Dying to Live (I)
This is a transcript. It may contain small inaccuracies.
God will be glorified. God will be glorified. He will be glorified because He is worthy of all the glory, every ounce of it. And He will be glorified because He is God. He's sovereign. He's utterly sovereign. He's almighty. And it is His will that no one can thwart—that He will put His glory on display. And so He will be glorified. And His glory He will not give to another. God will be glorified.
Christ said here, “‘It was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’" (John 12: 27b, 28) He will be glorified, and He will be glorified whether men wanted Him to be glorified or not. He will be glorified even if all the nations and all their armies were joining together to somehow try to stop it. He will be glorified. And He will be glorified in ways that men would never imagine.
In fact, there are times when God glorifies Himself even in man's desire to refuse to give Him glory. Even in that, He glorifies Himself. God is so powerful, so sovereign, that even from the lips of men who have no desire in their hearts to glorify God, God is able to glorify Himself nevertheless. We saw an example of this, right? In Caiaphas, when he unwittingly prophesied the meaning of the death of Jesus on behalf of the nation.
And I want to suggest that we see another example of that right here in these verses that we have before us that I want us to see this morning. And where we begin this morning is this: the request of some Greeks, or the coming of some Greeks. Let's begin with the coming of some Greeks.
Look at verse 20, "Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these men came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'"
The coming of some Greeks. And as we look at these verses, as I looked at these verses this week, I always begin with some questions. One of the best ways that you could study the Bible is, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to ask questions. Ask questions.
And the first questions I had were, who were these Greeks? Who are these Greeks? "There were some Greeks among those who were going up," the text says, "to worship at the feast." Who were these Greeks? And the answer is, they were simply Gentiles. They were Gentiles. I make the distinction because these were not Greek-speaking Jews, Hellenistic Jews. These are Gentiles.
The word that John uses under inspiration here is Ἕλληνες (Hellēnes). It's a word that is most often used for Greek people, particularly used even beyond that to Gentiles. There's another word, Ἑλληνιστής (Hellēnistēs), used for the Greek-speaking Jews, translated Hellenist—a Hellenist, a Jew by birth. For example, Acts chapter 6 and verse 1, you see an example of that word being used, but that is not the word that John uses here. The word he uses is Ἕλληνες. It's a word used for Gentiles. These are Greek people.
Well, if these are Gentiles, well, what are they doing at the feast? A Jewish feast. Well, we're told that they went up to worship. And that indicates to us that they were God-fearing Gentiles. They were proselytes. They were worshiping Gentiles—Gentiles who joined themselves to Jews in worshiping the one true God, Yahweh. And so here they are. They've made their pilgrimage to the Passover, and they're there to worship.
Another question: When did this request take place? Where were they when this request took place? Well, we're not told. The text doesn't tell us. John doesn't tell us. He doesn't give us any time indicators here. So it's unlikely this was on the day of the triumphal entry. It's probably the day after or another day after that. It's possible this took place at the temple—perhaps, most likely, even at the court of the Gentiles. We're not told, however.
Another question: Why do they want to see Jesus? Why? They asked to see Him. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Why? Why do they wish to see Jesus? I think when you look at the passage as a whole, when you hear the answers that we're going to hear in a moment that Jesus gives, I think it is right to understand that they do have a genuine authority and they do have a genuine, authentic desire—interest, really—in the Son of God. This was an authentic, genuine desire to know Jesus. They have some knowledge of who He is. They've heard something about Him. And they want to meet Him. They want to know Him.
And so even in their request—and we'll get into this in a moment—I think even in their request, there's a foreshadowing of the purpose for which Christ had come into this world. File that for a moment. And so these Gentiles are asking to see the Son of God.
Here's another question: Why do they approach Philip? They go to Philip. Philip goes to Andrew. Together they go to Christ. Well, why did they approach Philip? I mean, it could have been just the fact that he was the one available at that moment. It could have just been, as we would say, you know, accidental that they went to Philip. But we know nothing is accidental.
It's interesting, though, that John tells us—well, why does he tell us that Philip was from Bethsaida? There's a point that he's making under inspiration. It's interesting, though, that John tells us that he was from Bethsaida. And by the way, Andrew is from there as well. James Montgomery Boyce points out that Bethsaida was near a Greek area of the ancient east known as Syrophoenicia. It's all part of the Decapolis, ten cities there that was replete with Gentiles and Greek population. And so it may have been, it's even possible that there was some acquaintance perhaps here, that they knew Philip perhaps.
Now, what we know is that Philip's name is a Greek name, Φίλιππος (Philippos). And Andrew's name is a Greek name, Ἀνδρέας (Andreas), as well. And so it just may be that these men overheard the name. Perhaps they feel an affinity for these men because of their Greek names. Whatever the reason, they come to Philip in a very respectful way. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." A respectful way that reflects their respect for Philip's master, for Philip's teacher. And so they have a knowledge of His teacher and they have a genuine interest in Christ.
I love what S. Lewis Johnson said at this point. And I agree with him. He said, quote, "I'd like to suggest to you before we go on, that the fact that the Greeks or the Gentiles came to the apostles and said we want to see Jesus, and it's safe to say that it is for spiritual instruction, that that suggests to us the failure of everything that is Gentile apart from Christ." He goes on to say, "I would suggest to you that it suggests the failure of intellect. Remember 1 Corinthians 1:22, Greeks search for what? Wisdom. If these were really Greeks and they were, of course, the thinkers of the ancient age,"—he goes on—"it would suggest the failure of intellect, but at least it would suggest the failure of the intellect of the Gentiles and finding truth. It would suggest the failure of culture, the failure of refinement, the failure of beauty, the failure of wisdom. In fact, the failure of man, the failure of Gentile men to find the answers to the questions of life. Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
The coming of these Greeks. That leads us to a second thing that I want us to see here, the contrast. The contrast with the Pharisees. And this is really amazing. Think about it with me. Think about it with me. One of the things that we notice in the Gospel of John is John is pretty good at time indicators. I mean, over and over again, you'll see things like, and “on the next day”, or as we saw it earlier here in this chapter, “it was six days before the Passover.” Verse 1. John is very good about time indicators, yet he doesn't give us any indication of time here. He doesn't tell us what day it occurred on, doesn't tell us what hour of the day, doesn't even tell us where they were when this occurred.
Well, that says something to us. And I believe what it says to us is that what is utmost in his mind is not the time or the location, but rather something else. There's something else far more significant. It's not the time when this happened. It is the place where John is going to put it in his account under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Remember, there were many things that occurred during the time that John spent with Jesus that he did not record in this Gospel. Many things, many conversations, many events. In fact, John himself tells us in John 21:25, he says that if I were to put all of what Jesus did and said down, he said that “the world could not contain all the things that he could have recorded.” (John 21:25)
So right away, you know, whatever you find in the Gospel of John, it has a strategic purpose. It's meant to lead us to a right knowledge of Jesus. It's meant to lead us to an understanding of our Savior, of the Savior. He said, I'm writing these things. These are for the purpose that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And knowing this, that you believe in His name.
So what is most important here is not when it occurred, but where John puts it. And notice, you notice he puts it right on the heels of something that the Pharisees said back in verse 19. They said, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him." The world. The world has gone after Him.
Now, of course, when they say the world, they don't mean the world, the entire world. They're thinking in terms of the response of the Jews as He's making His way into the city of Jerusalem. The triumphal entry, people singing Hosanna. They're singing praises to Christ. And they look at the response of the Jews and they say the nation, that is what they mean. The nation, the entire nation has gone after Him. The world has gone after Him. Everybody is going after Him.
But I want to suggest this morning that by the strategic placement of this account, that John sees in their words—that the Holy Spirit rather sees in their words—again, one of those unconscious statements that means much more than they ever realized, that out of their mouths come words that glorify God, that speak the truth. The world has gone after Him. And right after this, we're told, Greeks, Gentiles, they come seeking to know Him. "Sir, we want to see Jesus.” We wish to see Jesus. There's a contrast.
And the Holy Spirit is presenting us with the irony that is present in the response of these Gentiles to Jesus, compared to the response of the Pharisees. Notice with me, first of all, there's a contrast in attitude. A contrast in attitude. The Pharisees are resentful. They are resistant. They want to eliminate the Lord Jesus. They are defiant. They are hardened. But the Gentiles come on this occasion and they are drawn. They're attracted. They're interested. And they desire to seek out the Lord Jesus, not eliminate Him. They want to know Him. Contrast in attitudes.
There's also a striking contrast in terms of access. Now you know the Pharisees were Jews. To them belonged all the privileges and all the advantages that God in His sovereign plan had provided for that people. Romans 3 verse 1, Paul says, "Then, what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?" Verse 2, "Great.” This is Paul's response—”great in every respect.” Great in every respect. He says, great in every respect. And then he says this: "First of all”, that is, above all, we talk about their privileges, "above all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God."
The Jews were given divine revelation. The divine revelation of Scripture. So that they had all the prophecies that proclaimed what they were going to see when their Messiah arrives on the scene. They had all that for preparation. And the Gentiles didn't have that. None of it. Romans 9 verse 4 says, "Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises." To them belong the patriarchs, verse 5, "whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."
What divine preparation has been given to these people, so that they may recognize their Messiah when He comes. And yet, yet we see again and again, especially here, despite all of that preparation, all of the privilege, the Pharisees don't know who He is. They don't recognize Him. They don't love Him. They don't submit to Him. They had access to Him, even in terms of His earthly ministry. They had access—in fact, they had amazing access to Him. If they wanted to know Him, they could have easily entreated Him. There were many interactions with them and Jesus. They could have easily spent time with Him. They could have easily asked Him questions.
In fact, notice how Jesus Himself puts it in Mark 14, when Jesus is being arrested, verse 48. You read the following, Mark 14, verse 48, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me? As you would against a robber?’” Verse 49, “‘Every day I was with you within the temple teaching and you did not cease me, but this has taken plan in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.’”
Jesus says, Was I not with you every single day? Didn't you have access to me every single day? Wasn't I in the temple teaching, and you every day? I mean, what amazing access the Jews had to Him. What amazing privilege the Jews had. And yet, they don't see Him. They don't see Him. They don't recognize Him.
And yet, here are these Greeks, Gentiles, who had none of this, none of these advantages by birth. In fact, they had to request to meet Him. And here's another evidence that they were indeed Gentiles. You notice the hesitancy on the part of Philip. Philip says, let me go and talk to Andrew. Maybe he was the head deacon, I don't know, or usher. And Philip and Andrew go to Jesus. Here are people who, when they wanted to worship the true and living God, didn't have the same access in the temple area that the Jews had. I mean, after becoming a proselyte, even after a circumcision, there was, what? A section dedicated to what? To Gentiles who actually become God-fearer. It's called the Court of the Gentiles. And there's that partition wall, that wall of separation between the two. They didn't have the same access.
So there's this contrast in attitude. And what makes the attitude contrast so amazing is that there's this contrast in privilege. This contrast in access. This contrast in terms of availability and familiarity with that which should make someone receive Jesus. And the Pharisees had it all. All of it. And they missed Him. They completely missed Him. The Gentiles had little. And they desperately seek Him. They seek Him.
You know, beloved, we see the same sort of amazing thing in salvation history throughout, don't we? We see it to our own day, even. You'll see people who are raised around the gospel all their life. They hear it all their life. They're surrounded by the gospel. They hear it inside their homes. They hear it inside the church, the Sunday school, kids camp, and Christian schools. They're surrounded by the gospel. And yet, they do not come to the Savior. They miss Him.
And then there'll be someone who had very little privilege in terms of familiarity with the gospel and being trained up in the arena of sound doctrine, and they hear the gospel. And the Lord saves them. And what is God doing when He does this? You know, He's reminding us that He saves sinners. He saves sinners. And He's not limited either, is He? He can save them in strange places. There's been people saved sitting in weak, anemic churches and the Lord just in His grace and mercy visits them and saves them. In fact, there are people sitting here this morning who were saved in churches that they would never sit in today, but the Lord saved them. The Lord is a Savior.
So you have a contrast in attitude, you have a contrast in access. There's another contrast here that's being put before us. There's a contrast in terms of the ages. Contrast in terms of the ages. That is, there's a new age about to dawn as Jesus speaks His words here, a new era, a new time in terms of the working out of God's salvation purpose. God is about to turn from Israel to the nations. He's about to set the nation of Israel aside for a time. God is about to bring about a new thing. God is about to do something new. Jesus is going to build His church and that church will mean the inclusion of the Gentiles. And very soon the Lord is going to build His church and in that church Jew and Gentile will stand on equal footing at the foot of the cross.
I said that in verse 19 you have words that mean more than they knew. “The world”, they say, “is going after Him.” And here right after those words you have what is a foreshadowing of the coming of the world to Christ, the coming of the Gentiles to Jesus. Do you realize, beloved, that we're living in a new age? We're living in a new age. Do you realize that we are living at the end of the ages? 1st Corinthians 10:11. “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived.” We're living in a distinct time.
Turn with me to Romans 11. Romans 11. Romans 11 speaks of this. Look at verse 7 now. "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.'” And David says, “'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.'"
I say then, did they stumble so as to fall—notice this national rejection, not every single Jew rejected Christ, the elect were saved, but you look at the nation of Israel as a whole and they rejected their Messiah—and what does that mean in terms of the future? Paul asked the question in verse 11, what does it mean in terms of the future? He says, "I say then, did they stumble so as to fall?” That is, is God completely done completely finished with a national ethnic Israel? And what's the answer he gives? The strongest negative reply in the Greek language μὴ γένοιτο (mè genoito) “May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness be!"
How much more will their full inclusion mean? This is a time we're living in right now, the time of the Gentiles. God is—God is is gathering in Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel in great numbers. Jews are being saved in small numbers. You go back to the Old Testament, Jews were saved in great numbers, Gentiles were saved in small numbers. We're living in a distinct, different age. But this age will come to an end, and when it comes to an end, there's going to be a great salvation work of God in the nation of Israel, and there's going to be a full inclusion. God is going to do this.
Look at verse 13, "But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"
It looks like the nation of Israel, from the standpoint of salvation, it is dead right now—dead. But God is able to bring about a resurrection, and He's going to do it because He promised it, and God will never rescind His promises. Never. But right now, you see what it means is the reconciliation of the world. Paul tells us their rejection is the reconciliation of the world. God is reaching right now Gentiles for His Son in great numbers, and beloved, that is what is in view here. There's this foreshadowing of it right here by the coming of these Greeks, these Gentiles, to Jesus back in John 12.
And one of the ways that we know that we're understanding this correctly is how Jesus responds to their request. Now think about it, this is fascinating. Is it not a strange response? "Sir, we wish to see—to see Jesus." Philip says, well, let me look into this, let me look into this. He talks to Andrew. Philip and Andrew go to Christ. They inform the Lord that these Greeks want to see Him, they want to meet Him. Now, you might think that the Lord would say, well, go back and take with you enough supply of the Four Spiritual Laws and give them to them. No. Or you might think that He would say, well, of course, you know, bring them in, let's set an appointment to meet them—9, 10, 11, whatever the case may be.
Well, the interesting part is that John, under inspiration, really never tells us whether they saw Him or not. That's not recorded here for us, at least. He doesn't even record that. Why? That's not the matter of interest here. That is not the matter of interest. That's not what's important here. He doesn't tell us whether they they ever got to see Jesus or not. What does he tell us? He tells us of an unexpected response. He tells us about an unexpected response.
I mean, think about it. If a friend comes to you and says, well, there's a Greek person who wants to meet you, would you like to see—to see him? Well, you'd have usually one of two responses: "No, I'm not—I'm not seeing Greeks, I'm not seeing anyone." That's one response. The other would be, "Yes, bring him in, let's meet him." But you don't find either of those here. Interesting. Not a no, not a yes. What you have is a theologically significant response. That's a theologically significant response. His reply reflects a profound impression made upon Him by this request from the Greeks, and this signals something in the Lord Jesus.
Look at verse 23. "Jesus answered them he answered Philip and Andrew saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'" What's the connection? If we were to put another heading in our outline, we'll say the connection—the coming, the contrast, the connection. The connection. What's the connection between their request and what He says, "The hour has come"? Well, what is the hour of which He speaks here? We've come across this expression, right? The hour. The hour has come. What is this hour? It's the hour of His death. It's the hour of His death. It's the time for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the time for His arrest, His trial, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, His appearance, and ultimately ascension, and then the preaching of the gospel to the world. The hour has come. His hour has come. The time for which He has come into the world has finally arrived.
Verse 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." Verse 27, "Now My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Verse 31, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." Verse 32, “‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die.”
What is this hour? Well, it is the hour of His death. It's the hour of the cross. It is the purpose for which He has come into the world. And He says that when He is lifted up from the earth, He's not just going to save some Jews, but all people are going to be drawn to Himself. That's the connection between their question—the question of these Gentiles—and His response. He's seeing already what is going to come to pass after He's accomplished what He has to accomplish in order to save sinners, the likes of us.
More than once in the Gospels we have found that it wasn't His hour yet. You remember that, right? Back even in the Gospel of John, back in chapter 2, when He performed the first sign, the changing of the water into wine, when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’" Chapter 7, verse 30, "So they were seeking to seize Him; and yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." Chapter 8, verse 20, "These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come."
Now comes this request from the Gentiles, and He says in verse 23, "My hour is here." My hour is here. He also says here, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." The Son of Man to be glorified. How is the glorification going to take place? What is the glorification of which He speaks? He's going to be glorified at the cross, through the cross. That which was an instrument of shame would be to Him an instrument by which all men would be drawn to Himself. The Son of Man is going to be lifted up from the earth. He's going to be glorified on a tree. It would allow His glory to be put on display, to be seen by men.
You even get a picture of that at the cross, at the foot of the cross. Mark 15:39, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God's Son.’"
His glory on display. He's going to be glorified at the cross, but He's also going to be glorified in what we have a foreshadowing of here. He's going to be glorified by the world coming to Him. Verse 32, He says, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
And we'll get to this portion at some point, but only to say this: that does not mean every single individual. When He says "all men”, Πᾶς (pas), the context is very important. The analogy of Scripture is really important, and we see that word used with different meanings. This is not "all" meaning every single individual. "All" doesn't mean all without exception, but rather all without distinction. "All" doesn't mean every single person. He means all peoples, all in terms of national distinctions, all in terms of racial distinctions, all the world, all people will be drawn to the Son of God from every tribe and tongue and nation. The mission for which Christ came to the world was a global mission.
Why does He express this in association with their requests? Because even in this request you have a foreshadowing of the nations that would come to know God as a result of the death that He was about to die. If He doesn't die, there will be no fruit. But if He does die, many will be saved, and there will be a great harvest.
We're reminded, aren't we, that the only, that only the crucified Savior—only the crucified Savior—saves. Only the crucified Messiah can save. The example of Christ does not save. The example of Christ does not save people. You can preach the Word of God and say, "Now you do like Jesus did," and nobody's ever going to be saved. You can't, first of all, and second, that is not why He came. He didn't come just to give you and me an example of how to live. And the teaching of Jesus Himself—the teaching of Jesus—unless the teaching of Jesus leads you to Him as Savior, as Lord, will not save you. He didn't say, "I will show you the way." He said what?, "I am"—I am—"the way." I'm the way to God, and apart from Me there is no way. There is no access to God. No, it's not the example of Christ that saves. It's not the teaching of Christ that saves. It is the death of Christ that reconciles the world to God.
The Son of Man, He says here in verse 23—”the Son of Man”, messianic term found in Daniel 7. They're familiar with that passage, no doubt. This vision in Daniel 7—you remember, the Son of Man comes, He has power, dominion, authority, and He crushes all His enemies, and He sets up His kingdom. And we read in Daniel 7:14, "And to Him to the Son of Man the Son of God was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not be taken away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."
So when they hear that, I I suppose there was there must have been some excitement, some exuberance. But then He gives them this illustration that we will look at next time, Lord willing—this analogy "Truly, truly, I say to you” and this must have been shocking to hear “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." What does that mean? I mean, we have in our mind Daniel 7. Why are you talking about death?
Before we press on with the application, just a couple of side quick side notes that have their own application as well. Would you notice with me how God uses common temporal associations to advance His glory? Common temporal associations to advance His glory. God is God uses that. In other words, Philip and Andrew got to be used by the Lord to bring this whole account about. The fact that these men lived near to an area where Gentiles lived—they were from where? Bethsaida. That's not there for no reason. The fact that they lived in an area close to Gentiles, where Gentiles lived, the fact that their names were Greek and invited this—this sort of approach—this, beloved, I submit, was used by God to bring this request to Christ and thus to glorify the Son of God.
But Philip and Andrew, mark it down, never aimed at that, did they? We don't find anything that tells us this in the text, that they aimed at that. They didn't. They didn't say, "Well now, hey brother, we've got—you and I have Greek names, we come from Bethsaida, we need to really be on the lookout for Greeks." No, they didn't aim at it. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just out there living for Christ, and God used these temporal associations that He brought about to advance the glory of His Son. They did not aim at it. They just lived for Christ.
And we're living in a day, beloved, when everyone is wanting to separate the church, break us out into our distinctions, and magnify the distinctions instead of magnifying the oneness—one family, one name by which we're called. In fact, one race of men redeemed—redeemed, that's it.
Do you realize that there are only two races of men on the face of the earth? In Adam or in Christ. In Adam or in Christ. There's nothing else in between. Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? Are you in the first Adam or are you in the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Now, you may happen to be Italian, you may happen to be Irish, you may happen to be Chinese or Greek or Egyptian, and that doesn't mean that you've got to start a ministry for wherever you come from. It means you live for Christ. And if God is pleased to use that for His name, guess what? He's going to use it. He's going to use it. But you don't aim at it as your purpose, that you just live for Him.
And you know, someone comes and says, "Well, you know, I was raised on a farm. Maybe we ought to start a farmer's fellowship for Christ." Or, "You know, I enjoy hockey. Maybe we ought to start a hockey fellowship for Christ." Beloved, you don't find anything like this in the New Testament. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You just live for Christ. And if He wants to use those temporal things in your life to draw others to Himself, guess what? He's going to do it.
Another important note is how God is working out a salvation plan that spans across all human history. And there are certain times for certain things. There are certain times for certain things. Christ has come first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But even now, there's beginning to dawn this new age when God would gather in the Gentiles in great, great numbers. And you see a foreshadowing of it right here.
Certain times for certain things. So in light of all of this, let me finish this morning with some questions. Listen carefully, beloved.
Question number one. Do you realize that today is a certain time? Do you realize that today is a certain time? Just as surely as God had a plan and has a plan for Israel, and God has a plan for His church, and God has a plan for the time of the Gentiles? Do you realize that today is a certain time in God's sovereign plan? That before the foundation of the world, it was God's plan to have you sitting here in this building this morning hearing this sermon, and He has a reason for it? Do you realize that? Do you live your life with that awareness that things are not happening accidentally, incidentally in your life, but there is a divine purpose for this moment?
And for some of you here this morning, this is God's certain time for you to hear the gospel, to receive the gospel, and to respond savingly to His Son as Lord and Savior if you just hear Him and if you won't harden your heart. "He again determines a certain day,” Hebrews 4:7. “He again determines a certain day “Today”, saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.'" Today—today. For some here this morning, this could be the day of your salvation. Will you hear the gospel? Will you heed the gospel call? Will you come all the way to Christ? This could be the day of your salvation. Will you come all the way to Christ?
Not enough to come all the way until your toes are right up to the narrow gate. That is not enough. Come all the way to Christ. Enter through the narrow gate. Leave your sin behind, your old life behind, and come through the narrow gate with repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have to repent, leaving your darling sins behind because the gate is so narrow that you have to come in empty-handed. “Nothing in my hands I bring. Only to Thy cross I cling.”
Will you approach Him the way these Gentiles approach Him? Will you say today, I wish to see Jesus. I wish to behold His glory.
Second, do you realize what mercy we have been shown as Gentiles? Do you realize how mercy—what mercy—we have been shown as Gentiles? How many here this morning, how many of you are a Gentile? You don't have to raise your hand, but you get my point. Anybody here is not Jewish? Do you realize that there was a time when we were without hope, without God in this world as Gentiles? God was dealing primarily with Israel. He always had a plan to reach the world. And even in the Old Testament times, you see pictures of that.
But Paul says in Romans 3, “there is advantage to being a Jew.” To the Jews were entrusted, first above all, the oracles of God. And they were given the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the patriarchs. And through them came the Messiah. But right now, we're living in a time when God has turned His saving attention to the world, to Gentiles. And we're told in the book of Romans that we're not to be puffed up by that. We’re not. We're to be humbled, rather, by that knowledge. Humbled.
I mean, do we look at the unbelieving Israel right now and do we say, oh my, oh my, how foolish they are and how wise we are. Do you understand the only reason you and I are seeing, that we have seen, is God. God. God's saving plan. God's saving grace. His mercy. He planned to save you. That's why you see. That's why I see. So the fact that He's turned for this time to the world and He's gathering in Gentiles in great numbers, that you're among them, that I'm one of these, ought to humble us before God and to say, oh Lord, You have a saving plan that was settled before time and You're working it out. And it's not being thwarted and every one of Your elect will be gathered to Your Son and I'm living in this time when You have turned Your attention to us and You have saved even me. What mercy that is.
Third, do you realize God isn't finished with the Jewish people? God isn't finished with the Jewish people. Do you realize that God does have a saving plan that will be fulfilled that includes salvation coming to national ethnic Israel? And do you glory at the sovereign saving promises of God that they will be fulfilled? Let me put it this way. Beloved, pre-millennialism is taught by Scripture. And it's on the fact that if you take God's word at face value, you have to believe that there is a saving plan that is going to be fulfilled to the Abrahamic covenant and that is going to include salvation for national ethnic Israel. Do you realize that, beloved? Do you glory in that? Do you rejoice in the wisdom of God and how He's working out His saving plans? His promises will be fulfilled—every single one of them.
Have you ever seen the Son of God glorified? Christ said He's going to be glorified. The time has come. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified at the cross, through the cross, and beyond. Have you seen the glory of God's Son at the cross? Do you see the glory of God? What do you see when you see the cross? Do you understand the purpose for it? Do you understand the fullness of it? Do you understand what happened there at Calvary? That there at the cross, on that tree, O child of God, there at the cross, on that tree, you—you were being reconciled to God through the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, the Lamb of God. Yes, it would be brought to you through the preaching of the gospel and the acknowledgement of faith, but it was accomplished there over 2,000 years ago. I could trace my salvation to that tree.
Romans 6. You died with Christ. You were buried with Christ. That's where my sins were paid for. Do you see the glory of God's Son there at the tree? And have you ever seen His glory in your heart, beloved? Because this is how men and women are saved. They see the glory of God in the face of His Son. They understand who Jesus is and why He came to this earth and what He did in His living and what He did in His dying and what was accomplished in His glorious resurrection so that they see Him—they behold Him—they love Him. Sir, we would see Jesus. And that would be the cry of the heart of every single child of God ever since.
Guess what? We have seen Jesus. If we've been saved, we have seen Jesus. We've met Him. We've come to know Him. And we love Him. Is that you this morning? Is that you? Or is all you know is religion? Can I just say there's no one more miserable in this world than someone who only has religion? Miserable. Miserable. And I don't doubt that there's somebody here this morning. If you just can be honest with your own condition, you will have to admit that you really don't have a saving personal knowledge of Jesus. What you have perhaps is a church life. What you have is religion. What you may even have is a Baptist life. But you don't know God. You don't know Jesus.
And that's why you don't have any desire whatsoever for His word. That's why you don't even want to spend a minute of your time in prayer. That's why you never share the faith with anyone—never ever. And that's why you have compartmentalized your life where you come to church on Sunday morning, even Sunday evening, and perhaps even sometimes you might show up to prayer meeting on Wednesday. But the rest of your life is in a different category. And you live your life daily as if Christ doesn't even exist. That is not Christianity. That is not what it means to have eternal life. That is not what it means to be saved.
Beloved, when someone is saved, Christ is not a part of their life. He is their life. “For to me, to live is Christ.” (Philippians 1:21) He's not on the periphery edges of my life. He is the core of my life. The point of my life. He is at the center of it. He is my life. I live for Him. I live for Him. Do you know that kind of Christianity? Have you ever been saved?
Finally, I must hasten. Do you realize that God's plan is for the salvation of the nations? God's plan is for the salvation of the nations, not every single human being, but every category of human being. Do you realize that? That God has a plan for the salvation of the nations so that you have a burden to see all peoples reached with the gospel for the glory of God?
We're not to be a people, as Christian people, who only have a burden for one person here, one person there. Maybe, you know, my neighbor right beside me. No, no, beloved. We are to realize that we are heavenly citizens and this gospel that we're entrusted with is to go to the ends of the earth, and through our prayers and through our giving and through our activity, we are to desire to see the salvation of all peoples for the glory of God.
And do you realize that whenever salvation comes to a heart, God is glorified? And as His people, isn't that what we desire? For Him to be glorified so that our motivation for evangelism and missions isn't some silly statistic put on a page somewhere for someone to pat us on the back or give us an award. But the motivation for evangelism and missions is that we love God. We love God. We love Jesus Christ, and we want Him to be glorified. And when sinners are saved, He is glorified. And we desire to see Him glorified—not glorified like a rock or tree would glorify Him unconsciously, but glorified consciously from hearts that truly love Him. And that only happens where there's salvation.
Do you desire for your neighbor to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your co-workers to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your mom, your dad, your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, children who are unsaved to glorify God like that? I know this. Unless you glorify Him like that, you don't have any burden for them. How could it be that a so-called Christian has no real burden to share the Gospel with others? How? Answer: they're only a so-called Christian. And I'm not talking about struggling with that desire and being intimidated and praying for boldness and wrestling. I'm talking about no desire whatsoever, no burden whatsoever—ever.
I want to close with Spurgeon concerning the desire to see Jesus, to know Jesus, to love Jesus. Quote, "If Jesus be a soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. He will say, 'I want Christ. I must have Him. Mere ordinances are of no use to me. I want Himself. Do not offer me these. You offer me the empty pitcher while I am dying of thirst. Give me water or I die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus.'"
And then he asked, "Is this thy condition, my reader, at this moment? Has thou but one desire and is that after Christ? Then thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven. Has thou but one wish in thy heart and that one wish that thou may be washed from all thy sins in Jesus's blood? Canst thou really say, 'I would give all I have to be a Christian? I would give up everything I have and hope for if I might but feel that I have an interest in Christ?' Then despite all thy fears, be of good cheer. The Lord loveth thee and thou shalt come out into daylight soon and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free." End of quote.
Next week, Lord willing, we're going to come back and we're going to see that there's no life apart from death. And we're going to see that Jesus takes an analogy, an illustration, and broadens out the application. He doesn't just apply it to Himself. He applies it as well to us. We had to die to live. And even now, we have to die to be used for life. And we'll see that together next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Let's pray.
Christ said here, “‘It was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’" (John 12: 27b, 28) He will be glorified, and He will be glorified whether men wanted Him to be glorified or not. He will be glorified even if all the nations and all their armies were joining together to somehow try to stop it. He will be glorified. And He will be glorified in ways that men would never imagine.
In fact, there are times when God glorifies Himself even in man's desire to refuse to give Him glory. Even in that, He glorifies Himself. God is so powerful, so sovereign, that even from the lips of men who have no desire in their hearts to glorify God, God is able to glorify Himself nevertheless. We saw an example of this, right? In Caiaphas, when he unwittingly prophesied the meaning of the death of Jesus on behalf of the nation.
And I want to suggest that we see another example of that right here in these verses that we have before us that I want us to see this morning. And where we begin this morning is this: the request of some Greeks, or the coming of some Greeks. Let's begin with the coming of some Greeks.
Look at verse 20, "Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these men came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'"
The coming of some Greeks. And as we look at these verses, as I looked at these verses this week, I always begin with some questions. One of the best ways that you could study the Bible is, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to ask questions. Ask questions.
And the first questions I had were, who were these Greeks? Who are these Greeks? "There were some Greeks among those who were going up," the text says, "to worship at the feast." Who were these Greeks? And the answer is, they were simply Gentiles. They were Gentiles. I make the distinction because these were not Greek-speaking Jews, Hellenistic Jews. These are Gentiles.
The word that John uses under inspiration here is Ἕλληνες (Hellēnes). It's a word that is most often used for Greek people, particularly used even beyond that to Gentiles. There's another word, Ἑλληνιστής (Hellēnistēs), used for the Greek-speaking Jews, translated Hellenist—a Hellenist, a Jew by birth. For example, Acts chapter 6 and verse 1, you see an example of that word being used, but that is not the word that John uses here. The word he uses is Ἕλληνες. It's a word used for Gentiles. These are Greek people.
Well, if these are Gentiles, well, what are they doing at the feast? A Jewish feast. Well, we're told that they went up to worship. And that indicates to us that they were God-fearing Gentiles. They were proselytes. They were worshiping Gentiles—Gentiles who joined themselves to Jews in worshiping the one true God, Yahweh. And so here they are. They've made their pilgrimage to the Passover, and they're there to worship.
Another question: When did this request take place? Where were they when this request took place? Well, we're not told. The text doesn't tell us. John doesn't tell us. He doesn't give us any time indicators here. So it's unlikely this was on the day of the triumphal entry. It's probably the day after or another day after that. It's possible this took place at the temple—perhaps, most likely, even at the court of the Gentiles. We're not told, however.
Another question: Why do they want to see Jesus? Why? They asked to see Him. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Why? Why do they wish to see Jesus? I think when you look at the passage as a whole, when you hear the answers that we're going to hear in a moment that Jesus gives, I think it is right to understand that they do have a genuine authority and they do have a genuine, authentic desire—interest, really—in the Son of God. This was an authentic, genuine desire to know Jesus. They have some knowledge of who He is. They've heard something about Him. And they want to meet Him. They want to know Him.
And so even in their request—and we'll get into this in a moment—I think even in their request, there's a foreshadowing of the purpose for which Christ had come into this world. File that for a moment. And so these Gentiles are asking to see the Son of God.
Here's another question: Why do they approach Philip? They go to Philip. Philip goes to Andrew. Together they go to Christ. Well, why did they approach Philip? I mean, it could have been just the fact that he was the one available at that moment. It could have just been, as we would say, you know, accidental that they went to Philip. But we know nothing is accidental.
It's interesting, though, that John tells us—well, why does he tell us that Philip was from Bethsaida? There's a point that he's making under inspiration. It's interesting, though, that John tells us that he was from Bethsaida. And by the way, Andrew is from there as well. James Montgomery Boyce points out that Bethsaida was near a Greek area of the ancient east known as Syrophoenicia. It's all part of the Decapolis, ten cities there that was replete with Gentiles and Greek population. And so it may have been, it's even possible that there was some acquaintance perhaps here, that they knew Philip perhaps.
Now, what we know is that Philip's name is a Greek name, Φίλιππος (Philippos). And Andrew's name is a Greek name, Ἀνδρέας (Andreas), as well. And so it just may be that these men overheard the name. Perhaps they feel an affinity for these men because of their Greek names. Whatever the reason, they come to Philip in a very respectful way. "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." A respectful way that reflects their respect for Philip's master, for Philip's teacher. And so they have a knowledge of His teacher and they have a genuine interest in Christ.
I love what S. Lewis Johnson said at this point. And I agree with him. He said, quote, "I'd like to suggest to you before we go on, that the fact that the Greeks or the Gentiles came to the apostles and said we want to see Jesus, and it's safe to say that it is for spiritual instruction, that that suggests to us the failure of everything that is Gentile apart from Christ." He goes on to say, "I would suggest to you that it suggests the failure of intellect. Remember 1 Corinthians 1:22, Greeks search for what? Wisdom. If these were really Greeks and they were, of course, the thinkers of the ancient age,"—he goes on—"it would suggest the failure of intellect, but at least it would suggest the failure of the intellect of the Gentiles and finding truth. It would suggest the failure of culture, the failure of refinement, the failure of beauty, the failure of wisdom. In fact, the failure of man, the failure of Gentile men to find the answers to the questions of life. Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
The coming of these Greeks. That leads us to a second thing that I want us to see here, the contrast. The contrast with the Pharisees. And this is really amazing. Think about it with me. Think about it with me. One of the things that we notice in the Gospel of John is John is pretty good at time indicators. I mean, over and over again, you'll see things like, and “on the next day”, or as we saw it earlier here in this chapter, “it was six days before the Passover.” Verse 1. John is very good about time indicators, yet he doesn't give us any indication of time here. He doesn't tell us what day it occurred on, doesn't tell us what hour of the day, doesn't even tell us where they were when this occurred.
Well, that says something to us. And I believe what it says to us is that what is utmost in his mind is not the time or the location, but rather something else. There's something else far more significant. It's not the time when this happened. It is the place where John is going to put it in his account under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Remember, there were many things that occurred during the time that John spent with Jesus that he did not record in this Gospel. Many things, many conversations, many events. In fact, John himself tells us in John 21:25, he says that if I were to put all of what Jesus did and said down, he said that “the world could not contain all the things that he could have recorded.” (John 21:25)
So right away, you know, whatever you find in the Gospel of John, it has a strategic purpose. It's meant to lead us to a right knowledge of Jesus. It's meant to lead us to an understanding of our Savior, of the Savior. He said, I'm writing these things. These are for the purpose that you may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And knowing this, that you believe in His name.
So what is most important here is not when it occurred, but where John puts it. And notice, you notice he puts it right on the heels of something that the Pharisees said back in verse 19. They said, "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him." The world. The world has gone after Him.
Now, of course, when they say the world, they don't mean the world, the entire world. They're thinking in terms of the response of the Jews as He's making His way into the city of Jerusalem. The triumphal entry, people singing Hosanna. They're singing praises to Christ. And they look at the response of the Jews and they say the nation, that is what they mean. The nation, the entire nation has gone after Him. The world has gone after Him. Everybody is going after Him.
But I want to suggest this morning that by the strategic placement of this account, that John sees in their words—that the Holy Spirit rather sees in their words—again, one of those unconscious statements that means much more than they ever realized, that out of their mouths come words that glorify God, that speak the truth. The world has gone after Him. And right after this, we're told, Greeks, Gentiles, they come seeking to know Him. "Sir, we want to see Jesus.” We wish to see Jesus. There's a contrast.
And the Holy Spirit is presenting us with the irony that is present in the response of these Gentiles to Jesus, compared to the response of the Pharisees. Notice with me, first of all, there's a contrast in attitude. A contrast in attitude. The Pharisees are resentful. They are resistant. They want to eliminate the Lord Jesus. They are defiant. They are hardened. But the Gentiles come on this occasion and they are drawn. They're attracted. They're interested. And they desire to seek out the Lord Jesus, not eliminate Him. They want to know Him. Contrast in attitudes.
There's also a striking contrast in terms of access. Now you know the Pharisees were Jews. To them belonged all the privileges and all the advantages that God in His sovereign plan had provided for that people. Romans 3 verse 1, Paul says, "Then, what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision?" Verse 2, "Great.” This is Paul's response—”great in every respect.” Great in every respect. He says, great in every respect. And then he says this: "First of all”, that is, above all, we talk about their privileges, "above all, they were entrusted with the oracles of God."
The Jews were given divine revelation. The divine revelation of Scripture. So that they had all the prophecies that proclaimed what they were going to see when their Messiah arrives on the scene. They had all that for preparation. And the Gentiles didn't have that. None of it. Romans 9 verse 4 says, "Israelites, to whom belong the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises." To them belong the patriarchs, verse 5, "whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen."
What divine preparation has been given to these people, so that they may recognize their Messiah when He comes. And yet, yet we see again and again, especially here, despite all of that preparation, all of the privilege, the Pharisees don't know who He is. They don't recognize Him. They don't love Him. They don't submit to Him. They had access to Him, even in terms of His earthly ministry. They had access—in fact, they had amazing access to Him. If they wanted to know Him, they could have easily entreated Him. There were many interactions with them and Jesus. They could have easily spent time with Him. They could have easily asked Him questions.
In fact, notice how Jesus Himself puts it in Mark 14, when Jesus is being arrested, verse 48. You read the following, Mark 14, verse 48, “And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me? As you would against a robber?’” Verse 49, “‘Every day I was with you within the temple teaching and you did not cease me, but this has taken plan in order that the scripture would be fulfilled.’”
Jesus says, Was I not with you every single day? Didn't you have access to me every single day? Wasn't I in the temple teaching, and you every day? I mean, what amazing access the Jews had to Him. What amazing privilege the Jews had. And yet, they don't see Him. They don't see Him. They don't recognize Him.
And yet, here are these Greeks, Gentiles, who had none of this, none of these advantages by birth. In fact, they had to request to meet Him. And here's another evidence that they were indeed Gentiles. You notice the hesitancy on the part of Philip. Philip says, let me go and talk to Andrew. Maybe he was the head deacon, I don't know, or usher. And Philip and Andrew go to Jesus. Here are people who, when they wanted to worship the true and living God, didn't have the same access in the temple area that the Jews had. I mean, after becoming a proselyte, even after a circumcision, there was, what? A section dedicated to what? To Gentiles who actually become God-fearer. It's called the Court of the Gentiles. And there's that partition wall, that wall of separation between the two. They didn't have the same access.
So there's this contrast in attitude. And what makes the attitude contrast so amazing is that there's this contrast in privilege. This contrast in access. This contrast in terms of availability and familiarity with that which should make someone receive Jesus. And the Pharisees had it all. All of it. And they missed Him. They completely missed Him. The Gentiles had little. And they desperately seek Him. They seek Him.
You know, beloved, we see the same sort of amazing thing in salvation history throughout, don't we? We see it to our own day, even. You'll see people who are raised around the gospel all their life. They hear it all their life. They're surrounded by the gospel. They hear it inside their homes. They hear it inside the church, the Sunday school, kids camp, and Christian schools. They're surrounded by the gospel. And yet, they do not come to the Savior. They miss Him.
And then there'll be someone who had very little privilege in terms of familiarity with the gospel and being trained up in the arena of sound doctrine, and they hear the gospel. And the Lord saves them. And what is God doing when He does this? You know, He's reminding us that He saves sinners. He saves sinners. And He's not limited either, is He? He can save them in strange places. There's been people saved sitting in weak, anemic churches and the Lord just in His grace and mercy visits them and saves them. In fact, there are people sitting here this morning who were saved in churches that they would never sit in today, but the Lord saved them. The Lord is a Savior.
So you have a contrast in attitude, you have a contrast in access. There's another contrast here that's being put before us. There's a contrast in terms of the ages. Contrast in terms of the ages. That is, there's a new age about to dawn as Jesus speaks His words here, a new era, a new time in terms of the working out of God's salvation purpose. God is about to turn from Israel to the nations. He's about to set the nation of Israel aside for a time. God is about to bring about a new thing. God is about to do something new. Jesus is going to build His church and that church will mean the inclusion of the Gentiles. And very soon the Lord is going to build His church and in that church Jew and Gentile will stand on equal footing at the foot of the cross.
I said that in verse 19 you have words that mean more than they knew. “The world”, they say, “is going after Him.” And here right after those words you have what is a foreshadowing of the coming of the world to Christ, the coming of the Gentiles to Jesus. Do you realize, beloved, that we're living in a new age? We're living in a new age. Do you realize that we are living at the end of the ages? 1st Corinthians 10:11. “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have arrived.” We're living in a distinct time.
Turn with me to Romans 11. Romans 11. Romans 11 speaks of this. Look at verse 7 now. "What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but the chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, 'God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.'” And David says, “'Let their table become a snare and a trap, and a stumbling block and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.'"
I say then, did they stumble so as to fall—notice this national rejection, not every single Jew rejected Christ, the elect were saved, but you look at the nation of Israel as a whole and they rejected their Messiah—and what does that mean in terms of the future? Paul asked the question in verse 11, what does it mean in terms of the future? He says, "I say then, did they stumble so as to fall?” That is, is God completely done completely finished with a national ethnic Israel? And what's the answer he gives? The strongest negative reply in the Greek language μὴ γένοιτο (mè genoito) “May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous. Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness be!"
How much more will their full inclusion mean? This is a time we're living in right now, the time of the Gentiles. God is—God is is gathering in Gentiles through the preaching of the gospel in great numbers. Jews are being saved in small numbers. You go back to the Old Testament, Jews were saved in great numbers, Gentiles were saved in small numbers. We're living in a distinct, different age. But this age will come to an end, and when it comes to an end, there's going to be a great salvation work of God in the nation of Israel, and there's going to be a full inclusion. God is going to do this.
Look at verse 13, "But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles in as much then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?"
It looks like the nation of Israel, from the standpoint of salvation, it is dead right now—dead. But God is able to bring about a resurrection, and He's going to do it because He promised it, and God will never rescind His promises. Never. But right now, you see what it means is the reconciliation of the world. Paul tells us their rejection is the reconciliation of the world. God is reaching right now Gentiles for His Son in great numbers, and beloved, that is what is in view here. There's this foreshadowing of it right here by the coming of these Greeks, these Gentiles, to Jesus back in John 12.
And one of the ways that we know that we're understanding this correctly is how Jesus responds to their request. Now think about it, this is fascinating. Is it not a strange response? "Sir, we wish to see—to see Jesus." Philip says, well, let me look into this, let me look into this. He talks to Andrew. Philip and Andrew go to Christ. They inform the Lord that these Greeks want to see Him, they want to meet Him. Now, you might think that the Lord would say, well, go back and take with you enough supply of the Four Spiritual Laws and give them to them. No. Or you might think that He would say, well, of course, you know, bring them in, let's set an appointment to meet them—9, 10, 11, whatever the case may be.
Well, the interesting part is that John, under inspiration, really never tells us whether they saw Him or not. That's not recorded here for us, at least. He doesn't even record that. Why? That's not the matter of interest here. That is not the matter of interest. That's not what's important here. He doesn't tell us whether they they ever got to see Jesus or not. What does he tell us? He tells us of an unexpected response. He tells us about an unexpected response.
I mean, think about it. If a friend comes to you and says, well, there's a Greek person who wants to meet you, would you like to see—to see him? Well, you'd have usually one of two responses: "No, I'm not—I'm not seeing Greeks, I'm not seeing anyone." That's one response. The other would be, "Yes, bring him in, let's meet him." But you don't find either of those here. Interesting. Not a no, not a yes. What you have is a theologically significant response. That's a theologically significant response. His reply reflects a profound impression made upon Him by this request from the Greeks, and this signals something in the Lord Jesus.
Look at verse 23. "Jesus answered them he answered Philip and Andrew saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.'" What's the connection? If we were to put another heading in our outline, we'll say the connection—the coming, the contrast, the connection. The connection. What's the connection between their request and what He says, "The hour has come"? Well, what is the hour of which He speaks here? We've come across this expression, right? The hour. The hour has come. What is this hour? It's the hour of His death. It's the hour of His death. It's the time for the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the time for His arrest, His trial, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection, His appearance, and ultimately ascension, and then the preaching of the gospel to the world. The hour has come. His hour has come. The time for which He has come into the world has finally arrived.
Verse 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." Verse 27, "Now My soul has become dismayed; and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Verse 31, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." Verse 32, “‘And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was about to die.”
What is this hour? Well, it is the hour of His death. It's the hour of the cross. It is the purpose for which He has come into the world. And He says that when He is lifted up from the earth, He's not just going to save some Jews, but all people are going to be drawn to Himself. That's the connection between their question—the question of these Gentiles—and His response. He's seeing already what is going to come to pass after He's accomplished what He has to accomplish in order to save sinners, the likes of us.
More than once in the Gospels we have found that it wasn't His hour yet. You remember that, right? Back even in the Gospel of John, back in chapter 2, when He performed the first sign, the changing of the water into wine, when the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.’" Chapter 7, verse 30, "So they were seeking to seize Him; and yet no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come." Chapter 8, verse 20, "These words He spoke in the treasury, as He was teaching in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come."
Now comes this request from the Gentiles, and He says in verse 23, "My hour is here." My hour is here. He also says here, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." The Son of Man to be glorified. How is the glorification going to take place? What is the glorification of which He speaks? He's going to be glorified at the cross, through the cross. That which was an instrument of shame would be to Him an instrument by which all men would be drawn to Himself. The Son of Man is going to be lifted up from the earth. He's going to be glorified on a tree. It would allow His glory to be put on display, to be seen by men.
You even get a picture of that at the cross, at the foot of the cross. Mark 15:39, “When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, ‘Truly this man was God's Son.’"
His glory on display. He's going to be glorified at the cross, but He's also going to be glorified in what we have a foreshadowing of here. He's going to be glorified by the world coming to Him. Verse 32, He says, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."
And we'll get to this portion at some point, but only to say this: that does not mean every single individual. When He says "all men”, Πᾶς (pas), the context is very important. The analogy of Scripture is really important, and we see that word used with different meanings. This is not "all" meaning every single individual. "All" doesn't mean all without exception, but rather all without distinction. "All" doesn't mean every single person. He means all peoples, all in terms of national distinctions, all in terms of racial distinctions, all the world, all people will be drawn to the Son of God from every tribe and tongue and nation. The mission for which Christ came to the world was a global mission.
Why does He express this in association with their requests? Because even in this request you have a foreshadowing of the nations that would come to know God as a result of the death that He was about to die. If He doesn't die, there will be no fruit. But if He does die, many will be saved, and there will be a great harvest.
We're reminded, aren't we, that the only, that only the crucified Savior—only the crucified Savior—saves. Only the crucified Messiah can save. The example of Christ does not save. The example of Christ does not save people. You can preach the Word of God and say, "Now you do like Jesus did," and nobody's ever going to be saved. You can't, first of all, and second, that is not why He came. He didn't come just to give you and me an example of how to live. And the teaching of Jesus Himself—the teaching of Jesus—unless the teaching of Jesus leads you to Him as Savior, as Lord, will not save you. He didn't say, "I will show you the way." He said what?, "I am"—I am—"the way." I'm the way to God, and apart from Me there is no way. There is no access to God. No, it's not the example of Christ that saves. It's not the teaching of Christ that saves. It is the death of Christ that reconciles the world to God.
The Son of Man, He says here in verse 23—”the Son of Man”, messianic term found in Daniel 7. They're familiar with that passage, no doubt. This vision in Daniel 7—you remember, the Son of Man comes, He has power, dominion, authority, and He crushes all His enemies, and He sets up His kingdom. And we read in Daniel 7:14, "And to Him to the Son of Man the Son of God was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not be taken away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed."
So when they hear that, I I suppose there was there must have been some excitement, some exuberance. But then He gives them this illustration that we will look at next time, Lord willing—this analogy "Truly, truly, I say to you” and this must have been shocking to hear “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." What does that mean? I mean, we have in our mind Daniel 7. Why are you talking about death?
Before we press on with the application, just a couple of side quick side notes that have their own application as well. Would you notice with me how God uses common temporal associations to advance His glory? Common temporal associations to advance His glory. God is God uses that. In other words, Philip and Andrew got to be used by the Lord to bring this whole account about. The fact that these men lived near to an area where Gentiles lived—they were from where? Bethsaida. That's not there for no reason. The fact that they lived in an area close to Gentiles, where Gentiles lived, the fact that their names were Greek and invited this—this sort of approach—this, beloved, I submit, was used by God to bring this request to Christ and thus to glorify the Son of God.
But Philip and Andrew, mark it down, never aimed at that, did they? We don't find anything that tells us this in the text, that they aimed at that. They didn't. They didn't say, "Well now, hey brother, we've got—you and I have Greek names, we come from Bethsaida, we need to really be on the lookout for Greeks." No, they didn't aim at it. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just being themselves for Christ. They're just out there living for Christ, and God used these temporal associations that He brought about to advance the glory of His Son. They did not aim at it. They just lived for Christ.
And we're living in a day, beloved, when everyone is wanting to separate the church, break us out into our distinctions, and magnify the distinctions instead of magnifying the oneness—one family, one name by which we're called. In fact, one race of men redeemed—redeemed, that's it.
Do you realize that there are only two races of men on the face of the earth? In Adam or in Christ. In Adam or in Christ. There's nothing else in between. Are you in Adam or are you in Christ? Are you in the first Adam or are you in the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ?
Now, you may happen to be Italian, you may happen to be Irish, you may happen to be Chinese or Greek or Egyptian, and that doesn't mean that you've got to start a ministry for wherever you come from. It means you live for Christ. And if God is pleased to use that for His name, guess what? He's going to use it. He's going to use it. But you don't aim at it as your purpose, that you just live for Him.
And you know, someone comes and says, "Well, you know, I was raised on a farm. Maybe we ought to start a farmer's fellowship for Christ." Or, "You know, I enjoy hockey. Maybe we ought to start a hockey fellowship for Christ." Beloved, you don't find anything like this in the New Testament. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You just live for Christ. And if He wants to use those temporal things in your life to draw others to Himself, guess what? He's going to do it.
Another important note is how God is working out a salvation plan that spans across all human history. And there are certain times for certain things. There are certain times for certain things. Christ has come first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But even now, there's beginning to dawn this new age when God would gather in the Gentiles in great, great numbers. And you see a foreshadowing of it right here.
Certain times for certain things. So in light of all of this, let me finish this morning with some questions. Listen carefully, beloved.
Question number one. Do you realize that today is a certain time? Do you realize that today is a certain time? Just as surely as God had a plan and has a plan for Israel, and God has a plan for His church, and God has a plan for the time of the Gentiles? Do you realize that today is a certain time in God's sovereign plan? That before the foundation of the world, it was God's plan to have you sitting here in this building this morning hearing this sermon, and He has a reason for it? Do you realize that? Do you live your life with that awareness that things are not happening accidentally, incidentally in your life, but there is a divine purpose for this moment?
And for some of you here this morning, this is God's certain time for you to hear the gospel, to receive the gospel, and to respond savingly to His Son as Lord and Savior if you just hear Him and if you won't harden your heart. "He again determines a certain day,” Hebrews 4:7. “He again determines a certain day “Today”, saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.'" Today—today. For some here this morning, this could be the day of your salvation. Will you hear the gospel? Will you heed the gospel call? Will you come all the way to Christ? This could be the day of your salvation. Will you come all the way to Christ?
Not enough to come all the way until your toes are right up to the narrow gate. That is not enough. Come all the way to Christ. Enter through the narrow gate. Leave your sin behind, your old life behind, and come through the narrow gate with repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you have to repent, leaving your darling sins behind because the gate is so narrow that you have to come in empty-handed. “Nothing in my hands I bring. Only to Thy cross I cling.”
Will you approach Him the way these Gentiles approach Him? Will you say today, I wish to see Jesus. I wish to behold His glory.
Second, do you realize what mercy we have been shown as Gentiles? Do you realize how mercy—what mercy—we have been shown as Gentiles? How many here this morning, how many of you are a Gentile? You don't have to raise your hand, but you get my point. Anybody here is not Jewish? Do you realize that there was a time when we were without hope, without God in this world as Gentiles? God was dealing primarily with Israel. He always had a plan to reach the world. And even in the Old Testament times, you see pictures of that.
But Paul says in Romans 3, “there is advantage to being a Jew.” To the Jews were entrusted, first above all, the oracles of God. And they were given the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the patriarchs. And through them came the Messiah. But right now, we're living in a time when God has turned His saving attention to the world, to Gentiles. And we're told in the book of Romans that we're not to be puffed up by that. We’re not. We're to be humbled, rather, by that knowledge. Humbled.
I mean, do we look at the unbelieving Israel right now and do we say, oh my, oh my, how foolish they are and how wise we are. Do you understand the only reason you and I are seeing, that we have seen, is God. God. God's saving plan. God's saving grace. His mercy. He planned to save you. That's why you see. That's why I see. So the fact that He's turned for this time to the world and He's gathering in Gentiles in great numbers, that you're among them, that I'm one of these, ought to humble us before God and to say, oh Lord, You have a saving plan that was settled before time and You're working it out. And it's not being thwarted and every one of Your elect will be gathered to Your Son and I'm living in this time when You have turned Your attention to us and You have saved even me. What mercy that is.
Third, do you realize God isn't finished with the Jewish people? God isn't finished with the Jewish people. Do you realize that God does have a saving plan that will be fulfilled that includes salvation coming to national ethnic Israel? And do you glory at the sovereign saving promises of God that they will be fulfilled? Let me put it this way. Beloved, pre-millennialism is taught by Scripture. And it's on the fact that if you take God's word at face value, you have to believe that there is a saving plan that is going to be fulfilled to the Abrahamic covenant and that is going to include salvation for national ethnic Israel. Do you realize that, beloved? Do you glory in that? Do you rejoice in the wisdom of God and how He's working out His saving plans? His promises will be fulfilled—every single one of them.
Have you ever seen the Son of God glorified? Christ said He's going to be glorified. The time has come. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified at the cross, through the cross, and beyond. Have you seen the glory of God's Son at the cross? Do you see the glory of God? What do you see when you see the cross? Do you understand the purpose for it? Do you understand the fullness of it? Do you understand what happened there at Calvary? That there at the cross, on that tree, O child of God, there at the cross, on that tree, you—you were being reconciled to God through the shedding of the blood of the Son of God, the Lamb of God. Yes, it would be brought to you through the preaching of the gospel and the acknowledgement of faith, but it was accomplished there over 2,000 years ago. I could trace my salvation to that tree.
Romans 6. You died with Christ. You were buried with Christ. That's where my sins were paid for. Do you see the glory of God's Son there at the tree? And have you ever seen His glory in your heart, beloved? Because this is how men and women are saved. They see the glory of God in the face of His Son. They understand who Jesus is and why He came to this earth and what He did in His living and what He did in His dying and what was accomplished in His glorious resurrection so that they see Him—they behold Him—they love Him. Sir, we would see Jesus. And that would be the cry of the heart of every single child of God ever since.
Guess what? We have seen Jesus. If we've been saved, we have seen Jesus. We've met Him. We've come to know Him. And we love Him. Is that you this morning? Is that you? Or is all you know is religion? Can I just say there's no one more miserable in this world than someone who only has religion? Miserable. Miserable. And I don't doubt that there's somebody here this morning. If you just can be honest with your own condition, you will have to admit that you really don't have a saving personal knowledge of Jesus. What you have perhaps is a church life. What you have is religion. What you may even have is a Baptist life. But you don't know God. You don't know Jesus.
And that's why you don't have any desire whatsoever for His word. That's why you don't even want to spend a minute of your time in prayer. That's why you never share the faith with anyone—never ever. And that's why you have compartmentalized your life where you come to church on Sunday morning, even Sunday evening, and perhaps even sometimes you might show up to prayer meeting on Wednesday. But the rest of your life is in a different category. And you live your life daily as if Christ doesn't even exist. That is not Christianity. That is not what it means to have eternal life. That is not what it means to be saved.
Beloved, when someone is saved, Christ is not a part of their life. He is their life. “For to me, to live is Christ.” (Philippians 1:21) He's not on the periphery edges of my life. He is the core of my life. The point of my life. He is at the center of it. He is my life. I live for Him. I live for Him. Do you know that kind of Christianity? Have you ever been saved?
Finally, I must hasten. Do you realize that God's plan is for the salvation of the nations? God's plan is for the salvation of the nations, not every single human being, but every category of human being. Do you realize that? That God has a plan for the salvation of the nations so that you have a burden to see all peoples reached with the gospel for the glory of God?
We're not to be a people, as Christian people, who only have a burden for one person here, one person there. Maybe, you know, my neighbor right beside me. No, no, beloved. We are to realize that we are heavenly citizens and this gospel that we're entrusted with is to go to the ends of the earth, and through our prayers and through our giving and through our activity, we are to desire to see the salvation of all peoples for the glory of God.
And do you realize that whenever salvation comes to a heart, God is glorified? And as His people, isn't that what we desire? For Him to be glorified so that our motivation for evangelism and missions isn't some silly statistic put on a page somewhere for someone to pat us on the back or give us an award. But the motivation for evangelism and missions is that we love God. We love God. We love Jesus Christ, and we want Him to be glorified. And when sinners are saved, He is glorified. And we desire to see Him glorified—not glorified like a rock or tree would glorify Him unconsciously, but glorified consciously from hearts that truly love Him. And that only happens where there's salvation.
Do you desire for your neighbor to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your co-workers to glorify God like that? Do you desire for your mom, your dad, your brother, sister, aunt, uncle, children who are unsaved to glorify God like that? I know this. Unless you glorify Him like that, you don't have any burden for them. How could it be that a so-called Christian has no real burden to share the Gospel with others? How? Answer: they're only a so-called Christian. And I'm not talking about struggling with that desire and being intimidated and praying for boldness and wrestling. I'm talking about no desire whatsoever, no burden whatsoever—ever.
I want to close with Spurgeon concerning the desire to see Jesus, to know Jesus, to love Jesus. Quote, "If Jesus be a soul's desire, it is a blessed sign of divine work within. Such a man will never be content with mere ordinances. He will say, 'I want Christ. I must have Him. Mere ordinances are of no use to me. I want Himself. Do not offer me these. You offer me the empty pitcher while I am dying of thirst. Give me water or I die. Jesus is my soul's desire. I would see Jesus.'"
And then he asked, "Is this thy condition, my reader, at this moment? Has thou but one desire and is that after Christ? Then thou art not far from the kingdom of heaven. Has thou but one wish in thy heart and that one wish that thou may be washed from all thy sins in Jesus's blood? Canst thou really say, 'I would give all I have to be a Christian? I would give up everything I have and hope for if I might but feel that I have an interest in Christ?' Then despite all thy fears, be of good cheer. The Lord loveth thee and thou shalt come out into daylight soon and rejoice in the liberty wherewith Christ makes men free." End of quote.
Next week, Lord willing, we're going to come back and we're going to see that there's no life apart from death. And we're going to see that Jesus takes an analogy, an illustration, and broadens out the application. He doesn't just apply it to Himself. He applies it as well to us. We had to die to live. And even now, we have to die to be used for life. And we'll see that together next Lord's Day, Lord willing. Let's pray.
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