The Request To See Jesus
THE REQUEST TO SEE JESUS
JOHN 12:20-26
Notice how these Gentiles or Greek-speaking Jews wanted to meet Jesus.
The world seems to have gone after him in the Pharisees’ eyes. And so it is because some of the pilgrims at the festival were Greeks. Whether these were Gentile proselytes or Greek-speaking Jews is not certain. What is important is that the mission of Jesus is shown to extend beyond the confines of Palestinian Judaism. And it is a Galilean with a Greek name—Philip—whom they approach with their request to see Jesus. The Judeans had had their chance to see him during his ministry, and these pilgrims seem to want the same privilege. He is soon to hide himself finally (12:36).
We are not told whether their request was granted. But Jesus sees it as an extremely significant occasion. Now was the hour of glorification. And glory was to come to the Son of Man through death. It was only in death that there lay the possibility of growth. It was only in the death of one man for the people that there lay the hope of the salvation of the whole world. What applies to the mission of Jesus applies also to the mission of his disciples. The willingness to lose our lives in the cause of Christ is the only true way of serving him. Nevertheless, we still find his teaching hard to understand and harder still to follow. Almost everything in “this world” conditions us to think that the man who “loses his life in this world” has lost it. We need to remind ourselves of the grain of wheat—the simple, true fact of everyday life, which is also a most profound truth of spiritual life.
Notes 12:20: it is unlikely that these were Gentile “Godfearers” as they would probably not come up to Jerusalem for the festivals. The principles of the Gentile mission are firmly laid in the Gospel even if the Romans may be the only Gentiles with whom Jesus comes in contact. 12:23: “the Greeks” may be included in this as well as Philip and Andrew. “Glorified”: this term covered the whole redemptive action which Jesus was about to perform. In the divine paradox the cross was no less glorious than any other part of his work. 12:25: the paradox of redemption applies also to discipleship. Only in its death does the self discover what it is meant to be.
For meditation “To serve Jesus is to follow him, and he is going to death” (12:26, Barrett).