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Sermon

The Hour Has Come, Part 1

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 12:20-26

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 12:20-26 teaches us that Jesus’ hour of glorification was not what the crowds expected — it was the hour of His suffering, death, and resurrection. Using the analogy of a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying, Jesus reveals that His death would bear abundant spiritual fruit for all who believe. We are reminded that this same pattern applies to every follower of Christ: those who cling to their lives in this world will lose them, but those who give up their lives in service to Jesus will keep them for eternity.

Key Lessons:

  1. Jesus’ hour of glorification was accomplished *through* suffering and death, not merely after it — the cross itself displays God’s greatness.
  2. Like a seed that must die to bear fruit, Jesus’ death was the necessary foundation for all salvation, resurrection, and kingdom hope.
  3. The pattern of dying to self in order to gain life applies to every follower of Christ — serving Jesus requires following Him even into suffering.
  4. God’s invitation to eternal life is open to anyone — Jew or Gentile, young or old — but it demands full surrender, not casual or nonchalant devotion.

Application: We are called to examine whether we are truly following Jesus’ pattern of self-giving obedience or merely clinging to our own lives in this world. We should take comfort that Jesus has secured abundant life for His servants and promises to bring them to glory, and we should persevere in faithful service even through suffering.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In what areas of your life are you tempted to “love your life in this world” rather than giving it up for Jesus?
  2. How does the seed analogy change your understanding of what it means for Jesus to be “glorified”?
  3. Jesus says “if anyone serves me, he must follow me” — what practical steps can you take this week to more faithfully follow Jesus’ pattern of self-giving?

Scripture Focus: John 12:20-26 — Jesus declares His hour has come and teaches that a grain of wheat must die to bear fruit, calling His followers to the same pattern of dying to self for eternal life. 1 Corinthians 15:20-58 is also referenced, describing Christ as the “firstfruits” of resurrection.

Outline

Introduction

To sing to our Lord. Thank you musicians for leading us in that. Let’s pray as we look to hear from the Lord himself.

Heavenly Father, we are desperate for your word today. Sometimes, Lord, we know we are desperate. We feel it so keenly. Other times, God, we feel a little dull. Or maybe we feel like everything’s all right and maybe God’s not that important. But we know what the truth is. We need you and we need your word. So God, give it to us today.

You’ve raised up preachers, Lord, as part of your design for giving your word. But it is not the preacher that people came to listen to today. It’s to you. So God, give me your words.

Help me to be able to explain it. Help us to hear it. Clear the distractions, God, from our mind. Help us to behold you and to be hearers and doers of your word in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I love this time of year. Maybe today isn’t the greatest example. We’ve had several days of rain and greyness, and maybe the pollen is a little bit bothersome that comes in these days. But I love spring. I love that the days are getting warmer. I love that the days are getting longer. And I especially love the spring blossoms.

The Wonder of Seeds

I love to see the flowers. I especially love to see the flowering trees. I am particularly fond of the cherry blossoms and the weeping cherries. It’s just a magnificent display. We have some here in East Milstone, and there’s plenty in the local area.

When we lived in Manville, there used to be a few right in front of the Manville Library. We’d love to just walk down there and behold these trees.

These cherry blossom trees have the vibrant pinks and the bright whites. They look lovely on the trees themselves, but as these blossoms also fall, they form a kind of magical flower carpet on the ground.

So you have this color on the trees and then this carpet on the ground. It’s just the most stunning picture. It doesn’t last very long, maybe a week at its peak, but for that short while, these trees and many like them during the spring are a feast for the eyes.

I really enjoy them, and I know that many of you do too. But speaking of trees and other plants, I’ve been learning more lately about seeds. I don’t know if you ever give these seeds much thought. It’s kind of amazing that a whole tree, a bush, or a flowering plant comes from just a small seed.

But how does a seed activate? How does it emerge from months or even years of dormancy? How does a seed know when to germinate, when to put down its radicle, that fundamental root, and to start growing into the plant that it was always designed to be?

“It’s kind of amazing that a whole tree, a bush, or a flowering plant comes from just a small seed.”

The answer to that question apparently depends on the kind of plant. Some seeds don’t need any sort of special conditions to start growing. They don’t even need time. If you put them on the ground or in the ground, they’ll just germinate and grow. There’s even a type of seed that will start germinating before it hits the ground, before it even detaches from its parent plant.

Other seeds don’t need anything outside of themselves. They just need time—a certain amount of time for changes to take place inside the seed, and then the seed will spontaneously germinate.

Other seeds require some sort of external abrasion or breakdown of the seed coat before they will germinate, which often happens due to the presence of water or by passing through the gut of an animal that breaks down the seed coat.

Still other seeds need a precise lining up of external conditions before they will come out of dormancy and germinate. Conditions that usually involve some particular combination depending on the seed of moisture, light, oxygen, warmth, and time.

For example, apple seeds need a period in consistent cold moisture for about two to three months, basically winter. But then these seeds need a warm and moist but not soggy soil environment for about two to three weeks.

If all those conditions are fulfilled, then these apple seeds will germinate and start growing into apple trees. Really, the whole plant process of germination, growth, and fruit bearing is fascinating and clearly another example of God’s wisdom and God’s goodness in our world.

A Special Seed: The Lord Jesus Christ

But now, as we prepare to look at our next passage in the Gospel of John, we’re going to hear about another kind of seed that even more clearly demonstrates God’s glory. This seed that we’re talking about is not an apple seed. It’s not even a plant seed. It’s a man like a unique seed waiting for just the right conditions.

This man waited for just the right moment to carry out special obedience to God the Father. And before this man acted, he knew what the outcome of his special obedience would be. This man would suffer, die, and be buried in the ground.

But he wouldn’t stay in the ground. In fact, his being buried in the earth would only enable him shortly thereafter to bloom into new life. And this new life would not just be for himself. He would bear the fruit of life for all people on earth, so that if they would believe in him, they would be saved.

Who is this special seed, this special man?

“His being buried in the earth would only enable him shortly thereafter to bloom into new life.”

It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the only savior and our God. Let’s learn more about him today from John. Please take your Bibles and turn to John 12:20.

The title of the sermon today is “The Hour Has Come,” and this will be part one. We’re looking at John 12:20-26 this morning. It’s pew Bible page 175 if you’re using that. To get the fuller context and see the whole next section of John, we’re going to read down to verse 36. We’re focusing on verses 20 to 26, but we’ll look at the whole section verse 20 to 36 to start this morning.

Setting the Scene: The Passover Context

Before we read the passage, though, recall what we saw last time we were together in John. It’s the week-long Passover celebration, and Jesus has just entered Jerusalem to royal acclaim from thousands of Jewish pilgrims. Though the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem have already agreed to put Jesus to death, the great crowd’s enthusiasm and their proclamation of Jesus as Messiah momentarily seems to have upended the Jewish leader scheme.

“Jesus has just entered Jerusalem to royal acclaim from thousands of Jewish pilgrims.”

Specifically the Pharisees, one component of the Jewish leadership. They complained to one another in John 12:19, “You see that you are doing—you are not doing any good. Look, the world has gone after him.” Our new text follows right after.

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-36

Let’s now read John 12:20-36. There were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew.

Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

Jesus answered them, saying, “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. He who loves his life loses it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.

If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him.

Now my soul has become troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.

Then a voice came out of heaven. I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered. Others were saying an angel has spoken to him.

Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for my sake, but for your sakes. Now judgment is upon this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.”

But he was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which he was to die. The crowd then answered him, “We have heard out of the law that the Christ is to remain forever. And how can you say the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the light is among you. Walk while you have the light so that darkness will not overtake you. He who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.”

A Turning Point: The Hour Has Come

While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and he went away and hid himself from them. Here in this passage, we reach another turning point in the Gospel of John.

“Here in this passage, we reach another turning point in the Gospel of John.”

Multiple times before we have heard Jesus or the narrator say that Jesus’s hour had not yet come. But here Jesus declares multiple times that now his hour has come. What has happened to signal to Jesus that his special hour has arrived?

Apparently it’s the simple arrival of some Greeks in Jerusalem asking to see Jesus.

The Greeks’ Arrival and Its Significance

Why would that be? What’s so significant about these Greeks, non-Jews, wanting to talk to Jesus is that these seeking Greeks illustrate the need for God’s redemption plan to move forward.

Right when the Jews, Jesus’ own people, are about to decide they don’t want Jesus after all, the Gentiles show up and express that they do want Jesus. You don’t want the bread of life. We’ll take it. But the law of Moses stands in the way of the Gentiles. It stands in the way of the world getting close to God.

After all, what greater illustration is there of that than that Gentiles could literally only go so far in God’s temple? They could not draw near to God because they were Gentiles. Something’s got to change so that salvation is no longer channeled through unbelieving Israel, but freely available to all nations, both Jew and Gentile.

“Right when the Jews are about to decide they don’t want Jesus, the Gentiles show up and express that they do.”

The Cross Must Move Forward

What must happen? The cross. The Son of God must move forward into his passion. And by passion, that’s a term that theologians use. By passion, I mean the short final period of the Messiah’s life leading up to and culminating in the crucifixion.

The Son of God must move into his passion. And Jesus understands this. He knows that redemption must move forward. He chooses this moment of turning to proclaim the glory of his now initiated passion so that his disciples, the crowd of Jews, and even the seeking Greeks might believe and be saved.

Our author John reports Jesus’s words to us with a similar purpose. Here’s the main idea of our passage: John records Jesus’s three profound proclamations at the arrival of Jesus’s hour so that you will believe in Jesus and obediently follow Jesus’s pattern.

Now that’s the main idea of this larger section. We’ve got three profound proclamations to examine, but this week we’re just going to look at the first. So we’re going to examine and meditate on the first of Jesus’s profound proclamations in verses 20 to 26.

What does Jesus proclaim first at this arrival of his hour? That’s number one.

“The Son of God must move forward into his passion.”

Godly Dying Produces Abundant Spiritual Fruit

And we’ll engage this with subpoints today. Number one, godly dying produces abundant spiritual fruit.

“Godly dying produces abundant spiritual fruit.”

Let’s start by rereading verses 20 to 22. Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These then came to Philip who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

Philip came and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus.

Greek God-Fearers Seek Out Jesus

In these verses, we see some Greek god-fearers seek out Jesus. Notice how verse 20 begins with the word “now.” We’re clearly in a different scene in verse 20 than we were in verse 19 with Jesus’s triumphal entry. But just how much time has gone by is hard to say.

“We’re clearly in a different scene in verse 20 than we were in verse 19.”

We could still be on Palm Sunday just later in the day, or we could be further along in the Passion week, perhaps on Wednesday. But we know that now we are in a new scene, a new time sometime after the triumphal entry.

Notice also in verse 20 the term “Greeks.” Who exactly are these people?

Who Are These Greeks?

Well, the term Hellenists, which is what the original term is, translated Greeks for us, it could refer to ethnic Greeks. It could refer to people who actually come from Greece. But it also had a broader meaning. Greeks could more broadly refer to cultured Gentiles.

If you were a cultured Gentile, even if you’re not from Greece, you could be called a Greek, and that would set you apart from uncultured Gentiles called barbarians. There’s the Greeks and there’s the barbarians, at least in the view of many in the Middle East.

After all, Hellenic or Greek culture had spread widely across the Mediterranean and the Middle East by this time, in large part due to Alexander the Great. There were even Greeks or Hellenized Gentiles living in Palestine in the region of the Decapolis, a league of ten Gentile cities east and south of the Sea of Galilee. You may have noticed the term Decapolis before in the Bible.

So what kind of Greeks are these in verse 20? We can only say for certain that these are cultured Gentiles, though it would make sense if this group specifically came from the Decapolis since that’s not too far from Jerusalem. But whatever types of Greeks they are, they are cultured Gentiles.

But notice something else about these Greeks that we learn in verse 20. They are part of the group going up to Jerusalem to worship at Passover. That’s significant. What does that tell us? That these are God-fearers. These are Gentiles who believe in Israel’s God.

Likely they are not full proselytes to Jerusalem. They would be described in a different way probably if they were.

“These are God-fearers — Gentiles who believe in Israel’s God.”

That means that they have not been circumcised. They’ve not committed to keeping all the requirements of Jewish law. Nevertheless, they do revere the true God, and they even desire to worship this God in his special place in Jerusalem.

Now we learn further in verse 21 that these God-fearing Greeks have heard about Jesus and they desire to see him.

Why They Approached Philip

That is, they want to talk to Jesus at length. They want to interview him. They want to get to know him. But notice these Greeks do not approach Jesus with their request but instead one of his disciples, Philip. Now why Philip? We don’t know.

It could be because Philip, though Jewish, has a Greek name and maybe therefore seems to these Greeks to be more approachable. Or it could be that if indeed these Greeks are from the Decapolis area, that’s not too far from Galilee.

That’s not too far from Bethsaida, which is the town that Philip’s from. Maybe he encountered these Greeks before. Maybe they knew him. Or maybe these Greeks just looked for any of Jesus’ disciples and happened to find Philip. The text doesn’t really tell us.

But why not go to Jesus directly? Why go through one of his disciples? Well, perhaps it was out of humility and respect for Jesus as a great rabbi and possibly the Messiah.

Notice they call Philip “sir,” literally “Lord.” They have a lot of respect even for Jesus’ disciples. So maybe it’s just out of humility. Maybe it’s out of caution.

“Perhaps it was out of humility and respect for Jesus as a great rabbi and possibly the Messiah.”

Maybe it’s due to caution regarding prevailing Jewish prejudice against Greeks, against Gentiles. I don’t have time to get into it, but due to Jewish history and some of the things expressed in God’s word, the Jews had become very contemptuous and suspicious of Gentiles by and large.

Or perhaps the reason is intensely practical. If we are further along in the passion week, if Jesus has already moved operations into the temple by this point, then Jesus might be in a section of the temple complex in which Gentiles are not allowed to go. You see, there was a court of the temple complex reserved for the Gentiles.

If you think about a court, think of it like rings moving out from the sanctuary. There are different levels of intimacy. You can get closer and closer and closer. But the Gentiles have a certain ring that they can only go that far. And if they try to go farther, there are actually warning signs posted at the time. You go farther, you will die. The Gentiles know they can’t go farther; they’ll be killed by the Jews.

So maybe these Greeks try to go through a disciple like Philip because hopefully Philip can relay the request to Jesus so that they can meet with him in an area in which the Greeks are also allowed to be.

Whatever the reason, they approach Philip in particular and not Jesus. Notice Philip’s response in verse 22: he goes and gets Andrew. Why? We again don’t know.

Philip and Andrew Bring the Request to Jesus

Probably though, Philip senses the unusualness of the Greeks’ request and he wants to get the opinion and support of his friend and fellow Bethsaida resident Andrew before going to see Jesus. By the way, Andrew is also a Greek name. We read at the end of verse 22 that both Philip and Andrew come to Jesus to tell him about the Greeks.

If you peek ahead to the rest of the narrative, you will notice that these Greeks disappear. They’re not mentioned again in the narrative. We don’t hear specifically whether or how Jesus grants the Greeks’ request.

Why not? Well, apparently that detail wasn’t important for John’s purposes in writing this section. The important part was the request itself and what that request represented to Jesus.

“The important part was the request itself and what that request represented to Jesus.”

Now, I imagine because Jesus as God is the rewarder of those who seek him in truth, that Jesus did meet with these Greeks and probably said the words of the rest of this passage in their presence as a kind of answer to wanting to see him and to get to know him. But I cannot say that Jesus did that for certain. John doesn’t tell us.

Jesus’ Godly Dying Is Spiritually Fruitful

So then, whether the Greeks got to see Jesus here or not, how does Jesus respond to Philip and Andrew? With some pretty unexpected words. In verses 23 to 24, we see 1B. Jesus’s godly dying is spiritually fruitful.

Look at verse 23 by itself first. “And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’” I appreciate what one commentator says about this verse.

John 12:23: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

He says, “If Jesus took a breath or gave any kind of long pause after this statement, the Jewish crowd around him probably would have erupted with excitement.” Why? Well, because if you are a Jew at that time and believe that Jesus is the Messiah that you’ve been waiting for, that means if his hour has come, he’s soon going to bring the Jews to supremacy and the good life.

Guys, did you hear that? The hour has come. It’s time for the Son of Man. By the way, that’s a messianic title that most people at the time didn’t fully understand, but nevertheless, they recognized it as one of the titles that Jesus would use for himself.

It’s time for Jesus, the Son of Man, to be glorified. Hosanna. Hallelujah. Look out, Rome. Messiah’s on the move. Let’s see some power. Let’s see some glory. The kingdom is here.

If that’s what the crowd is thinking, boy, are they in for a surprise.

Understanding Jesus’ Hour

And why is that? Well, consider again this term “hour.” What exactly is Jesus’s hour?

First, understand that hour need not refer to a literal hour, to one twelfth of a day or night. Hour is a term that sometimes just figuratively means a time or a period. It’s kind of like when we say, “Hey, give me a minute.” We don’t literally mean give us 60 seconds. Just give me a short amount of time, a short period of time.

Similarly, here Jesus’s hour just means Jesus’s time or Jesus’s special period of time.

Now, second, understand that in this gospel Jesus’s hour is presented in a very particular way. The phrase first appears in John 2:4 when Jesus rebuffs his mother Mary for requesting his miraculous intervention at the wedding feast at Cana when the people had run out of wine. He says to her, “My hour has not yet come.”

More notable are John 7:30 and John 8:20, in which John tells us that though people wanted to seize and kill Jesus, no one did because his hour had not yet come.

From these three references, from others in this chapter, and from others that we will see later in John, we learn that Jesus’s hour refers to his special time of glorification through suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. And I use that preposition “through” purposefully.

Jesus’s glorification will not merely occur after his suffering and death. But the suffering and death themselves, at first appearing only shameful and tragic, will in the end prove a most magnificent display of the greatness of God, even the greatness of the Son of God. And it’s a display that could not be seen in any other way.

“The suffering and death themselves will in the end prove a most magnificent display of the greatness of God.”

The Grain of Wheat Analogy

So again, Jesus’ hour is his special time of glorification through suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus announces to his disciples and the crowd here that this special hour has arrived. Perhaps anticipating misunderstanding or if the Jews really did go off in celebration, perhaps responding to misplaced jubilation. Look at what Jesus says next in verse 24.

John 12:24: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Notice how Jesus begins verse 24 with his favorite attention-grabbing phrase. Truly, truly I say to you—listen up. What I’m about to say to you is shocking, but it’s true, and you’ve got to believe it.

Jesus then goes on to talk about seeds dying and bearing fruit. What does this have to do with what Jesus just said in verse 23, about his hour arriving, about his being glorified?

Jesus is employing an analogy to describe what it means for the Son of Man, the Messiah, Jesus, to arrive at his hour and be glorified. It means a spiritually fruitful death.

Negatively speaking, if we follow the analogy and apply it to Jesus, Jesus says that now that the time is right, Jesus will not remain like an unplanted wheat seed that survives but is alone. Rather, positively speaking, Jesus will die and be buried just like a wheat seed so that through his death he might bear much fruit and even multiply life.

By way of example, a single seed of planted winter wheat produces on average 110 seeds, which is a pretty amazing rate of return. One turns into 110. And if you imagine that those 110 seeds then also get planted and the resulting seeds of those seeds also get planted, well then there’s no end to how much life can be produced, right?

But all that multiplied life must start with a single seed dying and being buried.

Agricultural Analogies Throughout Scripture

Jesus, unless he dies now when the time and conditions are right, he will remain alone. It’s kind of interesting how many times the Bible, and especially the New Testament, uses agricultural analogies to describe Jesus’ salvation and gospel.

Or perhaps in listening to me explain that analogy, you’re thinking of other ones in the New Testament. We have the parable of the soils, for instance, in which the good seed of the gospel lands on good soil of a God-prepared heart and it results in persevering growth and abundant salvation fruit.

There’s also the parable of the mustard seed, in which the smallest of the seeds representing God’s nascent kingdom grows into the greatest of the garden plants so that even the birds of the air nest in his branches. This is talking about the one day expansion of God’s kingdom over all the earth.

We read earlier in our service 1 Corinthians 15:20-58, where the apostle Paul describes the believer’s resurrection like the planting, transformation, and growth of a seed.

“The Bible and especially the New Testament uses agricultural analogies to describe Jesus’ salvation and gospel.”

Seed. This seed doesn’t grow unless it dies. It’s sown in a small and weak form, but it comes out in a powerful, glorious form.

But if you recall from 1 Corinthians 15, what did Paul call Christ in relation to the believer’s resurrection? The first fruits.

No Gospel Without the Dying Seed

He’s the first growth and harvest, the preview of all that would come after him. Indeed, all of the New Testament’s promises, the entire good news about salvation, forgiveness, kingdom, and resurrection, all of it rests on this first dying and going into the ground.

If this first special seed doesn’t die, doesn’t go into the ground, and doesn’t come back out again, bearing abundant spiritual fruit, then there’s no gospel. There’s no kingdom. There’s no resurrection. There’s no glory, and there’s no hope.

“If this first special seed doesn’t die and come back out again, there’s no gospel, no kingdom, no resurrection, no glory, and no hope.”

Our entire faith rests on the second person of the Trinity choosing in obedience to his Father to suffer and die and thus sow himself as the seed of our abundant salvation. But praise God, this is exactly what the Son of God did willingly for the Father and for us.

Jesus describes all of that in advance. Jesus clarifies by this analogy what it means that his hour of glorification has come. It is time for Jesus to die and thereby bear abundant spiritual fruit for those who believe in him.

Your Godly Dying Is Spiritually Fruitful

Now if Jesus’ listeners found this part of his proclamation, his first profound proclamation shocking, Jesus doubles down and next explains that what is true for him as Messiah will also be true for all his disciples and all genuine worshippers of God. In verses 25 and 26, the last verses we’re looking at today, we see one clear point: Your godly dying is spiritually fruitful. Jesus’ godly dying is spiritually fruitful. Your godly dying is also spiritually fruitful if you are in Jesus.

Look at verse 25. Jesus continues. He says, “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”

Now, as we examine Jesus’ words here, we must pay close attention in particular to the words love and hate because they are used in counterintuitive ways. We usually think love is good, hate is bad. But in this instance, loving your life is bad and hating your life is good. How can this be?

Well, the key phrase comes in the latter part: in this world. We’re talking about loving your life and hating your life in this world. First, Jesus says that he who loves his life loses it. That is, he who cherishes, holds on to, and seeks life for himself in this world, he loses it. See, Jesus is talking about those who love their lives in a self-seeking and self-exalting way.

“What is true for him as Messiah will also be true for all his disciples and all genuine worshippers of God.”

These are ones, Jesus says, who are sure to lose the lives that they so idolatrously cherish in the end. Actually, the Greek word translated loses here is more literally translated destroys. And you may notice even from our English translation, this verb is in the present tense. So actually before the end, the self-seeker is already destroying his life.

What a tragic irony. The more a sinner grasps after a self-driven life in this world, the more the sinner destroys himself and his life forever. Jesus warns us against this.

Loving and Hating Your Life

But second, Jesus says, “He who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” This is to say in parallel to what we just saw, he who does not cling to but gives up his life in this world in a kind of self-death for the sake of God and for the sake of the life in the world to come. This one Jesus says keeps his life forever.

See, the term “hates” here is not used to describe someone who loathes himself or loathes his earthly circumstances, but to emphasize by way of contrast those who live for this world and those who live for God. It’s like from an earthly perspective, these latter ones hate their own lives. And again, the irony is striking.

Those who don’t cling to their earthly lives, don’t cling to them fiercely, but freely give them up for God, they are the ones who end up keeping or preserving their lives forever. This is the logic of God. The way up is the way down. The way down is the way up.

“Those who freely give up their lives for God are the ones who end up keeping their lives forever.”

Based on what Jesus just shared in John 12:23-24, Jesus himself serves as the example and trailblazer of the one who hates his life in this world but will keep it to life eternal. But now he also shows us that those who desire his same eternal life must follow his pattern. And Jesus explains this truth in another way in verse 26.

Following Jesus Into Suffering and Glory

Jesus says, “If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him.” Notice how Jesus has narrowed the principle of clinging or not clinging to life in this world to more specifically serving Jesus or not serving Jesus.

Jesus says that if you want to be Jesus’ servant and disciple, take him as your master, you must follow him. That is, you must be like him. You must love what he loves, hate what he hates, do what he does, go where he goes.

This is not a suggestion. This is not a preferred condition. This is a firm requirement and it applies to all who want to serve Jesus.

Jesus says further, “Where I am, there my servant will be also.” And where did Jesus just say he is going? Into suffering and death. He is the wheat seed being buried in the ground in order to bear much fruit.

And if you are his true servant, you must do likewise. This is why you cannot be one who loves your life in this world because Jesus calls you to be like him and give up your life for God.

But remember Jesus’ hour is not just for suffering and death but for glorification. Jesus will not stay in the ground. He’s coming back out and ascending to glory.

“Jesus calls you to be like him and give up your life for God.”

And what about you? If you are his servant, well, where the master is, there his servant will be also. If God raises and glorifies Jesus, God will raise and glorify you too if you are Jesus’ servant.

Indeed, Jesus concludes verse 26 with this emphasis on glory. For Jesus says, “If anyone serves me, the father will honor him.” And here again, we behold the intimate connection between God the Father and God the Son.

There is no honoring one without honoring the other. We’ve already seen this in the Gospel of John. If you refuse to honor God’s Son, but instead serve yourself and cling to your own life, you will receive no honor from God the Father, but will be destroyed forever.

But if you serve the Son, if you seek his will as a true disciple and you follow him, you honor the Son and thereby you honor the Father. And Jesus promises that the Father will therefore honor and reward you forever, though you are just an unworthy servant.

An Open Invitation to All

Notice finally how inclusive the words are of Jesus in verse 26 and also verse 25. He says “if anyone serves me” twice in verse 26, and “he who” he says twice in verse 25, which could also be translated “the one who.” What’s significant about these phrases?

Well, on the one hand, these words stand out as an open invitation to all people of the earth. If anyone—boy, girl, young, old, rich, poor, notorious sinner or self-righteous religious person—if anyone hates his own life in this world and turns to serve Jesus, that one will keep his life forever. That one will be with Jesus.

“If anyone hates his own life in this world and turns to serve Jesus, that one will keep his life forever.”

That one will be honored and rewarded by the Father. And that’s not a statement of probability. That’s a promise. That’s a guarantee.

So if you have not yet, but are now ready to believe and give up your life for Jesus, then this abundant life-giving spiritual fruit is yours today. What an amazing invitation. What an astoundingly gracious offer.

Will you take up Jesus on it? Will you repent and believe in the only Savior and thereby experience this abundant salvation fruit? This inclusive language is an open invitation to all peoples of the earth. But it’s also something else.

A Warning to the Nonchalant

On the other hand, these inclusive words stand as a check on all who nonchalantly claim devotion to Jesus. If anyone serves me, Jesus says, and that’s inclusive of all professing Christians today of the very same category as I previously mentioned.

If anyone serves me, Jesus continues, he or she must follow me. Yes, even into obedient suffering and death. Giving up your whole life, will, and self to God.

If you claim to love and serve Jesus, but you also prove unwilling to follow him in his godly pattern, then be sure you are not his servant.

“If you claim to love and serve Jesus but prove unwilling to follow him, then be sure you are not his servant.”

Comfort for the Faithful

But you are still loving your own life in this world and tragically destroying it even now so that you will perish forever. Jesus’s inclusive words are also a warning. But my brethren, here as the author of Hebrews says, I am convinced of better things concerning you.

If you have repented and believed in Jesus, if you have died to yourself in this present world, if you have put your trust in Jesus alone to pay for your sins and be your righteousness, then take great comfort in these words today. Jesus may have gone to the ground as the first fruits, but you are the latter harvest. He has gladly secured abundant spiritual life, even eternal life for you.

You are his servant. Though you often struggle and often fail, you are his servant and you do follow him. And he promises where he is now in glory, you his servant will be also. He desires that for you.

He’s going to tell us later in the Gospel of John, “Where I am, I want my people to be so they may behold my glory.”

Therefore, my brethren, let us not grow weary in doing good. Let us not grow faint in the good fight of faith. Let us not despair when we go through the hour of suffering and even death. Jesus told us we would.

The servant’s got to be where his master is. We’re just following our Lord’s pattern in these things. And he promises that like him, in part now but one day in full, we will see abundant spiritual fruit as a result.

In everything, Jesus also promised us he will be with us. He will strengthen us. And when the harvest time comes, he will reward us. Though again, we are just unworthy servants.

“Where he is now in glory, you his servant will be also. He desires that for you.”

What a great God we have and what a wonderful salvation. This truly is a profound and beautiful proclamation that Jesus would make even as he enters into the hour of his passion. But this is just the first proclamation.

Godly dying produces abundant spiritual fruit. Next time we’ll look at the other two proclamations. We’ll stop there today. Let’s close in prayer.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you are wonderful. How desperate we have been for you. How desperate we are for you even now. We need your word. Thank you that you just gave it to us. Let it have its proper way in us.

Convict, encourage, save, sanctify. As you should, Holy Spirit. But Jesus, we need your person. We need to see your glory. We need your salvation.

We need your sustenance. We need everything from you. And you are such a giving God.

You’re such a gracious God to say, “Well, here I am. You have given us everything, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in yourself.” And we’re tasting it. We’re learning more about it. We’re appropriating it more to ourselves.

And we say, “How wonderful it is to be a Christian. How wonderful it is to be a servant of Jesus Christ.” Even though I go through the suffering like he does, even though I will also die like he did, I have a life that can never be quenched. I have a Lord that is more sweet to me than all the treasures of this earth.

But Lord, we still only are barely tasting our inheritance. Where you are, your servants will also be. You will bring us to yourself and that is very much better to be with you in your presence in heaven, to come back with you onto the earth when you set up your kingdom, to rule and reign with you forever in the new heavens and the new earth.

How is it possible that such kindness should be shown us? We who are unworthy sinners. Lord, you have shown us the depth of our sin and we know how undeserving we are of your salvation, but we take you at your word.

We believe in you and thus we are confident that we are saved and safe in you. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

If there are any who are hearing your word today who have not yet believed, God, cause them to believe even through this word for your own glory. Lord, strengthen your people and help us to be your faithful servants, to grow in faithfulness and in proclaiming this wonderful message.

Lord, we look forward to celebrating you in communion now in Jesus.

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