John 12,20-26 1921
Laetare 027
Matilda (Maud), Wife of Henry V, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire and England ✠ 968
14. März 2021
1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, who by Your Son did feed five thousand men in the desert with five loaves and two fishes: We beseech You to abide graciously also with us in the fullness of Your blessing. Preserve us from avarice and the cares of this life, so that we may seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness, and in all things perceive Your Fatherly goodness. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)
2. »20Now among those who went up to worship at the Feast of Passover were some Greeks. 21So these went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him: „Sir, we wish to see Jesus.“ 22Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23And Jesus answered them: „The hour has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, then it bears much fruit. 25Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves Me, then he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, then the Father will honor him.“«
3. The event in today’s sermon text occurred during Holy Week. We hear that in Jerusalem, during the Passover, some Greeks went to the temple courtyard to worship. These Greeks were God-fearers; that was a name that Jews gave to Gentiles who worshipped the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but who did not follow all the customs and laws of Moses, in particular they were not circumcised. In Jesus’ day, a section of the temple courtyard was set aside for the God-fearers where they could worship and pray to Yahweh. John tells us that some of these Greek God-fearers wanted to see Jesus.
4. Bethsaida was northeast of the Sea of Galilee, and it was the hometown of Peter, Andrew and Philip (John 1,44). Jesus healed a blind man outside of Bethsaida (Luke 9,10–11) and fed the 5000 nearby (Luke 9, 12-17). The town was near Decapolis, the 10 cities-states northeast of Galilee that was a center for Greco-Roman culture in the predominantly Jewish culture of Galilee and Judea. It’s possible that the Greeks seeking an audience with Jesus approach Philip because they recognize him, as a native from Bethsaida, and he was potentially more open to hearing their request than the other apostles not from the region.
5. Notice how the request works its way to Jesus: the Greeks speak to Philip; Philip speaks to Andrew (one of the four apostles closest to Jesus); Andrew and Philip then speak to Jesus. And what answer does Jesus give? A: The hour has arrived for the Son of Man to be glorified. John tells us that Jesus uses the request to see Him as an opportunity to teach about His impending crucifixion and resurrection. John doesn’t tell us if these Greeks got their audience with Jesus or whether they were present as Jesus begins teaching. John’s concern is not to tell us whether these Greeks got their audience but that the request initiated the specific teaching that John recorded in chapter 12. Even if the Greeks were not granted their audience, it is probable that Philip returned to them and relayed the teaching of Jesus that their request had inspired.
6. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell us just prior to the request of the Greeks that Jesus had, either the day before or earlier that same day, cleansed the temple courtyard and proclaimed: »My house shall be a house of prayer« (Luke 19,46). This statement by Jesus directly impacted the Greek God-fearers, for it was their space in the temple courtyard that bore the brunt of the cacophony and commotion of the money changers and the animal sellers while they gathered in their Gentile space to pray to Yahweh. Jesus is driving out of these businessman made it much easier for the Greeks to piously pray. Perhaps their audience with Jesus was to further inquire what this kind work entailed for them going forward.
7. The teaching of Jesus here addresses that inquiry. The temple was to be a house of prayer for all the nations. The same teaching given to His Jewish disciples and crowds likewise is given to the Greeks and Gentiles: The Son of Man is going to be crucified and rise again. From this act much fruit will bear, namely, Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus. The Greek God-fearers are likewise to follow Jesus just as the Jews are exhorted to do. God the Father will honor everyone, Jew and Gentile, who follows Jesus, serves Him and obeys Him.
8. The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed: »And it will in that day that the Root of Jesse and the One arising to rule the Gentiles nations, on Him the Gentiles will hope, and His resting place will be a place of honor« (Isaiah 11,1). The Greeks and Gentiles rejoice, for they too are spiritual heirs of Abraham and receive the promise of salvation from Jesus the Messiah. Isaiah’s prophecy was being fulfilled in John 12 during Holy Week. This ingathering of the Gentiles into the harvest is the work of the Christ, a work He establishes at His cross and resurrection, a work that the apostles continue forward at Pentecost through the power of the Holy Spirit, and this harvest continues to this very day. Rejoice, for Jesus is raised as the Signal for the nations. Amen.
10. Let us pray. O Christ Jesus, the Grain of wheat who fell into the earth and died; in Your passion You redeemed all the world, both Jew and Gentile, so that in Your rising from the dead the harvest of the salvation of the nations bears much fruit. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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