John 2021

And if you'd like to grab a Bible and turn with me to John chapter 12, We're gonna be reading from verse 17.

So the first couple of verses won't be up on that on the screen. And we're gonna go through to 36. So John chapter 12, starting at verse 20, they're 17. Sorry. Now the crowd that was with him when he called lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continue to spread the words.

Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the pharisees said to 1 another, see, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him. Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip who was from Besada in Galile with a request.

Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew, Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

Anyone who loves their life will lose it. While anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My father will honor the 1 who serves me. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say?

Father saved me from this hour? No. It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven.

I have glorified it. And will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thumbed it, others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, this voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world Now the prince of this world will be driven out, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. The crowd spoke up, We have heard from the law that the Messiah will remain forever. So how can you say the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Then Jesus told them, you are going to have the light just a little while longer.

Walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light. So that you may become children of light. When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

Tom. Hi. Good evening, everyone. Nice to see you, and particularly welcome. If you're visiting with us, my name is Tom Sweitman.

I'm on the staff team here, 1 of the pastors, and it's lovely to have you as we continue to make our way through this wonderful gospel. Welcome to you if you're tuning on online, and let's begin by by bowing our heads and praying and asking for the lord's help. Father, we thank you that your word is living and active. That for those of us who were in the service this morning, we were learning that it is your word, which is the power to give us new birth. It is your word, which is the power to turn us from our sins.

It's your word, which is the power to make us alive in Jesus and to sanctify us and to banish evil influences from us. And we thank you for these incredible words that we've just had read to us, and we pray that as we take some time now to think about them. We pray holy spirit that you would give us insight into this life giving word. We pray that you would help us to see ourselves receive as if we were looking in a mirror and that seeing ourselves, we would not forget after we leave what we have seen, but that you would change us by your powerful spirit into the image of your son, and we ask it in his name. Oh, ma'am.

1 of the 1 of our favorite family stories in our house is the tiger who came to tea. And I would say that all of you at some stage in your lives, if you haven't read that story, you have had it read to you at some stage. It is a family classic. It has never ever been out of print. Since 19 68, it has won a whole stack of awards.

It has been adapted for the stage. It has been adapted for television. The tiger who came to tea is just a much loved across the generation classic story. If you don't know it, you are in the minority, but you're also in luck. I'm gonna explain it to you.

Okay? It's about Sophie, a little girl called Sophie, and she's in the kitchen having a cup of tea with her mom. And as she has a cup of tea with her mom, the doorbell goes. And they have a little conversation about who it might be ringing on the doorbell because it can't be dad because dad's already left to go to work, and he's got his keys. So why would he ring on the doorbell?

It can't be the postman because he's already been, So we better go to the door and find out who it is. And so Sophie goes to the door, she opens it, and there before is a giant furry stripey, exotic tiger. And she proceeds to invite the tiger into tea. The tiger comes into the house and then demolishes all that they own in terms of food and drink. So the tiger eats everything that is in the fridge, all of the food.

He drinks all of the drink. He then goes to the taps and drains all of the water out of the tank. He then goes to daddy's beer, I know, most devastating of all, and works his way through that 1 bottle at a time, until he has just drained the house of everything, and then he leaves. And then shortly after that, daddy does come home, and they explain to him what has happened. And he says, right, we need to go to a cafe and have something to eat because there's nothing here.

And so he takes them to a cafe for sausage and chips and he has a flagging of beer in the cafe. And and then the next day, after all of this, Sophie and her mom go to the shops. And they decide to buy a tin of Tiger food, stock to all good supermarkets, just in case the Tiger ever comes to tea again. But the last words of the book on the very last page are, but he never did. But never did.

And with any book that has stood the test of time like the Tiger of Kainteri, people have looked for deeper meanings and interpretations to that story. Some people have thought that it was never about a tiger at all. That it was actually just about the family cat, and that was a lovely way to talk about the family cat. Others have seen that, and you may or may not believe this, as a description of life in Nazi Germany. Dad has gone, and at any moment your house might be invaded, your door might be knocked upon by an invader who will come to take all that you've got and leave you with nothing.

Some have thought that that story was about the liberating effects of the sexual revolution in the 19 sixties. So Emily Maitlis, who's a famous journalist, you may have heard of her. She once asked the author, Judith Kerr. She died, not that long ago. If the Tiger symbolized the 19 sixties sexual revolution, when normal suburban life became upended, by this wild and exotic creature.

She told me, no. It was about a tiger coming to tea. And Emily Maitlis tweeted that on the death of the author just to that was probably the best answer she's ever received in a in an interview. And yet, even if that's all that it's about, a tiger coming today. There there is something I think quite moving and quite profound really about those very last words of the book.

They bought this tin of Tiger food in case he came again, but he never did. And I think 1 of the things that that does tell us is that life is full of all kinds of experiences, some are normal, some are very unusual, which we will 1 day do for the last time, without ever realizing it. So 1 day, you are going to send your last email. 1 day, you are going to tie your shoes for the last time. 1 day, you are going to get in a car and drive it if you can, for the last time, and you will probably do those things thinking that you will do them again.

You won't know that that will be your last time doing that. But but it will. And so life is full of things like that, isn't it? Normal experiences, unusual experiences, which we may do for the last time without realizing it. And that teaches us that we ought to make the most of things, make the most of our lives, because we never know if we're gonna be granted the breath in order to see them again.

Name. And I don't know, but I reckon some people, here in John chapter 12, may have been listening to They may have just welcomed him in and thought, we we we'll see him again. You know, we'll have the opportunity to to hear him once more. We'll get to see another miracle. We don't have to respond right now.

We can just be part of the clapping crowd, and maybe 1 day we'll get our lives in order. Maybe in the next sermon, they thought that they would hear him again, but they never did. Jesus says, you are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light before darkness overtakes you. And later, when he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

And commentators think that little note at the end, is really saying, and and the public ministry of Jesus in John's gospel is now coming to a close. He hid himself from them. At the end of chapter 12, he will go on to say a little bit more, but this is the beginning of the end of the public ministry of Christ, which we have been enjoying in these in these evening in these evening services. In chapter 13 through to chapter 17, Jesus is going to go into the upper room with his disciples. In chapter 18, he is going to be arrested.

In 19, he is going to be executed. And so for many people here in chapter 12, This is their last real opportunity to hear and respond to the public ministry of Jesus. Some of them were no doubt thinking, We'll see him again. We'll respond next time. Show us another sign tomorrow, but they never did.

And so the question is, in these last hours of daylight, what must we know about Jesus Christ, the son of man. In this last main public address, what does he want us to know? And I've entitled this sermon, the troubles and the triumphs of the son of man. Because that's what he shows us, that's what he scribes. That's what he applies.

The troubles and the triumphs of the son of man. And we're gonna take those in turn. The first heading will be the son of man, his troubles. The second will be the son of man his triumph, and then we'll see how he summons the world to join him on this road of trouble and triumph. So firstly, look with me.

At the son of man, his trouble. And John wants us to know, and you may have picked this up in the reading, that we have arrived in this gospel a critical crucial moment. Throughout this gospel, Jesus Christ has been talking about his hour which has it is approaching. The hour is coming. We saw that in chapter 2 verse 4.

We saw it in 7 verse 30. We saw it in 8 verse 20. Jesus was talking about his hour and he was always in the not yet. My hour has not yet come. The hour is not yet here.

Hour has not yet arrived, and here he turns around and says that hour which has been coming is now here. The hour has come. Now what does he mean by that phrase, the hour, his hour? Well, we've explored it a little bit, haven't we? In this series so far, but he is referring there to the hour of his suffering.

To the hour in which he the great God is going to be trade, handed over to sinful men. He's going to be tried, lifted up on a cross, executed for the sins of his people, but will rise again in glory, ascend to be with his father, and sit down at his right hand, triumphant lord of all. All of that is contained within the hour of his suffering, the hour of our redemption. The hour has come. And you see Jesus gives even more color to it in this chapter if it had been unclear in the past.

He makes it plain here. Have a look at verse 23. The hour has come for the son of man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. Verse 32, and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.

He said this, to show the kind of death he was going to die. So Jesus talks about his hour and he's very clear about what it means. This is the hour in which he is going to be lifted up. It will be the hour of his crucifixion and his death. He uses this cryptic little parable, really to say that the hour has come for him, this kernel of life giving wheat, to be planted, to be buried, to go into the ground, this is the hour of his death.

And how does he feel about it? What does he say? What insight does he give us into his soul? As he comes into this hour, well, verse 27, Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? That sentence is a bit like the phrase Jesus wept.

It's so short, but there are just oceans of depth beneath at. Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? And it is an incredible mystery that we are being invited into in those words. For this whole gospel, John has been laboring the point that in Jesus Christ, the divine and the human have come together, that the word has been made flesh that the eternal ever living son of God has united himself to a true humanity and has come to live among us.

He is the God man, the 1 glorious person, yet truly man and truly God. And here he says, in verse 27, this awesome god man. Now my soul is troubled. That's the word that's also used in John chapter 11. You might remember when we were going through that in verse 33.

When Jesus saw her weeping. He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Same word. And you remember when Pete was preaching through that, he was helping us to see that that means more than just a little bit disturbed. He was deeply troubled as he looked upon the effects of the curse, of death, of sin, about how it wrecking people's lives.

He was both upset, agitated, and angry at what he saw. He was troubled in his soul. We find the word also in John in chapter 5. When Jesus says to the paralyzed man, do you want to get well? Sir, I have no 1 to help me into the pool when the water is stirred.

That's the word. It's stirred, troubled. My soul is troubled. And so the Lord Jesus is telling us here that his soul is like that water. If we could gaze into it at this moment as he approaches the cross, we would not see a calm beautiful mill pond of a lake.

It would be like looking down from the top of a cliff, down at the rocks, and seeing the sea rushing in and foaming and boiling beneath us. That's what his soul looks like. He is troubled. As the god man comes to the hour of his suffering. Now how are we to process, even begin to process such an awesome sentence?

Well, on the 1 hand, we don't say that the Lord Jesus was troubled because his father was forcing him to the cross. We do not say that Jesus is troubled because the father was twisting his arm, had a sharp stick in his back and was poking him forward to the cross. Making him do it against his will. That cannot be right, because in John, his simple delight has been to do the will and the works of the father. And that will include this great redemptive work as he dies to purchase a people.

From every tribe tongue, language, and race. There's a sense in which he comes towards it, delighting in this great expression of obedience that he will win the father's people. But on the other end, we don't say, well, look Jesus is God. And that whole man thing is really a bit of a performance. He knew what was coming.

He knew what was on the other side, this wasn't gonna be much of a challenge for him. He's God, after all, he knows what's coming. He can handle it. We talk like that. And we lose his humanity.

Because Jesus Christ was a true man. He was flesh and blood like you and me in every way except for sin. He was a true man, And as this god man considers the cross, and as he reflects on what is next, God forsakenness, into the darkness, sin bearing, rough taking. As he thinks about, what is next? He wonders aloud.

What shall I say? Save me from this hour. This is the 1 who can cast out demons with a word. This is the 1 who can speak into a tomb and resurrect a dead man. This is the 1 who can gaze into the eye of a ferocious storm and make it still with 1 word.

And yet, here he is, thinking about his hour, and for a moment, he shrinks away from what is coming If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. What shall I say? Save me from this hour. It's interesting if you've ever read anything about the martyrs in church history, those who gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose. When you read their stories, You see that some of them were able to approach their deaths quite calmly.

Others were extremely agitated and fearful as they came to their death. And like them, Jesus was truly human, but in another sense, he cannot be compared. The thought of the physical pain would be troubling to his soul, How much more so the agony of bearing our sin in our place? The thought of taking nails through his hands would be as repulsive as it is to you and me, but how much more dreadful the idea of bearing the wrath of his loving father upon himself for our sins. It's worth just pausing, isn't it?

And asking ourselves the question, how dreadful must sin be for Christ to say? What shall I say? Save me from this hour. And so as he prepares to be lifted up, As he prepares to be buried and planted into the ground, he gives us an insight into his troubles. The son of man, his trouble.

But now let's look together at his triumph, the son of man, his triumph. And the wonderful thing about this passage is that for every trouble, there is a corresponding triumph. You notice that as we read through. He will be lifted up, trouble, but will draw all people to himself, triumph. He will go into the darkness trouble, but he will overthrow Satan, triumph.

He will go into the ground and be planted trouble. But in that planting will lead to a great harvest triumph. This is the hour of his suffering trouble. But this is also the hour of his great glory triumph. For every trouble, there is a triumph.

Have a look at verse 27 with me. Shall I say this? No. It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.

Then a voice came from heaven. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. There are only 3 times in the new testament where God speaks audibly like that from heaven. Once at the baptism of the Lord Jesus, once at his transfiguration and once here. And this shows us that this is a moment of huge significance.

The father has been glorifying his name in all that Christ has done on earth, and now he speaks audibly from heaven to say, and at the cross my son, I will glorify it again. I will glorify it. I will glorify my name. And you know that tells us that the glory of God is not just a philosophy or a logical outcome. You know, the glory of God is not just a concept.

The glory of God is he's giving himself for the world in the person of Jesus Christ. Of course his glory will be seen in the resurrection and in his ascension. And of course it was seen all his preaching and in all his miracles. But the highest expression of the glory of God will be the giving of himself. Will be his own self sacrificial love.

That will be his glory. See, when Charles is eventually crowned, you know, when that ceremony comes, even though they're saying it's gonna be a bit more muted than it normally is. It will still be surrounded With all the pomp and ceremony that that kind of occasion deserves. But our Lord Jesus Christ was crowned on the tree. He reins on the tree.

His ceremony, if you like, is the tree. That is where we see his glory. What is the glory of God? Not just an idea. Not just a question for a catechism.

The glory of God is the giving of himself in the person of Christ. I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. How dreadful must sin be for Jesus to say, save me from this hour, but how intensely must he love us? And how intensely must he love the glory of God for him to say no for this very reason. I came to this hour.

For every trouble, there is a triumph. See it again in verse 18. It's amazing the spin. Many people because they had heard that he had performed this sign went out to meet him. The pharisees said to 1 another, see, this is getting us nowhere.

Look how the whole world has gone after him. Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. The pharisees are splitting hairs They they cannot stop the world coming to Jesus. Despite all of their best and most aggressive efforts.

They cannot stop people coming, and Jesus knows that even if they kill him, they will only make it worse. Even if they kill him, they will make it worse. It's like if you've ever, you know, kicked a dandelion seeds. You know, those seeds you can pick up and blow out into the world. If you've ever put your boot through 1 in an act of micro aggression and you've tried to destroy the thing, you know that in your attempt destroy it, you have only served to cast it to the wind and spread it further than you could ever imagine.

And this is what's gonna happen. They're gonna put their boot through the son of man. They're gonna put him to the cross, they're gonna execute him. But in their killing of him, they are only going to make things unimaginably worse for them because that death will be the means by which they may come. Verse 24.

Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies. It remains only a single seed. Trouble. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The pharisees and behind them Satan himself will think that they have won some kind of victory when Jesus says it is finished.

But all that they can do is fulfill the promises of God. God had said to Abraham all those years ago, I'm gonna give you a land. I'm gonna make you a great nation, and through you will come 1 who will be a blessing to the nation. And Jesus Christ, when he is lifted up, will secure those nations for himself. He will die to purchase them.

He is that blessing, that redeeming blessing to the world. In Psalm 2, the Lord says to His Messiah King, just ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth to be your possession. And on the cross, Jesus Christ secures those nations for self. He wins that possession. He dies to purchase them for himself.

The trouble They're gonna kill him the triumph. He's gonna win the nations through his death. It's amazing, isn't it? To ask the question. Why what is it that brings these Greeks to Jesus in verse 20?

You know, why do they come looking for him? What is the deepest reason that they have showed up this day? The deepest reason is sovereign grace. They came looking for him because he came into the world to save them. That's what his little parable is all about.

Service people who wanna see you. They're saying we want to see Jesus. He answers with this little peril about seeds and dying in fruit. Why is he talking like that? Why is he dodging the question?

He's not dodging the question. He's saying, oh, they've come to see me. Great. I came into the world to see them. That's why I'm here.

I've come to die to purchase them for myself, and millions like them who will come to me through the cross. And if you're a Christian here, Isn't that what what you would say too about yourself? That as you think about Jesus, you love his example, and you treasure his words and you're amazed at his miracles, but there's something about that cross, isn't there? Which has drawn us to him. There is something about the depths of his love that he has shown there.

As this crucified Galileo carpenter hanks on a tree, bearing our sins so that we might be saved. There is something in that, isn't there? Which by God's grace draws us to the 1 who was there, but who now lives forever. It's amazing, isn't it? Left to ourselves.

This message is a scandal to Jews, and it is foolishness to Greeks. But to those whom God has called, to those who he has drawn, this is Christ, the wisdom of God, and the power of God to save sinners. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, trouble, will draw all people to my of triumph. You see how this sermon is just so wonderful, isn't it? Moving from his troubles to his triumphs.

And lastly, and briefly, let's look together at his calling. The son of man, his trouble, his triumph, and his calling. Verse 25. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life Whoever serves me must follow me and where I am my servant also will be. My father will honor the 1 who serves me.

Anyone who hates their life in this world will it. It's hard to think of a more counter cultural statement than that, isn't it? I mean, where would you hear that today? I mean, in this world where the only real commandment, forget 10. There's really just 1.

It's just believe in yourself. Be true to yourself. Follow yourself. Love yourself. Except and take yourself as the only supreme authority in your life.

Where would you hear someone say? Anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it. Now, what does Jesus mean by that? Well, he doesn't mean that in order to be a disciple, you have to sit in a dark room and just literally loathe yourself all the time. You know, there is a sort of sad side to that in our culture, isn't there?

The culture which speaks loudest about believing in itself has got more people than I guess ever before sitting lonely, loathed it loathing themselves. That's not what he's talking about. But he is saying that we, if we are gonna follow him, we have to join him. On this road of trouble and triumph. What does he mean?

What Jesus says in verse 24, that little parable is true in nature. It was true in his hour, and it must be true in our lives. Jesus is saying, given this is who I am, if you will follow me, then like me, you too must be planted. If you are going to rise to a new life, then into the ground you must go. That old ego and that selfish ambition and that desire to exalt yourself and that old God ignoring truth suppressing, sin loving life has gotta be crucified.

It's gotta die. You've gotta be planted, you've gotta be buried, you've gotta go into the ground. It's like when Jesus says, you must be born again. He's not saying I just want to be a little religious attachment to your already fulfilled life. He's saying something in you has got to die You've gotta come to a crisis moment.

You've gotta be reborn anew by the spirit of God. You've gotta go into the ground. Be buried, you gotta be planted, but in that, you will find life. That's what I'm calling you to. Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

You might know the German theologian Luther and Pastor lived under Nazi Germany. He described Jesus' call to the world, like this. When Christ calls a man, he bids him, come and die. When Christ calls a man, he bids him, come and die. And if you know his story, he knew what he was talking about.

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die for in that death, and through that death will be the road to a life more fruitful, than you could ever imagine. And Christ calls a man, he bids him, come and die. And this is not only true in conversion, You can take this this little principle of nature in a hundred different practical applications. You think about saying sorry to 1 another, and what is involved in saying sorry to 1 another. I mean Elton John was wrong about what is wrong about many, many things.

But he did put his finger on something true when he said, sorry seems to be the hardest word. And it does, doesn't it? Not because sorry is actually hard to say. It's not particularly complicated in order to pronounce the word, but what is it that makes sorry so difficult? Well, because in order to say sorry to someone, I've got to move towards you and something in me has got to die, hasn't it?

Something's got to die. I've got to crucify some pride or some ego. I've got to die, but through that death will come reconciliation and life. In order to forgive bitterness has got to go into the ground. If I'm holding on to a root of bitterness, I'm right and I'm wish they would know that I was right, and I'm angry that they don't know that I was right.

But I wanna forget, if I'm gonna forgive something has gotta go into the ground, a seed has gotta be planted, so that fruit and life will come. If I want to invite someone to to a Christian event, to a shared life event perhaps, you know, comfort has got to be crucified, hasn't it? There's a little moment where something in me has to die. I've got to be crucified to comfort, but hopefully through that will come life and healing and salvation. In order to heal a relationship, Pride has gotta go sometimes, hasn't it?

Something in us has got to die, but it is always the root to life and fruitfulness. That is the law that Jesus lays out here. There can be no life without death. There can be no sweet without bitter. There can be no crown without the cross.

This is the law. Natural and spiritual, which Jesus uses for himself and which he calls us to embrace. Come with me on this road of trouble and triumph. He'll say to his disciples later, it's the last time he uses that word trouble. In this world, you will have trouble.

You will. But take heart, because I have overcome world. Trouble and triumph. So how do you hear that call? How do you think about that in your own life?

Whether you're new to these Christian things or whether you are a Christian, how do you How do you hear it? It's interesting, isn't it? After God speaks in verse 29. You notice that? Those different responses, which John just loves to tell us about.

The crowd that was there and heard it said that it had funded. Others said an angel had spoken to him You've got a group of naturalists there, haven't you? The only thing that is real is natural. They heard this sermon, looked at what Jesus said, looked at his miracles. Well, no supernatural power can exist.

All that exists and all that is real is natural forces. We might call this the naturalist, the voice of it, it's all just thunder. It's just thunder. Then there's the spiritualists, maybe it was an angel. There's something there there is something spiritually true here about this.

There does seem to be some discernible moral lesson here, and I think there is a a different different sort of realm I'm being invited to here. There's the naturalists. All it is is thunder. There's the spiritualists, maybe an angel. But what does John think?

And what does Jesus think? And what are the ears opened by grace think? They know that this message is the voice of God about the son of man who in his trouble triumphed and calls us to do the same. And may God give us the grace to hear and embrace that that calling. Just bow our heads and then Rory can come and lead us in a prayer.

We thank you so much for the lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that even though There was that moment where faced with the agony and despair of the cross he He shrank, but he would not shrink for more than a moment. We're thinking that he was totally committed to going through with the trouble of the cross. We thank you that he was willing to wear the crown of thorns. For that was his moment of greatest glory, where he glorified you the father.

We thank you that in that moment, although there was trouble, there was also triumph. We thank you that in the triumph. He wins people for himself. We thank you that he secures the nations. We thank you that he draws people to him.

And so we pray father that we will hear that call, that we will come and we will die so that we may have life. And so we pray these things in Jesus' name. Oh, ma'am.