Great Events of the New Testament Lesson #53 Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Study Notes For Wednesday, November 29, 2017 Read John 12:20-50 John 12:20 explains that Greeks had come to worship at the feast. It is believed that these were Gentiles. The word Greeks implied a Greek speaking person, especially non-jews. The same word is translated Gentiles in John 7:35. Some Gentiles became proselytes to Judaism [that means they gave up their pagan beliefs and kept the Law of Moses]. Other of the Gentiles did not become Jewish, but they were still believers in and worshippers of the true God. These Greeks wanted to please the God of heaven, so they had come to the Lord s house, the Temple, to worship Him during the Passover festival. This was the purpose for Court of the Gentiles being in the Temple complex. Gentiles were allowed to come into that area to worship. The Request of the Greeks. These Greeks having heard the news of Jesus, wanted to see the Lord and know more about Him. Out of all the apostles, they approached Philip, possibly because his name was a Greek name. It is also possible that Philip knew these people since it is pointed out that He was from Bethsaida of Galilee. Galilee had long been heavily populated with Gentiles (so much so that Isaiah had referred to it as Galilee of the Gentiles, Is. 9:1). It may be that these Gentiles were from Bethsaida and had heard often about Jesus of Nazareth. Philip went and asked Andrew what should be done about their request. Jesus had made it clear earlier that He had come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24) and had told the 12 not to go to the Gentiles but to Israel (Matt. 10:5,6). Andrew went with Philip to ask Jesus about it. The Lord s Answer. At first the Lord doesn t seem to respond to their request. His words don t mention anything about the Greeks. The Scripture doesn t say if He ever had a meeting with these Gentile worshippers. But when you carefully look at the text, it shows that the Lord did answer them. Keep in mind as well that we don t know how all this went down: Were the Greeks standing close by while Philip and Andrew approached Jesus? If so, they likely would hear the Lord s words. If their goal was to know more about Him, He was about to tell one of the most important truths about what He had come to do. The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Jesus had previously said His hour had not yet come (John 2:4); but now Jesus makes the announcement that the hour had come. Then Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a gain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies it bears fruit. Jesus teaches what sounds like a contradiction: He says that life
can come through death. Its certainly true in nature -- What seems to be a lifeless grain of wheat is buried in the ground, but it breaks out in life and starts to grow a stalk of wheat that bears much fruit. Jesus is trying to help them understand why He must die and how through His death many will live. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. Jesus had already taught this truth several times before (Matt. 10:38-39; 16:24-25; Mk. 8:35; Lk. 9:23-24; 14:26-27; 17:33). Jesus is the perfect example of this attitude He was willing to lose His life to please His Father. Christ expects His followers to do the same we have to be willing to give up our own lives. By that we mean that being too wrapped up in your feelings, your position, your power, your money, and your own life is the surest way to lose your hope of eternal life. The Lord tells them, If any one serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be; if any one serves Me, the Father will honor him. This seems to answer the Greeks who may have wanted to know if they could be part of His followers, too. If they wanted to serve Jesus, then they would have to follow Him. We know that the Greek and Roman way of living was about having all the pleasure of the world. They would have to start living Jesus way. But, Jesus is declaring that following Him would bring greater life, greater happiness, and much fruit from surrendering your life. And His followers would have to do as He had lose their lives to have eternal life. Loosing your life doesn t mean you have to die (although that did happen to many Christians in the early centuries); but it does mean living for the Lord or as Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Gal. 2:20). Jesus Tells How He Feels About this Hour. The Lord is about to describe what He is feeling as the time nears for His death. Even though He was determined to give His life for our sins on the cross, we must remember that this would not be easy for Him. Men would beat Him, shove a crown of thorns on His head, drive nails into His hands and feet and then hoist Him up on the painful cross. Knowing the terrible things He would face Jesus said, Now, my soul has become troubled Jesus was very afraid of what He was facing. But even though Jesus dreaded the pain of the cross, He said, What shall I say, Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour. How could Jesus ask the Father to let Him escape the cross, when that was the very reason that He had come to the earth. His death on the cross was the main point of His mission. Father, glorify Thy name. Jesus had come not for His own comfort and pleasure but to do the Father s will and bring glory to the Father s name (John 7:18). In response to Jesus, a voice from Heaven proclaimed, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. Some in the crowds thought surely it was thunder; others supposed an angel had spoken to Him. But Jesus said the Voice was given for their benefit. There are only three occasions in the Gospels when God spoke audibly to His Son in the presence of men: (1) at His baptism (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22); (2) at His transfiguration (Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35-36); and (3) here, in John chapter 12.
What was meant by the Father s proclamation, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again? The Father also would be glorified through the life and work of His Son (Phil. 2:6-11; John 5:23). The Father had been repeatedly honored through the work of Jesus and would continue to be glorified by His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and by the establishment of His church. Jesus Announces the Defeat of the Devil. Now judgment is upon this world Jesus is not talking about the final judgment on Judgment Day that will come at the end. But the coming of Christ marks a special moment in history where man is accountable for choosing to follow or to reject Christ. Remember what John 3:18-19 said, He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. Now the ruler of this world shall be cast out. 1 John 5:19 says that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Just as the Judgment of the World had now begun and would culminate at the end of this earth, so the war to cast out Satan had begun and will be finished at the end of the world: At the cross, Christ would provide a way to be forgiven of the violations of God s law. Where Satan once could accuse us on the grounds of our sins, Christ blood allows our transgressions to be blotted out (See the symbolism of Rev. 12:7-11). At His resurrection, Jesus rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14). In the church Jesus built, those who had once been under Satan s control are converted to Christ and placed under His authority. Col. 1:13: "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Through the lives of Christians God could crush Satan under their feet (Rom. 16:20). They can, with the whole armor of God, stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:11) and resist him (James 4:7). Through Christ s reign, Satan s power to deceive the nations to bring about persecution for Christians can be bound (Rev. 20:1-3). When Christ resurrects His people, death, the last enemy, will be defeated (I Cor. 15:25,26). At the judgment Satan and his angels will be thrown into the eternal Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10; Matt. 25:41). Jesus Would Draw People to Him By His Death. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. John follows the Lord s remark with the comment, But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. Crucifixion was, as we know, done by raising a victim up on a post or beam to endure a terrible death. Being lifted up was used by Jesus first in His discussion with Nicodemus: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. (John 3:14). Then once again Jesus spoke to His opponents, When you lift up the Son of Man (John 8:28), indicating He would be crucified by them. The cross itself would be the powerful force that drew all men. All men here means all manner of men -- an important thought to the Greeks that wanted to see Jesus. Jesus said, For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light, that darkness may not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. While you have the light, believe in the light, in order that you may become sons of light. This warning can be understood in two different ways: To the Jews time was running out to accept Him. To all of us the message is, time is
running out to respond to the Light of the World. Ultimately, and perhaps soon, the opportunity to act will be finished. John s Remarks. The words in verses 37-43 are John s remarks about the reaction of the Jews. Even after Jesus had done so many signs the Jews still did not believe. From the moment when Jesus had changed water into wine, sign after sign had been done to give men reason to believe. It may take a while for some people to come around, but there is no excuse for continuing on in unbelief when so much evidence has been presented. At verse 38 John quotes from Isaiah 53, This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: "LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?" God through Isaiah not only predicted that many would not believe, but also why they would not believe: In Vs. 39-40 John quotes Isaiah 6:10, For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." In Verse 41 John states that Isaiah spoke these verses because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke concerning Jesus. John also makes another interesting point: Some rejected Jesus because they were hard-hearted, others because they were cowardly. John 12:42-43 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. And Jesus cried out Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. Bible Quiz 1. Certain G came to worship at the Passover feast and wanted to see Jesus. (John 12:20-21) 2. Which of the apostles did they come to asking to see Jesus? (John 12:21) This apostle went with the apostle A to tell Jesus. (John 12:22)
3. What did Jesus use to show how His own death would lead to much fruit (do much good)? (John 12:24) 4. How did Jesus say His soul felt when He thought about His death? (John 12:27) 5. When Jesus said in John 12:31 Now the ruler of the world will be cast out, who was He talking about? (see lesson) 6. How would Jesus draw all men unto Him? (John 12:32,33) 7. John 12:42 says that many of the rulers actually believed in Jesus. Why did they not confess that they believed in Him? 8. Whose words will judge us in the last day? (John 12:48)