Has the Hour Come?
John 12:20-33
by Jim Westmoreland
How would you describe the most important hour of your life? Don't restrict yourself to thinking in terms of 60 minute periods, but, rather, let hour be a metaphor for the periods and sequences of our lives that are significant in terms of who we are.
We may think back to childhood, to the good and bad times we experienced and to which we began to develop attitudes and patterns of response. Who have we become? How has this influenced how we see ourselves, how we did in school, in our choice of careers, in our choice of friends, in our marriages, in our definitions of success and in our experiences of hard times when relationships, careers, health and happiness have been tested? Have we changed our minds about what is important, and what did it take to lead us to really change?
I like the ancient legend about the monk who found a precious stone, a precious jewel. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who said he was hungry and asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions. When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious stone and, on an impulse, asked the monk if he could have it. Amazingly, the monk gave the traveler the stone. The traveler departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession. However, a few days later, he came back, searching for the monk. He returned the stone to the monk and made a request: "Please give me something more valuable, more precious than this stone. Please give me that which enabled you to give me this precious stone!"(1)
In this encounter between Jesus and some Greeks in the twelfth chapter of John we get a glimpse of Jesus struggling through a decision. None of the other gospels record this incident with these curious Greeks. It is unique to the gospel of John, which was written to appeal to the Gentile world. The Prologue of John is a very Greek-oriented description of the divine logos, or word. This word was in the beginning with God and was God. And this word became flesh and dwelt among us. John definitely was reaching out beyond Judaism with his gospel.
The Greeks were curious and traveled throughout their world to find out new things. The Greek were also seekers of truth and had seeking minds. The news about Jesus and his ministry was spreading. The incident with Jesus taking on the money changers at the temple took place in the court of the Gentiles. As seekers these men might have witnessed this event, or they may have heard about it from others in the Gentile community around Jerusalem.(2)
Here in John is the "first faint hint of a gospel which is to go out to all the world."(3) And so, these Greeks approach Phillip who gets Andrew who, like he did with his brother Simon, takes them to Jesus.
Notice Jesus' answer in v. 23, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." At first hearing, this is what the disciples and the crowds had all been waiting to hear. Their hopes, expectations and dreams for the resurgence of Israel must have soared. The Son of Man figure, used in Daniel, but developed more fully in the inter-biblical book of Enoch, was a conquering warrior from heaven. He would come on his fiery chariot in over-whelming judgment against the enemies and oppressors of Israel. He would not come in glory, but he would come to be glorified by both those whom he conquered and those whom he liberated. He would be the one also known as the Ancient of Days, and His rule would be universal and eternal.
If He would have stopped there, everyone would have been jubilant. But Jesus spoils the celebration when he starts talking about a grain of wheat that much fall into the earth and die so that it will bear much fruit. He says that those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. William Barclay says, "We will never understand Jesus nor the attitude of the Jews to him, until we understand how he turned their ideas upside down, replacing a dream of conquest with a vision of the Cross. No wonder they did not understand him."(4) Not much has changed. We want God on our side. We want our enemies defeated, and, for too many, we are not much into serving others.
Only by spending our life for others do we save it. The person who loves their life is moved by two aims: by selfishness and by the desire for security. Many times Jesus insisted that the person who hoarded their life must in the end lose it, and the person who spent their life must in the end gain it. Why is it that, regardless of the amount of money we have, that we are tempted to place our security in things that are temporary?
In Jesus' response to the Greeks has created tension in conflict in the minds of His audience, especially the Jews and His disciples. He has used the image of the victorious, conquering Son of Man, and He has talked about the necessity of losing one's life in order to save it, about seeds dying so that they might be fruitful and multiply. Why? Why this conflicted language?
Jesus tells us in v. 27, "Now my soul is troubled. What should I say, 'Father, save me from this hour?'" The tension and conflict here is the tension and conflict going on within Jesus. He was struggling, weighing, being tempted, however we need to say it, with what kind of Messiah he would be. John does not tell us about Jesus agonizing struggle in Gethsemane, but he gives us this passage, which humanizes the internal battle going on within Jesus. No one wishes to die at thirty-three, and no one wishes to die on a Cross. But, Jesus breaks through the conflict, saying, " No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour."
There's a story about Charles Schwab (the steel tycoon, not the discount broker) and consultant Ivy Lee. The story goes that Schwab came to Lee for advice on how to increase his productivity and profitability. Lee's advice was simple. He said: Each day, write down the five most important tasks for you to do TODAY, and then do each task, one by one. Don't start Task Two until you complete Task One, and so on.
Ivy Lee then told Schwab that he wouldn't invoice him for this consultation; he said, "Try the advice for a while and pay what it's worth to you." Six weeks later Charles Schwab sent Ivy Lee a check for $25,000. Schwab later said, "This is the most practical lesson I've ever learned."
Mr. Lee's advice works, but it's not nearly as easy as it looks. The hard part is not in doing the list, but creating the list. It's a challenge we all face. Of all the things on our "to-do" list, how do we know which are the five most important ones for us to do TODAY?
There's really only one way. We have to know our purpose. If we can answer the question "What am I doing with my life?" it's much easier to answer the question, "What am I going to do with my day, today?" When we examine our lists, If being a light for others to know God or being a servant for others is important, do we put those things on our list every day in a specific tangible task or action?
For most of his career Albert Einstein kept the portraits of two scientists on the wall -- Isaac Newton and James Maxwell. Toward the end of his life he replaced those portraits with Ghandi and Albert Schweitzer. He said, "It is time to replace the image of success with the image of service."
Maybe he had been inspired by Schweitzer's words: "I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know, the only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."(5)
I imagine that we are all on something of a self-directed journey to greatness. Let's remember that the path is paved with service to others. If we want to be great, if we want to continue to minister and to gather people to worship and express their faith, we must grow in our willingness to be a servant. When Jesus spoke of the Son of Man coming in glory, it involved giving His life. The road to glory was the servant road. The hour of decision became the hour to do what He was called to do. When we confessed Christ to follow Him as His disciple, what did He call us to do? In John 12: 26, Jesus says, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also." Has the hour come for you? Has the hour come for us as a church? Amen.
Century Christian Church, April 2, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
1. James W. Moore, "Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True," Dimensions, 1994, p. 101.
2. William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series: John, Vol 2 (rev.), Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 119.
3. Ibid, p. 120.
4. Ibid, p. 22.
5. Steve May, Mondaymemo.com, March 27, 2006.