John 12:12-26 - Caleb Richardson

I see a few people back from hunting or in transition

and others that are still gone. But hey, you

know, in a couple weeks this place will be packed

because everybody will be done. There'll be no

excuses to go hunting anymore or fishing. Just

be ready for snow. No, I was kidding. It's not

coming yet. Hey, before we get started, I got

something to tell you. Hey, by the way, welcome

back, Brandon. If you remember, some of you may

not even know who this guy is. He was one of

our lead. worship leaders and uh he was getting

flight training and gone for like six eight weeks

or whatever so it's good to have him back um

so you know uh friday night what are we doing

friday night friday night we had the opportunity

to pull the barbecue trailer over to the colony

football game and we served two complete cookers

full of burnt ends, and they sold out, and it

was amazing, and we did flip burgers, and so

we had Craig and Chase and Reese and Brian and

myself. Did I miss anybody? There's five of us,

I think, doing it. But it was really cool because

where the barbecue stand sits, and it's the one

we brought at the camp out, so you're probably

familiar with what it is, but we pulled it up

there, and where it sits, everybody has to walk

by it. coming into the game so of course it creates

a lot of discussion a lot of conversation but

i was thinking as about the barbecue um stan

a little bit barbecue as it was cooking because

people would come by to us and say man i could

smell it in the parking lot but way up there

in fact uh and because it was just perfect wind

right to where everybody's parked and so this

the smell of barbecue was everywhere it was amazing

and um And I thought, you know, isn't that kind

of the picture of how our church needs to operate?

Like smoke that moves into where everybody's

at. Because to be a radiant reflection of Jesus,

to just serve and to come at the world around

us with a posture of saying, the sweet smell

of Jesus. Now, I know I'm reading into it, it

sounds like barbecue, sweet smell, but it's pretty

close. I mean, it's a good picture. And so as

a church, our desire is that we don't just huddle

up here on Sunday or huddle up in your gospel

community, but that we are a people who go outward

into our community in as many ways. And guys,

I'm just telling you, there's a great joy to

be had in serving other people. And it's a great

joy to be a reflection of Jesus. And so I want

to encourage you, if that's not a way you live,

like, get on board with us. get on board in doing

that, and it's awesome. Man, I didn't think I

could turn a barbecue into a lesson, but here

we go. All right, let's pray. We're going to

jump into this. If you don't have a Bible, you

can feel free to jump, go in the back, grab one

of those little blue books, and you can take

that home, but we're in chapter 12, and we're

going to unpack this. It's a really cool passage,

but we need our hearts right before the Lord,

and so... Let me just encourage you as I pray

that even where you're sitting, whatever you're

dealing with, that you have an open hand and

a soft heart before the Lord with whatever is

going on in your world. So Lord, we come before

you. And your word is powerful. And your example

to us is powerful and it changes us. And so Jesus,

thank you for what you have done for us in your

death and in your resurrection. Thank you that

you are God. And Lord, help us in this process

as we unpack these words that by the power of

your spirit that you will help show us our own

hearts, show us the areas that we can become

more like you and to be changed and transformed.

We want to be like you, Jesus, and we long to

see you someday. In your name we pray. Amen.

All right, so we're in John. So, I don't know,

some of you probably just are new to the church,

but we just work verse by verse through the book

of John, and we're going to jump right back in

the middle of John today. And it's important,

though, to keep in mind the main purpose of John.

The main purpose, the main theme. Like, one of

the ways that you can, as you look at your Bible,

when you go to read a book or a letter in the

Bible, it's always a good question to say, what's

the major theme? And John, the major theme is

belief. It's belief. It's to believe in Jesus

as your Savior and as your Lord. And that's not

just an initial belief, but it's a belief that

is, the way to think about it is this is a belief

that is continually growing deeper and deeper

into who Jesus is and what he's done. Like roots

of a big tree. going down into the ground. And

that's what John wants us to do. He wants us

to go deeper in our relationship with Jesus,

to believe deeper in who he is, and in a sense,

establish a deeper relationship vertically with

who he is. So John is really helpful in that

because we begin to peer into Jesus. He is, and

we know this right from the very beginning of

John, it tells us that This Jesus that we talk

about, that we celebrate, that we say we want

to live our life around, is God. In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and

the Word was God, and He did it all, He created

it all. He's part, He's why we worship. We come

before, we look at Jesus and say, okay, our life

needs to rotate around Him. But first and foremost,

we pick our eyes up and we say, okay, what's

going on here? I need to understand this vertical

relationship with Jesus. and see what he has

done for us, how he's called us to. And see,

then when we begin to really put our roots down

into this vertical relationship with Jesus, then

it will affect your horizontal life. And if you're

looking at your horizontal life and go, boy,

I really don't look like much, look like this

Jesus. I don't feel him. Whatever it is, my question

would be, what's your vertical? relationship

look like? What is that vertical like for you?

And so John is trying to drive deeper and deeper

this depth of our belief in him. He wants it

to grow. And so as we look at our story today,

it's my hope that who Jesus is will grow bigger

today in you. And your response to Jesus will

grow bigger as well. Okay? We are now in the

final week of Jesus' life. Now, as you think

about what we're going to jump into today, think

about those 12 disciples that walked with Jesus

for three years. And they're still learning this.

They're still learning. Their faith in Jesus

still has to grow deeper. So if you walked with

Jesus in his physical space for that long, and

it's still taking those guys that long, there's

hope for you and I. But we're in the final week

of Jesus' life. And the rest of John is one week.

And it's a very important week. And just remember,

like, Jesus and his disciples, last week we looked

at this, Jesus and his disciples have just left

a party celebration, a thank you Jesus party,

a gratitude party, a party worshiping Jesus for

what he has done. Now, it's the next day from

that party, if you remember back what happened.

And Jerusalem is packed with people. Everyone

is preparing for the Passover celebration, this

big celebration of that, man, I just wish I could

have been there for some of these. Like, we don't

party like they did in some of these. Like, the

whole piles and piles of people piling in to

celebrate. And this was the biggest celebration,

but they did this a lot. In fact, if you go down

through the celebrations, I think it's like a

big celebration once every two months. So, they're

at the, and everybody's preparing. And the main

conversation that's happening as they're preparing

is all centered around Jesus. He's made a stir.

And the questions they're asking are, will Jesus

show up? You know he's on the hit list. His life

is, they're wanting to take his life. They're

wanting to eliminate Jesus. So the buzz is out,

right? The Pharisees, the chief priests, they

want him arrested. Ultimately, they want him

gone. So there's this large group of people,

though, in midst of this that are super excited

about Jesus. And this really begins to be unfolded.

in chapter and verse 13 of chapter 12 and so

let's just jump into our story but you understand

like there is a buzz about jesus so look it says

this verse 12 the next day when the when the

large crowd that had come to the festival heard

that jesus was coming to jerusalem they took

palm branches and they went out to meet him they

kept shouting hosanna Blessed is he who comes

in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel.

Now, if you've been in the church a long time,

you know this is called Palm Sunday, right? This

is the big celebration. And I don't know, has

anybody ever been in a church where people showed

up with palm branches? A couple of you. It's

weird. It's easy if you live in Alaska not to

have to wave palm branches because we don't have

any. You have to really work hard to get them.

You've got to picture this scene, and I need

you to use your imagination to get into the story

a little bit. So swarms of people hear Jesus

is coming, and they're coming to see Jesus. Remember,

they're excited about Jesus. At this moment,

they're super excited about him. And picture

an area the size of the state fairgrounds, okay?

And 120 -plus thousand people are crammed into

a space like that. And they're camping, and all

the hills around are just covered with people.

Now, they're not going home. They're there for

an entire week. The place is electric. This is

what would happen at the Passover festival. There's

a buzz. But in this particular time, this particular

Passover, there is a special buzz, and it's a

buzz of revolution in the air. When it says that

in verse 13 that the crowd took up palm branches

and went out to meet him, it has deep meaning

that you and I miss. Okay, so let's just unpack

that. The palm branches that they would be waving

was a symbol of Jewish nationalism. It's kind

of like our American flag, but much different

because it symbolized Israel's hope. of being

freed from the rule of the Romans. So this little,

in fact, in revolution, I won't go into all the

history of this, why it made this, but it was

so important that they had it stamped on coins,

the palm branch. And so they come out with palm

branches. It's their way of saying revolution,

okay? So this is what's happening. So the people

come out waving these branches and they're shouting,

Hosanna! Now this is a weird term, like for us,

blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,

King of Israel. And you're like, well, okay.

That was massively important. To cry Hosanna

in the Aramaic phrase, meaning save us now. Could

you just imagine a hundred, thousands of people

with palm branches wanting a revolution and they're

shouting, save us now. Blessed is he who comes.

And when you combine it with blessed is he who

comes, the king of Israel, you realize the crowd

is crying for a national liberator. That's what

they're yelling for. And they're waving these

branches. Jesus is the one. The crowd wants Jesus

to be their national liberator, and it's time

for revolution. I hope that brings a little more

meaning to what's going on. So here's Jesus coming

in, and you're like, oh boy. This moment has

come. You imagine being a disciple is kind of

going, oh, it's getting a little electric around

here. But Jesus, here's the king. But Jesus will

be there. They're crying out for a king. They're

crying out for a savior. They're crying out for

a national liberator. And Jesus will be those

things. He will be their king. He will be their

liberator. And he will be one who brings about

a revolution. But it's not in the way they think.

It's not in the way they think. But if you wanted

to rise to political power, this was the moment.

This was the moment it would happen. If you wanted

a revolution, this is when it should be happening,

right now. So if it was Jesus' goal to do this,

to be that political leader, to come in, to create

a revolution, He should ride in on a white horse.

That's what he should do. Ride up tall. And the

crowd was ready to gather. Ready to gather. All

he had to say was, let's rock and roll, boys.

If he wanted that power and command, you show

up on a white horse. Look what Jesus does. Look

at verse 14. that Jesus found a young donkey,

and he sat on it. Just as it was written, do

not be afraid, daughter of Zion. Look, your king

is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt. Okay,

all four gospels tell this story. And the reference

of this little bit, it comes from Zechariah 9,

Zechariah 9:9

verse 9. You can go back and look. I'll read

it for you right here. And it also references,

referenced in Isaiah 62, 11. But Zechariah 9,

9 says this, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing

in this moment. He was identifying himself with

a long -awaited Messiah that was, that was talked

about in Zechariah 500 years prior before he

was identifying with that. He said donkey was

a royal beast. It was. But it was an animal of

peace. A humble animal. Jesus knew it was going

to be a new kind of king. And nobody understood

it. In fact, what they wanted will come someday.

And that's found in Revelation 19 when Jesus

does show up riding on a horse to conquer. But

now Jesus is showing up on a donkey. The crowd

wanted a king with a sword. And Jesus has a different

plan. I was just thinking, like, I think I would

be just like that crowd if I was really honest.

Anytime you're under oppression, anytime you're

treated poorly, you want to fight back, don't

you? I would be just like this crowd. This is

the man. He can raise people from the dead. Have

you seen him heal people? You've seen how he's

such a good leader. That's our man. And we want

the Romans out of here. And we're oppressed.

That's our man. So they wanted a king with a

sword. Just for fun, if you want to go back and

read Revelation 19, this is when Jesus returned

and he comes in on a horse. So don't get this

image in your mind that Jesus is weak, peaceful,

humble, little, wimpy Jesus. In fact, this takes

a lot to be this kind of a warrior. So look what

he says now. Jump into verse 16. His disciples

didn't understand these things at first. However...

When Jesus was glorified, they remembered that

these things had been written about him and that

he had done these things to him. Meanwhile, the

crowd which had been with him when he called

Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the

dead continued to testify. This is also why the

crowd met him, because they had heard he had

done this sign. Crowds excited. This is why they're

there. Then the Pharisees said to one another,

you see, we've accomplished nothing. Look, the

world has gone after him. So the crowd is excited.

They think the revolution is in the air. And

the Pharisees begin to despair because they're

losing power. That's why they're despairing.

And John then does something interesting. You

can read all the other accounts in this in the

other Gospels. But John does something different

here. And it seems almost like it doesn't fit

in the story. But he just kind of pivots and

tells us another part of the story. Okay? Look

at verse 20. Now some Greek were among those

who went up to worship at the festival. So they

came to Philip. This is one of the disciples.

who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested

of him, sir, we want to see Jesus. And Philip

went and told Andrew. Why, I don't know, but

he did. And Andrew and Philip then said, and

went and told Jesus. That's all we know. They

don't tell whether or not we, you know, whether

Jesus even talked to him. Like there's two verses

in there to kind of go, huh. Why? I think the

reason John includes this little short comment

about the Greeks is that he wanted us to see

that the Gentiles mattered. This was a shift.

This was a turning point where Jesus now is not

just focused on the Jews, but that the effects

of what he's going to do is going to have a ripple

effect into all the world. Jesus' ministry wasn't

just to the Jews. It was for all people. Do you

remember what he says in John 3? You know this

verse, verse 16. For God loved the world in this

way, that he gave his one and only Son, so that

everyone who believes in him will not perish

but have eternal life. Jesus, John wants us to

see that Jesus is for the whole world. And this

whole event, that's going to about to begin to

take place is for the whole world and so what

we see then in 23 in verse 23 in this really

important you get this jesus replied to them

all so then the pivot goes to now i'm talking

to everybody he says this jesus replied to them

all the hour has come for the son of man to be

glorified Truly I tell you, unless a grain of

wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains

by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Jesus, in this moment, as he's talking to everybody,

turns and begins to address himself. He says,

my moment's here. I'm going to be a different

kind of king. A king that will rule through his

death. not conquest. This is a real simple illustration.

I could almost imagine him picking up this little

grain of wheat. And if you know anything about

wheat, it's got a little casing around it, right?

If you use the word fruit, but inside the case.

And so he picks up this little grain, which everybody

would be really familiar with. This little grain

is then planted every year. They would throw

it. They cast it on the ground. And it's only

each one in its own little tomb. And it would

die. And its death would become a resurrection

plant. And many grains of resurrection fruit

would be produced. And so they get it. They're

like, yeah, you put that little seed in the ground

and it produces. A whole bunch of other seeds,

which then in turn produces a bunch of other

seeds. And you see the ripple effect. And he

says, I'm the seed. I'm the one that's going

to go into the grave. And I have to die. And

it will be resurrection. And out of that will

come great fruit. That's what he's saying. He

says this is, and we know now, this is exactly

what he did. He went to the cross, right? It

was on the cross. His death had to happen because

he had to take all of the sin that had entered

the world upon himself, your sin and my sin,

and he had to suffer in our place. He became

our substitution and he atoned for our sin on

that cross. Death had to happen. His blood was

shed. His body was broken for you and me. But

then from the grave, new life happened. And Jesus

rose from the grave and he conquered Satan, sin,

and death. And Jesus says to the crowd, I will

fulfill my kingly role by dying and thereby reproducing

my life in others. He will rule from a place

of death to resurrection. That's how he's going

to be a king. And the effect of it would ripple.

It would be such a deep effect. Now, you understand,

this hasn't happened yet. And so he's telling

them, this is my time. It's here. And then he

says, basically, he begins to tell the effect

of that. He says, the effect of my life will

ripple out as well. It'll ripple into your life.

See, this principle of death, to life would include

you and I. It includes us. He turns this illustration

now from the wheat himself dying and rising again.

And you can just see in the moment, he turns

that, he's talking about himself, and he looks

at his disciples and he says, now it's your turn.

This is what he does in verse 25. The one who

loves his life. will lose it. The one who hates

his life in this world will keep it for eternal

life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me.

Where I am, there my servant also will be. If

anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

There's a lot packed in those two verses. And

so as he shifts and says, this is what I'm going

to do, he says, now that It's your turn. This

is how it's going to work. But here's what Jesus

is not saying in those verses. Look at verse

25. What Jesus is not saying is that you should

cultivate a hatred of life. No. That's not what

he's talking about. What he is saying is that

you need to die to yourself. You need to give

up that agenda. Die to yourself. That is where

real life is found, is when you look at yourself

and you go, I need to die to this. This that

I do every day, this brokenness in me, this sinfulness

in me, I need to die to that. I need to get rid

of it. I must put to death the sin of self -centeredness.

Remember I used that quote, I think it's John

Owen, it says, be killing sin or be killing you.

Like you look at your life and go, yuck, I got

to die to this thing. Jesus is saying, it's time

to die to yourself. This is a hard word. Because

I don't want to die to myself. I like myself.

I think I do. I think it's better, right? Put

myself first. And Jesus says, no, it's not actually.

Die to that. Remember it says in Romans 12, 1

and 2. He says, therefore, we went through this

when we taught through Romans. This is powerful.

It says, therefore, brothers and sisters, in

view of the mercies of God, which means in view

of what God has done for you, his mercy that's

poured out to you, I urge you to present your

bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing

to God. This is your true worship. Remember last

week we talked about worship? Give it all. That's

what he says. Lay it down. Do not be conformed

to this age, but be transformed by the renewing

of your mind so that you may discern what is

good and pleasing in the perfect will of God.

And Jesus is standing there saying, die to yourself.

This is the big problem. It starts with you.

You need to kill it. You need to kill that selfish

agenda in your life. Dying to ourselves is a

daily requirement if you're spiritually stagnant.

I've been doing this job a long time, and I have

a lot of people, I've heard this over, and I

don't know, I'm saying if it's you or not, I

just know it to be true. I've experienced it

in my own life. You ever just feel stagnant spiritually?

Flat. I don't know. Where is God? Dying to yourself.

There's a daily requirement to that. You want

to feel, you need, die to yourself if you want

to feel alive in Christ. Die to yourself if you're,

if you're spiritually, your spiritual potential

isn't being realized. You're not living out the

way that God designed it for you. Die to yourself.

Put yourself, put your selfishness to death.

That's what he's saying. So to love your life

means prioritizing your own comfort, your own

status, your own self -will above God. That's

what it means when he says, if you love your

life. You're basically saying, this, me, more

important than God. To hate your life in this

world doesn't mean self -loathing or despair.

It means holding earthly life with an open hand

because your ultimate allegiance belongs to Jesus.

You say, God, you've given me this life, and

in this life, and we're gonna get to the next

verse where he talks about serving, but he says,

I want you to hold it properly. He's given you

the gifts and the talents and the things of this

world, but don't do this with it. Having an open

hand before the Lord and saying, Lord, it's for

your glory, it's for your purpose. But if we

make it all about this, this loving ourselves,

loving our life, you'll lose it. That's what

Jesus is saying. If this is what you're about,

you will lose your life. So don't love your life.

Love Jesus. Love him. It makes sense. It works.

But open your hand with your life before the

Lord. Look what Jesus says in Mark chapter 8.

Mark 8 · chapter mention

Look at verse 34 and 35. I'll read it to you.

Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he

said to them, if anyone wants to follow after

me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and

follow me. For whoever wants to save his life

will lose it. Whoever loses his life because

of me and the gospel will save it. Talking about

the same thing. What are you about? Jesus looks

at his disciples and says, what do you want to

be about? I'm about to die for you. I'm about

to lay it all out there for you. I want you to

have that same attitude about when you look at

your life and you look at your existence. My

dad, he didn't come up with this, but he would

always quote this growing up. Only one life will

soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will

last. That's like saying, God, really, it's all

about you. And Jesus is saying, if you hang on

to you, you will lose it. If you hang on to Jesus

and look at what you are and say, no, I'm nothing

without Jesus, then you'll gain it. Verse 26

again, then he shifts and he says, if anyone

serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there

my servant will also be. If anyone serves me,

the Father will honor him. There's a lot going

on in this. So the focus for us is to follow

Jesus. We don't focus on ourselves or our situation.

We pursue Jesus. He says, if anyone serves me,

he must follow me. We pursue Jesus with every

fiber in our being. That's what he's calling

us to. The way to love your life is to focus

exclusively on yourself, and the way to hate

your life is to focus exclusively on Christ.

Pretty simple. Very hard. Agree? I mean, now

that you unpack this, you're like, this pretty

much makes sense. I get it. It's hard to do,

though. Jesus holds out a great motivation to

seeking him and hating ourselves. He says, here's

your motivation. We will be where he is, and

we will be honored by the Father. We will be

where he is, meaning Jesus is the treasure. Actually,

when you deny yourself and you lay that down

and you get Jesus, you get life. And Jesus says,

I'm not just a relationship, I am life. I am

life. And the Father will honor you. I'm going

to end. Pretty simple message, pretty straightforward,

but I'm going to end with. something I read in

Exalting Jesus in John, a commentary called Exalting

Jesus in John. It says this, my goal in life

is to help people find joy in Jesus. It's the

only kind of joy that lasts. Here's how you find

joy. Die to yourself. Die to the little dreams.

Die to the empty routines. Die to playing life

safe. Die to protecting your reputation. Die

to the selfish small living. Die to stingy self

-centeredness. Die. Only then can you live. The

only thing that brings real joy. I'm just going

to close by praying for us that we can somehow,

somehow, die to ourselves and live for Christ,

because that's what he's calling us to. I think

it's really interesting, the band, you can come

up, but I think it's really interesting that

after Jesus says, my time has come, and I've

got to die, and he doesn't explain anymore, he

just looks at us and says, now you do it. That's

what you've got to do. Lord, help us in this.

By the power of your Spirit that lives and dwells

with us in us, help us to pick up our cross every

day and just to crucify that dirty, sinful self.

Self -centeredness, our own self -pride, our

own self -care. Not that we, not that we don't

take care of ourselves, but we take care of ourselves

in the way that you've designed it, and that

is to put you first in everything. To see you

is what matters most. To see serving you out

of worshiping you, serving you, loving you, because

of who you are and what you've done. And so,

Lord, we just... I just ask that you will help

us step back from ourselves, step toward you.

In your name we pray, amen.