John 12:20-50 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; ²¹ these people then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were making a request of him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip came and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. ²³ But Jesus answered them by saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

²⁷ “Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!” ³⁰ Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. ³¹ Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. ³² And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” ³³ Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. ³⁴ The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how is it that You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵ So Jesus said to them, “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”

These things Jesus proclaimed, and He went away and hid Himself from them. ³⁷ But though He had performed so many signs in their sight, they still were not believing in Him. ³⁸ This happened so that the word of Isaiah the prophet which he spoke would be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they will not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and so I will not heal them.” ⁴¹ These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke about Him. ⁴² Nevertheless many, even of the rulers, believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, so that they would not be excommunicated from the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the approval of people rather than the approval of God.

⁴⁴ Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. ⁴⁵ And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. ⁴⁶ I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. ⁴⁷ If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

In today’s text Jesus says: “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.”  The fruit that was born from the death of Jesus is redemption, restoration and eternal life for those who believe in Him. The text says: “Now My soul has become troubled; and what am I to say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven:“I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, “An angel has spoken to Him!” Jesus responded and said, “This voice has not come for My sake, but for yours. Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.” Now He was saying this to indicate what kind of death He was going to die. … “For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; also, the one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.” If we want to walk in the fruit of redemption, restoration and eternal life, we must believe in and walk in the Light. 1 John 1:5-10 says: God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. If we walk in the darkness of unconfessed or unacknowledged sin, we are not deceiving God, it is we ourselves that we deceive. For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) We will either reap death for our sin, or the fruit of eternal life through the death of Jesus for our sin.

It is not only Jesus death which bore the fruit of redemption and eternal life. His words are also seeds of that same fruit. In the text He says: “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me. And the one who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that no one who believes in Me will remain in darkness. If anyone hears My teachings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me and does not accept My teachings has one who judges him: the word which I spoke. That will judge him on the last day. For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”  We cannot claim to believe in and follow Jesus if we do not also believe His words and teachings. Jesus says we will be judged by the word on the last day. From the beginning of His ministry Jesus said: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Now as the last days approach and the kingdom of heaven is nearer, He says: “Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. The one who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne. The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:18-22)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, thank You for the fruit of redemption, restoration and eternal life born to the world through Jesus sacrifice and death. May the seeds of Your word bear that fruit in my life, that I might believe and walk in the light. Amen.