Providence Church (CREC)
Rev. Uriesou Brito
John 12:20-33
Fifth Sunday in Lent
Ninth Sermon, SERMON AUDIO HERE
First official sermon as an ordained minister.
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “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 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
Prayer: Our Lord, glorify your Name in the preached Word and may these words be acceptable in your sight, Lord our great Redeemer. Amen.
Sermon: We are moving from Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in chapter 3 and jumping a few chapters to what many consider to be the center of the gospel of St. John. In chapter 12, instead of the Jews seeking Jesus as Nicodemus had done earlier, now we have the Greeks seeking Jesus. This is a glorious picture of the world flocking to the Messiah. It is a strong contrast to the Jews of that day. While the Greeks came to see Jesus, the Jews sought to show contempt toward the work of our Lord.
This happens in the context of the Triumphal Entry. Christ is greeted by the cries of: Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.[1] There is great exhilaration at the coming of the Passover Feast. This is not an unfamiliar scenario. In John 2, Jesus had entered this same temple during the Passover and as the great priest He inspected His house and overthrew their furniture because He found false worship. The people may be wondering what he is going to do now. They are drawn to this man who speaks so prophetically, so priestly, and so kingly as He comes to Jerusalem sitting on a donkey’s colt.
In the midst of this, the Greeks are coming to see our Lord. They are intent in having an audience with the Messiah. They come to Philip, since he is a close companion of Jesus in his ministry and they ask him in verse 21 that glorious question: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” He is the light of the world in John 1, the great cleanser in John 2, the great Savior in John 3, the water of life in John 4, the great healer in John 5 and the bread of life in John 6. Sir, we wish to see Jesus! Philip goes to Andrew, who agrees to bring the matter to Jesus and Jesus in turn addresses the multitude, in particular the Greeks. The answer of our Lord is one that makes the preaching of the cross foolish to the unbeliever: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”[2] In John 7:30: “…they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.” But now, our Lord says that the hour has come! Up to this point the hour was always future, but now throughout His passion week his “hour” is upon Him.[3] But what exactly is this hour? Continue reading “Hating Your Life, John 12:20-33; Fifth Sunday In Lent”
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