Jesus will draw all men to Himself

Sermon for Holy Monday

John 12:20-33

The world has gone after Jesus!, the Pharisees and chief priests of Israel lamented as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Obviously they were exaggerating. But in a sense, it was true. Many in Israel were going after Jesus, though that number would be greatly reduced by the end of the week. But Gentiles from other parts of the world were also starting to go after Jesus, and many, many more would follow.

We heard about some Greeks who went after Jesus in this evening’s reading. They were there for Passover, which indicates that these were people of Greek ancestry but who had converted to the Jewish religion. These men were going after Jesus to see Him and to investigate these claims they had been hearing about Him being the Messiah. They may not have believed in Jesus yet as the Christ, but they were interested. They cared. They knew that their adopted Jewish religion was pointing somewhere, not to the earthly kingdom of Israel, but to a Savior and King who would bring the Gentiles into His kingdom, too, together with the Jews who would believe in Him. So they asked Philip, Sir, we would see Jesus.

I remember having a seminary professor who reminded us of these words in our preaching class. Sir, we would see Jesus. He reminded us, rightly, that this is really the chief request, the only request that all of Jesus’ sheep make of their pastor, if they’re in church for the right reasons. Hypocrites and unbelievers may come to hear a sermon with some cute story, some life lesson, some inspirational speech. But true Christians—true Christians come to sit at the feet of the shepherd whom Jesus has placed among them to see Jesus through the pastor’s preaching, just as the Greeks approached Philip, not to hear all about Philip’s life or Philip’s ideas, but that Philip might lead them to see Jesus.

Whether or not Jesus ended up meeting with these Greeks, we’re not told. But what Jesus said to His disciples certainly had ramifications for the Greeks. He answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” Several times in John’s Gospel, it looked like the end for Jesus. But each time He said, “My hour has not yet come.” Now, during the Passover of Holy Week, it had. His hour “to be glorified.” He compares Himself to a grain of wheat, a seed that’s planted in the ground. It “dies” and is buried, never to be seen again in that same form. But what comes up from that seed is a new stalk of wheat that produces many grains. So it would be when Jesus was “glorified.”

He would be glorified, first, in His Passion itself, in His innocent-but-willing suffering and death. If you’ve ever listened to St. John’s Passion by Bach, you may know that the opening song goes like this (in English): O Lord, our Lord, whose name is majestic in all the earth, show us, by Your Passion, that You, the true Son of God, have been glorified at all times, even in the greatest lowliness. The Son of God didn’t appear glorious during His Passion, but for those who know why He went through it, and that He did it all willingly and with full knowledge of what He would suffer, we see through the shame to the true glory of Christ, so that we call out with all the heavenly throng, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!” Yes, Jesus would also be glorified outwardly in His resurrection. In other passages, John refers to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus as His glorification. But for now, during Holy Week, the glory is hidden behind suffering for Jesus.

As it must also be for those who would follow Him. He goes on in John’s Gospel with words He had spoken on several occasions and would repeat again: He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. What does it look like to love one’s life in this world? It looks like Judas, betraying his Lord for thirty pieces of silver. It looks like Peter, denying the Lord three times to keep himself out of danger. It looks like all the disciples running away from Him in the Garden. It looks like many of the rulers of the Jews believing in Jesus but not daring to say so out loud for fear of persecution. It looks like the crowds on Good Friday, who gave in to the Jewish leaders and joined in with the cries to crucify Him. It looks like all unbelievers, pursuing nothing but an earthly life, or seeking after false gods. It looks like Christians who are more concerned with comfort than they are with bearing the cross. He who loves his life in this world will lose it, Jesus says.

But what does it look like to hate one’s life in this world? There really are no examples of it during Holy Week except for Jesus Himself. Safety? He hated it. Comfort? He hated it. The praise and acceptance of the church leaders? He hated it. His own life? He hated it. Meaning, He gave it all up in order to obey His Father’s will, before everything else. That’s where Jesus went, toward faithfulness and obedience that led to the cross. And that’s where He calls on all who would follow Him to go, too. And just as He received honor from the Father after His earthly life was given up, so we, too, will receive honor from the Father, if we continue to serve, and to follow, and to hate our life in this world for His sake.

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,

Jesus wasn’t “giddy” about what He was about to suffer, not “eager” to endure it. He dreaded it. His soul was deeply troubled by it. And in the Garden of Gethsemane, He did pray, “Father save Me from this hour! Take this cup from me!” But He added the most important thing of all to that petition, “Not My will, but Yours be done!” Jesus knew already in the early part of Holy Week what His Father’s will would be, so already then He submitted His will to His Father’s will, and, instead of asking to be saved from His Passion, He put Himself in His Father’s hands and, above all else, prayed, “Father, glorify Your name!”

Let that be your prayer, too, when you’re faced with bearing your cross or dropping it on the floor, when you have to decide whether to suffer with Jesus or enjoy peace and comfort with the world. For the Christian, in the end, there is no choice. For the Christian, it’s faithfulness to Jesus, whatever the cost may be. And if that’s not your choice, as it wasn’t Peter’s choice in the courtyard of the high priest on Maundy Thursday night, then realize that you stop being a Christian when you choose peace and comfort over Jesus, and you can only be brought back through genuine sorrow and repentance, as Peter, thankfully, was. As for you, don’t follow Peter in falling away. Instead, follow Jesus when facing the cross, and say, “Father, glorify Your name through whatever happens to me as I bear the cross for Jesus’ sake.”

As He had done at Jesus’ Baptism, as He had done again at Jesus’ transfiguration, the Father spoke from heaven, saying, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. Jesus didn’t need to hear the Father’s approval of Him, or of His plan for Jesus’ Passion. The people there needed to hear it, and Jesus came right out and told them what it was all about.

Now is the judgment of this world. Now its ruler will be cast out. But how was the world judged then, during Holy Week? The judgment that the world deserved fell upon the Lord Jesus. So the devil, the ruler of this world, is cast out in the sense that he can no longer accuse or hold onto any who believe in Jesus, who are buried with Him through Baptism into death, because He suffered the judgment that the world was legally bound to suffer, and now all who seek God’s approval through Him are delivered out of the devil’s kingdom and into His own.

That’s what He means when He says, And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. Again the Lord prophesies how He would die, that He would be lifted up, on a cross. And even the image of Him hanging on a cross with outstretched arms really is a picture of Jesus drawing, inviting, welcoming all peoples to Himself, Jews and Greeks, men and women, rich and poor—all who acknowledge their wretchedness before God and who wish to be reconciled to God through Christ crucified. He draws the world to Himself, He invites the world—all men—to be saved through Him from the ruler of this world and from the judgment that will come upon the world, upon all those who wish to be judged apart from Him. “Be reconciled to God through Me,” His image cries out from the cross. For God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that, in Him, we might become the righteousness of God. Amen.