a train carrying 300 people would be entering the area and had to be warned. Coleman took the time to send the following message to the crew of the oncoming train: Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbor making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys. 7 Coleman was killed in the blast. Discussion Questions: What is the best way to honor someone s sacrifice? What is an inappropriate response to sacrifice? Lesson Conclusion: Jesus gave everything that He had so that man might come to salvation. Those who seek to follow Christ must be willing to die to self, to hate the world and abandon everything for Jesus. The believer is to walk in the light of Jesus, in the power of the Spirit and the truth provided through the Word. 7 https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/vincent-coleman-and-halifaxexplosion
Challenge: How do you respond to Jesus? How is it possible to honor the sacrifice that He has made for those who call on His name? First, the believer must die to self. Man cannot serve two masters; in order to completely belong to Jesus, one must completely die to self. Secondly, you are called to live for Jesus.