Bible Passage: John 12:20-33
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: March 21, 2021

Bulletin March 21, 2021

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

It was Passover week in Jerusalem, and people from far and near converged on the city and the Temple during this sacred time.  It was not only Israelites who came.  Non-Israelites who had come to know Israel’s God also came to worship and observe the Passover.  We meet some of them in our text today.  They are called “some Greeks.”

Non-Jewish converts to Judaism, like the Greeks in our text, were only allowed in the outermost court of the Temple called the Court of the Gentiles.  Ethnic Jewish males were allowed to go further in, to what was called the Court of Israel. Perhaps this explains why the Greeks do what they do.  Maybe they were in the outer court and Jesus was further in.  At any rate, they find Jesus’ disciple, Philip, and say, Sir, we would like to see Jesus. (v. 21)  Why did they want to see Jesus?  Was it faith?  Was it curiosity?  Whatever it was, they were drawn to want to see Jesus.

The two disciples find Jesus and tell him about the Greeks.  And what has happened there on that day with the Greeks on a “micro” level causes Jesus to think about what is about to happen on the “macro” level.  On that day, some Greeks were drawn to him.  There is a bigger “drawing” soon to happen!  Jesus ends up saying, But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. (v. 32)  Even as Jesus speaks, he is standing in the shadow of the cross where he will be lifted up!  It is only days away!  And so Jesus speaks about being Drawn to the Cross.  He speaks about his own being drawn to the cross.  And he will speak about our being drawn to the cross.

When we think about the cross, one might naturally wonder, “Why would anyone be drawn to a cross?  Sounds unnaturally suicidal!”  Let’s let Jesus tell us why he was drawn to the cross.  He says in our text:  The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (v. 23)  Jesus is drawn to the cross because he sees the hidden glory.  Jesus did many things that glorified him.  When he changed water into wine, John writes, He thus revealed his glory. (John 2:11)  That was glorious to rearrange the laws of chemistry and turn 2 parts hydrogen and 1 part oxygen into a fermented fruit beverage!  And it was glorious each time Jesus relieved human suffering by healing someone sick or diseased!  It was really glorious when Jesus raised 3 people from the dead!  But the greatest glory is what he did on the cross!  That is where he paid the debt of sin.  That is why we don’t put symbols of wine-jars in our churches, or symbols of crutches or bandages.  We put up crosses!  There is the greatest glory of Jesus.

Jesus was drawn to the cross because he also saw glory for his Father in the cross.  In our text, as Jesus thinks about drawing near the cross, he says, Father, glorify your name!  God is certainly glorified in many ways.  Creation glorifies God.  David says in the psalms, The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalm 19:1)  Creation declares the glory of God’s wisdom and power.  But the cross proclaims a different and greater glory.  The cross brings the God the glory of John 3:16!  God is the Lover of this world and the Giver of his Son!  Jesus wanted his Father to have that glory!

Jesus was drawn to the cross because in it he saw the whole reason he came.  Now my heart 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.  Jesus makes it clear why he came.  He didn’t come here to show us all how to be good boys and girls so that we can go to heaven.  He came for this hour.  He came for the cross.  He came for 3 o’clock on that Friday afternoon when he would cry out, It is finished, and the sin-debt of every man, woman, and child, past, present, and future was “paid in full!”

Jesus was drawn to the cross because he saw in it judgment on the world’s sin and on the devil.  He says, Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. (v. 31)  During the days of Jesus’ ministry, he drove out many demons, didn’t he?  The cross would be the ultimate exorcism, the ultimate driving out of the prince of demons himself!  Sometimes when a case in court is weak or frivolous, we will say it is “thrown out.”  With the atoning death of Jesus on the cross, the devil’s case against you is thrown out!  The charges don’t stick!  He can’t get a conviction!  Not when God’s Son has already “done the time” for your crime!

Finally, Jesus was drawn to his cross because he saw the blessed results.  I tell you the truth, 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. (v. 24)  From a single wheat seed a stalk grows that produces many, many more kernels.  Jesus is the single seed who “falls to the ground and dies.”  But from the single death of the Son of God many, many more sons and daughters of God will grow from the soil of Golgotha!

There were so many reasons Jesus was drawn to the cross!  Which brings us to how Jesus closes this discourse:  But I, when I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself. (v. 32)  We are drawn to the cross, too!  “Drawn.”  What an important word!  Draw, Jesus says.  Not “force.”  Not “pressure.”  Not “threaten.”  Not “harass.”  But “draw.”  Nothing scary here!  Approachable.  It has a power all its own to win and woo.  It is a welcome sight and safe harbor for weary and burdened souls.

When your conscience is troubled by sin, Jesus and his cross draw you in and give you relief and rest.  When you wrestle with temptation and the devil’s lies and empty promises, Jesus and his cross draw you in and give you might and motive to fight on.  When your own cross is heavy and you stagger to carry its weight, Jesus and his  cross draw you in and promise a future-glory that makes our own cross feel lighter.  When your strength fades and your breathing grows shallow, Jesus and his cross draw you in so that you fear no evil, and you are able to fall asleep in peace.

So great is the drawing of the cross that we can get completely lost in it.  That is what Jesus gets at in our text:  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who loses his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.   That is the effect the cross has!  It is the cross of Jesus that makes us say, “I don’t love the life this world has to offer!  I love the life Jesus has to offer!  It’s way better!  It’s eternal!”  This is exactly what Paul was confessing when he wrote:  May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)

Take a moment this morning to think about why you are here.  Why did you come here today?  Why did you come last week?  Why will you come back in the future?  Isn’t the answer what the Greeks said?  We would like to see Jesus.  Isn’t it because there is a huge cross on the wall?  And you cannot help but be drawn to the cross!

Amen.

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