John 12:20-31 (Teaching)

[0:00] Good morning. Good morning. It's been a while. Glad to have you back, brother. I'm glad to be back.

[0:10] I appreciate everybody's prayers while we were out. I've been anxious to get back and get back to teaching and hopefully singing one of these days.

[0:26] I can draw a breath and I can get full lungs, but it hurts me to do so. But hopefully the singing will come soon enough and get Lord's time.

[0:39] Continuing on in the Gospel of John, where we were six, seven weeks ago, whenever the last time I taught was, we were in chapter number 12.

[0:53] And Jesus had prepared a feast for Jesus. And Lazarus was present at this feast.

[1:04] And we read about how Mary anointed Jesus to the burying, according to the words of Jesus, and how Judas, scarred, made his thoughts known, said, why did this woman waste this ointment that could have been sold?

[1:22] And we read about all these things leading up to where we cut off, which was at verse 19. But when leading up to that, we read about Jesus.

[1:36] He wrote into Jerusalem. This was what's commonly called the triumphant or the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

[1:47] And we read about that. We read about the palm trees. And it just so happened that that lesson fell on Palm Sunday. I didn't plan for that to happen, but it did.

[1:57] But we read about the people waving the palm trees and shouting their Hosannas and praise gods and hallelujahs and amens and all these things that the people were doing.

[2:08] And we finished that in verse 19 with the Pharisees saying some very ominous words, saying, what did it prevail?

[2:21] I said, the whole world has gone after Jesus. And this was after they had seen what the crowd was doing as Jesus was coming in to Jerusalem.

[2:33] And again, verse 19 in John chapter 12 says, the Pharisees therefore said among themselves, perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? So that's the form of the question.

[2:45] And they're asking the question, do you not see how we prevail nothing, how ye prevail nothing? In other words, the Pharisees were concerned because they were losing their status as the elite, the religious elite, of the Jewish people.

[3:07] Then they said that verse continues. It says, behold, the world is gone after him. So it wasn't just the Jews that they were concerned with. It was the entire world.

[3:18] They said the entire world has gone after this man Jesus. So that being a real quick recap of John 12, verse 1, up through 19, we'll pick up in verse 20.

[3:35] It says, and there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. Verse 21, the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida, of Galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus.

[3:51] So back to verse 20, there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. And there are people, there's commentators, there's preachers and teachers that make a big deal over who exactly these Greeks were, where exactly did they come from?

[4:10] And any commentator book that you pick up or any teacher that you might listen to on radio or YouTube or television or whatever, they're going to have a different opinion over who exactly these Greeks were, folks.

[4:26] The thing to pay attention to is not who they were. I mean, I've got my opinions as to who they were. Because in the second verse there, in verse 21, it says, the same therefore came to Philip, and he was of Bethsaida.

[4:40] And then in verse 22, we see that Philip goes to Andrew. So I've got my opinions as to who these Greeks were. I believe they were Syrophoenicians, because Syrophoenicia was bordered with Bethsaida.

[4:55] And so they would have either known Philip, or they would have recognized Philip's dialect of the language that he spoke. Chances are with Syrophoenicia and Bethsaida bordering each other, there were a lot of Greek-speaking Jews.

[5:11] Now, other people will say these were Jews of the dispersion. These were of the diaspora. When the Jews were scattered about, there were Hellenistic Jews, some will say, Greek-speaking Jews.

[5:26] It doesn't matter what's important. In verse 20, it says that there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast.

[5:37] They came to worship at the feast. That's the important part. This is the world coming into Jewish territory. And the territory I'm talking about is not the city of Jerusalem.

[5:51] But in the original Greek that this is written, that verb worship, it entails and it intimates that they were in the habit of doing so. So this wasn't their first trip to Jerusalem to worship at this feast.

[6:05] But the thing is the Greeks were there to worship God at the Jewish Passover. That's what we need to pay attention to. Doesn't matter who they were. Doesn't matter what area they were from.

[6:18] Doesn't matter if they spoke Greek, if they spoke Chinese or Litany's or any other ease that there is out there. Doesn't matter what language they spoke, where they were from, what their blood type was, or what their hair color was.

[6:31] The main thing is they were there to worship. And this was the world coming in. And we got to remember that as we get into these verses that follow this.

[6:43] Verse 21, again, the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee. And I've already told you all that bordered Sire Phoenicia. Y'all remember in the Gospel of Mark, there was a Sire Phoenician woman that came to Jesus.

[6:57] And she came because her daughter was possessed with a devil. And this is the woman that Jesus told her. He said, I shouldn't give the bread, which meant for the children of Israel, to the dogs.

[7:12] That's the woman that we're talking about. And she was a Sire Phoenician woman that came. But Jesus ended up helping her in her situation regardless. But the same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, sir, we would see Jesus.

[7:31] We would see Jesus. Now, verse 22, Philip cometh and telleth Andrew. And again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. Now, according to what we read about Philip in John chapter 1, which was months ago when we began the Gospel of John, but Philip, you would think, would have heart for evangelism.

[7:56] I mean, he should have a fire going for evangelism. He's the very one, once he figured out, or once I should say, it was revealed to Philip who Jesus was.

[8:07] He's the one that went and found Nathaniel and said, hey, we found the one that the law speaks of. We found the one that the prophets spoke of. We found the Messiah.

[8:17] He's Jesus of Nazareth. And you all might remember Nathaniel said, what good can come out of Nazareth? But Philip is the very one that done that. Philip went and evangelized Nathaniel.

[8:29] So you would think these people coming to him, Greeks or Jews or whoever, with the heart that he obviously had for evangelism, that burning that he obviously had, he would have went straight to Jesus and said, hey, these folks want to see you, or he would have just led them straight to him.

[8:48] Why did he not do that? The Bible doesn't tell us why he didn't do that. But he sought out help. He sought out Andrew, who was also of that same regent, says Philip cometh and telleth Andrew.

[9:01] And again, Andrew and Philip telleth Jesus. Now in verse 23, verse 23 begins with the words, Jesus answered. Jesus answered them saying, the hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

[9:18] Says Jesus answered them. Who is them? Is it Philip and Andrew? Or did Philip and Andrew take Jesus to these Greeks?

[9:30] I tend to think this is the disciples. That's just me. You can develop your own opinions on this. But I do know that it's not until we get to verse 29 that we see the people, which is everybody that is gathered around at that point that we see an enormous crowd, Greeks and Jews alike.

[9:51] We don't find that again for a few verses. So whether it's the disciples or whether it's the disciples plus these Greeks, I'm not 100% positive of.

[10:02] I tend to think it's the disciples because Philip and Andrew are the last thems that are brought up in Scripture. So he says, and Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

[10:18] Verily, verily I say unto you, accept the corn of wheat, fall into the ground and die it abouteth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

[10:28] He that loveth his life shall lose it. And he that hateeth his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life. If any man serve me, let him follow me.

[10:40] And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. So this is a whole bunch that Jesus is saying, and it continues, I realize that.

[10:53] But this is a whole bunch of stuff that Jesus is saying either to Philip and Andrew and probably the rest of the disciples or to the disciples and these Greeks that desired to see him.

[11:08] Now, like I said, I can't promise you if the Greeks were there or not when this was going on. But Jesus was informing at the very least his disciples of this, and it's nothing new that these disciples are here.

[11:24] Jesus has talked pretty almost from the very get-go of his ministry about how he had to be crucified, how he had to be handed over into the hands of a sinful man, how he had to be handed over into the hands of the Gentiles, how he must be lifted up.

[11:44] I mean, we just read, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified in verse 23, verily, verily, I say unto you, accept a corn of wheat, fall into the ground, and die at about a th alone.

[11:56] But if it died, bringeth forth much fruit. He has talked to them about how he must die over and over throughout his ministry. And here we are just a few days.

[12:08] Just a few days. Remember John chapter 12 began six days before the Passover. So we are just a few days within the last week of Jesus Christ's life here on earth as far as his ministry goes.

[12:23] I understand he was dead. He was buried. He was resurrected. And then he was here for a few weeks. And then he ascended to the Father. But this is the very end of the life and the ministry of Jesus Christ as far as his absolute human life goes.

[12:46] And he's telling them again, this has got to happen. But he adds there in verse 23, the hour has come, the Son of Man should be glorified. We've read two or three times throughout John's gospel where Jesus has said, my hour has not yet come.

[13:05] He said that to his own mother. And John chapter 2 at the wedding of Canaan where Jesus turns the water into wine. He says, woman, what about to do with thee? He says, my hour is not here yet.

[13:18] And he says it a couple more times throughout the gospel. He says, my hour has not come. He wasn't afraid of people stoning him. He wasn't afraid of people getting their hands upon him or throwing him off of a cliff or whatever the case was because he knew that was not his hour.

[13:34] But here he plainly states, the hour is come. Jesus knew his time had come to be crucified, not this very day.

[13:46] But it would happen just a few days after what he is saying here. But he says, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. And then he talks about dying.

[13:57] Then he talks about dying. In verse 24, verily, verily I say unto you, except a quarter of a week, fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, bringeth forth much fruit.

[14:10] And folks, this is ever the case. This is the case. God put this plan in motion. And he thought of it. I'm convinced before the foundation of the world was ever laid that whatever seed went into the ground, that is the type of fruit that it would produce.

[14:30] If a grain of wheat went into the ground, it would produce wheat. If corn went into the ground, it would produce corn. If peas go in the ground, they produce peas.

[14:42] Whatever it is. So folks, what does that tell me? That tells me that Jesus Christ went into the ground. He was buried. But yes, he resurrected.

[14:53] But what he's getting out here, he said, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. But that fruit will resemble him.

[15:03] If corn goes in the ground and produces corn, and if wheat goes in the ground and produces wheat, then when Jesus Christ died and his resurrection, which was a glorious occasion, he said to the Son of Man, the hour has come, the Son of Man must be glorified, that his resurrection and the Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 15 that he was the first fruits of the dead.

[15:31] He was the guarantee of the harvest to come. Folks, those that are his, those that have died to self, those that have been made a new creature in Christ, we should resemble Jesus Christ.

[15:50] And that's how we can look out at the world. And we can look at, unfortunately, a lot of churchy people. But we can tell from their lives whether they really know Jesus Christ or not.

[16:04] If they don't resemble Christ, they're probably not of Christ. They're probably not of that seed. They're not of that harvest just yet.

[16:17] Verse 25 again, he that loatheth his life shall lose it, and he that hateeth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal.

[16:27] He that loatheth his life shall lose it. Folks, this sounds dark. It sounds gloomy. Why would God want us to hate our own lives?

[16:39] This is one of those instances where we're not talking about me, like me, Spencer Baumgartner, hating my life, just absolutely despising the fact that I've got breath in my body and I've got blood flowing through my veins.

[16:57] That's not what we're getting at here. What are we getting at? He that loatheth his life shall lose it, and he that hateeth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal.

[17:09] Those that love the life here, who is the prince of this world? Who is the tempter of this world? That Satan himself, and what does he tempt us with?

[17:21] He tempts us with the things of the world. And if the world is going, or if people are going after the things of the world, if they're going after money, if they're going after fame, if they're going after fortune, if they're going after looks and material things and all these other things, folks, that is someone that is loving their life.

[17:43] They're loving what this life has to give. God doesn't want us to absolutely despise our lives. We need to despise those things that Satan tempts us with, though.

[17:56] And Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of that. And he gives a good example of that here in just the next couple of verses. He says in verse 26, if any man serve me, let him follow me.

[18:08] And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?

[18:19] Father, save me from this hour? So he's asking a question, though. He makes a statement. He says, now is my soul troubled. Then he asks the question, what shall I say?

[18:30] Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. For this cause, back when we went through 1 John, however long ago, that was.

[18:43] We learned that the reason Jesus Christ came into the world was to destroy the works of the devil. We know from 1 Timothy and the first chapter that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, is what Paul wrote.

[19:00] That was the cause that he came into this world. But this verse, verse 27, now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, folks. Even though Jesus Christ was God when he was stating these words, and he was God then, and he is God now, even though that was the case, he was still human.

[19:22] He was still human at this time. And he says, what shall I say? In other words, in the human state, Satan had already tempted him at the very beginning of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

[19:38] At the very beginning, Satan, we all know the account. We have three temptations that are recorded by Satan himself. And I'm persuaded that that wasn't the only three times that Jesus was tempted in his life here on Earth.

[19:52] I believe he was tempted the entire time that he was here. But he overcame those temptations. But even so, in his human state, what would we want? John is the only one that doesn't record the agonizing prayer of Jesus Christ in the garden at Gethsemane.

[20:09] We read it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the synoptic gospels. But Jesus Christ prayed that prayer. And what did he say there? Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass for me.

[20:20] Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done. On the human side, Jesus Christ was dreading the cross. He wasn't dreading the fact that he would be handed over to the Gentiles, or handed over in the hands of simple men.

[20:36] He didn't dread them. Man did not scare him. The serpent bruising his heel did not scare Jesus Christ. What Jesus Christ dreaded was becoming the curse, was becoming sin on your behalf and on my behalf.

[20:54] He dreaded the wrath of God coming down on him. He didn't dread and he wasn't afraid of man. He told us, he told us in the gospel accounts, not to fear man who was able to destroy body, but to fear God who was able to destroy both body and soul in hell.

[21:15] So if he told us to not fear man, I promise you Jesus Christ did not fear man. He didn't fear these things. He wasn't scared of them.

[21:25] My Jesus was not scared of these things. He says, my soul was troubled. His soul was troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour.

[21:38] And this statement is a wonderful example of a man hating his own life to the glory of God. Not that Jesus Christ hated being here, not that he hated having air in his lungs, or blood in his body, or eating or drinking, or any of those things.

[21:59] What Jesus Christ is getting at here is we should live a life that glorifies God. We should hate the things of this world that tempt us. We should hate sin with a passion.

[22:11] Sin should break our hearts when we sin against God. Jesus Christ never sinned against God. But still yet he dreaded becoming that sin for us.

[22:25] Actually, back up to verse 26 again, If any man serve me, let him follow me.

[22:36] And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Him will my father honor. If any man serve me.

[22:47] Now, what prompted this whole speech that Jesus Christ is giving here? What prompted it? Philip and Andrew come to him saying, there's some grecians out here.

[22:59] There's some folks that are not of our blood. There's some Gentiles that are out here, at the very least Hellenistic Jews.

[23:10] But either way, that's what prompted this entire speech. But Jesus here is telling these disciples, if any man, if any man, not just you Jews, not just you all that have followed me around for the past three plus years, if any man says, if any man serve me, let him follow me.

[23:36] Folks, those are stern words, because Jesus had just intimated to them again with just a couple of verses before this about the corn of wheat falling into the ground and how it must die.

[23:48] Jesus was going to the cross. And he's telling these people here, if any man serve me, let him follow me. He was going to the cross.

[23:59] He's saying, you follow me to the cross. You lay down your earthly life. He's not saying lay down your life in the physical sense, slit your wrists, or cut your own head off or anything along those lines.

[24:12] You lay down everything that you know and everything that you love, that this life has to offer that is not glorifying and honoring to God, and you follow me.

[24:25] He said in the gospel accounts, he said, if any man will be my disciple, let him take up his cross, undeni himself daily, and follow me.

[24:40] That's exactly what he's saying here. The folks, he was on his way to the cross. And he tells him, if any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be.

[24:52] That's present tense. Where I am, that's present tense. Where I am, there shall also my servant be. So when Christ said this, he just spoke to them about being on the cross.

[25:10] When he was on the cross, there shall his servant be. And folks, it's still present tense. Where he is, there shall his servant be. I'm not physically in heaven with Jesus Christ.

[25:22] I'm standing before you all right now in Kingsport, Tennessee. But me being a child of God, me belonging to Jesus Christ, I am with him.

[25:33] I am with him. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor.

[25:44] Why, if any man serve me, him will my father honor. Because if we're serving Christ, then God, I hate to use the word obligated because that intimates that we do something to prompt a response from God.

[26:08] God is not obligated to anything. God is God, and he is sovereign over this town, this state, this country, and this universe.

[26:18] But if we serve Christ, according to the words of scripture, we belong to Christ. And if Romans 8.1 is true, and I believe it to be, that there is therefore now no condemnation of them to be in Christ Jesus.

[26:35] If we are in Christ Jesus and there is no condemnation to us, and that prompts us to serve Christ, and if there is no condemnation in us, the Father is honoring us.

[26:47] He is honoring us because we are servants of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was a servant of the Father. He was a servant of the people, too. The whole Gospel of Mark intimates that Jesus Christ was a servant of the people.

[27:02] It's a Gospel of servitude, the Gospel of Mark is. But if we serve Jesus, and the Father will honor us, now skip down to verse 28, Father glorify thy name, Father glorify thy name.

[27:20] Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. So Jesus ends this speech with Father glorify thy name.

[27:33] Then verse 29, we see the people. So at some point, Jesus has gotten out to a crowd of people.

[27:44] Remember what prompted this? The Greeks coming to Philip wanting to see Jesus, wanting to see Him. But they were there in Jerusalem to worship God as the Jews did.

[27:57] We keep all this in mind. Jesus Christ has made this big speech, everything that we've read down to this point. And the last word he speaks is, Father glorify thy name.

[28:11] Then there came a voice from heaven. This is one of three times that we see an audible voice, or we read about an audible voice coming from heaven.

[28:21] One was at the baptism of John when God spoke and said, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. One was at the Mount of Transfiguration, where God said, this is my beloved Son, hear ye him.

[28:34] And then we have this, the third account of an audible voice coming. He says, then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

[28:48] And I spoke several lessons ago how God had glorified Jesus Christ really before the world was ever began. But if you want to start at that point, God glorified Jesus Christ the morning or the night that Jesus Christ was born into this world.

[29:06] He had the shepherd come to worship him. He had the angels heralding that Jesus Christ had been born. He had glorified Jesus Christ all through his ministry.

[29:18] He has glorified Jesus Christ. And in glorifying Jesus Christ, he has glorified his own name. God has glorified his own name. He says, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

[29:35] What is the again? He'll glorify it at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We haven't even got to the crucifixion yet in the Gospel of John.

[29:46] But he'll glorify it again at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But folks, even further on into that own into eternity, God glorifies his own name.

[29:56] You read about this throng of people in the Book of Revelation that are glorifying God. They're uplifting and praising the name of Jesus Christ. And they're shouting their hallelujahs.

[30:08] And they're singing unto God. And they're singing to the Lamb. You see all these things. And that is God continuously glorifying his own name and glorifying Jesus Christ at the same time.

[30:22] Verse 29, the people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to them. So there's a disagreement here between people.

[30:36] We've read about several disagreements all throughout the Gospel of John. Most of them were between the religious elite, between Pharisees and Sadducees, or chief priests, and this group, or whatever the case is.

[30:49] But here, these people are disagreeing. The people therefore that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. And others said an angel spake to him.

[31:02] See the time. Here. Huh? Here. All right. Let's get another verse or two in here. Said that it thundered.

[31:13] And others said an angel spake to him. So there's a disagreement with the people here. But nevertheless, the people heard something. The people knew that something supernatural had happened after Jesus had said, had said, Father, glorify thy name.

[31:34] They recognized that something supernatural had happened. Jesus answered and said, this voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Jesus is the very one that said, Father, glorify thy name.

[31:46] And the Father says, I have glorified it. And I will do it again. And Jesus says, this voice came not for me. Jesus didn't need it, folks.

[31:56] Jesus knew the plan. The Word of God is forever settled in heaven, according to Psalms 1 and 19. Jesus already knew what was going to go on. He knew when it would go on.

[32:07] He knew that his hour was coming. He knew his hour was here. He didn't need it. He said, this voice came for your sakes.

[32:17] For your sakes, that God said, I have glorified my name. And I will do so again.

[32:28] Oops. Jesus Christ came into this world to fulfill the Father's will. Yes. What was the Father's will?

[32:39] That fallen mankind be reconciled back to Him. We were fallen of our own fault. We were fallen of our own sin.

[32:49] We cannot point the finger at the serpent. We can't point the finger at Satan. We are each responsible for our own sins. It was for our sakes.

[33:00] And it was for the glory of the Father. And it was to fulfill the will of the Father, that Jesus Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil.

[33:11] Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. So Jesus continues. Now is the judgment of this world. Well, he just said a few verses before this.

[33:24] Now is my hour come. Folks, Jesus Christ there on the cross was a huge picture of the judgment of the world.

[33:36] How so? Because he was taking God's judgment. He was taking God's wrath. He was taking the fury of God and the anger of God upon himself.

[33:49] And he says, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the Prince of this world be cast out. Well, folks, has Satan been cast out of this world? No.

[34:00] But the time was coming. The time was coming when the last real weapon that Satan had at his disposal pretty much would be defeated, and that was death.

[34:18] That was death. Now I understand. All over in the book of Revelation, towards the end of the book of Revelation, the death and hell are cast into the lake of fire. I get that.

[34:28] And I get that people still die. But folks, we have no reason whatsoever to fear death. Those of us that are in cross Jesus death has been defeated.

[34:39] Jesus Christ suffered death. God himself suffered death. And he suffered the wrath of God. But he rose again.

[34:50] And the Bible claims that Jesus Christ said to himself, destroy this temple. In three days, I will raise it up again. Jesus said, I will raise it up. And the Bible says it was by the power of God that Christ raised from the dead.

[35:03] And the Bible also teaches it was by the spirit of God that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Either way you read it, or any place that you read it, it was all of God.

[35:16] And Jesus Christ defeated death. He defeated hell. He defeated the grave. And one of these days, he will completely and utterly destroy Satan and put Satan and all of his followers into their rightful place.

[35:36] And I guess we'll stop right there. We had 10 minutes, about five minutes ago. So I don't like stuffing right there. But that's OK. Anybody got any questions?

[35:46] Or any comments on any of that? All right. God bless you all. I appreciate you.