"The Hour Has Come for the Son of Man to Be Glorified"

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Palm Sunday

John 12:20-33

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. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in the world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.

"Now my soul is 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." The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show by what death he was to die.

Two Scenes

There is a scene that has been very helpful to me this past week in trying to imagine what it was like during the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, that event which marked the beginning of the last week of his earthly life. The scene is one that is repeated frequently in the Roy household, and I'm sure that many, if not most, of you have been a part of this scene as well at some point in your lives. The scene occurs around 5:30 in the afternoon. Dad has been gone all day at the office. The day's special activities have long since been completed. Mom is busy fixing dinner, so the kids are on their own. Their toys don't seem to be quite as exciting at this time of day. They are experiencing a combination of tiredness, boredom, and frustration, waiting and wondering in their minds, "When will Daddy be home?" Finally the long awaited moment arrives. The door opens and Dad walks in. From all over the house come cries—"Daddy's home! Daddy's home!" The kids come running. There are hugs and kisses for them and for Mom. And then it becomes "Daddy time." It's a joyful time, for Daddy is home where he belongs. And when I look into my own heart and sense the joy I feel in those moments of welcome, and when I see the joy expressed in my children's faces, I can begin to feel some of what it was like that day in Jerusalem.

But as I reflect, I soon realized that as good and as helpful as that scene is, it is nevertheless very inadequate. The emotions need to be intensified. So imagine with me, if you will, another scene, one that will occur about 4 1/2 weeks from now, on May 1, at the airport. That's the day John and Noël are to return from Africa, scheduled to return at 7:03 PM. Now imagine that you're Abraham Piper. You're at the gate at the airport and it's 7:02. It's been six long weeks since Mom and Dad have left, and today, the day of their return, is the day you've been waiting for. You look out the window and see the plane that is carrying your parents. It has landed and it is rolling up to the gate. Your heart starts to beat faster, the tension mounts, and the excitement builds. Finally (it seems like it takes forever) the door opens. Mom and Dad come off the plane. You run to them and explode into their arms in a joyous reunion of hugs, and kisses, and tears. It will, undoubtedly, be a tumultuous welcome that the Pipers will receive from their sons and from their friends. And if you can put yourself into that situation, you can appreciate, I think, at least some of the emotions expressed along the road.

King Jesus' Triumphal Entry

John describes that scene for us in John 12:12–19. Great crowds lined the road leading into Jerusalem. Waiving palm branches in their hands, their shouts of joy and praise filled the air. "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel" (v. 13). Those words are a quotation from Psalm 118:25–26, with an addition. The reference to Jesus as the king of Israel is not found in Psalm 118, but its presence on the lips of the crowd highlights their conviction that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to be their king! This idea of the kingship of Jesus is reinforced by the fact that he is riding on a donkey, in fulfillment of the prophetic vision of Zechariah over 400 years earlier. John quotes from Zechariah 9:9 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold your king is coming, sitting on an ass's colt." John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is very clear as to the meaning of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. His entrance was that of the king—the king of Israel and, indeed, of the whole world. (Zechariah goes on to describe this king who rides into Jerusalem on a donkey: "His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth" [Zechariah 9:10].)

The shouts of the praise of the crowds were those of joyful, grateful subjects to their king as he was on his way to his coronation. As such they are very appropriate. It is right and good for loyal subjects to praise their king. And King Jesus is inherently of such matchless worth, that it is not only appropriate but also very necessary for him to be praised. Luke records that Jesus, when rebuked by some Pharisees for all the commotion, said, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). And Matthew records how the children (who are invariably the most perceptive among us) persisted in their shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David!" even when Jesus entered the temple and began ministering there. When the chief priests became indignant at the praise of the children, Jesus defended them quoting Psalm 8:2, "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise" (Matthew 21:16).

Thus the praise afforded to King Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on that donkey was ordained by God, a fitting and appropriate and, indeed, necessary response to the King of kings. Clearly it was a great moment and it serves as a tremendous model for us all in our worship and praise of King Jesus this morning.

Two Incidents Connected to the Triumphal Entry

But as significant and important and meaningful as the triumphal entry is, it is but one of three incidents, which, while differing significantly in some important details, nevertheless have in common the fact that they all represent positive responses to Jesus. This is significant, because at the end of John 11, following the raising of Lazarus, the Pharisees are searching for a time and place to arrest Jesus so as to put him to death. Thus these three incidents in John 12 stand in marked contrast, all being examples of praise and devotion to Jesus. We've looked briefly at the triumphal entry already. Now, note with me the other two incidents.

1. Mary Anoints Jesus

In contrast with the public, open, and vocal expressions of praise at the triumphal entry, John 12:1–8 records a very personal and private act of devotion to Jesus—the anointing of Jesus by Mary at Bethany. Mary, as you remember, was the sister of Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead in chapter 11. Now in chapter 12 she expresses the abundance of her gratitude and love and devotion by pouring out very costly ointment on Jesus' feet and then proceeding to wipe them with her hair. In spite of protests by some of the disciples about the seeming wastefulness of this action in light of the needs of the poor all around them, Jesus defends Mary and commends her action as a model act of devotion.

2. Some Greeks Request to See Jesus

The third incident that John records comes in vv. 20–22. It is the arrival of some Greeks who come to Philip with the request, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (v. 21). Now in spite of the universal and worldwide implications of Zechariah's prophecy in Zechariah 9, and in spite of the Pharisees' "unintentional prophecy" in v. 19, "Look the world has gone after him," the predominate mindset of the crowds at the triumphal entry was very nationalistic and very narrow—indeed, very Jewish. You see that from their cry, "Blessed is the King of Israel."

So this incident of the Greeks stands again in contrast, precisely because it is so international. As they were coming to Jerusalem to worship at the Feast of Passover, it is clear that these Greeks were "God-fearers." But the fact remains they were Greeks! They weren't Jews! And for John this coming of the Greeks and their heartfelt desire to see Jesus is very significant. It represents a small yet very real down-payment of the world coming to Jesus. It is the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus' promise in v. 32: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men (Greeks and well as Jews) to myself."

"The Hour Has Come"

So these three incidents—the personal, private devotion of Mary; the public, loud, nationalistic acclaim of the triumphal entry; and the international inquiry of the Greeks—all come together in John 12 and lead Jesus to make a very remarkable, very profound statement. It's found in John 12:23 and forms, I believe, the heart of our passage. "The hour has come", Jesus said, "for the Son of Man to be glorified." The hour has come; the time is here; this is it! The Son of Man will be glorified.

Now, as I said, this is a very, very significant statement, especially because of Jesus' use of the term "hour." John has frequently referred in the earlier chapters of his gospel to "Jesus' hour" or to the equivalent expression "Jesus' time." It seems to denote a period of time that is the focal point of all of Jesus' life and ministry, that time toward which all of his energies and ministry was focused. And as John records the earlier stages of Jesus' ministry, the stress is on the fact that his hour had not yet come. In John 2:4, when Jesus' mother informed him that they had run out of wine at the wedding in Cana, he told her, "My hour has not yet come." In John 7:6 when his brothers urged him to go up to Jerusalem publicly, openly, Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." Later on in that chapter, after Jesus did go up to Jerusalem secretly, the Jewish authorities tried to arrest him. But John records in John 7:30, "No one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come." And finally, after Jesus taught in the temple proclaiming himself to be the light of the world, John writes in John 8:30, "No one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come." Jesus knew his heavenly Father's plan for his life. He knew it revolved around this critical period of time—"his hour"—and the decisive events that would comprise that hour. The Father had planned the time-table, and he would not allow anything to interfere. And Jesus was willing to be patient. He would not try to rush things, but he was willing to wait for his hour to come. Now can you begin to appreciate the significance of Jesus' statement, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified"?

Three Aspects of the Glorification of Jesus

That statement is the heart of our passage. All that follows is explanation and interpretation. Jesus is fleshing out for his disciples and for us the meaning of his glorification. I would like to summarize the rest of this passage, what it means for the Son of man to be glorified, in terms of three statements.

  1. The glorification of Jesus as the Son of man is to be accomplished through his death on the cross, not apart from it.
  2. The glorification of Jesus as the Son of man is fundamentally the open manifestation, through the cross, of who he truly is—specifically, one who loved the glory of his heavenly Father even more than his own life, and one who had been given power and authority both to judge the world and to save his people.
  3. And the glorification of Jesus as the Son of man demands that we, as his disciples, follow him to glory down the same Calvary Road that he traveled.

Let's look at each of these points, one by one.

1. Accomplished Through His Death

First, then, the glorification of Jesus is to be accomplished through his death, not apart from it. Immediately after proclaiming that the hour had come for him as the Son of man to be glorified, Jesus began to speak of death. "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (v. 24).

The Disciples' Bewilderment

It's not hard to feel the perplexity and bewilderment of the disciples at this point. They had just heard Jesus proclaim that the hour had come for him to be glorified. For the disciples that meant power not weakness. It meant exaltation, not humiliation. It meant the overthrowing of Roman rule in Israel, not submission to it to the point of death. It meant that the cries of "Hosanna" would only spread and intensify, not switch very soon to cries of "Crucify him, Crucify him" (John 19:6).

Jesus' Clarity

And yet Jesus is very clear about this. And we must be equally clear about it. "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Jesus expresses himself in terms of an illustration from nature, a sort of "mini-parable" involving a grain of wheat. And even though Jesus' point is seemingly paradoxical, its meaning is really quite clear, isn't it? The way to fruitfulness lies through death. There is no other way. It's true in the realm of nature. It's true in the economy of God. Apart from death there is no fruitfulness. Apart from death there is no ongoing life. Apart from death there is no glory. That's true for you and me, and Jesus will go on to spell out some of the implications for our lives. But the primary application in this passage is to Jesus himself. It is his hour that has come. He is the Son of man who will be glorified. He is the grain of wheat who must fall to the ground and die in order to bear much fruit.

Further confirmation of the link between Jesus' death as the grain of wheat and his glorification comes at the end of our passage in vv. 32–33. Jesus says, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." And John goes on to explain, "He said this to show by what death he was to die." The key word in those verses is the verb. It means to exalt, honor, praise—in a word, to glorify—someone. Luke uses this term in Acts 2:33 and 5:31 of Jesus who is exalted or lifted up to the right hand of his Father in heaven following his death and resurrection. Paul uses a compound of this verb in Philippians 2:9 where he speaks of God "highly exalting" Jesus and giving to him the name that is above every name following his humble obedience to death on the cross. In each of those cases, Jesus' lifting up is his exaltation that occurs after his death. But John's usage of this verb takes us deeper into the mystery of Jesus' exaltation. Very clearly in v. 33 John identifies the lifting up of Jesus with his death. In John's mind, the exaltation of Jesus is not just something that happens after his death; no, his lifting up is his death itself (cf. John 3:14; 8:28). What to the world was Jesus' greatest weakness was in reality his greatest strength. What appeared to be his greatest shame was in reality his supreme glory. What seemed to be the ultimate degradation was in reality Jesus' ultimate exaltation. And so for Jesus the statement, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified," and the statement, "The hour has come for the Son of man to die," are equivalent, for it is precisely through his death that Jesus is glorified and no other way. That's what Palm Sunday meant for Jesus. The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified. The time has come for him to die.

2. The Manifestation of Jesus' True Identity

And that identification leads us to ask the question: how does the death of Jesus glorify the Son of man? The answer to that question is our second point. The death of Jesus glorifies the Son of man because through the cross the reality of who Jesus is, is openly manifest to all. It is though the cross, and never apart from it, that we see the glory of Jesus revealed for us to worship and adore and cherish.

Jesus Loved the Glory of His Father More than His Own Life

Specifically, our passage teaches us two things about the glory of Jesus revealed on the cross. First of all, we see Jesus as the Son of God who loved the glory of his heavenly Father even more than his own life. Look with me at v. 27. "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father save me from this hour?" Jesus knew what he was facing now that his hour had come. He knew that he had less than a week to live. He knew that it would be filled with pain—with whippings, beatings, spitting, mocking, with thorns into his head and nails pounded into his hands and his feet. And remember, Jesus as he knew all this was fully human. He shared a nature like ours. His first reaction to the pain and agony that lay ahead of him was exactly what yours and mine would be. He recoiled in horror at the thought. The temptation to pray to his Father to spare him from this hour was very great. We do not really know Jesus unless we realize how great was the turmoil, the distress, the agony of his soul and how very real and very powerful was the temptation to avoid his hour. John does not record Jesus' agony in the Garden of Gethsemane as do the other gospel writers. Yet John 12:27 shows us that at the very beginning of Holy Week, the agony was there as well. Gethsemane was not a unique one-time experience for our Lord. But, praise God, here at the beginning of Holy Week, as at Gethsemane, the outcome is the same. "What shall I say? Father save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father glorify thy name."

Jesus refused to give in to the temptation. He refused to ask the Father to spare him from his hour. He went on through to face his hour for you and me. "The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me." But supremely, according to our text, he did it for the glory of his Father. He prayed, "Father glorify thy name." He knew that God would be glorified through his death, for his death would open the way for his Father to have mercy on sinners without denying his justice. The glory of his Father demanded the death of Jesus. And in the final analysis, when push came to shove, Jesus loved his Father's glory even more than his own life. And so he prayed, "Father glorify thy name." And the Father confirmed the decision of the Son and showed his approval with a voice from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." The voice signified to all who had ears to hear, especially in the crowd, that what lay ahead of Jesus was crucial business for it would glorify the Father. The cross, far from showing the Father abandoning Jesus, in reality shows the Father glorifying himself through Jesus. The Father glorifies himself through the death of his Son and the mercy he extends to sinners through it. The Son is glorified through the cross because it reveals him as one who loves the glory of God more than his own life.

The Son of Man Is Both Judge and Savior

Second, we can see that the Son of man is glorified through the death of Jesus, because the cross reveals Jesus as both judge and savior. Look at vv. 31–32: "Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." Judgment for this world, the casting out of Satan, the ruler of this world, the salvation of all men drawn to Jesus—all of these are in the cross of Christ and through all of them the Son of man is glorified. Both mercy and wrath are attributes of the divine character you know. Salvation and judgment are both works of God. Paul writes in Romans 11:22 "Behold the kindness and severity of God". And nowhere is the kindness and severity of God, the mercy and wrath of God, his salvation and judgment more evident than in the cross.

The Cross Is Judgment

The cross shows very clearly God's wrath against sin and his mercy to repentant sinners. The cross of Christ represents judgment for the world. The Greek word for judgment is krisis, crisis. The cross of Jesus Christ is the supreme crisis of the world, the supreme moment of decision, for it is at the cross that the true state of every man's heart is laid bare. The cross demands a response from you and me, from every person in this world. Will we be drawn to the cross and cherish its mercy or will we bristle at the humility and repentance demanded by the cross and add our voices to the throng shouting, "Crucify him"? According to Jesus "this world" under the dominion of Satan, "the ruler of this world," will inevitably condemn itself by its treatment of the Son of man. The point is very simple, the cross of Christ is the judgment of the world and Jesus, exalted and lifted up as the Son of man on the cross, is the judge. Jesus expressed it this way in John 5:22–23, "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father," and in 5:26–27, "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself and has given him authority to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of man."

The Cross Defeats Satan

But there is more in the cross. Just as the cross represents the judgment of this world, so it also represents the defeat of Satan. To the world it would appear to be just the opposite. It would appear to be the hour of his greatest triumph this killing of the incarnate Son of God. But in the marvelously inscrutable wisdom of God, the reality is just the reverse. Satan was defeated precisely in what appeared to be the moment of his greatest triumph. Now note the future tense of the verb: "Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out." There is a process involved. The evil one has not been totally vanquished. That awaits the second coming. But the decisive blow has been dealt. Satan is on the run, a defeated ruler—defeated by the cross, by the Son of man who was lifted up on the cross.

The Cross Has Power to Draw All to Christ

Thus Christ crucified judges this world, he casts out the ruler of this world, but there is more—much, much more. There is the power of the cross to draw men to Jesus Christ for salvation. "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself". What is this "drawing" of Jesus? It is the same work of God that Jesus referred to in John 6:44, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." This drawing is the sovereign, initiating, transforming work of God whereby he freely changes the heart of a person who is dead in trespasses and sins to make him desire to come to Christ. Or to use a different image, the "drawing" of Jesus is the divine opening of the eyes of one's heart that were previously blind, so that the glory of the Son of Man on the cross becomes irresistible, and, like iron to a magnet, he is drawn to embrace Christ in repentance and faith. And the point of our passage is that this heart transformation, this opening of the eyes, is in the cross. The cross does not just hold out a hypothetical offer of salvation to anyone who will come. The cross makes God's people come. The cross draws the elect irresistibly to the Savior, precisely because it has power to overcome every resistance within the hearts of God's people—all of God's people. This is the way we must understand the "all" of v. 32. Jesus is not saying that he will draw, irresistibly, every single person to himself. If so, then everybody would be saved. No, Jesus is saying that on the cross he will draw to himself all of God's people, and especially in this context he is emphasizing that all of God's people will include Greeks as well as Jews (cf. John 10:16).

So to sum up: The death of Jesus glorifies the Son of Man because it reveals him for who he truly is. And Jesus is revealed through the cross to be the Son of God who loves his Father's glory more than his own life, who has authority to judge this world, who has power to cast out Satan, and who has the irresistible magnetism to draw all of God's people to himself for salvation. This is the glory of the Son of man we are to cherish. And this is the pathway to glory that we are to follow as his disciples.

3. The Demand to Follow Jesus on the Calvary Road

And that brings us very briefly to our third and final point. The glorification of Jesus as the Son of man demands that we as his disciples follow him to glory down the same Calvary Road he traveled. Immediately following Jesus words about the necessity of the death of a grain of wheat in order to be fruitful, he wrote, "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if anyone serves me, the Father will honor him" (vv. 25–26). That is the language of discipleship. It is the language of self-denial, and it is the language of eternal reward and glory. Jesus is not the only grain of wheat that must fall to the ground and die. After Jesus has drawn us to himself and born fruit in our lives, we too must die in order to bear fruit.

Jesus talks about two kinds of fruit in these verses, two kinds of rewards. He speaks of eternal life in v. 25, and he speaks of being honored by the Father in v. 26. And in each case the pathway is the same. It is the path of self-denial. How do you gain eternal life according v. 25? It is by hating your life in this world. How can you put yourself in a position to be honored by the Father? It is by serving Jesus, according to v. 26. And how do you serve Jesus? By following him so that as his servant you may be where he is. And where is Jesus as he speaks these words? On his way to the cross. And that, my friends, is where we must be as well. Like Jesus we must be grains of wheat who fall to the ground and die—die to self, to self-reliance, to self-assertiveness, to self-centered luxuries. Like Jesus we must hate our lives, loving the glory of God more than our lives or anything in them. For then and only then will we be like Jesus and find our way to glory.

On the first Palm Sunday Jesus said "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified." On this Palm Sunday may we say here at Bethlehem, "The hour has come for us to follow Jesus to Calvary that we too may share his glory."

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