Sir, We Would Like to See Jesus

Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer

Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN

June 7 & 8, 2008

 

Scripture:               John 12:20-50

No. 17:                  John’s Gospel

 

 

The passage from John’s gospel we are going to look at today is a symphony of sound.  To enjoy it to the full we have to listen carefully. There are spiritual riches here for the discerning ear.

Four themes blend together to make an eternal melody. 

We are going to try and pick out these four voices to hear what heaven is saying to us.

 

This first is THE VOICE OF THE GREEKS

We read, “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.  ‘Sir,’ they said ‘we would like to see Jesus’.” (v 20-21)

 

That request had a profound effect on my life because of the first time I encountered it.

This week I will be speaking at Spurgeon’s Seminary in England.

My thoughts will go back to my student days there. 

 

Each weekend we were sent out to churches around Britain to conduct their Sunday services. 

In my first month I was dispatched to a Tin Tabernacle in London.  This was a small building with a tin roof. 

It had a congregation of about 40.

 

They couldn’t afford their own minister so each week a seminary student came to preach. 

I shall never forget the first time I walked into that pulpit, because emblazoned across the lectern was this text.

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

 

That small congregation taught me as much about preaching as many homiletic classes. They were informing those who came to minister to them that their greatest desire was to see Jesus.

Ever since then my prayer each weekend is that you will see Jesus in the music and message.

 

These Greeks had come to the Passover. Normally the big attraction was to see the splendor of the temple. But they had something greater in mind. They wanted to see Jesus.

 

But how did these Greeks know about Jesus?

They hadn’t met him themselves.

Jesus’ ministry had been in Israel. They were from Greece.

The answer is that others had told them.

 

There is a great picture of evangelism here.

Like these Greeks, people in the world today haven’t encountered Jesus. But they can learn about him from his people.

 

Perhaps on their journey to Jerusalem these Greeks had come across a family who told them how Jesus had fed them and 5000 others.

Maybe they had run into the widow who had excitedly recounted how her son had been raised from the dead.

Or they had overheard a conversation at an inn where folk had

been describing the Sermon on the Mount and saying “no one

has ever taught like Jesus.”

 

This had piqued their interest. 

They are not believers by a long shot but they want to see this man who has made such a difference in the lives of so many people.

 

Our task as followers of Jesus today is to tell people who have never seen him what he has done for us.

This arouses their interest.

A spirit of expectation is created in their heart.

As a result they come along to church as modern day Greeks asking, “We would like to see Jesus.”

 

How will Jesus react to this request?

We want to know because some of us are crying out to God and

saying, “God I am not even sure if you exist but if you do would you please reveal yourself to me.

Would you speak to me as you seem to have spoken to some of the people I know.”

 

We now listen to THE VOICE OF JESUS.

What is he going to say these seekers? 

What is the most important truth for them to hear?

 

Jesus tells them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (v 23)

When Jesus talks about being glorified he is referring to the cross. If we want to see who Jesus really is we must start at the cross.   The hour has come. His moment has arrived.

This is why Jesus came.

 

Why is that important?

Jesus explains, “I tell you the truth (That’s Amen, Amen.

It means something very important is about to follow) 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) Jesus’ death was necessary for our life.

Without the cross we have no hope. We have no salvation.

We are miserable.

 

Jesus continues, “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (v 25)

 

Now Jesus is using a Jewish figure of speech here.

He is exaggerating the words love and hate to make a point.

We need to know that or we might get the impression that we are supposed to hate the life that God has given us.

 

The point Jesus is making is that if we are only interested in ourselves and our success then we will waste our life.

But if we see that God is bigger than ourselves and Christ is greater than ourselves then we will save our life.

 

Last week the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup once again.  The Stanley Cup is perhaps the most famous trophy in the sporting world. 

It is certainly the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes. 

It was first presented in 1893 by Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada.

 

You might think with such a precious trophy it would be kept under lock and key. But the opposite is true. Every member of the winning team gets to keep the cup for 24 hours.

They can take it home and do what they like with it.

In the past five seasons the cup has logged more 400,000 miles. This is the reward of victory.

 

And Jesus here tells us the reward of believing in him.

It is even better than having the Stanley Cup for a day.

“My Father will honor the one who serves me.” (12:26)

 

Perhaps we are thinking that Jesus doesn’t seem to be addressing the Greeks’ requests.

They have asked to see him and he is talking about the cross.  But that is exactly how they will see him.

Jesus explains this when he says, “I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (v 32)

Through the cross the Greeks and all other nationalities can come to Christ.

 

Now if we listen very carefully we hear Jesus being transparently honest.  We learn how much it cost him to go to Calvary.

We hear the stress in his voice when he says, “Now my heart is troubled.” (v 27)

 

The word “troubled” means shock and agitation.

Jesus faces death with revulsion because death is unnatural.

Death is the usurper which has taken over God’s creation.

We were made to live forever. In death God meets us as judge and this explains why Jesus recoiled in horror at the face of it.

 

Jesus is torn.

Should he pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ (v 27)

No, the cross is why he came. So in a supreme statement of trust he cries out “Father, glorify your name.” (v 28)

 

That is a great model for us when we are collapsing under the weight of tragedy. When we hardly know what to say or how to pray. To cry to God, “Father, glorify your name in this moment.”

 

Now we listen to THE VOICE FROM HEAVEN

There are three times in the life of Jesus when the Father speaks to his Son in an audible way.

They all come at critical moments.

The first was at his baptism when Jesus began his ministry.

The second was at his transfiguration when Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem.

The third is now as Jesus faces death.

 

The voice from heaven says, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” (v 28)

It is a wonderful confirmation to the Son of his Father’s approval.

The cross is going to destroy death. As a result, “The prince of this world will be driven out.” (12:31)  

Satan will be defeated.

 

It is a seminal moment in history but the tragedy is that many miss it.  “The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him.” (12:29)

 

The crowd around Jesus hears the sound but miss the message.

Some said, “That was an angel” while others declared “It looks like rain.”

 

How could they come to such different conclusions?

Why did so many miss this moment?

Was the voice from heaven too soft? 

No, it was as loud as thunder.

 

Did they not understand the language that God used?

It is true that some were Greeks while others were Hebrews.
The voice was probably in Aramaic.  But if you don’t understand a language you don’t say, “That was thunder.”

 

Was the voice intended for just a chosen few?

No, because Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine.” (v 30)

 

God wanted them to hear him speak.

For most of them it would be the only time in their lives that they would hear the voice of God. But half of them are going back to their families to say “there was a nasty storm this afternoon.”

 

So why didn’t these folk hear the voice of God?
The answer is they were not expecting it.

They didn’t believe God could speak.

 

There had been a time when the Jews did believe that God spoke directly to people as he did to Samuel and Moses and Elijah.

But by the time of Jesus most Jews had ceased to expect that.

The great days had passed. God was too far away.

 

Now they believed in what they called, “the daughter voice.”

 That was an echo of God’s voice. A distant, faint whisper instead of a direct, vital communication with God.

If you don’t believe something can happen, you have to find another explanation for when it does.

So they said, “It’s not God. It’s thunder.”

 

How tragic. They were there but they missed it.

They missed one of the great events in history. 

They went home and their friends said, “What did you do this

afternoon?”

“Nothing much. We came home early because of the thunder.”

But others ran to their houses and said, “You will never guess what I heard today. I heard an angel.”

 

Now why am I making an issue of this? 

Because I think it still happens today.

God speaks and we miss it.

We imagine it is an ordinary day and we go home to bed.

But there is nothing ordinary about it. 

God has spoken.  But we didn’t hear.

 

How do we know this still happens?

God tells us.

Hundreds of times he pleads with us, “Listen to me.” 

But there is a tragic refrain that runs through the Bible.

“But the people did not listen.” (2 Kings 21:9)

 

Moses came declaring God’s law but the people did not listen.

The prophets came declaring God’s judgment but the people did not listen.

Jesus came declaring God’s love but the people did not listen.

The apostles came declaring God’s grace but the people did not listen.

 

That is tragic because God’s word is different from human words.

His word stands forever.

His word once uttered cannot return unfulfilled.

When God speaks he reveals his character.

He gives us direction and purpose.

He provides us with comfort and encouragement.

He warns us of dangers to avoid.

 

So how can we avert the tragedy of missing God’s voice?

First we must be ready for it at any time.

God spoke to Moses at a burning bush.

He spoke to Samuel when he was in bed.

He spoke to Saul on his way to persecute Christians.

 

Second we must remember that God speaks through many channels. God has a vast variety of spokespeople.

He speaks through nature, angels, dreams, visions, prophets, teachers, even a donkey.

He speaks through his scriptures, his Spirit and his Son.

 

While we can’t know the time or the place when God will speak we can make sure that we are receptive.

It is like a call from a close friend.

We don’t know when our phone will ring but we can at least make sure our cell phone is turned on and charged.

 

While God can speak to us at any time I think there are two main occasions when we can anticipate that God is going to speak.

The first is public worship.

The second is our private reading of scripture.

 

It is good to get into the habit of coming to church expecting that God is going to speak to us.

When we open our Bible at home we can ask, “Father what have you got for me today?”

What Jesus says to the seven churches in Revelation he says to Autumn Ridge, “He who has an ear to hear, let him hear.”

 

Then to listen carefully we must learn to distinguish God’s voice from others.

Even the folk who heard the angel got it wrong.

It was not an angel. It was the voice of God.

 

Sometimes we mistake God’s voice for a human voice and so we do not take it seriously enough.

At other times we mistake a mortal voice for the voice of God and so we give it more weight than we should.

 

How can we distinguish God’s voice from others?

We can learn the sound of God’s voice.

Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice.” (John 10:27)

He adds, “They do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

(John 10:5) 

 

We can also remember that God will never contradict himself.

His word is unchanging. If we think that God is telling us to do something that is contrary to the clear teaching of scripture we must have misheard.

God is blamed for an awful lot of nonsense because his people can’t distinguish his voice from others.

 

Then we hear THE VOICE OF THE PROPHETS

John now tells us something incredible, “Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.” (12:37)

 

There had been seven extraordinary miracles concluding with the resurrection of Lazarus but many are still not convinced that Jesus is the Messiah.

 

Supernatural signs by themselves do not convince anyone of a supernatural God. It still takes faith.

There are people who say they don’t believe in God because of all the suffering in the world. They claim that if God stepped in and ended the suffering they would believe in him. But that is not true.

 

Many would still deny his existence. For it still takes faith. 

Jesus had just dealt with the worst possible suffering by raising a dead man but some were so closed to the possibility of the miraculous that all they wanted to do was to kill Lazarus to make sure he was dead once again.

 

None of this took Jesus by surprise and the unbelief in the world today shouldn’t take us by surprise.

It was all anticipated by the prophets. 

 

John tells us this lack of belief, “Was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (12:38)   That is a quote from Isaiah 53.

 

Then John tells us, “Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory.” (12:41)

John may be referring to the vision that Isaiah had of God in the temple when Isaiah was cleansed by the sacrifice from the altar.

 

While Isaiah saw the rejection of the Messiah he also saw his exaltation and John adds, “Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.” (12:42)

 

It is Jesus who has the last word in this chapter.

He cries out in a very loud voice because he really wants us to understand this truth, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.

When he looks at me, he sees the one sent me.

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (12:44-46)

 

Jesus and his Father are one. To see Jesus is to see the Father. To come to Jesus is to leave the darkness of our sin and walk in the light of his presence.

 

This is the last time that Jesus speaks to the crowds in Jerusalem. The next time they see him he will be a prisoner standing before Pilate. He will be on trial and his words will be sifted as evidence against him.

 

But the real trial is already underway.  Jesus is staring into the darkness and the darkness is staring back.

And everyone who hears this chapter must sooner or later make up their minds about which side they are on.

 

Perhaps your interest in Jesus has been aroused today.

Then ask God “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

You won’t be disappointed.