Greeks signal the salvation that will come to the Gentiles. Joh 12:20-24

We are poised at the great entrance of Christ into Jerusalem on the back of a young donkey. This is 5 days before the Passover and the Lord’s triumphal entry; what is traditionally known as Palm Sunday.

 

Everyone was in a state of excitement or agitation. The disciples have just had their faith muscled by watching the resuscitation of Lazarus. The Sanhedrin was furious to the point of murder; the general population thrilled with anticipation. All this clamour to country, wealth, approbation, recognition, prosperity, and power is interrupted by a few Gentiles who would simply like to know who this Jesus is.

 

But in that crowd were Greeks, people who had no frame of reference for Judaism, no frame of reference for the Davidic covenant, no understanding of the basic principles of Messiahship as related to the unconditional covenants.

 

But they were Greeks who were smart enough to realise that something big had occurred, that someone had been brought back from the dead, and that is what intrigued them.

 

John 12:20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;

 

These are Greeks and not Jews. They are not intending to take part in the Passover, but will if the opportunity arises.

 

But make no mistake, you cannot worship God as an unbeliever. It is the cross that provides the freedom to worship God. After salvation it is the word of God that provides even more freedom to worship and eventually leading to personal love for God.

 

So they approach Philip.

 

John 12:21 these therefore came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

 

They approach Philip probably because he has a Greek name [Philhippos, “lover of horses”] since the Jews looked with disdain upon Gentiles and they knew that, especially after being in the city for a while. They also probably approached him because Philip was a very relaxed and approachable person. He was a great witness for Christ.

 

When they ask to see Jesus they use the verb herao which we’ve seen before and it means a panoramic view. In other words they don’t want just a glance at Jesus they really want to get acquainted with Jesus.

 

Now this puts Philip on the spot because he has been disobeying the disciple regulations set by the Lord. Matthew 10:5.

 

   

Matt 10:5-6

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, "Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; 6 but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

 

The policy that was set up by the Lord was that the disciples were to go to the Jews. He told them not to go to the Gentiles. But Philip has been talking with Gentiles, and they are positive.

 

Not only are they positive but they want an interview. Philip is not sure but that he is really out of line even talking to them. He won’t even go to the Lord with this because it is a problem to him now.

 

We see that the Lord first presented Himself to the Jews and He instructed the disciples to do the same, however, whenever there was PV in a Gentile, the centurion, the Samaritan woman, etc., the Lord would present Himself to them.

 

However, since Philip is a bit apprehensive as to what to do, instead he goes to Andrew.

 

John 12:22 Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came, and they told Jesus.

 

 

Andrew is the brother of Peter and a close friend of Philip. The consultation with Andrew is based upon that Matthew 10:5. “Oh, oh! Here are these Greeks who want a consultation with Jesus and I have been told to go only to the house of Israel.”

           

They talk this over and decide to do the right thing and go together to Jesus about it.

 

This is in contrast in this passage to the consultation of the Pharisees who are face to face trying to figure out a way to kill Jesus.

 

Principle: In the Christian way of life today it takes all kinds of people.

 

All kinds of people are members of the body of Christ. E.g. Peter, very intense; Philip, relaxed; Thomas, the pessimist, etc. All of these disciples have different personalities, they are not all the same; no two are alike. Never try to stereotype personalities. Stay relaxed and realise that God uses all kinds of believers.

           

So Andrew and Philip did the right thing. They went to Jesus. As a result of this there is an interview.

 

John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man [title to hypostatic union] to be glorified.

 

The literal translation of this is that “Jesus had an answer,” and that answer is for the Greeks.

 

Naturally I would think that these Greeks would have opened up their interview with, “Who are you really?”

 

These Greek Gentiles have been drawn to Christ and at the right time in God’s program because the client nation of Israel is about to end and the CA is about to be inserted.

 

We know that He is answering the Greeks because He uses something from the Greek culture to explain to them salvation, life on earth after salvation, and life in heaven after physical death.

 

To the Jews He used Jewish things to explain God’s truth and to the Greeks He uses Greek things.

 

As Paul said he would be all things to all men that he might win the more so this thinking is of Christ and is therefore the mind of Christ.

 

1 Cor 9:19-23

For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. 20 And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. 23 And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

 

When Jesus takes up the seed of wheat He is not talking about something which is a part of Jewish culture. Jewish culture is based on grace: manna from heaven; Greek culture is based on the wheat season, the planting of it in Spring, the crop at the end of the summer, and therefore the survival of the Greek community for the rest of the year. So when these Greek people come to Jesus we will understand why He switched from everything he had been describing to the wheat season to emphasise, first salvation, and then when He goes to loving your soul or hating your soul He is emphasising the way of life that follows salvation, and the principle of reversionism versus supergrace.

 

[vs. 23]“the hour [the time of the death of Jesus Christ] is come” - literally, “has come,” perfect active indicative of e)rxomai.[erchomai]

 

The perfect tense indicates this hour was designed in eternity past, but the perfect tense is something that happens in the past and has present and permanent results. The hour refers to the cross.

 

But “the hour” has to be understood by the Greeks. Jesus has already said in other discourses in John, “Mine hour is not yet come,” it isn’t time for the cross yet.

 

Now He says the hour has come. It has been designed in the past and is now approaching and is here. The cross was designed from eternity past, says the perfect tense.

 

The active voice indicates that the cross is approaching in six days. The indicative mood is the reality of the cross as the way of eternal salvation.

 

The Greeks have no frame of reference for these things from the Old Testament scriptures. They do not understand the Levitical offerings; they do not understand the great hymns that are found amongst the Psalms; they do not understand the stone which the people rejected has become the corner stone.

 

They will understand when Jesus explains that the hour is the time when the wheat seed must fall into the ground. The Greeks all understood that the wheat seed dies. They had many legends and many of the Greek myths are built around the death of the seed.

 

For example: Jason, of Jason and the Argonauts fame, planted seeds that grew and turned into warriors. Many of their myths and mythology was centered on planting in the spring and harvesting in the fall.

 

And this is a true principle, for even 1 Corinthians 15 says, “Except a seed fall into the ground and dies there is no harvest.” That is exactly what Jesus is saying.

 

“the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus Christ as God cannot go to the cross; should be glorified.” As God He is glorified; it is the humanity of Christ that is to be glorified.

 

But first of all, when you take a seed of wheat and drop it into the ground and cover it up the seed must die. Then, up comes a stalk, then up comes the wheat, and the glory is in the wheat and being provision for food.

 

Jesus Christ must die on the cross and then he must rise from the dead, and He must be seated at the right hand of the Father. And because He is we are feeding on the wheat of doctrine right now.

 

Our staple of life is the Word. “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” And how do we have this New Testament doctrine, this mystery doctrine? We not only have the whole background of Israel but we also have this doctrine of the mystery, all of these things pertaining to the Church Age. How did we get all of this? The seed died and came up and was glorified. The Lord’s glorification is his resurrection, ascension, and session. That is why. The Greeks will understand this.

 

The seed must die before the wheat is produced. The cross must come before any blessing can come to mankind.

 

John 12:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

 

This is the only way that Jesus Christ can communicate to Greeks resurrection. Resurrection is entirely foreign to the thinking of Greeks, it is entirely apart from Greek culture. They have been intrigued by the fact that someone—Lazarus—has been brought back from the dead. Now they are going to learn something about resurrection and they are going to understand it in the framework of their own culture.

 

Before the wheat comes up so that the Greek city state is preserved for another year the seed must die before the roots emerge in the ground and the stalk comes up. So the death of the seed [apothnesko] is also the technical word for the spiritual death of Christ on the cross, and the spiritual death of Christ is bearing our sins.

 

“it remains by itself alone” - present active indicative of menw[meno] describes the seed after it is planted. It keeps on being alone.

 

When Jesus Christ was on the cross He was alone. In resurrection and ascension is where there is multiplication but on the cross Christ was not only unique as the God-Man but He was alone when bearing our sins.

 

However, the success of the cross multiplied the seed and therefore it bears much fruit - that is the harvest.

 

There can be no body of Christ, no dispensation of the Church, no believers in this Age until the cross occurs and Christ is alone. When He was on the cross God the Father poured out the sins of the world on Jesus Christ. This qualifies Jesus Christ to be the only celebrity in Christianity.

 

Hebrews 2:9-14—by being alone He brings many sons into glory.

 

HEB 2:9-18

But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. 10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 saying,

"I will proclaim Thy name to My brethren,

In the midst of the congregation I will sing Thy praise."

13 And again,

"I will put My trust in Him."

And again,

"Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me."

14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

 

So Jesus explains to the Greeks the necessity for the uniqueness of His death and His resurrection, and He explains it from a very common procedure, the standard operating procedure of the Greeks for a thousand years.

 

John 12:25 "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.

 

This verse emphasises another aspect of it. Jesus now hits them with something which is clear to the Greeks and probably obscure to the Jews.

 

Now we move to the principle of the spiritual life after salvation while the believer is on the earth as well as the believer moving into eternity.

 

These Greeks would have understood exactly what He was talking about because it is an idiom that was part of their culture.

 

After salvation the believers remain on the earth. This point must be brought over to the Greeks. They do not go to heaven immediately and they are going to be in this life. Many of these Greeks are going to respond and be ambassadors for Christ. They are going to be a kingdom of priests as they are on the verge of the Church Age at this moment.

 

“He who loves his life loses it,” “loves” - present active participle of filew, [phileo] the strongest Greek word for love. This is soul love plus physical love plus every kind of love brought together. It is a total love of the soul.

 

The word a)gaph [agape] is a love with a mental attitude only; it is a limited type love. It is limited to what you think, it means freedom from mental attitude sins. The great word for love is filew. Here we have, “He who keeps on loving.”

 

“his life” - his yuxh, [psuche] his soul. Yuxhis soul life. It refers to the believer’s self-consciousness, his mentality, his volition, his emotions, his norms and standards.

The real person is the soul. The real you is your soul. “He that keeps on loving his own soul” is an idiom of Greek culture in which the person involved has a false attitude toward himself, toward his life.

 

It means to have a false scale of values.

 

To love your own soul is an idiom for the Greek philosophy of hedonism. Hedonism means live it up as much as you can—self-gratification in one word.

 

This is actually the Greek idiom for self-gratification. It is comparable to putting your emphasis on the details of life. It actually indicates the condition of the soul that has self as its top priority.