20Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; 21these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24“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. 25“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
27“Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28“Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him.” 30Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. 31“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” 33But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. 34The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” 35So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes. 36“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” These things Jesus spoke, and He went away and hid Himself from them. 37But though He had performed so many signs before them, yet they were not believing in Him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke: “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT? AND TO WHOM HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED?” 39For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40“HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” 41These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him. 42Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
44And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. 45“He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. 46“I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. 47“If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48“He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. 49“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. 50“I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”
Interesting Words
dies
(ἀποθνῄσκω – Greek) – apothnéskó ► dying, about to die, wither, anastasis, from apó, “away from,” which intensifies thnḗskō, “to die”) – properly, die off (away from), focusing on the separation that goes with the “dying off (away from).” stresses the significance of the separation. Matt 9:24, 22:24; Luke 16:22; John 4:47; Rom 7:2,
judgement
(κρίσις – Greek) – krisis ► from krino (verb: to separate, distinguish, judge) – (noun), judging, judgment, decision, sentence; generally: divine judgment; accusation … John 7:24; Heb 9:27, 10:27; 2Peter 3:7;
believe
(πιστεύω – Greek) – pisteuó ► believe, have faith in, trust in, believing that leads to/proceeds from God’s inbirthing of faith.
receive
(λαμβάνω – Greek) – lambanó ► receive, get, take, lay hold of by aggressively (actively) accepting what is available (offered), “accept with initiative” emphasizes the volition (assertiveness) of the receiver.
Cross References
▪︎ John 8:28 – Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection confirm His is the Messiah.
▪︎ John 8:12 – Jesus is the Light of the world.
▪︎ John 1:11-12 – Receiving and believing are equivalent and have the same result.
Discussion Questions
1. What do the first few verses (John 12:20-21) tell you about the Greeks and about Jesus from His response (John 12:23-24)?
Greeks:
▪︎ These Greeks were committed to worship of God in that they went to Jerusalem for the feast.
▪︎ They were apparently also open to God’s guidance since they came to see Jesus.
Jesus:
▪︎ Apparently, He was excited to see the Gentiles because of what what it meant to the future of the ministry, reaching out to a lost world with the gospel.
▪︎ He was not deterred from His agenda, in fact He barely gave the Greeks notice.
▪︎ He did use the opportunity to give a very interesting analogy of the sacrificial portion of His ministry.
2. What was at the forefront of Jesus’ mind (John 12:24, 27)?
▪︎ He immediately thought of His upcoming sacrificial death.
▪︎ It troubled Him to the point of distress.
▪︎ He resolved Himself to the fact that this was what He was called to endure.
▪︎ The weight of of the world, the entire plan of God, all the sins of all of mankind rested on His actions.
3. What analogy does Jesus use to make His point (John 12:24) and how does that apply?
▪︎ His analogy highlighted the physical process of seed germination and reproduction in biology… death, burial, the growth, followed by fruit.
▪︎ It provided a high-level view of the plan of God and how God had defined it from the foundation of the world.
▪︎ The analogy started to shine glory to God from the moment God created the first plant in the Garden of Eden and the cycle of life was started.
▪︎ This picture presents a divine view of the process planned from before the foundation of the world and implemented at creation, elevating biology to it rightful place… See… A Grain of Wheat is a Picture of Christ’s Death .
4. How did Jesus describe His purpose and how was this confirmed (John 12:27-28)? Also consider John 12:47-48.
▪︎ He was to undergo the painful process of death on a cross.
▪︎ This would result in massive praise and glory to God, more than could be described or imagined.
▪︎ Jesus’ primary purpose was to die as payment for the sins of all mankind (John 3:17; 2 Cor 5:21;) This last process of becoming sin for us is probably just as painful as dying.
▪︎ All of this was confirmed by a direct verbal communication from God the Father. What an awesome privilege to glorify God to the point He acknowledges it.
5. How was Jesus to die (John 12:33-34) and what was to be the final result (John 12:31-32)?
▪︎ He was to be “lifted up”, a euphemism for the Roman crucifixion that He was to undergo.
▪︎ Of most importance, He was to draw all men unto Himself, thus fulfilling the true Messianic prophesies, (e.g Ezek 11:19, 20). This entailed the ultimate sacrifice that would purify man, and then the consummation of that act with the gift of faith that would seal them with the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:8-9; 1Cor 2:12; Eph 1:13).
▪︎ Secondarily, He would completely eradicate Satan, his demons, and his followers from the earth (Rev 20:10, 12, 15).
6. What are Jesus’ statements and warnings about light and darkness (John 12:35, 36)?
▪︎ Jesus was the Light of the world (John 8:12). He would not be with them forever in His physical form, but only for a little while longer.
▪︎ They needed to walk with Him now while they had the opportunity.
▪︎ Later, the darkness will be overwhelming.
▪︎ Darkness can leave us blind and lost without the Spirit to guide us.
▪︎ Believing is the key ingredient and you will be a part of God’s family,
▪︎ Believing makes us part of His people and He becomes our God.
7. What are the ramifications of belief vs. disbelief for the people in the crowds present with Jesus (John 12:36, 41-42)?
▪︎ Many are intimidated by what others think and do.
▪︎ The reality is that our hearts are hardened by these events so that we start to believe that this (unbelieving person) is who we are inside.
▪︎ Our eyes no longer see nor our ears hear correctly.
▪︎ We carry this ball and chain around with us thinking this is who we are but it is in fact something others have made us.
8. What are the benefits of believing for us today (.John 12:45-46)?
▪︎ We can be authentically us.
▪︎ We can be real, not the manufactured product of so-called friends who are also in this same condition.
▪︎ This is exactly the position Satan wants us in, paralyzed by fear of others; instead, God wants us to learn from Him and take responsibility for our own decisions.
▪︎ The world accuses Christians of being hypocrites, but in fact we are the opposite. The opposition is influenced by scientists that don’t take into account the prime mover that created our whole universe.
9. What is the downside of disbelief?
▪︎ Eph 2:12 – Separated for God, excluded from His Kingdom, having no hope for this life or a future life.
▪︎ Condemned to the judgement of God and sentenced to a new eternity separated from everyone.
▪︎ This may seem harsh but it is the truth. Jesus expresses it very clearly in several places and it is only ethical to explain this to those affected. If fact God commands it (Matt 28:18-19; Ezek 33:8, 9).