John chapter 12

vs 21

Maybe it's important that they came to Philip because he's from Bethsaida. It probably was pretty Greek, or so I have been led to believe.

Anyway, these non-Jews have come to see Jesus. The news has gotten far enough out of Jerusalem and Judea to hit a few Greeks.

vs 22

A little chinese whispers game later, and Jesus knows.

vs 23

Now this seems like a fairly extravagant response to a simple request, doesn't it? I have heard before people say that because Jesus came primarily for the Jews, that now the gentiles wanted to talk to him, he had go go get crucified quick for some reason. I'm afraid I don't truck with the idea really.

What does sound more reasonable is that the climax has been reached in Jesus' ministry. His job isn't to trumpet his message of salvation to the nations. But these guys show that it has gotten to the stage where Jesus' message is appealing to non-Jews. For Jesus, this climax I think is the more important thing.

vs 24

Jesus can't go off and wander the empire converting people. Someone has to die first, and it's him. He's got to get on with the dying, so that the Holy Spirit can empower the disciples and others to get out there and finish that part of the job.

vs 25

This includes Jesus. Jesus is the extreme example here. And everyone has to follow in this example. The people listening to Jesus, his disciples, are going to have to make this choice.

vs 26

We're going to end up in heaven eventually, probably a little quicker than normal if we take Jesus seriously on this. Is there something wrong with that? The church only seems to grow faster when people are prepared to take Jesus at his word anyway.

vs 27

But Jesus is probably shaking at this point. The adreneline is starting to pump, because he knows that there isn't long till he's going to be killed, and pretty awfully. He's probably shaking a little bit. But he can't ask to be saved from his ordeal, because it is the primary objective of his coming. Everything else has led up to this one week. No wonder it gets so much coverage in the gospels.

vs 28

Jesus' attitude is that if he can glorify God in any way, that is what he'll do. And obviously this is a comfort to him as well - that if God's name is being glorified, anything else that is happening is secondary.

God's response is a sure sign of comfort to Jesus, but also a sign that Jesus is not undergoing mere melodramatics - he is really dialoguing with God here, and God's response is in the affirmative - his name will always be glorified.

vs 29

And the crowd hears this voice, and now they are surely even more amazed. They might not really get the message that Jesus has been preaching, but they heard the voice. Whether it was an angel or God's voice itself, the people heard it, and it was like thunder. They too know, now, that something is going down in Jerusalem-town.

vs 30

Jesus says that the voice is for the sake of the people, and not him. Obviously Jesus appreciates the message of the voice, but as far as he is concerned he didn't need to hear it aurally. He already knows what God's will is. He can see God's actions. He knows as truth that God will always glorify his name. But now the people know that Jesus wasn't talking crap.

Will they remember this voice when they're calling out for Jesus to be crucified? That, I think, highlights the value of miracles. They're great for a little while, but you can forget them easily.