John 12:20-33
20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul 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. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
"Life Is Found By Losing It."
To “hate” ones life does not mean that life is bad; something we just have to put up with until we get to heaven, where life will be good.
To “hate” ones life means to not be so hung up on myself that I can’t live. I can’t risk and fail and try again. I can’t ever be in a down position, needing forgiveness, needing to lean on someone. It means to dare die in order to live.
Jack London: “ I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than in should be stifled in dry-rot. I would rather be a superb Meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. Man’s chief purpose is to LIVE, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
Life is found by losing it; by risking giving it up, giving it away.
As one commentary put it:
“He that so prizes his life, (and the Greek work here means excessive love of life), that he cannot let it out of his own hand or give it up to good ends checks its growth and it withers and dies; whereas he who treats his life as if he hated it, giving it up freely to the needs of others, shall keep it to eternal life.”
Ironically, in this text, the word hate opens up for us what we would expect love to do.
It enables us to love as we are meant to love; not just our own lives, but all lives.
“We Wish To See Jesus”
We come here to see Jesus. To “know the Lord” and have his law of love written on our hearts. We would see Jesus so that faith becomes a power and passion in authority among the powers and passions of our lives. This is what preaching is all about - young pastor found a note on pulpit one Sunday morning after months of inflicting his advanced theological knowledge on the congregation: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.
To see Jesus is to have to open our hearts to hear what we cannot hear and believe what we cannot understand or comprehend. It is to let our hearts be filled with the law of God, which is a law of love until we can no longer be self-righteous about anything. Even so that this very law cannot become a burden for those who don’t fit in or a source of self-righteousness for us. i.e. using Bible to condemn homosexuals.
To see Jesus we may well have to include those we do not want to include and not use the Bible as a weapon against them. Sin is not seeing Jesus in those who are afraid to live in the open, and it is condemning those who do not fit my lifestyle. Sin is first of all - my self righteousness.
To see Jesus is to “learn obedience through suffering”.
Suffering is holy ground - always.
Jesus suffering was his hour of glorification, glory means the “veiled -yet- evident presence of God.” Suffering often is a means by which the veiled -yet-evident presence of God is impressed upon us, enabling us to learn obedience in a way which is deep and painful and holy.
Douglas John Hall -” God and Human Suffering”, pp 112,116,117
To see Jesus is finally to follow him as a servant; and learn who He is.
"He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake side, He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow thou me!" and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is."
Albert Schweitzer-"The Quest for the Historical Jesus"
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