Lent - Day 10

Posted on: March 10, 2020
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor

Day 10 Tuesday

GENTILE SEEKERS

That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1: 3).

FOLLOWING THE SCRIPT

John 12: 20-33

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 loses 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 honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

John 12: 44-50

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

CAST NOTES

As we’ve noted, not just Jews came to the Passover celebration in Jerusalem.

People came from around the world, including this group of Greeks. Greek was the common language across the Roman world, and Greek thought was the pinnacle of philosophy. So these Gentile seekers seem to be educated spiritual questers.

In a week when many wished Jesus would just go away, these non-Jewish seekers arrive with a great statement of faith, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

This seemed to be a signal to Jesus that circumstances were moving toward the climax of his life, his Passover of death and resurrection.

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Christ’s glory was first in his humiliation of his shameful crucifixion. The arrival of Gentiles meant the fulfilling of his mission was at hand:

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

Jesus, the new Temple, began the renewed people of God. He fulfilled the original promise of Abraham that the whole world would be blessed through the LORD’s people.

But the joy of his mission being nearly complete sank into the troubling awareness of what would soon be required. His soul grew troubled and he sought reassurance from his Father.

The Greek questers seem almost forgotten in this story. Their request to Jesus has cued the final episodes, the inevitable entry into glory that passes through suffering and death. Did they ever meet Jesus? Did they become disciples? Did they hear him say, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in the world will keep it for eternal life?”

We, as the audience to this drama, must make the connection. We are the bridge. Will we continue their quest right into the words and mission of Jesus?

Jesus grew passionate: he cried out. He made it clear. To see him was to see the Father. To be part of him was to be part of the mission of the Triune God. The choice remained stark: light or dark, life or death, blindness or sight.