John 12:20-26 The Fruitful Grain of Wheat
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”
Jesus has just triumphantly entered Jerusalem to shouts of adulation from masses of people. The disciples have stars in their eyes, certain that everything will be wonderful from now on. But trust Jesus to be a spoil sport.
Philip and Andrew are thrilled. Some Greek believers have just approached them, asking to see Jesus. How wonderful! Truly, this request proves that Jesus is gaining an international reputation, and his associates can bask in reflected glory.
But Jesus has a weird response to all this. Certainly, Jesus greets the Greeks courteously and undoubtedly makes a strong impression on them. But in the next breath, Jesus is making some more of those statements that fill the disciples with dread.
“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”
At this point, the disciples might be thinking, “Oh no! Not again! Jesus, we’ve already given up homes and businesses and family comforts for you. How much more must we sacrifice?” And Jesus refuses to give any pat answers or assurances that he really doesn’t mean this, that his followers are not going to have to die in his service.
“unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” These verses have special meaning for me. Forty plus years ago, I was in a very rigorous training program working roughly 120 hours a week. The surgeon with whom I should have been sharing duties had withdrawn from the program, leaving me as the only pediatric surgical fellow for a very busy 250-bed children’s hospital. To make matters worse, I was a female surgeon working in a male-dominated specialty and facing cultural expectations of which I was unaware until I had already violated them. The pressure was almost intolerable. I literally cannot count the number of times I walked the halls of that hospital with the Holy Spirit chanting these verses in my heart.
The two years I worked in that program constituted a spiritual boot camp the likes of which I would not wish on anybody else. Did I gain a great deal? Yes! Would I want to endure that again? Are you kidding? I CRAWLED out of that training program. But the experience was vitally important, for God knew that I would face worse things later on in my career.
Dying to yourself is never pleasant or easy. Most people would rather do anything than have to go through that experience. But if we are only willing to serve Jesus when things are pleasant or easy, very little will ever be accomplished. Think of people in places where Christianity is banned and Christians may be slaughtered-northern Nigeria, North Korea, some of the Muslim countries. An old saying tells us that “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.” A faith that is not worth dying for is not much of a faith.
May God help us, so that we are willing to do whatever it takes to spread the good news of God’s redeeming love and grace in Christ Jesus!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to follow hard after You, being willing to die to our own interests and even willing to die physically if necessary. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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