“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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:24-25 ESV)
During Passion Week this text tells us about Greeks who wanted to see Jesus during the Passover feast. They weren’t distracted about all the fanfare of Passover but instead realized what was really important-seeing Jesus! They come up to one of the disciples named Philip and tell him they want to see Jesus. Philip goes and tells Andrews and then both of them go together and tell Jesus about these Greeks who want to see Him.
The response of Jesus is interesting because at first glance it doesn’t seem that He acknowledges the Greek’s request. Instead He shares about His upcoming sacrificial death. He first states that His hour is present, the hour for Him to be glorified. But before He can be glorified, He first has to die. Christ shares the illustration of a grain of wheat and how it must die before it can bear fruit. He is the supreme example of how death to self results in life to God!
Jesus then gives us a key to being willing to die-which is not to love this life. He goes on to say that serving God also necessarily includes following Christ. Doing so results in the reward of Christ’s presence and ultimately receiving honor from the Father. Daniel BillMissionary to Honduras