Third Sunday in Lent

St. John 12:20-32

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, “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.” 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.”

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be [not killed, not crucified, but…] glorified.“—Jesus says. Glorified. Now, killed, crucified; those are bad things. But, glorified—that’s a good thing! He’s about…to be killed though. And He knows it. That’s why He’s here, according to an eternal plan. He’s talking here, about what St. Paul refers to in our epistle lesson when he says that Christ, gave himself up for us. That’s what this is about. Ironically, that’s what Jesus means in our text by glorified—that the hour has come for Him to be…crucified, and thereby, glorified.

Isn’t it interesting He talks about it that way! We would tend to think, how could being killed (crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, drenched with the spit of his enemies, stained with his own blood, parched, bruised, pierced)—how could that in any sense be called glorified? Jesus knows it isn’t going to look like something that could be called that. He knows his disciples are going to have a hard time seeing it that way. His rich words in this text certainly give us perspective on what His death means.

Also, though, they give perspective on what this life means for you. The theme for this morning (printed on the bulletin cover in the midst of this Lenten season): Triumph Over Satan.

Only, a lot times in this life it doesn’t seem like there’s much of a triumph happening, does it?

Blessed are those who mourn; blessed are the poor in spirit; the meek; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; who are reviled and have all kinds of evil said about them for Jesus’ sake

—those things Jesus lays out in the Beatitudes as the way of those who follow Him; not apparently a lot of glory being talked about there, right? Rather, the words might inspire a lot of longing for Christ’s return and the end of this.

Case in point: the day before Jesus said what He says in our text, He’d been at the home of Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, and who was present with Jesus on the occasion. St. John tells us that a large crowd had gathered to see Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, because they’d heard about the miracle. A miracle like that is glorious, right? But here’s what it becomes in this world: we’re told that then, the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well [as Jesus], because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus (John 12:10-11). Persecuted for righteousness’ sake.

So, even Jesus’ friends are in an uncomfortable situation in this world. You know it, because you keep adhering to the written words of God, who says in that Word, I the Lord do not change (Malachi 3:6). The world does—significantly—but God and the truth of His Word remain. So does the burden of clinging to it in opposition to the world.

True believers in the time leading up to the Babylonian Captivity of Israel felt the same burden. Those preaching God’s Word were steamrolled by a society that had gone away from it. God’s true prophets were killed one by one as the people surrounded themselves with false prophets willing to say what they wanted to hear.

So, again: even Jesus’ friends are in an uncomfortable situation in this world. No doubt, you wonder when you’re going to be confronted for holding to the Bible’s teaching. You wonder when someone is going to make plans to do to you what the chief priests were planning to do to Lazarus. Maybe it’s hard to imagine it’s going to get that bad any time soon. But Jesus’ words, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake are brought into sharper focus in what He goes on to say to His disciples:

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake (Matthew 24:9).

Another time He said to them:

Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God (John 16:2).

Doesn’t it sometimes feel to you, like God has been holding back the rushing waters; but that they’re making continual progress in chipping away at the dam, so that eventually you’ll find yourself overwhelmed. You’ll be surrounded in this world by Jesus’ enemies who also consider you to be their enemy, and who think silencing you or eliminating you would be in the interest of the greater good (that’s how the chief priests were thinking about Lazarus).

Jesus says something a little strange in our text, about hating this life. You might have caught that earlier. Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. By hating his life He doesn’t mean sitting around wishing it were different. Fact is: there are a lot of things to love about this life, right? He’s talking about choosing or preferring this life over the eternal life that God is offering in His Word.

It’s like a rich young man coming to Jesus one time, wondering how to inherit eternal life, and him going away disheartened when he learned it meant he had to prefer that life he’s seeking, over his wealth, he had to be willing even to give up his wealth in order to have it if that were necessary (Mark 10:21-22).

Of course, wealth is only one of the things a person might choose in this life over God and His kingdom. Being willing to abandon what God says in order to be loved by the world is perhaps the greatest temptation a believer faces, isn’t it? Then, all the burden goes away…for now. The pressure comes off. No more opposition. No more poor in spirit. No more persecuted for righteousness’ sake. No more reviled. No more having all kinds of evil said about them for Jesus’ sake. Hasn’t that thought crossed your mind a time or two, how comfortable it could all get if adhering to God’s Word were no longer an issue? Maybe sometimes you’ve already gone there.

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” And, of course, it’s interesting because the glory doesn’t even really look like a victory. He illustrates it this way in our text: unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. It falls to the ground and dies. So, it seems like the end of it, seems like nothing will ever come of it; but with it having died, new life, then, comes of it.

Jesus is comparing that, to what’s about to happen to Him. Nothing good will happen for sinners if He goes on living without dying. They’ll be alone—apart from God, apart from His grace, held entirely accountable for their sins, condemned to face the wages of sin, eternal death (Romans 6:23). Even though He’s being killed, even though it looks like nothing more will come of it, in dying, He brings about life for every sinner. He brings it about by paying the price every sinner owes, so that, forgiven, they rise to eternal life. That’s the triumph over Satan that our bulletin cover is talking about.

That’s why Jesus, even as He says, “Now is my soul troubled,” will not ask the Father to save Him from this hour. He’ll be handling a burden so heavy, that later in the Garden He will say, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will”. He’ll be suffering a punishment so severe, that on the cross He'll say, Why have you forsaken Me?

But here, in our text, before the worst of the suffering is happening, we see in Jesus’ words, that it’s very clear to Him what He has to do.

What is He here for, if not to die like this, if not to make atonement for your sins, and for all the worlds’ sins?

So, when Jesus says, Father, glorify your name, He means, bring about what happens as the result of My dying. Bring about the bearing of much fruit, bring about the life that comes only from my death—new life for those who are, and who otherwise remain, dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).

A lot of times in this life it doesn’t seem like there is much of a triumph happening. Your spiritual enemies, the devil and the world cause you so much grief and concern. You’re overwhelmed by it sometimes, right? You wonder how it’ll all end up. Does your story have a glorious ending? By the way, your own flesh is the third of those enemies we were talking about. It doubts, it wonders, it struggles. It even falters sometimes. How could there be glory at the end of it all?

There is; Jesus says it in our text. His followers will be where He is. His followers will be honored by the Father. In being lifted up from the earth [lifted up to the cross, He means], He draws all people to Himself. The non-doubter Who is there, punished for all of your doubts, draws you to Himself. The One Who isn’t in need of any forgiveness pays there, so that you have forgiveness—from every sin.

It’s ironic. The hour of His crucifixion is the hour in which He is glorified. In His death is your life eternal; because everything needed in order for you to be with God is accomplished. The poor in spirit is blessed. The one who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is blessed. God be praised. Amen.