Greeks, seeds and the world – John 12:19-26
Thirty years of life, 3 years of ministry, but the gospels have more detail on the last week of Jesus’s earthly ministry than all the rest. I’m inspired by the different gospel writers who each have their own emphasis and memories. They all begin with the entry to Jerusalem, they all have the crucifixion, and all celebrate the resurrection, but lots of intriguing detail in between.
I want to pick up two details that only John mentions. The first may still have been on Palm Sunday – the Pharisees observing the triumphal entry, see the crowds celebrating Jesus and one observes to another “See, this is getting us nowhere, look how the whole world has gone after him”. A true prophetic word spoken in frustration and anger. Today there are more Christians in the world than any other faith. The miracle of the recent raising of Lazarus in Bethany was being spread by the crowd from Bethany. It reached a fever pitch as they came down from the Mount of Olives, crossed the Kidron Valley and climbed up to the city of Jerusalem, waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna – save us now.
The next thing John records is that some Greeks, presumably Jewish converts, asked Philip “Sir, we would like to see Jesus”. They probably asked Philip as, although he was from Bethsaida in Galilee, he had a Greek name. They had come to worship at the Passover festival and were hearing about Jesus for the first time. They were curious. It confirmed in John’s mind the unintended prophetic word of the Pharisee.
Why record both seemingly unimportant details? I think by the time John was writing this gospel he had at last grasped that God’s provision of salvation was meant to be inclusive of the whole world, not just the Jewish nation. My recent study on Abraham also confirms that God’s blessing and covenant with Abraham was also to bless all nations not just the Jewish nation. John doesn’t tell us whether Jesus actually spoke with them, but records that it prompted Jesus to tell about his impending death. The image of a kernel of wheat dying and so producing many seeds. The death of Jesus, bringing glory to God and people coming to faith in him.
As we stand at the cross this week, we know that our salvation is dependent on his death. May we like Philip and Andrew introduce people to the Saviour who also died for them. To do so, is to plant seeds which may produce fruit.