Come and See: Triumphal Entry - John 12:20-35 - August 13th

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John 12:20-35

Now we are starting to see some excitement from the people surrounding Jesus. It’s exciting seeing Him ride into Jerusalem on a donkey, however the excitement also stirs up even more issues for those in leadership of the Jewish faith. Mainly because Jesus resurrected Lazarus. And from the ongoing testimony of crowd it is picking up momentum. Let’s see what’s happening next.

John 12:20-36 (NIV) Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

“Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Often times we get to this part of Scripture around the time of Palm Sunday. But there is so much more for us to see. Remember that throughout the Gospel of Jesus Christ According to John we see Jesus – God – being represented as the Light of the World. And here Jesus is speaking of Himself in this very way.

So I asked myself, what is it that The Light does? Well, light removes, overtakes, or dispels darkness. Now, the darkness cannot ever overtake The Light. Darkness can overtake people. And we will see this in next passage, another letter from John.

1 John 1:1-10 (NIV) That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Jesus is getting down to the wire back there in chapter 12, and He knows what is coming next. Later, in a letter, John tells us that Jesus is the Light – no question it came from what he witnessed and wrote about in his account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Here John is encouraging us to walk in the Light – walk in the teachings of Christ, or in His Spirit. And here’s why, when we do so we make progress as a disciple of Jesus. We grow to be more Christ-like in our everyday living.

Walking in the light speaks of an on-going progressing relationship with God and with others. Walking in the light is striving to walk humbly with God, allowing God to cleanse us from within. Walking in the light is living a life of holiness resulting in fellowship with God and others along this journey.