Sunday of Passion John 12:20-43 Jesus Lifted Up

Deuteronomy 32:36-39 Philippians 2:5-11 John 12:20-43

Have you ever gone into a store and looked at something but not seen it because it was different than you were accustomed to?  Sometimes a company will change its packaging for various reasons. What was once blue, may now be red.  What was once large may now be small. And if you go into the store with a certain mindset on what you are looking for, you can sometimes look directly at a whole shelf stocked full of what you need, but yet you do not see it and may have to ask the clerk for help.

That can be pretty embarrassing if you are standing right next to the full shelf. Even when you do see it, you can have doubts that it is the exact product you had in mind because the package looks different. Ironically, if someone comes in looking for a product that they are not familiar with, they have no problem with the employee helping them find that which is not recognizable with their first glance.

That is sort of what happened in today’s lesson.

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” That is what some Greeks, said to Philip.  Sometime during the past 3 years when Jesus began His ministry, the men had heard about Him and wanted to be part of the great things He was doing. These Greeks wanted to become His disciples, to get to know Him and to learn from Him first hand. But they did not really know Him. So they asked Philip to help them see Jesus.

The difficulty with their request was that it was five days before the Passover. Only a few days were left before Jesus would go to the cross.  Jesus was running out of time to teach and to preach. He still had much to do with the apostles.  So whatever Jesus had to say to these men, he needed to say as succinctly as possible. Jesus had to focus His teachings, His whole purpose, His entire mission into a very brief amount of time. So Jesus told them what was most important and He answered loud enough for all to hear:

    "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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. "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. Father, glorify your name."  Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

You all have been in a store when a voice from above suddenly calls out, “Customer needs help in aisle 3.” But Jesus was not in a store; this voice came from heaven above. The Father’s voice boomed and was evidence of the importance of Christ’s words.

The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

Now that everyone was listening, Jesus told them that he was going to be lifted up on a cross.  Everyone present knew that being lifted up meant one thing; He was going to die by crucifixion.

The time was at hand. Jesus was speaking about His imminent death on the cross and everything that happened from this point on was leading up to it. His death was necessary for His resurrection.  The principal of life through death is seen in the plant world. The kernel must perish as a kernel if there is to be a living plant. His death would bring life. But even with this simple explanation not everyone understood that His death on the cross would bring them life.  He would die an earthly death so that they could have a heavenly life and have it for all eternity.

So the crowd answered him, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them.”

In other words, they were not buying it. Jesus, the Light of the world, stood before them but He was not packaged in a way that was familiar to them.  Their focus was on this world and there life here.  Jesus was telling them to focus on the life to come, the eternal life that he was offering them. To love one’s life here and now—to concentrate on one’s own success is to stay a seed kernel. By refusing to grow in one’s faith, one loses what really matters. One must die to this world and be raised in Christ.

Ironically this was the new and improved covenant that was being offered to all the people, whether they were Jews or Greeks. But many refused to read the package.

The people should have responded to His message and his miracles. But they clung to favorite passages in scripture while rejecting or ignoring passages that spoke of his death. Isaiah 53 spoke about how He would be tormented and killed. John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, but they did not see Jesus.

Instead, they purposely rejected His enlightening message, and chose to remain in the dark. “When Jesus had said these things, He departed and hid Himself from them. Though He had done many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him.” Like a clerk in a store who points out the product to you and for whatever reason you say thanks but no thanks. The clerk is not going to stay there.  If you refuse his help why should he wait around, especially when he has an important job to complete?

God in turn brought on them a judicial blinding of their eyes and a hardening of their hearts so they could not ‘see’ Jesus. So the prophesy was fulfilled, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and believe with their heart, and turn and I would heal them.”

Ironically, many people among the crowd did see. Perhaps the Greeks saw more clearly than many of the Jews because they were not as familiar with the Old Testament scriptures.  Perhaps they could more easily see Jesus because they were not looking at Him with preconceived notions but saw Him as He truly is.  But in any case they were all afraid to speak out. They were afraid of the Pharisees, afraid that they would be cast out of the synagogue, “because they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

Jesus said, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38)  We disappoint God when we deny Him, but we hurt ourselves more. When we walk out of a store without the product because we are too stubborn or embarrassed to buy what has been pointed out to us, the store may lose a sale, but we go out empty handed.

All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to remain silent and to do nothing.  They all chose to remain silent.

 And so Jesus continued His journey to the cross. Soon He would celebrate His last meal with the disciples.  Soon His betrayer would hand him over to the soldiers.  His disciples would flee and he would be beaten, spit upon and mocked. The crowds would turn against Him and He would be lifted up on the cross to die for the sins of all mankind—even those who refused to see Him for who He truly is.

Jesus is the one who was lifted up in death on the cross in order to be exalted in eternal life. He died there without sin so that He could pay the price for all sinners.  The Devil needed to appear to win in order to be defeated. The cross seemed to be the devil’s triumph but in fact it would be his defeat because Jesus did not sin even under the pain and suffering He endured.  No ordinary man could have withstood the torment on the cross.   Only the God-man Jesus could be lifted up free of sin, yet able to die and be raised to life again.  Only God is powerful enough to save you, me and all mankind and He offers forgiveness and salvation freely.

Just imagine leaving the store empty handed and the clerk comes running up to you out in the parking lot with exactly what you need.  He tells you he has paid for it out of His own pocket, he hands it to you and tells you to take it home.  It’s yours free of charge.  It is yours to keep and to use accordingly.  Would you still refuse it? Will you hand it back and tell Him no? Would you at least read the label on the package?  Will you see Jesus for who He truly is?

You can only truly see Jesus when you look at Him on the cross. Out of His death would flow the greatest good ever to come to the world. Out of His silence would come the rejoicing of men and angels in heaven and earth. His lifting up in humbleness and obedience has led to His exaltation by God the Father and by all people that have been drawn to Him out of His love for us. 

Talk about customer satisfaction! When you see the Love that God has for you in Christ Jesus on the cross and then in His resurrection, you truly see God.  The love shown by Christ on the cross is shared by us as  we show our love by dieing to this life, living and growing in Christ as we worship, study and follow Him now, forever and always in His name, Amen.