Scripture reading: John 12:12-36.

Sermon text: John 12:37-50.

“Glory:” The goal of champions.

Although most people in the Tuscaloosa area think of national championships as “glorious,” glory transcends mere sports competitions. In the stories of our civilization, we find numerous accounts of “glory-seekers.” Many of the glory-seekers think they’ll reach their goal solely on the merit of their talents or good fortune, only to find that glory’s much harder to achieve than they first thought.

Glory often comes at a very high cost. The defenders at Thermopylae achieved glory in their battles with the Persians, but at the cost of their lives. In more recent history, we look to the men who fought on D-Day, those who survived the German onslaught in the Battle of the Bulge, who defeated the Viet Cong in the Tet Offensive, or others who overcame seemingly impossible odds to wrest victory from certain defeat.

Ask anyone involved in such massive undertakings, and they’ll all confirm one fact about glory: It doesn’t come without a high price. People often die to achieve it.

At this point in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus had accomplished great things in His ministry. He had healed the sick and lame, fed thousands with only children’s lunches, and raised the dead. Jesus had traveled throughout the areas encompassed by modern Israel, teaching vast crowds and spending hours with His disciples. He had only one task left: His own glorification.

Unfortunately, Jesus’ glorification would come at the cost of His life in a brutal execution. Jesus’ true glorification would come on the other side of the crucifixion, in His glorious resurrection. Yet, His glorification would cost Him His very life.

Jesus began the final road to the cross in verse 12 of chapter 12 of St. John’s Gospel. In one of the few events recorded in all 4 Gospels, St. John recorded that Jesus rode into Jerusalem to cries of “Hosanna!” by the Jews gathered for Passover. Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem on a “donkey’s colt” directly fulfilled prophecy, as all the Gospel writers attest. The people’s cries came directly from Psalm 118, one of the “Hallel Psalms” sung daily during the feasts of Passover and Tabernacles.

The Jews had heard these songs their entire lives; now, they saw the fulfillment. Some of them probably thought Jesus would now reach out and claim glory as their leader against the Roman legions. Their cry of “Hosanna!” “Save us!” would have unnerved the Jewish leadership, as St. John recorded in verse 19. Even the Pharisees, Jesus’ greatest opponents in the debates recorded by the Gospel writers, comprehended the cry of the people. Jesus had only to reach out and grasp the enthusiasm, turn it against the Romans, and attain the glory last held by the Maccabees from the previous century for throwing the Greeks out of the country. The Pharisees seemed almost completely disheartened: “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

However, Jesus’ glory would not come at the expense of the Romans. Defeating the Romans would not achieve glory for the Son of God.

Jesus’ real reason for entering Jerusalem becomes much clearer in verses 20-36. “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.” The Jews knew of Jesus, and they knew the prophecies He had fulfilled with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Now, Gentiles also found themselves drawn to Jesus and sought an audience with Him.

The Greeks may have come from the Decapolis, a series of semi-independent cities across the Jordan River from Galilee. This area remained Greek after the Maccabees conquered most of the areas east of the Jordan River. Jesus’ fame had spread to this area as a result of His ministry in Galilee, but He had also previously visited the area (cf. Mark 5, 7). Regardless, they wanted to meet with Jesus, so the Greeks approached Him through Philip, Jesus’ Jewish disciple with the Greek name. Bethsaida sat close to the boundary between the Decapolis and Galilee; one could look from the hill of Bethsaida into the region of the Decapolis across the Sea of Galilee. Philip brought Andrew into the discussion, perhaps wondering whether Jesus would meet with these Gentiles. Andrew had no doubts; he took the matter straight to Jesus. Whenever you read of Andrew in the Scriptures, you always find him taking people to Jesus.

When Jesus heard of the Greeks’ request, He knew that, truly, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Any doubts in any minds about Jesus’ true reason for entering Jerusalem would now disappear. Jesus had not come to lead the Jews to victory over the Gentiles, but instead to lead all people through death’s defeat into eternal victory over sin and death. “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

At this point, it seems Jesus, having received confirmation of His mission, better understood that the agony of the cross lay closer than ever. “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.” Even now, before the agony of Gethsemane, Jesus wanted another means of glorifying the Father.

Just at this moment, God the Father spoke from heaven as at Jesus’ baptism: “I have glorified [My Name], and I will glorify it again.” Some of the crowd understood something miraculous had just occurred; at the time of the year this occurred, you’ll see no storm clouds in Jerusalem. The “thunder” had to have come from somewhere” Some said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Instead, Jesus told them, “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.” Now, Jesus understood, the divine plan would attain complete fulfillment with no alternate path.

Still, this confused some in the crowd. The Jews understood the reference to “lift up;” they knew Jesus referred to a crucifixion. Some of them wondered aloud, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” The prophecies seemed to refer to an eternal reign of the Messiah, and now this Man they thought to be the Messiah had just prophesied His own death!

Jesus gave little explanation beyond verses 35-36. “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” Those who would believe in Jesus would find “light” in their walk with Him, but others would find only “darkness” as they rejected Him following His resurrection.

Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem certainly caused major shifts in Jewish society. Many — perhaps most — of the Jews “did not believe in him” because, in spite of the fact “he had done so many signs before them,” Jesus failed to meet their political aspirations of ethnic supremacy. Some believed in Him, “but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” St. John explained the vast unbelief of the Jews by turning to the prophet Isaiah, who had written, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them” (Isaiah 6:10).

Don’t get carried away with the crowd who sees nothing but God’s sovereign predestination here; every person in Jesus’ life who saw His work and heard His words had a choice to make regarding their belief in Him. Jesus never turned anyone away who believed in Him. “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” Did you see that word “whoever” in the passage? Some will say, correctly, “You don’t see that in the Greek.” No; instead, you see the common construction of an article followed by a participle: “The one who believes” or “The one believing.” The Greek constructions clearly proclaim that Jesus accepted everyone who believed in Him, as He does today.

What about those who didn’t believe? “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” Jesus’ own words will serve as the judge of those who refuse to believe in Him; they will hear His words again on the great and terrible day of judgment and realize they stand condemned before Him for rejecting His message of salvation. As Jesus told the crowd, “I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

“Eternal life.” God’s commandment, the words He gave to Jesus, will bring eternal life to all who believe. The words of Jesus continue to bring eternal life today, to the glory of God the Father.

For unbelievers, these words bring a decision, just as Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem brought crisis to the Jews. Everyone who believes in Jesus words, who accepts Him as his Messiah who can save him from sin and death, must confess that Jesus alone is Lord and follow His commandment to baptism and inclusion in the Church, the Body of Christ on earth. Anyone wishing to attain eternal glory will find no other path to eternal life.

For believers, these words remind us that Jesus, God the Son, glorified God the Father through obedience to His words. When we believed Jesus’ words and confess Him as Lord, He send the Holy Spirit into our lives to guide us and assure us of peace with God. St. Paul would later write to the Romans, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).

However, we must remember that this peace came at a price, and it will sometimes require a price from us as well.

Jesus glorified God through His suffering on the cross and His death. We would have no hope of eternal life without Jesus’ suffering. As His followers, we must understand that Jesus will often lead us through suffering to bring glory to the Father.

I see many people in the Church today who believe that confessing Jesus as Lord will bring them health, wealth, beautiful obedient children, a highly desirable spouse, fancy homes, or anything but suffering. We want to believe that Jesus will bring us all the stuff but no pain. We want to bring glory to God through our successes in life; if people see God blessing us with lots of stuff, they’ll want to believe in Jesus as well.

I don’t see this pattern in Scripture or in Church history. I’m reminded of 2 quotes. One comes from the movie “The Princess Bride:” “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” I also remember reading in John Calvin’s Commentary on Isaiah, “The Lord has not redeemed you so you might enjoy pleasures and luxuries or so that you might abandon yourself to ease and indolence, but rather so you should be prepared to endure all sorts of evils” (XLIII.ii). Like it or not — and I really don’t — it seems we bring more glory to God when we endure suffering and demonstrate to the world that Jesus gives us strength in our weakness. Turning to St. Paul again, we find these words in his letter to the Corinthians: “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I know our church is experiencing a lot of pain right now. We’ve lost family members, we’ve lost jobs, we’ve lost homes, we’ve lost more in this year than in any year of my tenure here. Yet, I find that we remain firm in our faith; I find that we continue to testify to others of God’s goodness in our lives as He strengthens us in our trials. I find that God glorifies His name in us as we tell others of His grace and mercy, even in our own suffering.

People in the world hear the success stories all the time. Americans love a winner, and we fete the winners with trips to amusement parks and televised accolades. We need to remember we are people of the cross. The cross looked like God’s ultimate defeat as Jesus hung helplessly on the symbol of Roman domination. Instead, God took the cross and transformed it into the symbol of His glory, His victory over sin and death. In the days to come, I encourage you to speak of Jesus when people try to comfort you in your suffering. Tell them that Jesus remains “mighty to save” (Isaiah 63:1) all who confess Him as Lord. Tell them Jesus continues to bless His people. Tell them that, because of your belief in Jesus, you, too, will glorify God in your weakness. I promise you that all who glorify God in this life will find glory awaiting them, both in this life and in the eternal life to come.