The Cross of Christ: John 12:20-24, 27-32:Jesus Calls Us from the Cross

The great Christian days in most churches are Christmas and Easter. Somehow Good Friday gets left behind. Not nearly so many people go to church on Good Friday to remember Christ’s death as go on Christmas (or Christmas Eve) and Easter. But without what happened on Good Friday, Christmas and Easter would have no meaning.

JOHN 12:20-24 & 27-32: JESUS CALLS US FROM THE CROSS

INTRODUCTION

Today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week.
It is appropriate that we direct our thoughts to the meaning of Christ’s death.

I counted the pages in my Bible devoted to that last week of Jesus’s life, from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday and found that of the 94 pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 31 are devoted to the week when Jesus died. That’s 1/3 of the pages of the combined 4 gospels.
In contrast I found fewer than 3 pages devoted to the Christmas story as told in Matthew and Luke and a just a little more than 3 pages in the accounts of the Easter story in all four gospels.

What happened during the week when Christ died is the heart of our faith.
And today I want to talk to you about the meaning of Christ’s death and why this event should be continually in our thoughts.

I. John’s gospel has a little story that helps us understand the importance of the Cross in our lives.

A. In John 12, we read about some Greeks who came to see Jesus just a few days before he died.

John 12:20-24:
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

We know from the gospels that during his life Jesus taught only among the Jews and left his disciples the mission to proclaim the good news to the Gentiles.
Perhaps these Greeks knew this, and so they approached Philip, hoping that he might allow them an interview with Jesus.
Maybe Philip wasn’t confident in this, so he told Andrew, and together they went to Jesus.
We assume that the Greeks came with them and that these words were spoken in their presence.

Notice two things about the words of Jesus we just read:

1. Jesus compares himself to a grain of wheat.

If the wheat grain doesn’t fall into the ground, it remains alone.
But when the wheat grain falls into the earth, it dies. But in its death a plant springs up that bears many wheat grains.
Jesus is the wheat grain that was about to die, and from his death would come a rich harvest of souls for God.

2. At the beginning of his speech Jesus said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

These words about “the hour” occur several times in John’s gospel.
Do you remember the wedding at Cana when Jesus’s mother prompts him to help because the wine had failed? Jesus resisted her, telling her that his hour had not come.
Again in John 8 we read that his enemies wanted to arrest Jesus, and we read twice that no one laid hands on him, “because his hour had not yet come.”
Later in Jesus’s prayer to the Father after the Lord’s Supper, we read that he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee…”
In Mark’s gospel we read that in Gethsemane, when Jesus was struggling with the horror of his impending death, he prayed that “if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.”
And then that same night, as he hears Judas leading Jesus’s enemies through the garden to arrest him, he awakens his sleeping disciples, telling them: “Enough! The hour has come, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
The hour that Jesus talks about had two meanings: it was the hour of his greatest suffering—which meant death on a cross…
…and it was the hour of his greatest glory—which also meant death on a cross!

That is why he said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”

B. Now let’s look at what Jesus says in succeeding verses:

John 12:27-32:
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify thy name.’”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”…
Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of the world be cast out: and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
He said this to show by what death he was to die.

We talk about the glory of Easter morning.
Many of us would as soon skip Good Friday and go straight to Resurrection Sunday because the crucifixion is so sad and Easter is so glorious.
But John looks at the Cross as the time when Jesus was especially glorified.
That is why so many pages of each gospel is devoted to the events of those last days and hours.

That is why Jesus said, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

The death of Christ is the event that wins our salvation.
The death of Jesus is the means by which we are made friends with God.
The death of Jesus is the means by which sin is forgiven and broken people are made whole.
All through history it has been the dying Jesus on the cross that has drawn people to Jesus..

That is why the cross is the great symbol of our faith.
We put crosses on our churches. We hang them on chains around our necks.
We print them on the covers of our hymn books.
We put crosses on the walls of our churches and homes.
There are more paintings of Jesus on the cross than any other event in history.

That is why we sing songs like “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed and Did my Sovereign Die?” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”

APPLICATION: THE MEANING OF CHRIST’S DEATH

Jesus came into the world to share the bitterness of the world’s sorrow and hatred and brokenness and cruelty.
Jesus’s death was more terrible than any death than has ever been experienced.
Jesus took all the sin and evil of the world to himself and suffered an unimaginably painful and disgusting death.
But we who believe look at that symbol of shame and disgrace and see in it the glory of God’s love.

The Bible expresses it this way: “He who knew no sin was made sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

So when we want to see the depths of God’s love, we look at Jesus on the cross.
That is why in olden times the saints used to say, “Jesus reigns from the cross.”

The Resurrection is the epilogue of the story—the happy ending.
The Resurrection tells us that the victory is won over sin, and death, and the devil.
Jesus was lifted up in glory on the cross and his glory continued as he was lifted up in resurrection and again as he was lifted up to the right hand of God the Father in Heaven.

A STORY

Many years ago a painter named Stenberg was commissioned to paint a large altarpiece for a church in a town in Germany. As an altarpiece, it was to be a painting of Jesus on the cross.
Although Stenberg was not particularly interested in Jesus, he was glad to get the job; it paid well and it gave him an opportunity to display his skill.
It was a big picture and took many weeks of hard work.

One day, seeking a change from the task, he decided to paint something else for a change. While walking about searching for an idea for a painting, he came upon a little gypsy girl. She was colorfully dressed and cute, and he decided she would be a good subject for a picture.

Stenberg asked the gypsy girl if she would come to his studio to pose for a picture. Her mother consented.
Stenberg painted her picture and it came out well.
As she was leaving she asked about the unfinished painting of the crucifixion she had seen in the studio.
Stenberg told her something of the story the picture and asked her if she’d like to pose again for another picture.
Several times after that the gypsy girl came to Stenberg’s studio to pose for the artist.
She always went to the unfinished altarpiece to see what new details had been added. She became increasingly interested in the story of Jesus—a story she had never heard before. Stenberg was patient with her questions and tried to explain the meaning of Christ’s suffering on the cross.
One day, looking at the figure of Christ the girl exclaimed: “You must love him very much for all he’s done for you!”
Those words went to Stenberg’s heart. He realized that he had never considered the meaning of Jesus’ death for him.

The story doesn’t tell what happened to the gypsy girl, but Stenberg, in his new-found love for Christ, went on to paint another picture of the crucifixion. Under this picture he painted the words: “All this I’ve done for you; what have you done for me?”

Do we love him as we should, considering what he’s done for us?

He’s done so much for us; what have we done for him?
Have we given ourselves to him body and soul—to love and serve him forever?

That’s what the crucified Christ asks of every one of us this Holy Week.