John 12:20-36

00:00:00:27 – 00:00:19:36
Clint Loveall
Hey everybody, back in the Gospel of John, thanks for joining us as we continue here through chapter 12. A little bit of a, and not, not filler because the content is important, but, sort of a bridge. Today we’re trying to get through a couple passages here. Let me read the first to you. We’re starting in verse 20.

00:00:19:40 – 00:00:39:02
Clint Loveall
Read a few verses here. Kind of see what we can make of it. 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, and Andrew told him. Then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

00:00:39:07 – 00:00:59:33
Clint Loveall
Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life and those who hate their light will lose it. And those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

00:00:59:38 – 00:01:32:17
Clint Loveall
Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there will be my servants also. Whoever serves me, the father will honor. Off the top of my head, Michael, I can’t think of a corresponding passage like this in the other gospels. And I think we should see this as an extension of what was said. Yesterday we ended the passage we looked at in verse 19 with the Pharisees saying, look, the world has gone after him.

00:01:32:22 – 00:02:07:34
Clint Loveall
Now we get a passage about outsiders, Greeks, Gentiles coming to want to see Jesus, to want to hear Jesus. So, none of the gospels go as far down the Gentile path as certainly the book of Acts and Paul’s writings. But John here, I think, gives us, gives us a, a pre look, a little bit of a preview at some of the places that the gospel story is going to go.

00:02:07:39 – 00:02:29:33
Clint Loveall
Now, it’s interesting that Jesus, we don’t know if Jesus goes and meets with them or not, but what Jesus does say and is, the thing we’ve been talking about. The hour has come my time. We’ve seen this over and over. Jesus did something, but it wasn’t his time yet. My hour is not here. That’s the first thing he told his mom at the wedding at Cana.

00:02:29:38 – 00:02:59:18
Clint Loveall
Now we have this idea. The hour has come. So when we connect these things, what do we learn? That what Jesus has in mind for his mission and his time is being connected here with the broader context that goes beyond the Jewish people themselves, that that reaches out, that that Jesus is finding a hearing in people outside his own tradition.

00:02:59:18 – 00:03:16:50
Clint Loveall
And again, we want to be careful with that, Michael. I mean, obviously, this doesn’t take it as far as other parts of the Bible are going to. But but I think, I think it’s a, a thing that John is trying to, at least highlight as he tells the story this way.

00:03:16:55 – 00:03:46:28
Michael Gewecke
There’s absolutely Johannine distinctiveness and the inclusion of this kind of story, because ultimately what John’s interested in is the revelation of Christ. And yes, that revelation has a way of both drawing people and repelling people. But it’s not just the Jewish people. And I think it’s worth noting that as we turn to this text that there is this, movement in the ancient world, there were Greeks, there were Gentiles who were interested in the morality of the Jews.

00:03:46:31 – 00:04:13:23
Michael Gewecke
There was certainly compelling the idea that these people would like, keep strict order in their lives. And, you know, there were many people who were very inquisitive about that, for sure. And many people did go to worship in Jerusalem, or at least go to check it out in Jerusalem. It drew more than just the Jewish worshipers themselves. So the context here is we have people coming from a wide geographic region.

00:04:13:28 – 00:04:34:17
Michael Gewecke
Certainly we have that teased out in the book of acts, right? Where is actually people with all of these different languages that that have begin to understand each other by the power of the spirit. But here in this story, you have emphasized the fact that these Greeks, as John calls them, comes to the disciples. And specifically we have here comes to fill up.

00:04:34:17 – 00:04:59:20
Michael Gewecke
And, you know, commentaries make note no real reason to know why Philip, except Philip may have the most Gentile sounding name, the most Greek sounding name, and also the idea that Bethsaida isn’t far from the, the Decalogue. Cities. Now, what are they? That, This is something cities. Sorry that I can look that up here, but ultimately, let’s say this not far from some Greek settlements and cities.

00:04:59:20 – 00:05:26:48
Michael Gewecke
So the idea that there might be some interplay and relationship there, is significant and possible. What what I think is fascinating is how we see John telling us about Jesus’s encounters here with, the people who are not in the circle, per se, but people who you might think of as being, kept out. And the barrier sort of separating them from the inner life of worship in Israel.

00:05:26:52 – 00:05:46:25
Michael Gewecke
And here we have this very cryptic teaching and this idea, that, the grain of wheat has to fall into the earth and die, but if it dies, it will bear much fruit. And then this language about if you love your life, you’re going to lose it. Those who hate it, will keep it for eternal life.

00:05:46:30 – 00:06:07:46
Michael Gewecke
This is an amazing kind of move in which Jesus is prophesying, using this spiritual mystic teaching about what he is willing to do. Right? He’s willing to be that grain of wheat that dies so that new life can come on the other side. Jesus is teaching resurrection for himself, even as he has demonstrated resurrection power as it applies to Lazarus.

00:06:07:46 – 00:06:41:07
Michael Gewecke
And why are all these people interested in Jesus right now? Why, in that last text was it said that the world is coming after him? Well, because Jesus has done this spectacular, over-the-top, death defeating kind of miracle. Well, what Jesus is doing here is making it clear. And John, in red leather of power, is making sure that we know that Jesus is teaching not just about the power he has over death, but what he is willing to do to undo the power of death that Jesus Himself is willing to take on.

00:06:41:07 – 00:07:14:06
Michael Gewecke
That that’s the amazing turn of the story, is that Jesus does not separate himself from death itself. He has the power to resurrect Lazarus. But yet Jesus is going to succumb to death by his own choosing. And that’s the important turn theologically that John is making here. And, I before we push on, I want to make sure that we mention here it’s important that the text like this clinched have been used in some really negative ways, that the idea of those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

00:07:14:06 – 00:07:35:40
Michael Gewecke
I think we need to be very careful taking a text like that out of context and applying it to ourselves and saying that it’s a lot about goal to hate the life that God has given to us, that that needs to be put within a much broader theological construct. I think Jesus is teaching something here. Thank you. It’s very much revelation about what he is willing to do.

00:07:35:40 – 00:07:54:49
Michael Gewecke
He’s willing to even give up his life so that life might be eternal. I think we need to be very careful when we find people taking small little sections of text like this and applying it in literalist ways towards themselves. I think that’s against what John is intending. I certainly don’t think that’s what Jesus was teaching.

00:07:54:54 – 00:08:22:35
Clint Loveall
I’d have to do some word study, Michael, but if I remember anywhere correctly, the word hate has to do with the turning away from. And so the idea here that those who turn away from selfishness, those who turn away from worldly things, this is certainly not calling for self-hatred or self-flagellation. This is, this is a discipleship text.

00:08:22:35 – 00:08:50:40
Clint Loveall
It’s a commitment text. And I think it can only be read that way. Before we move on, just one one quick note. If you’ve been with us through the study, you may remember that it was Philip who was called and then went to get someone else. And so Philip has, even in this book, a little bit of a reputation of facilitating meetings between Jesus and others.

00:08:50:45 – 00:09:22:26
Clint Loveall
And if you know the book of acts, somewhere in the early, maybe eighth chapter or so, you would find a story in which Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch, a man who in various ways is outside of the mainstream and outside of the norm, and preaches the gospel to him. So, the the presence or the naming of Philip here, I think, is intentional and certainly fits within a broader narrative.

00:09:22:37 – 00:09:37:31
Clint Loveall
Obviously, we have to be careful not to make too much out of it, but there may be a good reason that John highlights this story with Philip in it, because Philip has done these kind of things in other places as well.

00:09:37:33 – 00:09:44:35
Michael Gewecke
And as we turn here, the 27, just a note to fill in that gap I left there, it’s Decapolis is next to this same. So there we go.

00:09:44:40 – 00:10:08:42
Clint Loveall
So let’s let’s jump in there. Another interesting section here, that allows us to continue on verse 27. Now my soul is troubled in what should I say, father, save me from this hour. No, it’s for this reason I’ve come to this hour. For our father. Glorify your name. Then a voice from heaven said, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.

00:10:08:47 – 00:10:27:07
Clint Loveall
The crowds standing there heard it and said it was thunder. Others said, an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered, this voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of the world. Now the ruler of the world will be driven out, and I, when I’m lifted up from the earth, will draw people to myself.

00:10:27:12 – 00:10:47:03
Clint Loveall
He said this to indicate the kind of death he would die. The crown answered, we’ve heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Jesus said to them, the light is with you a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so the darkness may not overtake you.

00:10:47:07 – 00:11:12:37
Clint Loveall
If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you’re going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become children of light. This is very dense passage. Lots of stuff packed in here. Notice that this is, you know, where in John, when you see a verse like this. Well, what would I say, father, save me from the hour.

00:11:12:37 – 00:11:42:42
Clint Loveall
No, this is why the hour has come. Again, evidence of what we’ve said many times in John’s portrayal of Jesus. Jesus is ready for what he has to do. He wants to do it. He has no doubt. He has no fear. He has no hesitation. And and I think we see that in these words here, though, we have what is kind of, the baptismal narrative in other places.

00:11:42:46 – 00:12:02:26
Clint Loveall
A voice speaks and some hear it and some don’t know they’ve heard it, some think it’s thunder or something else. And again, Jesus says, look, the voice is for your sake. I already know what the voice is telling me. I already have that figured out. I don’t need the voice, but it’s good for you to hear it.

00:12:02:31 – 00:12:32:58
Clint Loveall
And then Jesus begins and we’ll see this, we’ll see this repeated in the next several chapters. Jesus begins to have increasingly upfront conversations about his upcoming death, and about what it means to be lifted up, to be sacrificed, and what the impact that is upon believers and upon the world. And for John, that is a two fold reality.

00:12:33:03 – 00:12:53:48
Clint Loveall
Jesus saving of the believer is also Jesus judgment of the world. Not not only true in the Gospel of John, but very true in the Gospel of John and and passages like this. I think when we combine them down the road with other passages, we’ll see. They really cement that theme. I think, Michael.

00:12:53:56 – 00:13:19:31
Michael Gewecke
If you want to put in your imagination the idea that this kind of hearing, the voice is connected with baptism in other places, I do think it’s really meaningful. And it’s worth noting here that Jesus in this text is using this language of, the Son of Man being lifted up. And then ultimately that this idea of the cross being foreshadowed in this text is really significant.

00:13:19:31 – 00:13:37:12
Michael Gewecke
And the Johannine emphasis, you have to see this here when he turns back to this idea and Jesus talks about the light is with you while it’s here, walk in light, right? This connects back to the beginning of this book. It connects to even the telling of the narrative where we’ve seen darkness used as a context or a set up for a story.

00:13:37:12 – 00:14:01:22
Michael Gewecke
We’ve talked about how that has something to say about the characters in that story and, and their ability to understand the revelation of Jesus that that is what makes this telling of Jesus’s life. I think so rich is the reality that at each and every stage, John is showing us that that Jesus is not only upfront from day one about the truth of who he is.

00:14:01:22 – 00:14:21:39
Michael Gewecke
He is not only confident about who he is, but we get to see though Jesus is in a sense, on changing the way that people are changed by his revelation is the subject of this book that that when you hear the voice of God, Jesus is unfazed by it. Jesus says, I don’t need to hear the voice of God, but but now you have.

00:14:21:39 – 00:14:52:01
Michael Gewecke
And what difference will that make for you? And and ultimately, that’s this very kind of powerful movement that happens throughout the story is that that Jesus continually reveals what is going to happen and at its core, what that means about who he is and the and the business he’s here to be about. But but at this moment, here, Jesus is making it clear that this this salvation letter is addressed to.

00:14:52:01 – 00:15:31:12
Michael Gewecke
And we want to point this out in verse 32. All people will be drawn to himself. Right. And this connects to John, of course, the famous John 316 and that sort of communication of purpose, we just have in spades here. I think this demonstration that Jesus over and over and over again, whether or not you are a Jew in the synagogue hearing Jesus preach or whether you are a Gentile coming to Jesus, along with the hordes of people worshiping in Jerusalem, at the end of the day, Jesus will be lifted up, and the purpose is to draw those who will look to him to to the truth of his salvific work, to the truth of

00:15:31:12 – 00:16:03:16
Michael Gewecke
what he’s come to do for the sake of the world. And and ultimately, Jesus is saying at the end of this text that while he’s still there, while the light is still living, it’s good for you to walk with that light because the day is coming or darkness will once again, live. But there’s hope in the idea that there’s children of light that that we might be those even the church who receives the Gospel of John would have imagined themselves to be light bearers in the world that Jesus had called them to.

00:16:03:16 – 00:16:07:57
Michael Gewecke
And this kind of text forms and fashions the imagination to understand that.

00:16:08:07 – 00:16:26:44
Clint Loveall
Light and dark have been important themes since the first chapter of this book, and I think it’s very interesting that that language comes at the end of a question. Right. We’ve heard from the law of the Messiah. We’ve heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. So how do you say that the Son of Man would be lifted up?

00:16:26:49 – 00:16:53:49
Clint Loveall
Who is the Son of Man? And rather than engage in the questions, Jesus says, walk in the light. While you have the opportunity, come to me while you can pay attention. We’ve we’ve said it over and over in this book. John understands the work of Jesus to be self-evident as to who Jesus is. And Jesus says it here don’t be in the darkness.

00:16:53:54 – 00:17:30:25
Clint Loveall
Walk in the light while you have the light. Believe in it that you might become children of light and fascinating. I think, Michael, that rather than get into some theological argument, really, even rather than answer their questions, Jesus simply says, make the main thing the main thing, do the right thing, believe and walk in a way that reflects that belief, literally that is in the light and that I think if we’re going to, you know, mind a passage like this for some discipleship implications.

00:17:30:30 – 00:17:33:05
Clint Loveall
That’s a that’s a good one in my estimation.

00:17:33:19 – 00:17:54:32
Michael Gewecke
Well, and we actually see a little bit of disagreement in this text, when we see how our Bible here breaks out and, you know, switches, you see that bold heading, the unbelief of the people. But those who were making the chapters in verses have a disagreement that it ends there. They include in verse 36, after Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

00:17:54:32 – 00:18:14:00
Michael Gewecke
And I think that’s significant. There’s a way in which I think there’s wisdom in Jesus talks about, you know, walking in the light while the light is still there. And then Jesus hides from them that kind of revelation language. And that’s that is not, an accident. The way that that plays out, that Jesus is talking about revelation.

00:18:14:09 – 00:18:38:57
Michael Gewecke
But then there’s hiding there, Jesus will do this great miracle, and then he will retreat. And and we see that that’s kind of this movement that happens with the revelation of Christ, that that there’s a step forward and then there’s always something unexpected that comes with it. And I just think that’s what makes John’s account of Jesus so compelling in so many ways is it isn’t just one thing.

00:18:39:01 – 00:19:13:31
Michael Gewecke
It is always encompassing some form of mystery which, if you take John’s seriously, what he’s talking about is a defied person. Humanity and deity combined. And so it makes sense that there would be mystery and there would be some complication within the story. John tells it that way. And I think it’s just fascinating that, you know, even in the way that this particular Bible breaks it out or the new category unbelief, the people, chapter and verse, people who broke that out left a little bit more of that in there.

00:19:13:31 – 00:19:18:16
Michael Gewecke
And I think that that’s there’s a real connection there. As you finish the, the verse itself.

00:19:18:21 – 00:19:43:54
Clint Loveall
Yeah. And I would say that in the next couple passages, again, we get a turning point. And then as we move into chapter 13, we really very much, center ourselves on Jesus work as he moves toward the cross. And so, I hope you can continue to be with us, grateful that you’d be with us today. Hope you can join us next week as we continue through the next parts of the gospel.

00:19:43:58 – 00:19:56:02
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, no doubt if you found this helpful, a like would go a long ways towards helping others find it in their own studies, and subscribing would help you if you want to stick with us in studies, like John. Certainly. Glad to have you with us. And see you next week.