The Signs and the Glory

The Signs and the Glory

(Jn 12.20-32)

When I first became a Christian at the age of eighteen, I thought I ought to start to read the Bible. So I began at the beginning in Genesis, and slowly worked my way through to revelation. It took me about a year, and I found some parts of it very difficult to understand. In the years that followed, I found myself part of various groups which read the Bible together - a nurture group, my college Christian Union, and several home groups of various kinds. Usually the pattern was to work our way through a particular book of the Bible studying perhaps a chapter or just a few verses each week. And from time to time, we would finish the book we were studying and have to make a decision about what to look at next. And I remember that I was usually pretty keen to study the book of Acts, the letters of Paul, and the other Epistles, because I thought that it was there that I would find what really made the early church tick, and from the letters written to the early disciples find the heart of Christian teaching.

...And I was rather dismissing of the Gospels, because I felt that I already knew what they were about. I had been through Sunday School, and knew all the gospel stories, ('The Feeding of the 5000', 'The Healing of the Paralysed Man', ...and I knew all the parables, ('The Parable of the Sower', and 'The Prodigal Son'). I had done all that as a child, and now that I was more mature, I wanted to move on to the more difficult stuff.

It wasn't until some years later that I began to realise that there was more to the gospels than I first thought. The gospel writers hadn't simply stuck together a collection of stories in the order in which they happened, ...but had very carefully arranged them in such a way as to make some very important points, (so, for example, when John puts 'The Feeding of the 5000' together with teaching about 'Jesus being the Bread of Life', we are meant to see that there is an important connection between these two things.)

And so I began to read the gospels in a new way, and kept asking myself, "Why has this story been put here? What's the connection between this story and the one before it, or after it?"

And then after my children were born, I did some theological study, beginning with a course on the New Testament, and more recently my course to prepare me to be a lay reader, and the more I learned, the more I began to realise that there was much more to these gospels, and buried within them there are some of the deepest Christian truths. And that far from being a collection of stories for children, they contain teaching which can tax the greatest theologians.

And that's one of the reasons why I love to preach from the gospel reading on a Sunday. Because it seems to me that wherever we are in our Christian journey, there are things that we can learn from it. At one level, the gospel readings have a message that a young child can understand, ...at another level, they raise questions that great theologians wrestle with, ...and as for the rest of us, well there are always new things we can learn ...if only we look for them.

This morning, I simply want to share with you some of the things that I have learned from today's gospel reading while I was preparing this sermon.

Now the whole of John's gospel can be divided into two distinct parts.

The first part, (chapters one to twelve), covers the bulk of Jesus' ministry, ...from his encounter with John the Baptist, right up to his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, (just a few days before he was killed). And this has been called "A book of Signs", because time and again Jesus performed miraculous signs to show people who he was.

The second part, (chapters thirteen to twenty one), begins with the Last Supper and takes us through the last days of Jesus' life, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. (...And of course we will be thinking much more about these events in a week (two week's) time, as we enter Holy Week). And this part of John's Gospel has been called "A book of Glory", because it describes how Jesus brought glory to His Father, and then returned to the glory He shared with His Father before the world began (Jn. 17.4-5).

Well our Gospel reading today comes right in the middle of these two parts. ---*--- You might like to think of it as the glue which sticks the two halves of John's gospel together. And so this passage is partly looking back, and trying to draw some conclusions from the first half of the gospel, ...and yet it is also partly looking forward, and introducing the main theme in the second half of the gospel.

That's the context, ...so now lets see what the passage itself has to say to us. It begins at verse 20.

20 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, "Sir, we should like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.

In the preceding verses we have Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, with the Jewish crowd waving palm branches which were the recognised symbol for welcoming a king,and they were shouting:

"Hosanna! ...Blessed is the King of Israel".

But of course, Jesus' mission wasn't just to the Jews, ...he had come to save people from all the nations, ...and so at the very height of this Jewish excitement, John tells us that there were also some Greeks who wanted an interview with Jesus. These Greeks approached Philip, who although Jewish had a Greek name. The only other disciple with a Greek name was Andrew, and so the two of them went to tell Jesus.

23 Jesus replied to them,

"Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The 'Son of Man' was an expression that Jesus often used for himself.

And 'the hour' is another expression which occurs several times in John's Gospel. It refers to the time which God had appointed for Jesus to be glorified. On previous occasions, we are told that 'the hour' had not yet come, ...But now, with the Jews having just greeted him as a king, ...and with some Greeks also beginning to seek his attention, Jesus announces that, at last, the time has come for him to be glorified.

...but the great bombshell was that it was going to happen in a way that neither the Jews nor the Greeks were expecting.

Jesus wasn't going to be glorified at a Coronation, but through his execution. ...and as St. Paul later put it, such an idea would be offensive to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks (1Co. 1.21).

And of course we find the same thing today. Most people in England simply don't understand why Jesus died for us, ...but of those who do, some find the idea to be sheer nonsense, and some find it to be deeply offensive.

So Jesus, tries to explain what's about to happen with a short parable.

24 I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat of grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain;

but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Now I'm no great gardener, but it fascinates me how a tiny seed can grow into a large plant. But it only happens if the seed 'dies'. Now it dies, not only in the sense that it has to buried in the ground, ...but also in the sense that it ceases to be a seed. But as the seed dies, a new plant springs into life, ...and if this had been a grain of wheat, as in Jesus' parable, it would have produced a plant which would have yielded a much bigger harvest.

Now in a similar way, Jesus himself was like a seed which needed to die.

During his life, Jesus represented everything that the people of God were meant to be, but he was still only one person. But through his death, somehow there would be a great harvest, and many others would then become part of the people of God.

But that wasn't going to be an easy thing for Jesus to do. The hour had come for Jesus too be glorified, ...but it was to involve him freely surrendering his own life, and allowing himself to be executed on a cross.

And then Jesus picks up the theme that we were looking at just a few weeks ago, ...the cost of discipleship. Jesus freely chose to give up everything for us, ...and those who follow him are called to have the same basic attitude to life.

25 Anyone who loves his life loses it;

anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

26 If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too.

If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

As in Mark chapter 9, which we looked at three weeks ago, Jesus again contrasts two type of person: the person who is absorbed with his own life, and his own little world, ...and the person who is willing to lose everything.

Ironically it's the first of these who will end up losing everything, ...while the second will gain eternal life.

But having the sort of attitude to life where we are willing to lose everything doesn't come easily. And it certainly wasn't easy for Jesus. And having reached this 'hour' when he was to be glorified through the laying down his life, Jesus said:

27 Now my soul is troubled.

What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour?

But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name!"

One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that Jesus is the Son of God, but he was also fully human, ...and so he faced his own death with deep agony, and turmoil.

He knew the Psalms and he readily identified with the writer of Psalm 55:

"My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death assail me.

Fear and trembling beset me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest..." (ps. 5.4-6)

So is that how Jesus would pray? ...Would he ask his heavenly Father for the wings of a dove? ...would he asked to be saved from this hour?

No, he wouldn't. Instead he prays: "Father, glorify your name!".

Here we see Jesus and his Father working together in perfect harmony. The glory of God is the outpouring of love, ...both in the obedience of Jesus to death, ...and in the action of the loving Father who gives his only Son for the life of the world.

A voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29 People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, "It was an angel speaking to him." 30 Jesus answered, "It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.

And here in verse 29 we have both the looking back, and the looking forward that I mentioned earlier.

Looking back, the life and ministry of Jesus has brought glory to God, ...as the voice from heaven confirms. It's a final sign which brings us towards the end of the 'The Book of Signs'.

Looking forward, God will be glorified again through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It therefore leads us into 'The Book of Glory'.

The death and resurrection of Jesus would become the most important events in history. And they would turn many things upside down.

You see, in less than a week, the Jewish authorities would pass sentence on Jesus, ...and he would be crucified. But in reality, they were also passing sentence upon themselves, as has everyone else who has refused to recognise who Jesus is.

31 "Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself."

Of course 'the prince of this world' is none other than Satan. On Good Friday he did his worst, ...but ended up receiving a fatal blow himself. He still has power in this world, but he knows that his days are now numbered.

The cross wasn't a defeat for Jesus, (as his enemies had thought), ...instead it turned out to be the supreme victory of good over evil. ...And the Father was pleased to vindicate his Son on Easter Day.

The hour had indeed come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen.

The Signs and the Glory

(Jn 12.20-32)

Opening Activity

Bring a box/packet of assorted sweets or chocolates, and invite a couple of volunteers to choose one. Ask them why they chose it (there may be no particular reason) and whether they are happy with the choice they have made.

All our life long, we are faced with making choices. Sometimes the choice isn't all that important; if you make a mistake and choose a chocolate which isn't a favourite, you haven't lost out much. But sometimes the choices are more important.

Ask a car owner about their choice of car and whether they are happy with their decision. Or a child what they have chosen to do as a birthday treat.

Sometimes we have to choose even more important things than that! Today our gospel reading will tell us about a very hard choice Jesus had to make. Jesus knew that he was alive on earth for a very important mission - he was here to save the world, and he really wanted to do that, because he loved the people. But there was a problem. He also knew that saving the world was bound to land him in terrible pain and danger, more pain and agony that anyone has ever faced before or since. It would involve taking on himself all the sin and evil of the world, and going on loving right through it.

So he had the choice - to go ahead with saving the world, taking on the suffering as part of the deal, or to avoid all that appalling suffering by opting out, in which case the world would have no hope of being saved.

And it wasn't an easy thing to choose. Everything human in him screamed out against going through the pain of it all; but everything divine in him pleaded for love and compassion, and selfless giving whatever the cost.

We know what Jesus chose. Love won, and he chose to go through hell, giving up everything, including his life, just so that we could be set free to live.

Talk

When I first became a Christian at the age of eighteen, I thought I ought to start to read the Bible. So I began at the beginning in Genesis, and slowly worked my way through to revelation. It took me about a year, and I found some parts of it very difficult to understand. In the years that followed, I found myself part of various groups which read the Bible together - a nurture group, my college Christian Union, and several home groups of various kinds. Usually the pattern was to work our way through a particular book of the Bible studying perhaps a chapter or just a few verses each week. And from time to time, we would finish the book we were studying and have to make a decision about what to look at next. And I remember that I was usually pretty keen to study the book of Acts, the letters of Paul, and the other Epistles, because I thought that it was there that I would find what really made the early church tick, and from the letters written to the early disciples find the heart of Christian teaching.

...And I was rather dismissing of the Gospels, because I felt that I already knew what they were about. I had been through Sunday School, and knew all the gospel stories, ('The Feeding of the 5000', 'The Healing of the Paralysed Man', ...and I knew all the parables, ('The Parable of the Sower', and 'The Prodigal Son'). I had done all that as a child, and now that I was more mature, I wanted to move on to the more difficult stuff.

It wasn't until some years later that I began to realise that there was more to the gospels than I first thought. The gospel writers hadn't simply stuck together a collection of stories in the order in which they happened, ...but had very carefully arranged them in such a way as to make some very important points, (so, for example, when John puts 'The Feeding of the 5000' together with teaching about 'Jesus being the Bread of Life', we are meant to see that there is an important connection between these two things.)

And so I began to read the gospels in a new way, and kept asking myself, "Why has this story been put here? What's the connection between this story and the one before it, or after it?"

And then after my children were born, I did some theological study, beginning with a course on the New Testament, and more recently my course to prepare me to be a lay reader, and the more I learned, the more I began to realise that there was much more to these gospels, and buried within them there are some of the deepest Christian truths. And that far from being a collection of stories for children, they contain teaching which can tax the greatest theologians.

And that's one of the reasons why I love to preach from the gospel reading on a Sunday. Because it seems to me that wherever we are in our Christian journey, there are things that we can learn from it. At one level, the gospel readings have a message that a young child can understand, ...at another level, they raise questions that great theologians wrestle with, ...and as for the rest of us, well there are always new things we can learn ...if only we look for them.

This morning, I simply want to share with you some of the things that I have learned from today's gospel reading while I was preparing this sermon.

Now the whole of John's gospel can be divided into two distinct parts.

The first part, (chapters one to twelve), covers the bulk of Jesus' ministry, ...from his encounter with John the Baptist, right up to his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, (just a few days before he was killed). And this has been called "A book of Signs", because time and again Jesus performed miraculous signs to show people who he was.

The second part, (chapters thirteen to twenty one), begins with the Last Supper and takes us through the last days of Jesus' life, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. (...And of course we will be thinking much more about these events in a week (two week's) time, as we enter Holy Week). And this part of John's Gospel has been called "A book of Glory", because it describes how Jesus brought glory to His Father, and then returned to the glory He shared with His Father before the world began (Jn. 17.4-5).

Well our Gospel reading today comes right in the middle of these two parts. ---*--- You might like to think of it as the glue which sticks the two halves of John's gospel together. And so this passage is partly looking back, and trying to draw some conclusions from the first half of the gospel, ...and yet it is also partly looking forward, and introducing the main theme in the second half of the gospel.

That's the context, ...so now lets see what the passage itself has to say to us. It begins at verse 20.

20 Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, "Sir, we should like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.

In the preceding verses we have Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, with the Jewish crowd waving palm branches which were the recognised symbol for welcoming a king,and they were shouting:

"Hosanna! ...Blessed is the King of Israel".

But of course, Jesus' mission wasn't just to the Jews, ...he had come to save people from all the nations, ...and so at the very height of this Jewish excitement, John tells us that there were also some Greeks who wanted an interview with Jesus. These Greeks approached Philip, who although Jewish had a Greek name. The only other disciple with a Greek name was Andrew, and so the two of them went to tell Jesus.

23 Jesus replied to them,

"Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The 'Son of Man' was an expression that Jesus often used for himself.

And 'the hour' is another expression which occurs several times in John's Gospel. It refers to the time which God had appointed for Jesus to be glorified. On previous occasions, we are told that 'the hour' had not yet come, ...But now, with the Jews having just greeted him as a king, ...and with some Greeks also beginning to seek his attention, Jesus announces that, at last, the time has come for him to be glorified.

...but the great bombshell was that it was going to happen in a way that neither the Jews nor the Greeks were expecting.

Jesus wasn't going to be glorified at a Coronation, but through his execution. ...and as St. Paul later put it, such an idea would be offensive to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks (1Co. 1.21).

And of course we find the same thing today. Most people in England simply don't understand why Jesus died for us, ...but of those who do, some find the idea to be sheer nonsense, and some find it to be deeply offensive.

So Jesus, tries to explain what's about to happen with a short parable.

24 I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat of grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain;

but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Now I'm no great gardener, but it fascinates me how a tiny seed can grow into a large plant. But it only happens if the seed 'dies'. Now it dies, not only in the sense that it has to buried in the ground, ...but also in the sense that it ceases to be a seed. But as the seed dies, a new plant springs into life, ...and if this had been a grain of wheat, as in Jesus' parable, it would have produced a plant which would have yielded a much bigger harvest.

Now in a similar way, Jesus himself was like a seed which needed to die.

During his life, Jesus represented everything that the people of God were meant to be, but he was still only one person. But through his death, somehow there would be a great harvest, and many others would then become part of the people of God.

But that wasn't going to be an easy thing for Jesus to do. The hour had come for Jesus too be glorified, ...but it was to involve him freely surrendering his own life, and allowing himself to be executed on a cross.

And then Jesus picks up the theme that we were looking at just a few weeks ago, ...the cost of discipleship. Jesus freely chose to give up everything for us, ...and those who follow him are called to have the same basic attitude to life.

25 Anyone who loves his life loses it;

anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

26 If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too.

If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

As in Mark chapter 9, which we looked at three weeks ago, Jesus again contrasts two type of person: the person who is absorbed with his own life, and his own little world, ...and the person who is willing to lose everything.

Ironically it's the first of these who will end up losing everything, ...while the second will gain eternal life.

But having the sort of attitude to life where we are willing to lose everything doesn't come easily. And it certainly wasn't easy for Jesus. And having reached this 'hour' when he was to be glorified through the laying down his life, Jesus said:

27 Now my soul is troubled.

What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour?

But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.

28 Father, glorify your name!"

One of the great mysteries of the Christian faith is that Jesus is the Son of God, but he was also fully human, ...and so he faced his own death with deep agony, and turmoil.

He knew the Psalms and he readily identified with the writer of Psalm 55:

"My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death assail me.

Fear and trembling beset me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

I said, "Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest..." (ps. 5.4-6)

So is that how Jesus would pray? ...Would he ask his heavenly Father for the wings of a dove? ...would he asked to be saved from this hour?

No, he wouldn't. Instead he prays: "Father, glorify your name!".

Here we see Jesus and his Father working together in perfect harmony. The glory of God is the outpouring of love, ...both in the obedience of Jesus to death, ...and in the action of the loving Father who gives his only Son for the life of the world.

A voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 29 People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, "It was an angel speaking to him." 30 Jesus answered, "It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours.

And here in verse 29 we have both the looking back, and the looking forward that I mentioned earlier.

Looking back, the life and ministry of Jesus has brought glory to God, ...as the voice from heaven confirms. It's a final sign which brings us towards the end of the 'The Book of Signs'.

Looking forward, God will be glorified again through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It therefore leads us into 'The Book of Glory'.

The death and resurrection of Jesus would become the most important events in history. And they would turn many things upside down.

You see, in less than a week, the Jewish authorities would pass sentence on Jesus, ...and he would be crucified. But in reality, they were also passing sentence upon themselves, as has everyone else who has refused to recognise who Jesus is.

31 "Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself."

Of course 'the prince of this world' is none other than Satan. On Good Friday he did his worst, ...but ended up receiving a fatal blow himself. He still has power in this world, but he knows that his days are now numbered.

The cross wasn't a defeat for Jesus, (as his enemies had thought), ...instead it turned out to be the supreme victory of good over evil. ...And the Father was pleased to vindicate his Son on Easter Day.

The hour had indeed come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Amen.

Prayers

Let us pray to the God who loves us and understands our needs.

God of mercy, we pray for all Church leaders, teachers and pastors, and all who are being called into particular ministries, both lay and ordained. We pray especially for any who are wrestling with the demands of such a calling, that they may be given courage to offer themselves in your service.

Silence

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer

All-seeing God, watch over the nations of the world in all their plans and actions, conflicts and disasters; guard the children, guide the leaders and give us all your peace.

Silence

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer

God of love, be present in every heart and home, to cherish, to challenge, to reassure and to comfort us.

Silence

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer

God of wholeness, we bring to your love those who are weighed down with suffering, or imprisoned by their fears. Ease their burdens and give them the strength to bear what cannot be avoided.

Silence

Lord in your mercy

hear our prayer

Gracious God, you are always so much more ready to give that we to receive; open our hearts and minds to live the costly way of love.

Merciful Father,

accept these prayers

for the sake of your Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.