The Unexpected Light of Glory

[Read John 12:20-36]

I can't remember how long ago it was, but I remember RC Sproul talking about one of his biggest "pet peeves." He was talking about the way in which many pastors, and evangelists in particular make false promises trying to convince people to become Christians. They mean well. They want people to understand that it is better to be a Christian than a non-Christian, which is true. However, in their zeal to help people see this truth, they make claims like, "All of your problems will be solved after you become a Christian!" Then, RC Sproul said something that I've said repeatedly over the years: "Actually, most of my problems and struggles came AFTER I became a Christian." I've experienced something similar in my own life.

Some of you may know this, but I didn't grow up in a Christian home. I was nine years old when my parents both gave their lives to Christ. I was ten years old when I finally gave my life to Christ. And guess what? That's when many of my problems started. I made most of my bad decisions after I gave my life to Christ, which caused a bunch of problems and struggles. I found out that a bunch of stuff I didn't think was "that bad" was actually sinful and dishonoring to God and destroying me, that caused a bunch of problems and struggles. Before I was a Christian, I didn't care much about the mistakes I made, but now I realized how serious they were, so then I felt guilty, which caused a bunch of problems. In the midst of all that, some people found out that I went to church and youth group, and even though my life was not very Christlike at the time, they still began to mock me and refuse to hang out with my because I was "churchy," and that caused a bunch of problems. Eventually, God would call me into ministry (which nobody expected) and that caused a lot of problems.

As much as some people may not want me to say this, becoming a Christian will cause a bunch of problems in your life. That's why Jesus says that you need to count the cost before following him. When you decide to follow Christ, you are choosing to take on a new set of problems. Especially in our culture today, you will be choosing to be persecuted for your faith and values. Many Christian values fly in the face of our cultures values, and when you choose to follow Christ and embrace these values and this lifestyle, you will be persecuted for it. People will call you all sorts of names. They will mock you, yell at you, cancel you, and a host of other things. When you decide to follow Christ, you will also become a child of God, which is a beautiful thing, but that also means that God will discipline you as one of his children. The Bible says that if God didn't discipline you, he would be treating you as an illegitimate child. And, as we all know, discipline is painful and unpleasant, it feels very much like a problem. When you decide to follow Christ, you will soon find out that some of your "favorite things" are not good things. They are not only destroying you but are also dishonoring to your God. That means you will have to give up things that you love, which causes problems. When you follow Christ, He will train you and equip you to be one of his followers, slowly shaping you into his image. Guess how he often does that? Through trials and difficulties. Problems. More problems.

All of this raises two really important questions: First, if becoming a Christian causes all of these problems, why would anyone follow Christ? and Second, as we follow Christ and face all of these problems, how do we respond?

This week we notice something significant happening in our passage, something that could easily be overlooked, but was designed to jump out at you like a flashing red light. One of the repeated phrases we've heard throughout the Gospel of John has been, “My hour has not yet come.” (John 2:4, ESV). Jesus has repeatedly been saying this for the last twelve chapters. But in this passage we hear him say, “The hour has come...” (John 12:23–24, ESV). That should cause your ears to perk up. Wait, it's here? The hour has come? What's changed? Why now? What does that mean?

John helps us see what has resulted in Jesus finally saying that the hour has come, and as John typically does, he uses some irony. Remember how last week's passage ended? We saw the Pharisees watching the Triumphal Entry in despair saying, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.” (John 12:19, ESV). Of course, they were just speaking about the large group of people worshiping and praising Jesus, but John points out that they were saying more than they knew. That's why the very next verse says, “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.”” (John 12:20–21, ESV). He tells us about the Greeks to show that the world WAS actually coming after Jesus. There were not Jews coming to seek Jesus, but they were Greeks. Now, most likely they were proselyte Jews, Gentiles that had converted to the Jewish faith, which is why they were coming to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover. But the point is that these people had traveled a LONG way to come to the feast AND they had heard about Jesus and wanted to see him. The world is actually coming to Jesus. Sheep that were from a different sheepfold, that were outside the Jewish people, were coming to Jesus, and this is what triggers Jesus to say, “The hour has come...” (John 12:23–24, ESV).

So, what does Jesus do, now that he realizes his hour has come? He begins to explain to his disciples that he is going to die, and tries to help them understand why he must die. He says, “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.” (John 12:23–24, ESV). He gives them this beautiful little parable to understand his death. He reminds them that when you scatter grain on the earth, it gets buried in the ground and dies. Yet, we know that death is not a failure and it's not a pointless death. Instead, we know that it has to be that way. The seed has to die in order for life to come from the seed. One seed must die in order to produce many more seeds, in order to bear much fruit.

Jesus is laying the groundwork for his disciples leading up to his death. When he dies and is buried, they are going to think that they just experienced a terribly defeating event. They are going to think that all of their hopes and dreams are gone. They are going to think that all of the work they've done, all of the work Jesus has done, all of his miracles, all of his teaching was pointless, buried in the ground with him. So, he teaches them that not every death is defeat. Some deaths--like the seed, like his death--will actually bear much fruit. Not just a little fruit, but MUCH fruit. Jesus says even more than that. He is not only telling them that his death can possibly bear fruit, he is telling them that he MUST die in order to bear much fruit.

We see a couple examples in this passage of how Jesus' death bears much fruit. We hear Jesus saying this, “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 12:32–33, ESV). We're told here that Jesus uses the term "lifted up" to describe his crucifixion, his being lifted up on the cross. He uses the term "lifted up" to show us that he is lifted up and glorified through the cross, which will also lead to him being lifted up and glorified through his resurrection. Yet, notice the fruit that will come from his death. He says that he will draw all people to himself. Now, it's important to know that this isn't talking about "all people" as in every person that has ever lived. We know that is not true because Jesus is repeatedly warning people that if they don't believe in him, they will go to hell. When Jesus refers to "all people" in this passage, he's talking about the Greeks that just came looking for him, he's talking about "all types of people" not just the Jews. He's talking about bringing in the sheep from a different sheepfold. He's talking about bringing in the Gentiles. He's pointing to the fact of what we're seeing today that because of Jesus' death, it has borne so much fruit that nearly one-third of the population on the earth is Christian--2.38 billion people. There are 117 countries where the majority of their population is a professing follower of Jesus Christ. That's a lot of fruit.

Jesus also tells us another aspect of the fruit that will come from his death. He says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” (John 12:31, ESV). The ruler of the world is Satan. Part of the fruit that comes from Jesus' death is that Satan will be cast out. He's defeated. As Revelation describes him, he's a tamed dragon, who's been put on a leash and locked in a pit. Now, we know this hasn't happened completely at this point. Satan and his demons are still active, still causing problems throughout the earth. However, Jesus' death was a death blow to their kingdom. They were so severely wounded by Jesus' death, that they lost the battle and Christ's kingdom was established here on earth. Satan's kingdom no longer has the power it used to have. From the point of Jesus' death, Satan's kingdom would continue to fall, and Christ's kingdom would continue to come. That's powerful fruit.

Once Jesus lays the groundwork for the disciples' understanding of his death, he begins to teach them something important about their lives. He says, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25, ESV). Another way of saying this is, there's a way of living that seems like it's going to bear fruit, but it won't. There's a way of living that seems to be focused on preserving your life, but won't actually preserve your life. There's a way of living that seems safe and comfortable, but is actually very dangerous because it will cause you to lose your life. In contrast, there's another way of living that lays down its life, gives everything it has to the point of death, and that life bears fruit. There's a way of living that isn't always pragmatically calculating how to save its life, but is always looking for opportunities to lay its life down, and that life bears fruit.

You can talk to any business owner and they will tell you this is true from a business point of view. Any business that begins to focus solely on its safety and preservation, will not actually be safe and preserved, but it will lose its business. You can talk to any athletic coach and they will tell you this is true. The moment the team stops playing to win, and starts playing to protect its lead, trying to play it safe, they don't actually save anything. They lose. The same is true for churches. The moment a church begins to function only in terms of preservation or maintaining, is the moment a church starts to die. A church that seeks to save its life will lose its life. A church that is too afraid to take risks in the name of safety and preservation, will neither be safe nor preserved, but will die. That same is true for each one of us. The moment a human being begins to live their life in preservation mode, focusing on safety and comfort, is the moment we begin to lose our life.

Here's the reason. That's not how we were created to live. The reason a business dies and a team loses the moment they switch into preservation mode, is that they are no longer operating the way they were designed to operate, no longer doing what got them into the winning position in the first place. The reason a church begins to die the moment it focuses on preservation and comfort is because they stop doing what God has called them to do. They're no longer functioning the way God has designed them to function. So they die. It's the same with our lives. We were not designed to save our lives. We were designed to lay down our lives as an offering to our God. We were designed to have lives where we are constantly dying little deaths, that continue to bear fruit. The moment we start trying to preserve our lives, the moment we stop bearing fruit, and we die.

This is the answer to my first question earlier. If becoming a Christian causes all of these problems, why would anyone follow Christ? Because all of the "problems" are problems that ultimately bear fruit. That's why Jesus says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:11, ESV). The death that comes through persecution will bear much fruit. That's why James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2–4, ESV). When you follow Christ, you can have confidence that the "problems” you're experiencing aren't pointless problems. You aren't laying your life down for nothing. It's not pointless. Rather, the opposite is true. You're laying your life down and as a result, it will bear much fruit and you will truly find life. That's why we are willing to endure persecution. That's why we're willing to lose money and friends and influence. That's why we are willing to give up things we once loved. That's why we're willing to lay down our wrongful desires. That's why we're willing to lay down our ambitions, hopes, and plans. That's why we're willing to pour our lives out as an offering to God. Because by pouring ourselves out, and by laying these things down, we know they will die, and as a result they will bear much fruit.

That leads to the second question: As we follow Christ and face all of these problems, how do we respond? Jesus shows us the way here as well. As he is talking about his impending death, the laying down of his life, he says, “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.” (John 12:27–28, ESV). The short answer is, we pray. That's what we see Jesus doing here. He feels the weight of what's about to happen. His soul is heavy and troubled by it. It's going to be painful. It's going to be extremely difficult. He doesn't pretend it's going to be easy. Yet, he knows this is why he came to the earth. This was his purpose and this was given to him by the Father. So, he doesn't ask the Father to save him from this difficulty. He doesn't ask the Father to make it easy. He doesn't ask the Father to keep him safe and comfortable. He doesn't ask the Father to preserve his life. Instead, he says, "Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:27–28, ESV). There are two things we see Jesus doing here in this prayer to the Father. First, we see him submitting to the Father, recognizing that this is the Father's will, trusting the Father in the midst of the difficulty, and submitting to it--not fighting it. Second, in his submission to the Father, it is no longer about him, but it's about the Father's glory. He says, "Father, I know this is going to be really tough. It's going to hurt. It's going to be heavy. I trust you in this. I'm going to walk into this. I know this is your will for me. Glorify your name in this." You could reword this prayer to say, "Your will be done" and "Hallowed be your name." To which the Father responds, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (John 12:28, ESV).

How do we respond in the midst of all these problems we will face as we follow Christ? How do we respond when we need to lay down our lives as we follow Christ? How do we respond when we need to lay down all of our ambitions, hopes, and plans as we follow Christ? We come to him over and over and over again in prayer. But rather than repeatedly saying, "Please save me from this hour" over and over again. Instead we say, "Father, this is really tough. It hurts. It's one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. It feels like I'm gonna die. Yet, I know you're in control and that means you're in control of this difficulty and trial. So, what should I say, 'Save me'? No. If this is your will for me, I know you have something in store. I know that there is a type of death that bears fruit. So, I'm trusting you in this. So, I won't pray 'Save me' but I will instead pray, 'Your will be done and may your name be glorified through this and may this death bear much fruit.'" To which the Father replies, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

Here's the beauty and power of the Christian life. Sure, the Christian life will introduce a bunch of new problems into your life, but you now have confidence and hope that every one of those problems will bear much fruit. Apart from Christ, all of your problems are meaningless and pointless and there is no hope or confidence or strength outside of yourself to endure those problems. Where do you go when faced with a trial bigger than you can handle? In Christ, every death and difficulty bears much fruit. In Christ, you have a place to turn in the midst of difficulty for hope and strength and peace and joy. When you look to Christ in faith, you have confidence that his death will bear much fruit in your life. You will be forgiven and cleansed of your sin. You will have comfort and hope and peace and strength to endure whatever trial you are faced with. You will finally see clearly that you were created not to save your life, but to lay it down as an offering to your God.