12:20-36 “The hour has come”

March 26, 2021

Read John 12:20-36

The coming of some Greeks confirmed to Jesus that the time had now come for him to die, for it was through his death that the way would be opened up for those who are not Jews to come to him (10:15-16). For Jews and Greeks alike the cross was a place of shame (1 Cor.1:23), but for Jesus it was the place of victory and of glory, because “very truly” his death would result in new life (24). So the cross and the resurrection cannot be separated – both were part of the same work of salvation and therefore of his glorification.

The same principle of life only through death applies also to Jesus’s followers (25-26; 13:16). Their love for Jesus must far outweigh all other loves, taking up the cross to follow him and so receive eternal life (Mark 8:34-35; Luke 14:26).

The human Jesus would have preferred to avoid the awful physical and spiritual agony of the cross, but nevertheless he was totally submitted to the will and glory of God (27-28; Mark 14:34-36). The Father’s answer to this prayer confirmed that Jesus had indeed faithfully revealed God’s glory through his life, and now he would reveal it again through his death (28). It was the listeners, not Jesus, who needed to understand this (29-30), for what Jesus would do by being “lifted up” on the cross would fulfil God’s judgment on sin and his victory over Satan (31; 9:39; 16:8-11; Col 2:15) and open up the way for Jesus to be the basis of salvation for the whole world (32-33). The crowd cannot imagine a Messiah who must die (34). But Jesus concludes his public ministry with a solemn warning to come to his light (35-36; 1:4-5,9-12; 3:19-21; 8:12). The choice is theirs – darkness or light, judgment or salvation.