The Road to the Cross

Well, good morning, everyone. It's good to be with you.

Let me pray.

Lord Jesus, pour your Spirit out on us.

Open your Word up to us. Let us see you more clearly.

Let us know you better, be more like you, and follow you more closely.

Amen.

I always love preaching from the Gospels.

I think I say this every time I preach from the Gospels,

because it is a chance to stop and look closely at Jesus and study Him.

Everything Jesus said and did was catalytic.

It was meant to transform the people who were around Him.

And our passage this morning from John 12 is no different.

I also like the Gospel of John probably a little bit more than the other Gospels.

I also say this, I'm not supposed to have favorites.

John's my favorite.

And I think I even read some of our ones that everybody has a favorite Gospel,

one that they connect with the most.

And some people even try to draw some personality or psychological meaning

from why somebody likes this Gospel versus another,

what it all means.

And that's not what today's about, but I just thought that was kind of interesting.

But in a big super generalization, Mark focuses on what Jesus did.

Matthew focuses on what Jesus taught.

Luke focuses on who Jesus paid attention to.

John focuses on who Jesus is.

So you can have favorites, but you kind of need them all.

And they're all carefully constructed, but John's narrative is especially well constructed in my view.

He communicates a lot of what he says as much restructure as it's actually what he says about Jesus.

So there's a lot going on into today's passage.

And I want to look at how John brings us to this moment in John 12,

to the conversations that happen between different actors,

and then what happens within those interactions.

It's always about what Jesus says and does and what he tells us about him.

So let's start with how did John get us to this moment.

So it all starts back in chapter 11, when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

And that episode starts a pattern that characterizes each scenario that we come across

as we make our way to today's passage.

It's a pattern of positive and negative reactions to Jesus that are driving him towards the cross.

It's a pattern of opposite reactions plays out against a general movement

of greater and greater visibility and prominence for Jesus.

So let's look at this pattern briefly.

So when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, there are two reactions.

Some of the crowd are deemed under faith in Jesus,

but others quickly head back to Jerusalem to convene an emergency meeting to kill him.

There are really strong opposite reactions.

There's no question about the fact that a miracle happened.

It's the difference in reactions.

And not only that, but if the council didn't already know who Jesus was,

they all know who he is now.

And not only that, but after this episode,

this is where it went back to Jerusalem,

and the crowds in Jerusalem in the temple were gathering for the festival,

were all talking about him and looking for him.

Jesus was creating more reactions to himself and becoming more prominent.

And in a small way, this pattern repeated.

There was a quiet dinner of my friends in the home of Martha and Mary afterwards.

And Mary adores Jesus by anointing his feet with an extensive ointment.

It's a beautiful time of adoration, gratitude, and even worship.

Judas, however, criticizes Mary in front of everyone for her actions.

Once again, strong polar opposite reactions to Jesus and who he is.

And not only that, but when the chief priests hear that the crowd is coming to see Jesus

and also to see Lazarus, they decide they're going to kill Lazarus too.

It's amazing.

Jesus continues to be prominent.

Of course, it gets even better.

Jesus rises to Jerusalem triumphantly.

Crowds come out.

They're praising him.

They're waving palm branches.

And all of their praise expresses a messianic faith.

The Pharisees, on the other hand,

all complain how terrible it is that the whole world is going after him.

Polar opposites.

Faith and worship, on the one hand.

Resistance to Jesus, on the other.

And all in a moment, even greater prominence for Jesus.

Every single one of these moments are on this trajectory of greater prominence

and of stronger and stronger, polar reactions to Jesus.

And so in this moment in John 12,

there's this atmosphere that's charged with the tension between adoration

and acclaim, on one hand, and disparagement,

even a murderous hate, on the other.

A tension that grows as Jesus' own prominence grows.

So, in our passage,

there's this hothouse of fervor,

both for and against Jesus.

And two of Jesus' disciples, Philip and Andrew,

have a moment in this part of our readings.

It starts with some Greeks who want to come see Jesus.

Though John deliberately evokes

an earlier moment in the gospel for the disciples

who came to Jesus at the end of chapter one.

And it signals to us that this is really,

this passage is really the passage of our discipleship.

At the end of chapter one,

Nathaniel,

Andrew approaches Simon

and brings Simon to Jesus.

And similarly,

Philip goes and finds Nathaniel and brings him to Jesus.

In this passage,

some Greeks come to worship,

God fears,

and they approach Philip,

asking to see Jesus.

Philip goes to Andrew,

and then they go to Jesus with three groups' request.

Philip and Andrew have,

I know,

a good instinct,

a well-developed instinct

for how to come to Jesus

and how to bring people to Jesus.

We see this in the earlier chapter

in chapter one.

But even so,

those instincts,

in this moment,

need to be developed,

refined,

and refocused a bit.

With all the heightened fervor

and the greater prominence

that Jesus is experiencing,

the request of the Greeks

would have seemed like

a good next logical step

in Jesus' current trajectory.

Sitting at the pinnacle of acclaim

by the crowds in Jerusalem

that Gentiles are now also asking

to come and see Jesus

could signal

the beginning of a wider ministry for Jesus

to the wider world,

a greater platform

and a greater reach.

So Philip and Andrew,

as part of Jesus' entourage,

as part of the inner circle of 12,

tried to facilitate

what they thought

was Jesus' next phase,

a next big step

where Jesus would hit the big time.

So Jesus replies,

the hour has come

for the Son of Man

to be glorified.

And you can all text your hand

or to Philip

fist bumping each other

and saying,

I told you so.

It's the time for Jesus

to be glorified.

This is the moment

we read the situation correctly.

We were right to do that.

But then,

and it's a big but then,

Jesus reframes the situation.

It's kind of jarring in some ways.

He totally upends

the whole thinking

about what's going on

and all that he says next.

He says three things

about discipleship

that needs to unpack you.

Before we get into that,

I want to focus you on something.

Something I want you to see

about Jesus

and his response

to the disciples.

He's not mad at them.

He's not angry,

disappointed,

exasperated,

or in any way critical

of their response,

of the way they're coming to him.

His words,

that reframe the situation,

are entirely

without judgment.

And what I want you to see,

the first thing

I want you to take away

from this morning

is that as his disciple,

Jesus is the same way

with you

as he is with them.

He is never disappointed,

exasperated,

or in any way critical

of you

when your intentions

are right,

but you still get it

a bit wrong.

Jesus,

the way he was

with Philip and Andrew,

he is like this

with you right now.

There is no condemnation,

not now or ever.

Let's look at how Jesus

reframes the situation.

First thing Jesus says,

unless a grain of wheat

falls into the earth

and dies,

it remains alone.

But if it dies,

it bears much fruit.

This is the first phrase,

the first thing

that Jesus said

that would have been

really jarring.

Jesus drops a death metaphor

on them.

A dying metaphor.

And all the fist bumping

probably came to a halt

right at that moment.

But it's not entirely

all about death

because Jesus articulates

a spiritual principle

that it's only through death

that new life

and fruitfulness

is possible.

This is not the way

of the world.

It's not the way

even of Washington, D.C.

Then Jesus says

something next

and he takes this metaphor

and he extends it

to people.

Whoever loves his life

loses it.

Whoever hates his life

in this world

will keep it

for eternal life.

It just keeps getting better.

In other words,

by letting go

of the world

and the flesh,

by letting go

of all that is dark

and empty,

by letting go

of prominence,

platforms,

influence,

and all that narrative

of impact

on all the world's terms,

the very things

that Philip

and Andrew

and likely

the other disciples

thought was happening

for Jesus right now,

by letting go

of these things,

you get a higher life,

a whole life,

true life

and eternal life,

a real life

that lasts forever.

And then Jesus

says this,

if anyone serves me,

he must follow me

and where I am,

there will my servant

also be.

If anyone serves me,

the Father

will honor him.

In other words,

the path

to this higher

real life

that lasts for eternity

is by serving,

following,

and being with Jesus.

And the disciples

would find out shortly

that to follow

and be with Jesus

is to go through death

and ultimately new life,

his pattern

of the cross

and resurrection.

So a second thing

I want you to see,

the words themselves

I'll come back to,

but a second thing

that I want you to see

about how Jesus

interacts with his

two disciples

is that as much

as he gently

but powerfully

reframes the situation

for Philip and Andrew,

you should expect him

to be the same way

with you.

We should not miss

his gentle nudges

and whispers

of follow me.

In this regard.

So already,

if this passage

had stopped there

and the sermon

stopped there,

there'd be a lot

to unpack,

but it kind of

keeps going

and it honestly

gets a bit wild.

There's this four-way

conversation that starts

between Jesus,

his two disciples

who are listening,

God,

his father,

and the crowd

around him.

We find out

in verse 34

that Jesus

and Philip

and Andrew

are not in a quiet

room somewhere

trying to talk

to Jesus

about his next

big moves,

but they seem

to be in the midst

of a crowd.

How much

of all this

conversation

between Jesus

and Philip

and Andrew

the crowd

could hear

isn't clear,

but they must

have heard

some of it.

But all that

follows definitely

happens in the

hearing of the crowd

and Jesus

is every bit

as intentional

with this moment

as he is

with his two

disciples.

So Jesus

drops these

heavy metaphors

on his disciples,

but then he

does something.

He gets vulnerable.

He shares

that his soul

is troubled

and he feels

a bit like

asking his father

to save him

from this hour.

And maybe

a third thing

I want you to see

and notice about Jesus

apart from his words.

He's vulnerable,

open,

and emotionally

expressive.

The way he is

with Philip

and Andrew

is how he is

or at least

how he wants

to be with you.

You should expect

him to be vulnerable

and emotionally

accessible to you

when you talk

with him.

And then Jesus

seems to raise

his voice a little

and prays out loud,

Father, glorify

your name.

And this all

by itself

would have been

an encouraging

and an inspiring

example of a

righteous person

making the right

choice in a hard

moment,

but more happens.

an audible voice

comes from heaven

affirming that

the Father

has glorified

his name

and will do

so again.

The crowd

around Jesus

heard this.

They heard his

prayer to the Father

and then they heard

this noise

coming from the sky.

Some thought

it was thunder,

some said,

well,

they thought it was a voice,

but they thought

probably an angel.

Jesus heard it

as a voice

and he understood

whose voice it was.

And even further,

he discerned

that the voice

was actually

for their sake,

not his.

It confirmed

all that Jesus

said to Philip

and Andrew

prior to this

and maybe even

to some of the

crowd around him.

And then Jesus

makes the full

connection

between his

statements

and how the path

of death

leads to new life.

Jesus draws

this four-way

conversation together

by foretelling

to the crowd

what kind of death

he was going to die.

Though the crowd

doesn't seem to pick

this up right away.

Jesus states

that his death,

the death he's going

to die,

will result

in the ruler

of the world

being cast out,

the one who is

ultimately responsible

for all that is wrong

with the world.

And it will also result

in all people

being drawn to himself.

Jesus' death

will bring new life.

So there are things

to see in this passage.

Jesus

related to his disciples

in a certain way

and we should take

some learning from this

about who he is.

And he said some things

that should challenge us.

Jesus is never angry

or disappointed with you.

Come with your good intentions

and don't worry

if you might get it wrong.

He's very,

he's interested

in the conversation

with you.

He will not judge you.

You can expect him

to reframe

and direct you on things.

It doesn't mean

he thinks you got it wrong.

He just wants to

set you straight

because he loves you.

So be open to him.

Be open to who he is

and how he is.

And more than just open,

actually ask him

to let you experience him

in these ways.

Jesus' three statements

to his disciples

should challenge all of us

but honestly,

they challenge me personally.

Probably like some of you,

my day job

has a lot to do

with strategy

and building partnerships

and communications.

There's getting leadership

and getting the organization

on platforms,

having a more prominent voice

on policy debates.

There's a lot of messaging

and talking points

and trying to influence people

and power

to make the decisions

that you want

for the cause

that you're trying to advance.

And in some ways,

when I read this passage,

I recognized

what Philip and Andrew

were doing

because I look for ways

to do the same thing.

It's kind of my daily bread.

Like some of us in this room,

I work hard

at all of these things.

Changing the world

is what gets

many of us

out of bed in the morning.

And I can make

a clear connection

between my kingdom values

and my day job.

But as valuable

and important

as all those things are,

they are in the end

not the ways

of the kingdom.

They're not going to work

when it comes

to how I follow Jesus.

So,

I'm not about

to quit my job.

None of you should either.

So don't go away

saying,

Rob thinks I should

quit my job.

It's not a kingdom job.

That's not what I'm saying.

Keep your jobs.

But we should all

have the spiritual sensitivity

and the discernment

that Jesus walked in

in today's passage

to be able

to see the kingdom

and the ways

of the Father

at work around us.

I think it means

recognizing

that for all

our efforts

to be successful

in changing the world,

there are limits

to what we can do.

It means recognizing

that in the end,

it's the Father

who will glorify

his own name

and that he will

change the world

in his own way

and in his own time

to a level

and a depth

that our best

collective efforts

probably can't achieve.

That's a humble posture.

It also means

that if we are serious

about serving Jesus,

about following him

and being with him,

we should expect him

at times to ask us

to walk the path of death

to have new life.

Are we open to that?

It might mean

that when we're out there

doing what we do

to change the world,

praying that God

works through us

and gives us the wisdom

to do it,

that we have the heart posture

of John the Baptist

who said,

he must increase,

but I must decrease.

It's hard.

So I want to give us

a moment now

to reflect quietly

on Jesus' words

from this passage.

I want to ask you

to ask Jesus,

what are you saying

to me right now

through these three statements

that you said

to your disciples?

So let's just take

a quiet moment

and then I'll close

us in prayer.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Lord, as I prayed

at the beginning,

pour your spirit

out on us.

We want to see you

more clearly,

know you more deeply,

be more like you,

and follow you

more closely.

And as always,

if you want to talk

about any of what

I talked about today,

if you feel like the Lord

is stirring things up

in you and you want

prayer,

please reach out.

Any of us would love

to talk with you

or pray with you.

Amen.

Amen.