2019.05.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ John 12:23-36

Read John 12:23-36

Questions for Littles: How does Jesus answer the disciples who brought Him the Greeks (John 12:23)—what hour has come? What does He then say has to happen to a grain of wheat in order to be productive (John 12:24)? Who will lose his life (John 12:25a)? Who will keep it for eternal life (verse 25b)? Upon talking about going to His death, what does Jesus say His servants must do (John 12:26)? Who will honor those who follow and serve and are found with Jesus? What then does Jesus say about His soul (John 12:27a)? What request does He refuse to make? What request does Jesus make instead (John 12:28a)? What comes from heaven at that point? What does it say? Who couldn’t figure out what the voice was (John 12:29)? But for whom did Jesus say that the voice had spoken (John 12:30)? What does Jesus say is about to happen to the world (John 12:31a)? To its “ruler” (verse 31b)? How does He plan to initiate drawing all to Himself (John 12:32)? What did He mean by His being lifted up from the earth (John 12:33)? How did the people respond to the idea that He would depart (John 12:34)? What does Jesus urge them to do now (John 12:35)? What would happen to them without the light (Him)? How does He define this “walking” in John 12:36? What would they become if they believe in the light (Him)? What did He do as soon as He had said this?

In the gospel reading this week, Jesus equates His own being glorified (John 12:23) with the glorifying of His Father’s name (John 12:28). The connection is that Jesus is the greatest revelation of the glory of His Father. He and His Father are One.

In order to glorify His Father, the Son has become a Man who must die in order to be fruitful (John 12:24). He must not love His life (John 12:25) but aim at His purpose (John 12:27b), even when His soul is troubled by the intensity of what He must endure (verse 27a).

What is astonishing is that it’s not just Jesus who will do this. Only Jesus can atone for sin. But He is going to reproduce this attitude in His followers (John 12:26a) and even make them into little displays of His glory (verse 26b).

In fact, God has been waiting for the crucifixion of Jesus, the lifting up of Jesus as a dsplay of God’s glory between Heaven and earth, to usher in a new age of His work in men (John 12:33). So far, there has been a spiritual protection that existed only among a small nation of Jews. Now, wherever people are drawn to Christ, the devil will lose his foothold (John 12:31-32).

The people hearing Him in our passage, however, have been hesitant to believe in Him. He doesn’t seem to be lining up with what they think that they know (John 12:34). Jesus’s warning to them is that following Him is the only way to truly know anything (John 12:35). He tells them that their time to walk in His light is short (John 12:36a), then highlights to them its shortness by promptly hiding Himself from them (verse 36b).

How have you been holding yourself back from Jesus? How would your life look different if you really lived like someone who believes that He is the living God?

Suggested songs: ARP110B “The Lord Has Spoken to My Lord” or TPH270 “At the Name of Jesus”