Lose Your Life to Find It

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Introduction
John 12

Last week was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. You will remember from John 8 to John 12 there were three death threats on Jesus’ life leading up to passover. That increasing pressure and mounting danger caused people to ask, “Do you think he’ll come to the feast at all?”

And so there’s this incredible suspense because on the one hand you have this incredible miracle working messiah claiming to be God which has the crowds clamoring and electric with excitement after Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the death and on the other hand you have this vitriolic opposition to Jesus on the part of the religious leaders such that they had posted a warrant for his arrest.

Do you think he’ll come to the feast at all?

Well he comes and not just tip-toeing. He comes charging. He’s developing all this excitement by traveling up to Jerusalem with these traveling pilgrims, he’s doing miracles, speaking out boldly. And essentially his strategy is to use the crowd as cover. The idea is this: if there’s enough excitement in the crowd then if the Pharisees try to arrest me in public, the crowd will riot and they dare not pull that stunt, lest Rome descend upon them. They have a lot of healthy fear about Rome’s wrath.

And so Jesus rides into Jerusalem under the protection of the wild shouts of praise. Save us. Hossana. And presumably, the crowds just stick to him like glue for the next three or four days so there is no opportunity for the religious leaders to arrest him.

So Jesus would have descended off the mount of olives and into the kidron valley crossed over and then up through the Eastern gate and then would have ended up teaching and interacting with the crowds up here on the temple mount.

So what we read today in John chapter 12 is Jesus interacting on the temple mount sometime during this next week with the throngs of people who are buzzing and swarming with interest like flies on honey.

Before we read the text, let’s zoom out for a moment. On the one hand there’s a story to reconstruct. There’s a chronological backbone and we have done work from time to time to try and reconstruct that story by harmonizing the four gospels together. But we lose something if we do that. We lose sight of the point John his trying to make. He is specifically including things and excluding others to give you a theological understanding of how to view Jesus Christ.

And today I want to break away from the chronology of the story itself to focus on something John does here thematically. He’s arranging material to make a theological point that we really don’t want to miss.

And we’ll do this by picking up the last verse from last week. The Pharisees peer at the people from their perch as Jesus parades in on a donkey. Remember their emotional reaction? Look at it in verse 19.

Let’s take a second to look at this word WORLD. The whole WORLD has gone after him. John uses this word a lot in his writing. It’s a massive theme.

The word kosmos is used 14 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke combined and 78 times in the book of John. That tells you something right there. This is a theme. And the way John uses the word is fascinating. John is an absolute master at the play on words and he does it here in such a marvelous manner to make a really important point.

The word world is has a lot of different meanings and shades of nuance but you can lump it’s usage into three distinct categories.

On of the clearest ways to illustrate these various usages is to simply point out that John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his son.” And then we have 1 John 2 which says, “Do not love the world.” Why are we told to not love something that God loves. For God so loved the world? Who is he speaking of? People (all humanity). Do not love the world. There he’s speaking of Pollution (sin and all that which is hostile to God).

So when the Pharisees say, the whole WORLD has gone after him. They are talking about that second usage, people (all humanity). Now tuck those different nuances away. We’ll come back to it today, but we are introducing here because it’s increasingly going to be a theme we will draw upon as we move into the later chapters of John.

Now to illustrate just how much of that “whole world” has gone after him, John now explains how even Gentiles are clamoring to get some time with him.

Now one small side note here and I can’t help it. Why is this detail about the communication chain from Philip to Andrew to Jesus here? Lisa and I were laughing at it. It’s kind of funny. It seems so trivial. "Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus." If I were writing the story and especially if I had to write it on the skins of animals by hand, that detail is getting cut. Editorial sovereignty slices that sentence off. But God keeps it for us. Why?

I think there’s a lesson here about Andrew. Who was Andrew? Very little is known but we know at least this: He was the first disciple called. He was also Simon Peter’s brother. How many people had either forgotten that or never knew that Andrew was Peter’s brother. You see, everyone knows Peter. Nobody knows Andrew. Andrew gets no press. He just doesn’t seem to be as charismatic. I mean, he just doesn’t have the splashy gifts. But every time we see him, he’s like this giant funnel to Jesus.

**During John’s baptism we read, “Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus.** The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.”

When the crowds are starving and there’s no food, he’s the one that pipes up and suggests, “Well we have these five loaves and two fishes?” What can you do with that Jesus?

But what is he doing here? He’s connecting people to Jesus. Some Greeks come to Philip. *And Philip, I can imagine saying, “What do we do with these guys?* They want to see Jesus. Jesus is really busy. What do you think we should do.” And Andrew brings him to Jesus.

Jesus can fix it. Jesus will know what to do.

And the encouragement is, you might not have the great splashy gift. You might not know how to answer the apologetic question that is super difficult. But bring them to someone who can. Connect them. Be a pointer to Jesus. Let your enthusiasm and trust in Christ be, in and of itself, the gift. I think that’s who Andrew was.

So Andrew says, okay, there’s some Greeks here, let’s get them to Jesus!
Gentile Interest
Getting them to Jesus was not as straightforward as you might think. Greeks of course are Gentiles. These are non-JEWS. And they are going to have to geographically go where Jesus is. Well, where is he? Almost certainly, he’s on the temple mount.

So you’ve got to get yourself to the temple. Now it’s important to understand here that the temple was the place of worship for ETHNIC Jews. We talk today in our modern context about having seeker sensitive churches. And the basic ministry philosophy of a seeker sensitive church is to make church a place that is very welcoming, accommodating and understandable to a person who is coming in from the outside. Let’s remove any religious jargon, get rid of any unnecessary hurdle. Well, the temple was pretty much the polar exact opposite of that. The temple was about as seeker insensitive as it gets.

If you are a Gentile and you walk up onto the temple mount, the first thing you are greeted with is this giant wall with a sign posted. Court of the Gentiles.

Warning no Gentiles beyond this point: punishable by death. We talked about the Romans not being given the authority to execute. There was actually an exception. The Jews were permitted to execute anyone who was a Gentile and passed beyond the clearly posted signs, even if they were a Roman citizen.

How’s that for welcoming? Welcome to our temple. You stepped foot in the wrong area. You need to die.

How does that feel? Here you are looking at this foreign religion. And walking past you are Jews, women, children. But you can’t go in there to worship. Why? What’s wrong with me? You are not God’s chosen people. I mean how offensive can you get? What? God doesn’t care about me because of the color of my skin? 99.9 percent of people just turn up their noses. I’ll never serve a God like that.

But these seekers are looking to the miraculous works of Jesus, the miracles. They are coming the way God wants all men to come to him, in humility, prepared to have their minds formed by whatever God says is right and true and beautiful. The only thing I care about is truth. And this guy is indisputably connected to God. We must talk to him. I’m not going to be offended because of my sensitivities. Maybe my sensitivities are incorrect.

And contained in their penitent, eager, inquisitive, interested response, you’ve got this incredible irony. Jesus came to save the Jewish people. Jesus comes to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And yet the actual priests, those who have access to the very innermost part of the temple to YHWH, those who could advance all the way in, those who should have the deepest understanding, those who have the greatest access to the truth, they are the ones who want to kill him. And yet those who are on the outside - spiritual outsiders, racial outsider, those who are unclean, those who have the most disadvantage they are the one ones who are responsive.

And so they ask Philip and Andrew if they can speak to him. And perhaps at this moment Jesus is deeper into the structure of the temple. After the court of gentiles you had the court of women, then the court of men, then the court of priests, etc…these concentric circles of exclusivity. And so perhaps Jesus has to be fetched. They aren’t even allowed to find Jesus on their own. They need permission. It’s humbling on many levels.

So Jesus says, “I’d love to speak with them.” Now look at what happens next. It’s really strange. Here is his opening statement to these Gentiles:

Whenever Jesus talks about his hour coming, he’s referencing his death. Now think about this. This is a non-sequitur. I mean how does this fit the context in any way? Jesus we want to learn more about you. We hear you have done all these miracles. Some have even said, you’ve claimed to be God. Tell us more about that? Jesus replies, “Well, the hour has come for me to die.”

How in the world does that sentence logically follow? You want to know what he’s doing? He’s doing the same thing for these Gentiles as he’s done for the Jews. He’s painting the cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ. We know that’s what’s on his mind based on what he says further down. You want to follow me? You want to ascend with me as King. Then you will have descend as well.

Look down in verse 26.

Following me, means going where I plan to go. Are you sure you are ready? He’s laying out the terms of the kingdom. I’m glad you’ve come to worship me as king, but I want to make a distinction between God and genie. I’m not a genie. I’m not a god you rub and out I pop and deliver you your three wishes. I am good. But following me won’t be easy. Following me means dying to self. But it also means truly living.

Jesus’ glorification is tied to his refusal to seek his own glory. To be a follower of Jesus Christ, that means that we must accept the principle of the seed. We must die. In order for a seed to bear much fruit it must accept its own death. It must be willing to say that it is through my death of self that life will come. Out of my death to self that much fruit will come.

He’s driving men and women to a choice. Once again, we have these sharp contrasts and distinctions.

John 11 is the raising of Lazarus. What’s the reaction: Some fall on their faces to worship. The religious leaders plot to kill Jesus and Lazarus.
John 12 opens up and Mary pours out her treasure at the feet of Jesus, a years wages. Judas betrays him for 30 pieces of silver. And now here.
And so what Jesus says to these Greeks now makes perfect sense. He’s again, functioning as a wedge. Which side are you on? You have come to address me as King. The hour has come for me to die.
How do you feel about your King dying?
How do you feel about your King ruling from a cross?
How do you feel about your King reigning in weakness?

Remember this is the passage immediately following the triumphal entry. It’s kind of annoying because we keep breaking up the reading of this story by these 7 day interludes. I doubt John ever intended that. Do yourself a favor and just read the whole book in one sitting this week. I promise you’ll see some things.

If we were just reading this sequentially, the affect it would have on us would be real. The whole WORLD is going after him. There’s roars and chants ringing in the ears of people. Save us! Save us! King, King, King. Speech. Speech. Speech.

What were they looking for? They wanted a Judas Macabees. They wanted a hammer. That’s how things get done after all.

Power is taken not given.
The spoil goes to the strong.
Survival of the fittest

I mean there’s all this political energy…and then boom. We want to follow you. Lead us Jesus. Lead us. Get on your horse and lead us!

You want to follow? And Jesus answers. I’ll lead you. That I will do. But if you want to be a follower, then you must follow me where I go. Follow me onto the cross. It’s time for me to die.

You have to loose your life to find it.
You have to kill self to keep self.
You have to give it all away before gain anything.
You want true riches? Then give away your riches.
you want power? Then give power away.
You want true strength? Then embrace weakness.
You want to go up? You have to go down.

This is the kingdom ethic. This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Making it Real.
And at this point in the narrative, the crowds fade away, the Greeks fade away and you get what is really a Shakespearean soliloqy. And even though there is noise and camels snorting and people banging their brass pots and frightened sheep slipping out of the hands of their owners, you get this moment where all the characters around fade away and it’s just you dropping in on a private conversation between Jesus and the father. It’s a very personal moment.

You know what Jesus is doing right here. He’s saying, "I believe, but I’m struggling with what this is going to mean for me." Jesus Christ, is struggling with anticipated suffering. Do you know that its okay to be struggling with anticipated suffering. If you are anxious about anticipated suffering in your life, that is okay. Look what Jesus does with that temptation to sinfully worry.

Jesus says, "I don’t want to go through this. I don’t want to suffer like this. Father my soul is troubled. The verb is a strong one, and signifies revulsion, horror, anxiety, agitation.

Do you see the turmoil in his soul? Listen, suffering is horrible. Nobody wants to suffer. It is not an ungodly response to recoil at the thought of suffering. Suffering represents a distortion in the created order. It’s not the way things ought to be.

Listen, Jesus knows that feeling. Jesus is crying out to the father, “I don’t want to go through this suffering. I don’t want to have to endure this. Just the thought of it is horrifying to me.” Jesus is experiencing in this passage the same turmoil we experience.

Now, look at what steadies him. Look at what anchors his soul. As so as he begins to pray to be spared this hour, to escape this cup, he immediately faces his unswerving commitment to adhere to his Father’s will. No, there is a purpose in the suffering. God has ordained this suffering for his glory and for that reason I will embrace it. Let me suffer in such a way that it brings God glory.

You can see this internal conflict. “The horror of death, and the love of His father’s will were colliding.”

And it is in that moment that He just bursts out. Glorify your name. The glory of God is his anchor. He loves the glory of God more than he loves his own life, his own comfort, his own freedom.

Here’s the point that John is driving home to us today and it’s a sober one. There is a time when we all need to count the cost. There’s a time for all of us where Jesus says, “Stop playing church. Stop trying to stay on the fence. Are you for me or against me? Are you a Mary or Judas.” Will you follow me, even unto death?

There is one sense in which being a Christian costs you nothing. It’s a free gift after all. You can earn it. You can’t pull out a wad of cash and pay for your salvation and then say, "I paid the price, now give me what is owed to me." That’s impossible. But in another sense, in order to get this free gift, you must surrender everything.

When you get married, you don’t pay a bunch of money to your spouse and say, "Okay, I’ve paid the price. Now I get the benefits of being married." No, you have to give your entire life, “and forsaking all others for you alone” when you do that, then the free gift is yours.

In the same way, being a Christian costs you everything. And that surrender in one sense is not easy. It’s not fun. You will probably pray a prayer similar to Jesus, “Father, save me from this hour.”

And in that hour you will have a choice. Before Jesus, there existed a choice. Run from Jerusalem. Hide in the hills. Get away from Jerusalem where I can be free of these death threats and just live a quiet comfortable life, or, submit to the Father. For this reason I came into the world. Glorify your name. Glorify your name in my suffering. That is of greater importance. Remember Hebrews 12?

Hebrews 12Enter

That’s what we are doing. We are considering Jesus who endured such hostility against himself, so that we can be encouraged in our suffering, the same way Jesus was encouraged in his. Father glorify your name.

Can you say that in what you are being asked to surrender?

Maybe it’s your health. Maybe it’s your spouses health?
Maybe it’s your reputation. Following Jesus means surrendering my reputation.
Maybe it’s your time. I have to choose between sports or your hobby or even something good like ministry or family and Jesus. I have to choose between work and church.
Or maybe it’s your money. Remember the rich young ruler. Jesus said, “Sell all that you have and come follow me.” And he went away sad. He wouldn’t do it.

You see, it’s at that moment when it really costs you that it goes from being a theory you agree with to a truth upon which your very life rests secure.

Let’s get real. Nobody disagrees with this concept at a high level. I mean, who is going to disagree? Of course we can see that this kind of surrender is good. We see someone who is truly happy who gave everything away and we say, "yeah, that makes sense. That’s like Jesus. but you see, we haven’t given everything away.

We hear the testimony of someone who says, "I used to be a work-a-holic and I just decided I’d had enough and I decide to make church and Bible reading and family worship a priority." And we do it every day and it was the best decision of our life. And that doesn’t surprise you. Of course that makes sense. You have to abandon the world if you want to follow Christ. But you haven’t done that.

We see someone who left their high paying career and their cushy job and went onto the mission field or they went into the ministry and they say, “That was the best decision of my life.” And we stand back and say, “Yeah, that makes total sense.”

But we haven’t done that. We are still a million miles away from that decision. You see there is a way to agree without agreeing. There’s a difference between agreeing with the model and trusting in it.

In our membership class last week, we were talking about what it means to put your faith in Jesus Christ, to really believe him. And we used this analogy.

You see do we really want to follow Jesus? That’s what he’s asking these Gentiles. Do you really want to follow me. If you want to follow me then you’ve got to go where I go. I’m going to the cross. Still interested?

I’m going to do the father’s will. And I trust that the father’s will is good. It is for this reason that I came, to do the father’s will. For Jesus Christ, get in the wheelbarrow for Jesus meant climb on the cross.

And it’s in that moment of total surrender, that God answers.

What does he mean, the voice came for your sake, not mine. He means, I want you to see what I am choosing. I want the glory of the father. That’s what’s motivating me. That’s what’s driving me! Jesus did not get carried away by a fevered multitude and wound up on a cross. He was seeking the glory of the father.

In the same way that a man is motivated by money and in so doing sacrifices his life upon the altar of the almighty dollar, so Jesus is motivated by the glory of the father. That’s everything to me. It’s worth it!

Now, interestingly, Jesus makes some commentary on what his death means. He says the crucifixion will be the means by which he judges the world.

Judgment of the world. Remember what the Pharisees said earlier. Oh no, the whole WORLD is going after him. And now Jesus is saying, by me, hanging on the cross, “Now is the judgment of the world.”

What does it meant to judge? It means to evaluate on the basis of truth.

You’re a line judge in tennis. Was the ball in or out. You judge it?
You judge an art contest? Which one deserves the blue ribbon?
You judge a traffic dispute. Who caused the accident.

And then there’s a verdict. There’s a conclusion that is spoken. Jesus says. Now is the judgment of this world.

Okay, well what’s the thing needing to be judged? Well, of course, it’s the thing that the whole book of John is about. Who is Jesus? Is he God come in the flesh or is flesh pretending to be God. Is a Liar, a Lunatic, or Lord. What the judgment? What is the assessment of that claim? There was all this debate about who he was. (e.g. 6:14, 42, 60; 7:15; 8:48, 52–53; 9:29; 10:19; 11:37).

The world thought it was passing judgment on Jesus. The ruler of this world thought he was passing judgment on Jesus. The crowds thought they were passing judgment on Jesus, "crucifiy him, crucify him." In reality, the cross was passing judgment on them. And although the cross might seem like Satan’s triumph, it is in fact his defeat. Why? Because it is through this ‘defeat’ that victory comes.

Now let’s stop right here for a second. What is this talking about? When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself. Without the verse that comes next, I would almost certainly conclude that is talking about the resurrection and subsequent ascension.

By what means would Jesus draw the world to himself? You would think by demonstrating power and victory over death. Coming out of the grave. Walking to the top of the mount of olives and raising to heaven. I mean, that would be so dramatic, so amazing. That will be the thing that just smashes the unbelief and people will come sprinting to the feet of Jesus. Certainly that would be the way, right?

But that’s not what he meant.

The whole world is going after him. Let’s recall back to the beginning where we talked about John’s usage of the word world.

By what means would the whole world going after him. (people)

Jesus say, when I am lifted up I will draw all men to myself.

Is that Christ being lifted up and exalted by the crowds? Save us, save us.
Is that Christ being exalted to a throne? Nope. That’s the shallow, fickle, mm deep interest of the world.
That’s what the Pharisees thought. Oh no, the whole world (people) is gone after him.

That type of self-serving interest is of the WORLD (pollution). That’s worldly attraction. And this is the judgment of the world (pollution), the death of Jesus. And it through that death the ruler of this world (planet) will be cast out.

Victory through death.
The Glory comes by Giving.
The Healing comes by Hanging.

Jesus had to die like a seed to reproduce his life in others. And that is what we are going to celebrate now in a time of communion.