Death is necessary - Part 3

John 12v27-36

24^th January 2015

This is the third and final part of our brief study of John 12v24-36.

Jesus said:

John 12v24
I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

By saying this, He helped us to understand that His death was necessary. His atoning sacrifice was the only way that any of us could be forgiven our sins, and so be reconciled with God and inherit eternal life.

Jesus then said:

John 12v25-26
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.

By saying this, He helped us understand that our death is necessary, too. Unless we're prepared to die to all that we were, and all that we had, and all that we used to believe, we cannot enter the kingdom of God. Unless we're prepared to take up our cross and follow Him, we cannot be His disciples.

The next thing Jesus said is:

John 12v27-28a
"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Death is necessary, but it's also horrible, so Jesus prays about it. He could pray "Father, save me from this hour" but instead He prays "Father, glorify your name!"

When we come to crises in our own lives, when we're called to give up something or someone we love, or to endure something we hate, we can choose, as he did, not to pray "Father, save me from this hour" but instead to pray "Father, glorify your name!" If God is calling us to suffer loss or to experience pain, He has a good reason. We are dying to something for Christ's sake.

God responded to Jesus's prayer:

John 12v28b-29
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

When God speaks, or a miracle happens, there will always be some people who say "It wasn't really God, it was the thunder". Some people have a world view that God doesn't exist, or at least that he doesn't intervene in the world. They can't accept miracles or prophecies. They look for some sort of "natural" explanation, even when that explanation is absurd, because something within them refuses to acknowledge God.

And some people take a intermediate view. They know it's supernatural, but they don't want to say it was God, so they say it was an angel, or some other supernatural agency.

John 12v30-33
Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

Until we're born again through faith in the power of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, we may think that we're in control of our own lives. But the truth is that Satan is in control. Because Jesus died to pay for our sins, all who repent and believe in His atoning sacrifice are accepted by God and Satan is dethroned in our lives and driven out. Jesus now reigns instead.

John 12v34
The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain for ever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"

What kind person is it who, when they hear the word of God, spoken by Jesus Himself, will choose to argue with what is being said? Sometimes it's us! Sometimes we read something in the Bible and refuse to believe it, either because it doesn't fit in to the current scientific orthodoxy, or the current political or sociological orthodoxy, or because it requires us to repent.

John 12v35-36
Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light."
When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Jesus would be dead in just a few days. He advised the people not to waste time in arguing with Him, but to listen to His words, and put them into practice.

But isn't He also saying to us all that we only have limited time on this earth, and we too would be well advised to waste it arguing with God, and doubting the scriptures, and wondering about the cross? Instead we can choose to believe God, honour the scriptures, put our faith in the cross and receive eternal life.