MISSION WOODS CHURCH
Sunday, September 13, 2026
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  • Turn your eyes upon Jesus - Jesus My Jesus
  • Open My Eyes, that I May See
  • Shine Jesus Shine
  • Open The Eyes Of My Heart

      • John 12:20-23ESV

      • John 12:24-25ESV

      • John 12:26ESV

  • It’s getting good now.
    The Gospel story that we read in the New Testament, the message that John is sharing with us as he writes 60-70 years after Jesus walked the earth - now we’re getting to their collective purpose.
    The books we refer to as the Gospels:
    28 chapters of Matthew,
    16 in Mark,
    24 in Luke, and
    21 in John
    All tell the story of Jesus reminding us of who He is, what He did as He walked this earth, how He ministered among us - God in the flesh! Yet, though Jesus walked the earth about 33 years, only 3 of those years were in ministry.
    As I said last week the raising of Lazarus is a distinct turning point in the Gospel of John. That was chapter 11, and as we get to chapter 12 it opens 6 days before the Passover, six days before what we call the Last Supper. In other words chapters 12-21 in the Gospel of John are all about focusing on the sacrifice of Jesus and His Resurrection.
    John devotes 10 chapters of 21 to it.
    Matthew its 13 of 28;
    Mark - 9 of 16;
    in Luke its 15 of 23 chapters devoted to this last week of Jesus life.
    Clearly the Gospel message is in the cross. And just like you might read a mystery novel again to see if all the clues were really there, the Gospels are meant to be read again, and again, and again.
    Remember all the Gospels were written after the fact, the synoptics in the 50’s or 60’s AD. All of the Gospels were written to audiences that had likely heard about Jesus before, but it is John who writes so much later, perhaps as later as 95 AD. As we’ve said before the other Gospels tell us the “WHAT” of Jesus time on earth. John tells us the “WHY”.
    If you were to read through chapter 12 you would see 3 of the remaining signs that John records:
    Mary anoints Jesus in Bethany,
    Jesus triumphal entry, and
    Greeks attending the Passover visit Jesus.
    This last sign is the one I’m focusing on today.
    John 12:20 ESV
    Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
    We need to understand the word Greeks. This doesn’t mean people specifically coming from Greece. It means those that are not Jewish, from the Jewish perspective, “Gentiles.” They are not converts to Judaism, They are likely what Jews would refer to as “God fearers,” Gentiles who admire the Jewish faith and respect its traditions.
    An example would be the centurion of Capernaum who respected Judaism and built a synagogue, or Cornelius who is described as a God-fearer in the book of Acts.
    They approach Philip (perhaps because he had a Greek sounding name). John 12:21
    John 12:21 ESV
    So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
    I remember as a young man standing behind the pulpit at West Side Presbyterian Church and reading those words the first time, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus,” written on a little plaque at the top of the lectern. Its a powerful reminder even now of the purpose of preaching.
    Philip goes to Andrew and then Philip and Andrew go to Jesus. Note what happens next. Jn 12:23
    John 12:23 ESV
    And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
    Now stop for just a moment and remember all the times that we have read that Jesus’ hour “had not yet come” in John’s Gospel.
    At the wedding feast in Cana, John 2:4 before he changed the water to wine.
    John 2:4 ESV
    And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”
    When his brothers were going up to the feast of Booths, John 7:6 “Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here.” John 7:8 “…for my time has not yet fully come.”
    Then when the leaders were seeking to arrest Him, John writes: John 7:30
    John 7:30 ESV
    So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.
    and later in chapter 8, John 8:20 “These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”
    Yet here, after Mary has anointed Him, the plot to kill both Him and Lazarus, the triumphal entry - there was nothing said of the hour or time there. But now…
    Now we read as the Greeks - Gentile God-fearers show a desire to “see Jesus”, John 12:23
    John 12:23 ESV
    “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
    What will that entail?
    Jesus tells us, albeit in a rather criptic way, it’s going to mean he has to die. We read, John 12:24
    John 12:24 ESV
    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.
    Yet remember John is writing this after the other Gospels have been written, he’s sharing the “Why” of Jesus, and we get a glimpse right here. He came to die. And Jesus goes on speaking to His immediate disciples, and through John to us as well: John 12:25
    John 12:25 ESV
    Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
    I’ve quoted the missionary to Ecuador, Jim Elliot, he wrote in his diary a short time before losing his life at the hand of the very people with whom he sought to share the Gospel,
    “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” ~ Jim Elliot
    Jesus said, John 12:25 “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
    What are John and Jesus saying here?
    It is an echo of what he has said before, John 10:11
    John 10:11 ESV
    I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
    As Jesus turns toward Jerusalem and ultimately the cross he knows He is going there to lay down his life for the sheep. Mark 8:34 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
    And He also knows that its not just the Jews for whom He is going to the cross. What instigated him announcing that “the hour has come?” It was the Greeks, the non-Jews seeking to “see” Jesus.
    This is the ultimate fulfillment of what John said as he opened His Gospel: John 1:11-12
    John 1:11–12 ESV
    He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
    Not only are the Jews the ones who will be saved through the cross and resurrection it is open to “all who receive Him”.
    What does this mean for you and me?
    First, its a reminder that though most of us do not have Jewish roots, Jesus came for us too.
    Second its a reminder that many around us could very well be making the same request the Greeks made to Philip: “we wish to see Jesus.”
    Now how are people going to see Him?
    In His Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks to those who gather and says, Mt 5:16
    Matthew 5:16 ESV
    In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
    All around us, every day are people who want to see Jesus, but they don’t believe in Him. I would contend that there are many more than we would imagine seeking.
    Roughly 65% of Americans profess a faith in Jesus.
    Look around you. Those here represent the approximately 30% of Americans that attend religious services weekly.
    People all the time say they don’t know anyone seeking? Yet we have empty seats. I’m willing to bet you know people who profess they believe in Jesus but can’t remember the last time they were in church, opened their Bible, prayed.
    Folks, they are all around us.
    How then, do we let our light shine? There’s a clue in that verse from Jesus, “that they may see your good works”.
    That they would see Jesus.
    Peter understood. He wrote in his first letter to the church 1 Pe 4:10
    1 Peter 4:10 NIV84
    Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.
    How are you shining the light? How are you serving? How are you “faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms”?
    There are hundreds, thousands, perhaps millions of ways you can shine light. Perhaps you want to lead or host a group of people exploring God’s Word together. Perhaps you have a good voice or play an instrument and want to share the gift of music. You know what your gifts are.
    The question for you is, are you willing to lay down your personal questions and doubts and take up your cross and follow.
    Are you willing to lay down your embarassment or shyness, or whatever reservations and step out and use the gift God has given to give the glory to God?
    In our text this morning it was the God-fearers seeking to see Jesus that triggered the hour for Jesus to be glorified. The same is true for those around us.
    As they seek to see Jesus -
    we shine our light
    they see Jesus
    Jesus is glorified.
    The hour is at hand, are you and I stepping up or stepping down?
    That plaque rings so loudly in my head as I read this passage today, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
    Let’s show Jesus to them.
    And as Jesus said, He will be glorified. AMEN.

      • John 12:20ESV

      • John 12:21ESV

      • John 12:23ESV

      • John 2:4ESV

      • John 7:30ESV

      • John 12:23ESV

      • John 12:24ESV

      • John 12:25ESV

      • John 10:11ESV

      • John 1:11–12ESV

      • Matthew 5:16ESV

      • 1 Peter 4:10ESV

  • In His Time
  • My Life Is In You
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MISSION WOODS CHURCH
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