John 12:20-26 - Brought near..

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com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. John chapter 12 from verse 20. Let's read from 20 through to 26.

Now among those who went 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 and 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. Where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Amen. Well, brothers and sisters, we continue our considerations in the gospel according to John, the 12th chapter. And we've already been in this chapter for several weeks now. And the last time we were here, we considered the text that is before you in the section that is labeled the triumphant entry of our Lord. What a glorious text.

We expounded that text over two weeks, and now we're just beyond that now. From verse 20, what is before us, and I want you to know that the context that is before us really hasn't changed that much. We know this much, that the Lord is within days of his crucifixion. He's come to Jerusalem, and we know from the Synoptic Gospels that when our Lord comes to Jerusalem, He'll come through the day, He'll minister in the temple for the most part in the last few days before His crucifixion, and then He'll head out back over the Mount of Olives to Bethany, where He'll lodge for the night, only to return the next day. He seems to be doing this most days in the final week of His earthly ministry.

Not much has changed. in the context that is before us. We know that it's only a few days before Passover, and Passover is that massive feast or festival that most of the Jews are celebrating, and there's festivity in the air, and they come from abroad, from all over the place. And as you remember, I've said over a few sermons that the population of Jerusalem will begin to swell and swell and swell, until the day of Passover, maybe five or even up to six times the usual population. So now we're still a few days out from Passover so people are still trickling into Jerusalem and as they come in they're listening and they're hearing what had taken place only recently above or over the Mount of Olives there where Jesus raised a man called Lazarus from the dead after being dead and buried for four days.

We know that much because we've been told previously that there are evangelists who could not forget what had taken place. It's etched into their hearts and into their memories and they go proclaiming of what Christ has done and the power of God in His Son in raising a man from the dead and that is the very reason That is the very reason why the Lord has now amassed a massive following in these days. You remember when the triumphant entry was expounded, that thousands upon thousands, ten thousands upon ten thousands were likely following and gathered around Jesus to hear Him preach and speak because they were claiming that He was their King, the King of Israel, the long-awaited King of Israel. But not everyone was excited. We know that much.

In fact, the religious leaders, as these days go on, would become more and more furious, more and more hostile towards our Lord. Even the Pharisees at this point, their anger towards Him has almost reached fever pitch. And in fact, the last verse of the last section in verse 19 speaks to as much. Where they look upon each other and they say, you see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after Him.

Emphasis is mine. They're not saying, look, praise God, the whole world has gone after the Messiah, the King. Oh no, they're angry. The whole world has gone after Him. What are we to do?

We've already decided and decreed as a council to put Him to death. It's a risky business now because they've amassed a crowd. Christ has amassed a crowd and they can't just go and grab Him. There will be a riot in the streets because many, if not most at this point in time, are sympathetic to Jesus. They have a dilemma.

They have a problem on their hands right now. The whole world is an exaggeration, as I said, tens, maybe more of thousands of people were following after the Lord, not quite the whole world, but that being said, it's an indication from their point of view, from their perception, that is from the eyes of the Pharisees, how great a following our Lord has amassed in the final days before his crucifixion. And as I say these words, you need to realize in the back of your mind, as born again, as Christians who have the view of the rest of the scripture, we've read it, we know how the story ends, how it could be. That man's heart could be so given over and overwhelmed for the Saviour, and in a matter of only days, From declaring him, Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be the one who comes in the name of the Lord, even the king of Israel, wanting to proclaim him and coronate him as king in only a few days, declare at the top of their voices, crucify him, crucify him, away with him. We have no king but Caesar.

How is it that the human heart can go from that and then to sink to that low? We know. Because we all have human hearts. We know how often as even Christians are we fully overwhelmed with the Lord as we spend time with Him in prayer or in His Word or sit under the preaching of a sermon only to find in moments or hours or not even days that we sink into sin. So be careful.

As we work our way through, you'll hear me point my finger at the religious leaders of the day, and I must because the text commands that I do. But be careful not to think that we can stand with haughty eyes, looking down upon them, thinking somehow we are better. Let me remind you of the Apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 10. Take heed when you think you stand, lest, lest you fall. Lest you fall.

Thousands upon thousands were following after Christ. This was a big deal. This was a massive celebration, a massive following. The buzz, the commotion in the air, celebration unlike anything you find in your New Testament Bibles. This was big, this was really, really big.

However, for the most part, we know as the story moves on that most of these people celebrating Him right now, well most of them had the wrong view of the Messiah. The Messiah they had in their head, the one that would meet their expectations, wasn't in fact the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Sadly, their thoughts of Messiah were actually too small. Because He's not the Messiah of simply just Israel. He's the Savior of the world.

Last week, I tried to make that point. That this Jesus is beyond the King of Israel. He is that. But He's so much more than that. He's the King of the world.

He's the Messianic King of the world. He's the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Deliverer of the whole world. To coronate Him King of Israel immediately is to have too small a view of Christ. As I said, they cried out, Hosanna, save us, deliver us, recognizing that He is the Deliverer, recognizing that He is the Savior and He is. But they didn't understand that He is the Savior of the world.

It's not a surprise to any of us, I hope. The Old Testament scripture did allude and point to this fact that the Messianic King would be a saint, the salvation of his would be throughout the whole world. The blessing and the salvation and the deliverance that is spoken of in the Old Covenant was not purely and merely for Israel, although it would come through Israel, but Israel was to be a light unto the nations. It will come in and through Israel, but it should be a broadcast light to the nations, so the whole world would see the glory of Yahweh, the only true God. Nations should be the recipients of the salvation of God as well.

And this is clear not only in the Old Covenant that speaks to this point. There is a mystery according to the Apostle Paul about the Jew and the Gentile becoming one. There is. But it is alluded to in the Old Covenant. But it's so clear for us in the New and particularly here in the Gospel according to John what we've been through thus far.

John labours to show us that this Jesus is not simply a saviour for Israel, but rather He is the saviour of the world. You remember that verse that we've all come to know and love and most people are accustomed with. John 3.16, for God so loved Israel. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

How about when the Lord speaks to, or back in John chapter 4, when the Lord goes through Samaria after speaking to the woman at the well. You remember the story? And then the Lord spends two days there in Samaria with the Samaritans. And after that two days, do you remember the declaration from their lips? Listen to what they say.

It's no longer because of what you said, speaking of the woman at the well, who'd come back and said, listen, there's someone who knows everything about me. No, it's not about that anymore. For we have heard for ourselves. And we now know that this is indeed the saviour, not of Samaria, no, of the world, they say. And now in a few verses time here, right before us, in John chapter 12, in verse 47, our Lord himself will open his mouth once again and he'll make a statement to that end, where he says, I, I have come, I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

The problem with most of the Jews in this day, beloved, is when they thought Messiah, They didn't think big enough. When they thought Messiah, they did not think deep enough. Salvation and deliverance comes from this Messiah, yes. But they desired a type of salvation and deliverance and a type of king that is out there. And they had no regard or concern for salvation that is in here.

The greatest need is not to be redeemed from Rome, The greatest need is to be redeemed from your own sin. Because as it stands, every man, woman and child, everyone born in sin is under the wrath and the judgment of God, apart from the grace of Christ. Their view of the kingdom was too small. And this is also a right of humanity in general. Their view of self was too big.

So although population of Jerusalem was growing day upon day, the more they spent time with Jesus, the more they sat under his teaching, the more they began to realize this is not the Messiah we're actually looking for. Especially when he starts to speak as he does here in John chapter 12. All this talk about needing to die, We don't want to hear about a Christ that dies. That's not the Messiah we've hoped for. We don't want a weak Messiah who's captured and then killed.

That's practically what they're saying in verse 34 and we'll get there soon. We know nothing of such a Messiah. So over the next few days and just before Passover, as I said earlier, the overwhelming support for our Lord will give way. it'll give way towards hostility as they realize that their expectations for Messiah will not be met. But for now, in the context of the passage that I read before you, it seems the sentiment that the Jews have for our Lord is still quite strong, it's still quite favorable.

And the Israelites were still hoping that they would, in some way, find what they're expecting to find in this Jesus, the Messiah. That in some way, he would fulfill the Old Testament prophecies that they had come to know and love, at least the ones that are favorable to them. They thought they knew where they stood. They had the oracles of God. They had the scripture.

They'd memorized it. They knew what they're looking for as far as Messiah is concerned. He'd be the king of Israel. He'll be our king. He'll sit in our city here in Jerusalem.

He'll sit on David's throne and he'll reign and rule in righteousness. That's the Messiah we're looking for. Okay. We'll get to that. But what about the Gentiles?

That's the Jews. But what about the Gentiles? All this talk about the messianic king to come and the salvation and the deliverance that he'll bring with him and the blessing from God that is promised upon his people that will come for Israel, but what place do the Gentiles have in the kingdom? What relationship, if any, do those outside the covenant people of God, the Jews, have with this king? With all the buzz in Jerusalem about this king, I think he may have stirred up some questions in the minds of the Gentiles.

Can't be sure, but perhaps they needed clarity about their place in this new kingdom being established. I think that's what's going on in the minds of the Gentiles, the Greeks that are introduced for us in verse 20. Because we're told here that among those who went to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and they asked him, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. These Greeks had come to Jerusalem to worship at the feast, we're told.

These weren't pagans, let's get that straight. These were God-fearing Gentiles, Greeks, or converts. They may have been proselytes, they may have gone all the way, we're not told, I'm not sure. But the term Greeks in the New Testament, like we had before us, is quite often, it has its nuances, but it's quite often used as a synonym with Gentile, especially when used in contrast with the Jews. We see some of this, for example, in Romans chapter 1, in that verse that we've all come to know and love, 1.

16, when the Apostle Paul says, I am unashamed of the gospel, right? Because it is for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone, everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Is the Apostle Paul saying that the salvation through the gospel of Jesus Christ is available to the Jews and only those who speak Greek? No.

The Greek is a representation of all the non-Jews, and that's what's taking place, and that's what's likely taking place here. So, back in chapter 12, John, we don't know much about the Greeks that are before us. They're presented for us here in verse 20 and 21. We don't know much about them, we're not told a great deal, but we know they've come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord at this feast, the Feast of Passover. The God of Israel, the God of Yahweh, He's been acknowledged by them as the only true God.

They're now sympathetic to this God. They've turned and begun to believe in the God of Israel. The Shema, you know, the Shema that is recited every morning and every evening. Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, was common to their ears. So they likely come to acknowledge that He is the only true God.

And being from outside, whether it's the nations or wherever, these Gentiles would have abandoned the gods, the false gods that they would once pray to and worship, to be fully committed to the God of Israel, being converted now to Judaism. But as Gentiles, not all the privileges that were given to the people of Israel, who were the covenant members, were given to them. Remember, these Gentiles, they're not the sons of Abraham. Strictly speaking, they were outside the old covenant. The old covenant does accommodate for such people.

I mean, even the outer court of the temple is named after them, right? It's the court of the Gentiles, it's called. But they'd always be Gentiles. They'd never be Jews. And they knew it.

So these Greeks approach Philip. and they make their request known. Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Now the politeness and the respectfulness in their tone, at least in what they say, would suggest that these were friends, not foes. But why would they approach Philip?

We could only speculate. Perhaps, and this is just an idea, perhaps because Philip's name is a Greek sounding name, that's a possibility. Or perhaps, maybe, because we're told in the other bit of information the Apostle John tells us that Philip is from a place called Bethsaida, Bethsaida in Galilee. That's just on the northern tip of the Sea of Galilee up in the north. Maybe that's where they're from, or maybe they're from a region around there.

Look, at the end of the day, we don't know. That's just speculation. We're not told, so we need to simply move on. But there is one thing. In their mind, they've approached Philip because they think that it is through Philip that they have the best chance of meeting with Christ.

And by the way, when we read that they want to see Jesus, that word see doesn't simply connote wanting to see him with their eyes, as though they want to observe him somehow. They've already probably likely done that as Jesus has come and gone through the city. They've been able to lay eyes upon him. No, no, no. The word see here is more better connoted that they desire to meet with Christ.

They desire to have an interview with Christ. They want to sit down with Jesus. It seems to me very clear and it seems that the Apostle John is conveying that something is clearly weighing upon the mind and the heart of these Gentiles. Questions that they need to answer and it seems that only Christ can answer those questions. As I said earlier, I don't think it's a stretch to assume at this point that the buzz in the air, due to the spreading testimony of Jesus being the Messianic King, that it's not unreasonable to assume that their request has something to do with that.

No doubt they'd been exposed to Scripture. I mean, these are coming to worship at the feast. They too were anticipating the Messianic King. Now with all this excitement in the air perhaps, they were wanting to know, what place do we Greeks, what place do we Gentiles like us have in this new kingdom? Will it get better for us now that the king has come?

Until now, their inclusion into Judaism was, at best, second-rate. As I said, they were never considered fully-fledged Jews. Even reminded of the fact that they were second-rate in the temple. Yes, they had an outer court named after them, the outer court of the Gentiles, given by God provisions that they could worship and pray in that place. But then, at the entrance of the inner court, where the Jews are able to go, was a big sign.

Gentiles not permitted to enter. In fact, death penalty if you enter. So they knew that there was a difference between the Jews in Judaism and the Gentiles in Judaism. They worshipped the same God, but the privileges were different. Under the Old Covenant, they had privileges, but they never felt like they were on equal footing with the Jews.

So perhaps, they're thinking, now that the Messiah has come, will it change? Sir, they come to Philip. We need, we need to have a meeting with Jesus. We need to see, we need to see Jesus. Now on a side note, I think the Apostle John is giving us a contrast in those words.

If you look down on your, in your Bibles, forget about the titles, forget about the paragraphs. They're not inspired. The word is. Verse 19 comes, or verse 20, comes straight after verse 19. And verse 19, the Apostle John tells us about the Pharisees, the religious leaders who were supposed to be the experts in the Scripture.

They had been entrusted with the oracles of God. They had the writings of the prophets. They were fully-fledged members of the old covenant. The blessings of God were upon them if they were only to obey the covenant stipulations. But they were blind.

They couldn't see. They could see Christ before them physically, but they couldn't see the value of Jesus. He didn't meet their expectations very early. Some of the crowd here are still sympathetic towards Christ. They will turn before the end of the week.

But these Pharisees very early on, their curiosity turned into anger and rage. Why? Because this Jesus was messing up their plans. They had it all. If anyone was to see the Messiah to come and identify Him as such, it would have been the Pharisees.

But they're blind. Verse 19. They're blind. The Messiah, He comes and the anointed of God, He comes and they cannot bear to look upon Him even for a moment. They cannot stand His presence before their eyes.

They want Him dead. And then the contrast in verse 20. You have Greeks, Gentiles, they haven't been entrusted with the oracles of God. They haven't been entrusted with the scripture. They're not part of the covenant community of God that was promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

And yet, it seems like the Father is drawing their hearts to the point where they desire nothing more than to spend some time with Christ. The Pharisees push Jesus away and the Gentiles are begging to see him. There's something spiritual going on here, beloved. This is more than what you can see and hear. So let's look at what takes place in verse 22.

Philip went and he told Andrew. And Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Again, throughout this sermon you're going to hear me say, I don't know. There's very little information around this text. So I don't know how that conversation went when Philip went and told Andrew.

Actually, even further, early on, we don't even know how he responded to the Greeks when they asked, we want to see Jesus. And even then, when they ask that, look, to be honest, I cannot imagine disciples would come back after every single request from the people and then portray that or convey that to the Lord. You can think of it, thousands upon thousands upon thousands worth speaking into their ears. They had the authority to make decisions. They had the authority to do things to a certain degree.

But here we have something interesting. Because an apostle or disciple of Jesus Christ, we're told, he goes and tells Andrew. I asked the question, why would Philip go and tell Andrew? Why not come straight to Jesus and say, Jesus is a group of Greeks who want to speak to you? To be honest, it seems to me like he was a little confounded by the request.

Maybe even a little puzzled. Maybe he needed to work out something and Andrew would be able to help. I can't imagine it's the first time someone had asked him to speak to Christ. That would have happened many, many times. It's not that.

Actually, I don't think it was the request. The request wasn't the issue. Rather, I think it is who made the request that was the issue. These were Greeks. These were Gentiles.

It seems to me Philip was unclear, maybe even needing a bit of help with this whole Gentile thing. I want you to put yourself in the disciples' shoes just for a few moments. On the one hand, the disciples were well-versed in Scripture. This is over three years into the ministry of Jesus Christ, and Jesus, as you would already know, was always pointing to the old covenant, it is written, it is written, it is written. I have come to fulfill all righteousness.

I have come to fill the Scripture. The Scripture cannot be broken. So on the one hand they knew, even by what Christ had taught, their understanding of Scripture, what they're seeing and observing with their very eyes, they already knew that the Gentiles, although they don't have full inclusion in the Old Covenant, God had already made provision for them. And it was according to the will of God. Certain texts may have come to mind.

One of the clear ones is Isaiah chapter 56 where we read, "...and the foreigners," that's the Gentiles who join themselves to the Lord, "...to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it and holds fast to My covenants," says the Lord, "...these I will bring to My holy mountain and make them joyful in My house of prayer." Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

The Lord God who gathers the outcast of Israel declares, I will gather yet others to Him besides those who already gathered. God has a plan for the Gentiles. And he has a plan for them to be among his people in a way, and he's made provision in his word, in his law. So Philip would know this, but at the same time, What's running through his mind, I don't know, but I suspect he's thinking, what about when Jesus sent us out as disciples, two by two, into where? Probably reciting or remembering the words of our Lord back in Matthew chapter 10.

And our Lord says strictly to his disciples, go nowhere among the Gentiles. Enter no town of the Samaritans. They're not fully fledged Jews. But go rather to the lost sheep of Israel and proclaim the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Did you get that?

Proclaim the kingdom is at hand only to the lost sheep of Israel. Okay. Can you see why maybe he might be confounded just a little bit? Add this to the mix, Matthew 15. Our Lord's words to the Canaanite woman who comes to our Lord and pleads with Him for help.

Her daughter is riddled or demon possessed and she's seeking that He will release her from that. And then the Lord says these words, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Do you think maybe, just maybe, Philip was a bit conflicted? Unsure what to do with this Gentile request? And maybe he needed some guidance.

And so he goes to Andrew. And as I said earlier, I don't know how that discussion went with Andrew. I don't know how they deliberated one with the other. I have absolutely no idea, but this I know. The outcome was spot on.

I love the outcome. Let's tell Jesus. Let's bring it to the Lord. Whatever deliberations they had one with the other, that was the final result. That was their conclusion.

Let's bring it to Christ. We may not know what to do, but He'll know what to do. And so they do, they bring it to the Lord and our Lord responds. And Jesus answers them, verse 23. 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 keeps it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me where I am. There will my servant be also.

If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now before any of you have any heart palpitations, let me just tell you we're only going to get to verse 24. because we're over 30 minutes into the piece and we're not even a third of the way through so I'm only going to take you to verse 24 and by God's grace I will then take you to the rest of the text that is before us next week. The application for our lives is predominantly is saturated in verse 25 and 26 and that's next week but here what we have up to 24 Christ is going to be the focus so let's meditate upon Christ and his goodness and what he says. The response of our Lord is glorious, it's beautiful But as I read and meditate upon what he said, I cannot but think that maybe this is not quite the response that Philip and Andrew were expecting or hoping.

He gives them a wonderful response, but they may be left thinking, so is that a yes or a no? What do we tell the Greeks? They've asked to meet with you. And then you give us a wonderful response, but what do we, like, is that a yes or a no? I'm not sure actually if they understood the response in its totality going by what we have in verse 16, which is the verse we meditated upon last week.

But beloved, what Christ says in these verses, they're profound. They are incredibly rich. And I hope to show you over the next couple of weeks how rich they are. At least scratch the surface. Christ begins by declaring that there is a turning point right now in His ministry.

That's what He says. There's a pivotal shift in His earthly ministry. The hour has come, He says, for the Son of Man to be glorified. Now, up until now, we who have read the Scriptures and the synoptics, and especially here in the Gospel according to John, we already know that this is the opposite of what we've heard thus far. has come, we've heard the opposite, the hour has not come, right?

Because back in John chapter 2, way back in John chapter 2, when Jesus' mother Mary comes to him and makes him aware of a predicament that she's in there in the wedding at Cana and realizes that the wine has run dry, she comes to her son, Jesus, expecting him to do something and says, hey son, we have no more wine. And then Jesus says, woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come. And in John chapter 7, in the Feast of Tabernacles, or Feast of Booths, where the Jews were trying to apprehend Christ because of the hostility that was growing against Him, we're told there, no one laid hands on Him because His hour had not yet come. I'll give you one more.

In John chapter 8 where the Pharisees had been conspiring to arrest Jesus and to put him away, we're told there as well, but no one arrested him because his hour had not yet come. Until now, the hour had not come. But now, upon hearing that the Gentiles, the Greeks, now want to see him, want to sit down with him, want to meet with him, upon hearing that request, everything changes. It's as though something is happening. It's as though a new era is about to begin.

He declares, now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. The culmination, the finale, the goal of his whole earthly ministry is now reaching its apex. The goal that finds its glorious ends, beloved. Its glorious ends in the glorification of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. The God-man as he ascends on high and assumes to see that the right hand of the Father being coronated as King of Kings of the universe in glory and in absolute splendor.

It's a hand. It's imminent, Jesus is saying. The time has now come. But as wonderful as that glory is, as wonderful as that joy that is set before Him is, the journey, we're told, through the words of our Lord in these few verses, will necessitate an unimaginable suffering. Climaxing in the horrific, brutal death of crucifixion.

The path of suffering and death is the path of glory. Summarized what Jesus is saying in these few words, is the path of suffering and death is the path of glory. And although our Lord has expressed that He must, that it's necessary that He die over and over and over again, now being imminent, the hour that has already arrived, He expresses it in another way, in an agrarian way, so that even the most simple-minded among them would be able to understand. And He's essentially saying life will come through death. Life will come through death.

Truly, truly, Jesus says, 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. This is not the first truly, truly we come across. So I'm not gonna spend much time here. But when the Lord does say truly, truly, or verily, verily, or amen, amen, we need to realize what he's saying is this.

If you haven't been paying attention thus far, stop what you're doing, because what I'm about to say is critical. It's the culmination of many things. It's important truths. You need to listen. You need to listen to what I'm about to say.

That's what he's saying. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. You see, it's a word picture that our Lord is giving. It's a word picture that can be imagined in the mind of those who are around him.

He's comparing himself to a grain of wheat or a kernel of wheat. Unless that kernel is sown and buried into the ground where it experiences death, it will not produce fruit. It must first die. It must first die. It must be placed in the ground and it must die before it's able to germinate and then grow into a plant that grows and produces much fruit leaving behind its shell.

That's what's taking place. It's what the Lord is saying. Now, I want us to realize that Jesus is saying that He must die. In simple terms, that's what He's saying. I must die.

I have come to die. So verse 24 is undoubtedly about Jesus Christ. Now, verse 25 and verse 26 in the text is about His followers, and we'll get to that next week. But verse 24 is expressly about Jesus Himself and the need, and the absolute need of His death. Without which, no life can be produced.

Without His death, no fruit can come. Jesus is saying, it must be, it must take place that I must die in order to produce fruit. And that fruit is life. Life for sinners who would only know death apart from His death, apart from His life. Right now, the buzz in Jerusalem, everywhere, because they're trying to make Jesus king, to enthrone him physically and get him to rule and reign over them.

But what they fail to see is that if that be so, if they're successful, and they cannot be, God's plan and purposes will be accomplished. But if they're successful at placing Jesus upon that throne, then that's basically the death decree for every one who ever lived. They would perish in their sins because according to our Lord's words, unless he dies, there cannot be life. The grain of wheat, the kernel of wheat, beloved, it can be treasured. It can be put on a stand and it can be put on display for all to see.

But what good would that be? The grain of wheat can be stored somewhere very safe in a safe. But if it's in that safe, you can open your doors in a few years time, it'll be a bit older. But what good would that be? It's still gonna be on its own.

That's what Jesus is saying. The grain of wheat, beloved, on its own. If it's not buried in the ground, if it doesn't experience death, then what use is it? What use is it for this grain to be beaming with life and the potential for so much fruit, the potential for a massive harvest? unless it is buried and it dies to produce much fruit.

The path of life for our Lord is the path of death. Salvation for his people will not come, cannot come, unless he dies. Jesus came from heaven. to die for sinners. Jesus came from heaven to die for sinners.

It must be placed in the ground, this kernel of wheat, in order to die and then produce the much fruit that Jesus speaks about here in verse 24. The fruit that he produces is in its own likeness, right? You don't put a grain of wheat in the ground and expect grapes or an apple. or a mango or a watermelon. No.

If you put a grain of wheat in the ground, the grain dies and then it produces fruit of its or in its own likeness. And this is why it is critically important that God the Son, the Eternal Word, the One who has no beginning and has no end, it was a necessity for Him to redeem sinful people like us, to become man, to become our human representative, to become experienced with the full human experience, to have flesh and blood. And if you cut Him, He bleeds. To have a reasonable body and a reasonable soul, so that when He does lay down His life, the product is He lays it on behalf of like people, human beings just like us, as our human representative. That He's laying down of His life as the man, as the God-man, would be accepted by God, the Father.

And that He would accomplish salvation for His people. He could not do that if he sat on the throne in Jerusalem. And hear this, he could not do that if he remained in his throne in heaven. He needed to condescend. What humility that the God of the universe would condescend.

What love, what mercy, what grace. that the only way, the only way He could save sinners like us was to become a man like us, represent us before the Holy God of the universe, live an absolutely perfect righteous life in perfect obedience to all the will of the Father, and then lay down His life on behalf of His people. So that when he dies, he pays the penalty of sin that sinners deserve. And when he rises, he rises in the newness of life, the first fruits of life, so that those who he loves, those who redeems are now joined in him, joined in his own life to produce fruit. He came to die.

And it was necessary that he becomes one of us in order for God to accept that payment. You see, this is the problem. The problem is that we are sinners. The problem is that we have sinned, and the Bible is very clear about sinners, that the wages of sin is the soul that sins shall die. And God is a good God, He's a just God.

He has to, He must, recompense sin. His throne is founded upon righteousness and justice. He cannot look away. This is the thing we need to understand. God cannot look upon sin and say, it's okay, I'm just going to be gracious and forgive.

He cannot do that! He needs to be faithful to all His properties. He is God and He's perfect in every property, in every one of His properties. Every one of His attributes. And one is justice.

He cannot look upon injustice. He cannot look upon a sin unless He recompenses for that sin. He cannot look away and say, your sins have been forgiven, I'm just going to forget about them. Payment needs to be made. Payment needs to be made and it's made either by the sinner under the wrath of God for all eternity experiencing the second death.

Why all eternity? Why? It's because our sin is infinitely offensive to a holy, holy, holy God. That's why. All that sin is placed upon Jesus Christ who bled and died upon that cross.

So that through His death and His resurrected life, He is able to bestow forgiveness upon His people. Beloved, Israel, the Jews, who just now and a day earlier had been proclaiming, this is our King, He's the King of Israel, and been rejoicing that Jesus is among them. It was required that they would reject Christ. and then crucify him. It was required and decreed by God that they would reject Christ and then crucify him.

Otherwise, there can be no salvation. This was God's plan A. This is the path that must be taken, the path of suffering, the path of death. There's no other way. There's no other way.

So what about the Greeks? What about the Gentiles in our story here? How does what Jesus say, how does that make sense to these Gentiles who are seeking to see Him? You see, beloved, this is the thing. I don't know why they sought to see Christ.

I gave you some suggestions, but the Scripture doesn't tell us. I don't know exactly why and what their reasons were. But this I am sure. This I am absolutely sure of. Whatever they expected to receive from Him, whatever wisdom they were hoping to attain, whatever answers to any questions they may have expected or hoped to receive from Him.

Beloved, let me be honest with you. What we have here and what is contained in the words of our Lord in verse 24, everything else pales in existence. Because what we have here is absolutely glorious, even to the Gentiles. Because if these Gentiles were indeed drawn by the Father, this fruit, 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.

This fruit that Jesus speaks of, it includes them also. Not only for the Jews, But for the Gentiles, this is great news. And it was required that the Jews would reject Christ as I said earlier. So that by rejecting Him, they give Him over to be mock-tried and then hung upon that cross to bleed and die as an emblem of curse and suffering and shame before everyone. But that was all according to the decree of God because that was required in order.

It was required in order to redeem His people. Because that death of our Savior is not simply for the Jews. The death of our Savior is for every people and every tribe and every tongue and every nation. He will save from all the peoples of the world. No longer is the blessing of God only upon the Jews, the covenant community of God, the old covenant community, but it is for the whole world.

And beloved, this is such good news. Because we're Gentiles, aren't we? Last I checked. Last I checked, the majority of us, I don't want to say all of us, because I'm not 100% sure if you have any roots, but the majority of us are. We are Gentiles.

And this blessing and the salvation of the Lord, and this is the difficult thing. It was upon covenant people of the Jews in the old covenant and not on the nations. The nations were alienated from the special love of God. They were alienated from the special mercy of God. They had no hope in this world.

The vast majority of the nations, the Gentiles, they perished and are perishing under the eternal wrath of God. For in God's elective purposes, he chose Israel to be the recipients of his covenantal blessings. It's his prerogative, he is God and he is good. It's a difficult doctrine, the election of God. Many would come opposing God for this.

That they'll refuse to believe that God elected Israel and not all the peoples of the world. I understand. I understand. Many would say that I cannot believe in a God like that because they'll use these words, it's not fair. It's not fair.

I don't have a response for that other than what the Apostle Paul responds with in Romans chapter 9. But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? That's all I can say. Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? God is sovereign and He's good in all His ways.

But this is the good news. You don't have to perish. You can believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and be forgiven of your sins because He died upon the cross. He shed His blood for sinners like you and for sinners like me. The doors have been swung open, beloved.

And Christ is that door. And if you believe upon Him for the forgiveness of your sins, if you believe upon Him for the salvation of your soul, then you don't need to become a Jew. You don't need to observe the rites and the rituals. You don't need to be circumcised. You don't need to be from the lineage of Abraham or from Isaac or Jacob.

You don't need to. You simply need to trust, believe, apprehend in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your soul. He's the only Savior. There's salvation in no one else. There is no other name under heaven.

No other name under heaven by which man must be saved. But in the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. It matters not if you're Jew. It matters not if you're Gentile. There's equal footing in Jesus Christ.

We come to Him by the grace of God. Through faith, in the object of our faith, Jesus Christ. No one, no one is saved in any other way. There is no salvation in any other way. It is by the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone.

That's it. No Jew, no Gentile, all are one in Christ. This truth is alluded to in the old covenant, but it's so much clearer in the new. And our Lord spoke of this truth earlier in the gospel according to John. In John chapter 10, he says, And I have come, for I have other sheep that are not of this fold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. The Jew and the Gentile, they may be in different pens or flocks, but when Jesus brings them, he brings them into the same flock, same footing. He feeds them the same food. And he is the same shepherd. One people.

One people of God through one Savior, Jesus Christ. And his death will produce a massive harvest. He promises he will, and it will be a harvest from all over the world through the proclamation of the gospel. Not through saying, come over and observe what we do as Jews. I'm not saying come over and do the rituals and the rites that we have grown to do and you need to observe all these rules and these commands and these precepts.

We are not under the law as covenant. We are under grace, and we enter into that grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And this is why Jesus instructed His disciples not to evangelize the Gentiles, as I said earlier in the sermon, and not to evangelize the Samaritans before His death and His resurrection. And you know why? It's because He was bringing all the old to an end.

And He's bringing a brand new, establishing a brand new covenant. A covenant that is ratified, not in the blood of oxen, but in His own blood. A covenant, a new covenant in His own blood. And now the gospel is a gospel for everyone who would believe, as the Apostle Paul said, both Jew and Gentile. And it's God's intention to save both Jew and Gentile.

The doors have been opened, beloved. We ought to be rejoicing. We ought to be rejoicing. Over 2,000 years ago, you and I would have been without hope in this world. But now we have the gospel.

And Matthew 28 tells us, All authority, Jesus says, in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Glorious! Can you see the change?

Can you see the change from that which was old to that which is new and ratified in the blood of Jesus Christ? In Luke chapter 24, our Lord says to His disciples, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead, repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all. The nations beginning from Jerusalem. And how can we forget what is written in Acts chapter 1 just before Jesus is ascended on high speaking to his disciples when he says that you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Yes, salvation is of the Jews.

It is from the Jews. Christ is a Jew. The salvation that comes through this Jesus is for all the peoples of the world. Aren't you glad, beloved? Aren't you glad?

Under grace in the new covenant It's not about observing any rituals. It's about trusting in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ. That's it. Let me end. Let me just end with the words of the Apostle Paul that speak to this point, and I hope they speak to your heart.

Realizing that apart from the grace of God through Christ Jesus, this could be us. He says, therefore, remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the circumcision. You Gentiles called the circumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands. Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ. alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise.

Hear this, having no hope and without God in the world. Wow, aren't they scary words? But when you see that word in the text of scripture you need to rejoice. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby healing the hostility. Let's pray.