When Jesus said the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, no one expected his glory would come by way of his crucifixion. That seems more humiliating than glorifying. But today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg helps us understand the purpose of Jesus' death on the cross. No. I invite you to turn to John chapter 12.
And let me read again the verses that we read this morning. without ever really getting to them. John chapter 12 and verse 20.
Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them. 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. Whoever loves his life will lose it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, He must follow me. And where I am There will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, The Father will honour him. Amen. Father, we thank you that As we gather together tonight and sing these songs.
The table that is spread before us is Containing the very emblems of the reality about which we sing. How can we possibly know? that our sins have been forgiven. Except that Christ has done exactly what he says he was going to do in the passage that we've just read. And so we pray that as we work our way through these verses.
that we will be helped. that you will grant to me clarity and brevity and that you will give to us a spirit of humility together. as we sit underneath the instruction of the Bible. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well, this morning when I began, and I can't assume that everybody was here this morning, I said that there were four words that I had used to try and navigate my own personal study this week. The first of these was frustration. which we spent uh time on, the frustration of the Pharisees in being so obviously unable to prevent uh the ongoing work of Jesus. And it is against and the reason I took long on that was because I wanted it to be very, very clear that it is against that backdrop that what we then find in verse twenty comes.
Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast, and there was a great crowd that had gone up to worship at the feast, And it may well be that when you Read verse 19, and the Pharisees say to one another, You can see that you're gaining nothing here. This is not going our way at all. Look, the world has gone after him. It may well be that one of the Pharisees just points into the crowd and identifies that among those in the crowd, there are people who are clearly not Jewish. And that, of course, was a grave concern for these Pharisees because they were so committed to the fact of their position under God as the children of Abraham and so on.
Now when it says that they were Greek people, now among those who went up to the feast were some Greeks, that does not necessarily mean that they came from Greece itself. History records that there were many Greek people who lived, for example, in Decapolis and in some of those other areas, and it is out of that company, presumably, that some have made their way to the feast. That is all we know about them. It would seem that they are probably God-fearers. They've certainly come to worship at the feast.
It doesn't say that they've come to simply observe, but they are there in order to worship. Many of these individuals from a Gentile, from a Greek background, were attracted to Judaism on two fronts. One, because of the monotheism of it. Greek people had many gods, multi-gods, all kinds of ideas and notions. And yet these Jewish people worshipped the one true and living God.
And presumably there was something that was attractive in that. not simply because of its clarity, but also because of the morality that accompanied it too. The the Greek gods were often divorced from any kind of moral implications for those who sought to worship them. And if people were aware of that great gap in their lives, then it's perfectly understandable that. worshiping in an environment where the tendency is to separate religion from morality, then they may say, well, I think we should at least give consideration to what is going on there.
The point, though, is fairly straightforward, isn't it? that at the same moment that the Jewish authorities are displaying such amazing animosity towards Jesus, these Gentiles are now marked by a curiosity, at least a curiosity. It is quite striking that at the birth of Jesus, you have these wise men that come from the East. And uh it's of course a fulfillment of the prophetic word. Because Isaiah, amongst others, prophesied of the day when foreigners would join themselves to Yahweh, when they would join themselves to the Lord.
And the house of God would be a house of prayer for all the peoples. And Isaiah, under the direction of the Spirit of God, writes, He, that is God, will gather others to him besides those already gathered. This is 600 years before Christ.
Now, as good students, you know that we notice this in the Good Shepherd passage in chapter 10, when Jesus says, and I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I will bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. And he was making the point that there were going to be people coming from all kinds of backgrounds as a result of who he is and what he was going to do. The question, of course, is, how is this going to be possible? How would it be possible that this takes place?
And the answer, of course, that comes in the 24th verse is only through the cross. It is only through the cross that the gospel is a gospel for the whole world. The idea of the amalgamation of the nations and the amalgamation of religions, which is regarded, of course, as a wonderful possibility and perspective. It doesn't work at all. because the divisions between, for example, Judaism and Christianity are clear.
We say it often. Our Jewish friends say Jesus is not the Messiah. We say he is the Messiah. We can both be right. Islam says that you can alter your circumstances and do enough good things to outweigh all your bad things, hence the Islamic picture of the scales.
That Christianity says, no, you couldn't possibly do that. That's why we don't have scales, that's why we have a cross.
Well, we could go through the list, couldn't we? Uh Hinduism has multiple incarnations. And Christianity says, no, the Incarnation was a unique and unrepeatable event. And so when we think about what the message of the gospel is, what it means to go out into the whole world, what it means for men and women to be brought into the family of faith, only through the cross of Jesus Christ does this actually happen. And these individuals Have put out a request in finding themselves in the group.
to see Jesus. We'd like to see Jesus. I think it probably means more than see him. After all, maybe they could physically see him. We would like to have an interview with him.
We we would like to meet him. Maybe. But it may also be that Jesus, at this point in the temple courts, was in the inner courts. If he was in the inner courts and they were Gentiles, They would not be able to go beyond the court of the Gentiles because there was a barrier there and there was a sign that said no entry. And so in coming to Philip, who has a Greek name, but so does Andrew, so we no don't need to make a fuss about it.
They're coming to Philip, who was from Betsida in Galilee, they make their request to him, We would like to see Jesus. Of course, you see, what is anticipated here is the fact that that this barrier between the court of the gentiles and the court of the Jews is about to change. And it is that that we're going to come to. I think That Philip is an interesting character. In fact, I'm convinced that he is an interesting character.
I don't want to delay on it. But I often use them as an illustration. For example, when Jesus says, you know, he who has seen me has seen the Father. And Philip is the one who puts up his hand and says, if you could just show us the Father, that would help us. He's a special student.
He really is a special fellow. And so they came to Philip. And I don't know whether it's dent of his personality or whatever it might be, but he doesn't just go to Jesus. No, he goes to Andrew. And of course we've met Andrew before and he's very direct.
And uh It may well be that Philip remembered what Jesus had said on an earlier occasion. When he was giving instruction to his disciples, you can read this in Matthew chapter 10. And he says to his disciples, Go nowhere among the Gentiles. but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
So maybe Philip is saying, well, wait a minute, they want to see Jesus. And so he says to Andrew, hey, they want to see Jesus. What do you think? And Andrew, this is conjecture, and Andrew says to him, When Jesus said that, he was talking about going. This is not about going.
This is about coming. Let's go and tell Jesus.
Now they do that And verse 23. It says that Jesus answered them. Answered who? Because strictly speaking, when you read what follows Jesus didn't respond to the direct request of the Greeks. for a meeting.
He didn't actually respond to their situation. that their investigation represents. But that's what it is about. Frustration here amongst those that you would expect to perhaps be excited about things and investigation on the unlikely people.
Now what happens in this moment says our friend Bruce Mill. Is that the request of the Greeks to see Jesus. is like an exploding fuse in the mind of Jesus. Like an exploding fuse in the mind of Jesus. Because remember, years before, long time before, when he's twelve years old, when he gets.
in the temple courts with the people who are talking and he's discussing with him and he's separated from Mary and Joseph and they have to backtrack and they finally found find him. And Jesus says to them, In the King James Version, which I like, this statement in the King James Version, wish ye not. that I must be about my father's business. Don't you realize that I have to be in this house. that there are things that I have to do.
Well, of course they didn't really have much of a clue. But at twelve he says, I'm going to be on my father's business. He's moving directly to the epicenter of what that business involves. And when now the Greeks come and say we want to see Jesus. He suddenly says The hour has come.
The hour has come. Now his explanation, I think, is fairly straightforward. In verse 23, Jesus answered them. saying the hour has come For the Son of Man to To be glorified. In other words, I think it is that Jesus sees the arrival of these Greeks as a signal.
That all the not yet is now over. The not yet. is no longer not yet. It has become the now. You say, well, what about the not yet?
Well, we mentioned it this morning in the wedding at Cana of Galilee. And Jesus said to his mother, Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. As we go through the Gospel, you discover that this statement comes again and again. For example, in verse 30 of chapter 7 at the Feast of Booths, they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
Why not? Because his hour had not yet come. I won't belabor it, but in chapter 8 and in verse 20 again, these words he spoke in the treasury as he taught in the temple, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. They could not interfere with Jesus one iota, one way at all. He was moving sovereignly.
From all of eternity he has come in order that he might proceed to do that for which he has committed himself. What the Father has planned and what the Spirit will then apply, the Son is about to procure. And all that has been leading up to this, all of the miracles, all of the signs, all of the things that he's had to say, have all been pointing forward. And you will notice when you read your Bible that from now on until the passion. It is always now.
Verse 2.
Now my is my soul troubled. And what shall I say, Father? Save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Look at the beginning of 13.
Now, before the feast of the Passover, When Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world and so on. And when he, in his high priestly prayer, recorded for us in John 17. begins John records: when Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, The hour has come. Glorify your Son. That your son may be.
may glorify you.
Now that is what is contained in the answer that he gives, in the explanation that he gives. William Barclay, that I don't quote very often, but every so often he says something that he had written something that is good. He makes the observation here that when Jesus said, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The listeners, writes Barclay, would catch their breath. They would believe that the trumpet call of eternity had sounded and that the might of heaven was on the march.
and that the campaign of victory was on the move. But Jesus did not mean by glorified what they meant. By glorify, they meant that the subjective kingdoms of the earth would grovel before the conqueror's feet. But by glorified, Jesus meant crucified. You remember again, I hope you do.
uh that in the encounter in John 4 which is I think People get very upset about the idea of there being anything that is humorous at all in the Bible, and we do want to be very cautious in relationship to that. But I can't but imagine that when he and the disciples arrive at the well, in Syker. And he dispatches the disciples. They say, we will go and get lunch. And he then Engages in conversation with a woman who comes to draw water from the well.
They then come back. And they Find that Jesus is speaking to her, and they marvel that he was speaking to a woman. And that is because, as we said, the strict rabbis would not even be seen speaking to their own wives in public.
So they couldn't believe what was going on. And so they said to him, Rabbi, eat. And he said, I have food. To eat. that you do not know about.
Now if I had gone for the food, I be saying what word? We we we just went for the lunch. They say to one another, could someone else have brought him food? Jesus says, My food. is to do the will of him who sent me.
and to accomplish his work.
Now they must have tucked that away in the back of their minds and said, Oh wow. Because remember, they're tracking with Jesus, but they don't understand a lot of what is going on. But Jesus is making it clear. 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. And if we can put it in the first person, Jesus is explaining.
I am the seed. That has to die. and be multiplied By my death. Because my death is the source of spiritual life for the entire World. That's what he's saying here.
The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The point of glorification is not in his miracles. The point of glorification is not actually even in his moral teaching. The point of his glorification is in his death and in his resurrection, because it is in that that fruit would be born and would yield fruit for the entire world. That's why later on he's going to send his disciples into the entire world.
Because he has already told them that this is what will happen. Later on, he says, And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw men and women to me. When I actually fulfill the work that the Father has given me to do.
Now Jesus Has made this clear again and again earlier, as we saw in chapter 7. He speaks to the Jews who marvel at his teaching, and this is what he says. My teaching is not mine. But his who sent me The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory. By the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him, It's true.
And in him There is no Falsehood.
So Jesus is explaining that his honour is ultimately displayed in the context of his submission to his father's will. Jesus' glorification is through death.
Now Let's just pause and make a couple of observations. If you listen to a certain kind of teaching that comes from pulpits around our world. You'll find that there is a tremendous emphasis on the moral teaching of Jesus. or his ethical teaching. And he did teach ethics and it was moral.
Or that they will emphasize very much the miraculous signs that he did. And often at the same time, that if there is ever any mention of the cross of Jesus Christ, it is mentioned along the lines of, and look, what a wonderful example of selflessness. That is And the sort of inference is: you know, why don't you become more ethical in your business and why don't you become more selfless in your dealings? Not a bad suggestion. But that is to wrest the absolute center of the reason for the coming of Jesus Christ from the gospel itself.
Christ's death is absolutely necessary. Because the messianic Reality. which spread and has spread throughout the whole world. begins with his atonement for sin. He is the Savior.
And it is in his death that his glory is seen and it is in his death that the Father is glorified. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. We'll hear more about Jesus' countercultural glory tomorrow. Our mission here at Truth for Life is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance. One of the outcomes of that mission is that unbelievers will become committed followers of Jesus.
You are undoubtedly familiar with Alistair's book, The Man on the Middle Cross. And Alistair is here. And Alistair, your aim in writing this book was to introduce unbelievers to Jesus. And that's what's so encouraging about more than a million copies being in print. People are using this book as part of their personal evangelism.
Yes, they are. And again. The the team here has done a good job of getting the message out and making accessible in such a way that it's not difficult actually for somebody to do what they've done and has buy 10 copies of it because they know already where they'd like to see them placed. And once again, it is another leg on the stool, if you like, of our stated purpose to see unbelieving people. being converted.
Well again, we are thrilled to know how many people are being introduced to Jesus through this little book, The Man on the Middle Cross, and it's because of your support, particularly our truth partner giving, that we are able to sell these booklets for our cost of just one dollar.
So if you share our passion to see unbelievers converted and would like to help make materials like the Man on the Middle Cross book available without cost being a barrier, would you join our Truth Partner team today? Visit truthforlife.org slash truthpartner or call us at 888-588-7884. Thanks for listening. Was Jesus' death absolutely necessary? Tomorrow we'll learn what his death means for all who follow him.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
