00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
Let's hear God's word from the Gospel of John, chapter 12, beginning with verse 20. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come. that the son of man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my father will honor. Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, an angel has spoken to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice did not come because of me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This he said, signifying by what death he would die. The people answered him, we have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever. And how can you say the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? Then Jesus said to them, a little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. These things Jesus spoke and departed and was hidden from them. Amen. We'll end our reading there in John 12, 36. Let's once again ask for God's help in prayer. Our gracious God and heavenly Father, as we come to this brief portion of your word that has been singled out for our consideration this evening, we pray that you would help us. Although we cannot enter completely into the experience of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we enter into it more fully and more sympathetically. than we have before. May we be enabled to see with His eyes to some extent. May we be enabled to treasure and to prioritize what is important to Him. And, O Lord, seeing the depth of His commitment, seeing the strength of His resolve, may we also be resolutely determined to be the servants of Christ for our whole lives long. In his name we ask these things, amen. The idea of the hour is significant in the Gospel of John, and we have it here in this passage. In verse 23, which is outside of our overall scope for today, but to set the context, read Jesus saying, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. An hour, of course, is not a reference to an exact period of 60 minutes in an occasion like this, but it means the time, the exact time, the proper division of time and the seasonable opportunity for his glorification. And then that idea of the hour comes up again in verse 27, which is part of our text. Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour. But for this purpose I came to this hour. You see how he's emphasizing the time has come. And this is in contrast to what's happened before. You might remember in John chapter two when his mother addressed him with the problem that at the wedding they had run out of wine. The Lord Jesus indicated to her that his hour had not yet come. You find a similar statement in chapter seven. You find a similar statement in chapter eight. But now we come to chapter 12 and the hour has come. The hour has arrived. Now, again, this is not just 60 minutes because there's going to be a few things that happen. The Lord Jesus will still have his Passover supper with his disciples. He will still go to the Garden of Gethsemane and pray. He will still be arrested, and those legal or quasi-legal proceedings will still take up most of the night until he's crucified fairly early the next morning. It's more than an hour defined strictly as 60 minutes, but it is the time. And this time, this hour, has a double aspect to it. It's got two faces, so to speak, or two sides. On the one hand, this is the hour for the sun to be glorified, the son of man. On the other hand, This is the hour of trouble, the hour from which the Lord Jesus would naturally desire to be saved. The succeeding chapters will emphasize this a little bit more. Chapter 13, verse one, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come, that he should depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them. To the end, or again, chapter 17 and verse one, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son also may glorify you. So what are we to do with this hour of glory that is also a painful hour, an hour that it would be natural to avoid? How can it be both things at the same time, and what should we learn from that? Well, with God's help, that's what we'll consider in the remainder of our time together this evening. Remember the context where the Lord Jesus is speaking. Remember where this occurs in the Gospel of John. Chapter 12 winds up the account, the story, of the public ministry of the Lord Jesus. What's going to follow are five chapters, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, of private interaction with his disciples, and then you get the narrative about his passion, his sufferings, his death, his burial, and then you get the resurrection and the post-resurrection appearances. So this is occurring here because we have reached the critical juncture. This is what the life of Christ has been building up to all along. And what's going to be told in the remaining chapters is going to take place over the span of a few days, whereas what's been told up until now is drawn out over months. So you can see that we've reached a climax in the story, a climax in the life of Christ, the point where all things begin to come together and make sense, where we're able to understand why all of this is happening. Now in chapter 12, Jesus introduces the concept of the hour in answer to Greeks who want to see him. In other words, it's already started to happen that he's becoming known outside of the narrow confines of Galilee and Judea. Word is beginning to spread. And that's just the beginning of a process that is continuing until Today, the good news of Christ is going out, people are hearing, and in effect, they're raising the same question as these Greeks. They want to know more. Now, that doesn't describe every single person you might run across, but it does describe people across the length and breadth of the world. The glorification of Christ happens, among other ways, by the preaching of the gospel. But before we have a complete gospel to preach, Jesus has to die. He has to die before he can rise again. And without the resurrection, we really don't have the whole story. We really don't have the good news to share with other people. So he returns to that concept of the hour. But now he looks at it from a little bit of a different perspective. He says, now my soul is troubled. Now there's a couple of things to learn just from that. One is, hopefully we all already know this, but just in case, the Lord Jesus Christ has a reasonable soul just like you and I do. That reasonable soul can be troubled, can be perturbed, can be vexed and lose its equanimity. The Lord Jesus was troubled. He's not lying. He's not making it up. He's not pretending in order to fit in with us emotional basket cases. His soul is genuinely trouble. There's something coming that is hard to face. He experiences fear and dread. He experiences profound concern. The Lord Jesus is one of us. Now, I in no way mean to imply that he is not God the Son, he certainly is. I in no way mean to imply that the incarnation diminished that status or took anything away from him, certainly not. But it added to that person humanity, genuine humanity, with humanity's weaknesses. Not sin, that's not intrinsic to humanity. You can be truly human without being a sinner. You have the example of Adam before he fell into sin in the garden, and you have the much better example of the Lord Jesus Christ who was perfectly free from sin throughout the whole of his life. but he wasn't any of the less genuinely human for that. In philosophical terms, sin is an accident that it adheres to us. In other words, we could exist perfectly well without sin. The fact that we are all sinners should not lead us to think that sin is essential to the human constitution. If it were, there would be no hope of redemption, there would be no hope of ultimate holiness, and we would have to say that God created us to be sinners, which is wrong. Sin can be detached from true humanity. The Lord Jesus has all the blameless weaknesses of human nature. Those weaknesses are not a problem. They're baked into how God created us. They're baked into God's original design. And one of our qualities is that our souls can be troubled. That we can, instead of having all calm waters inside, We can have raging storms. That happens sometimes. And that is what the Lord Jesus is describing here. Now, the natural outcome of that trouble would be to pray to be delivered from this hour. Before we go any further, let's just stop there for a second. The natural outcome of a sinlessly troubled soul would be to pray. What should be the natural outcome when we are in trouble, when our souls are perturbed? I think we can learn something from the example of the Lord Jesus here. We too should turn to prayer. When you're distressed, when you're afraid, when you're anxious, when you're lonely, whatever it might be, whatever the source of trouble is, what should you do with it? You should That's what Jesus did here. He does pray, but he has to raise a question. What is the right way to pray? Now, we don't always know that either. Sometimes we have grave doubts. Sometimes that's just what we'll say to the Lord is, I don't really know what to ask for here. Make things work out. Make things be better. Do what is best. I think the Lord Jesus had more clarity than that, but it illustrates the point that if we don't know what to pray, that doesn't need to stop us. We can pray in ignorance. We can pray for help with our ignorance. We can pray in such general terms that it's applicable. This is one of the lovely places where the Lord's Prayer comes in. You don't know how to pray? Pray, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. You're never gonna go wrong praying that way. You're never going to be off base with those petitions. So we can always use those, even if we don't know, if we don't have any more specific ideas about how to pray. Why would the Lord Jesus even want to pray, save me from this hour, this hour of glory? Would you pray to be delivered from glory? Would you say, oh Lord, no, don't take me to heaven. Don't fill me with your radiant light. That seems very strange. But this is where the mystery comes in. This is where you see that the hour of glory has a very odd character to it because Jesus will also say to Judas that this is your hour, and the power of darkness, from one standpoint, The crucifixion, the death of Christ, is the hour of glory. Why? Because you see the glory of his obedience to the Father. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Why? Because you see the depth of his commitment to his people. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Because you see the glory of his courage, of his resolution, Because you see that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. The crucifixion is an hour of glory. It's an hour of glory because in the cross, he spoiled, he despoiled, he overthrew and looted principalities and powers, triumphing over them by his cross. But at the same time, If you look at it from an experiential point of view, if you look at it from what the people saw who passed by and saw the Lord Jesus hanging on the cross, it was not an hour of glory at all. It was an hour of shame. What would be more shameful than being tacked up naked on a pole for everybody to stare at and make fun of? Well, maybe you could make it a little bit worse. Maybe You could be tacked up on a pole as a criminal with false charges brought against you. Maybe the people who walked by could make fun of you. Maybe the people who walked by would add that supposedly you were very special to God, you were precious, you were unique in God's sight, and yet this is how you're getting treated. What happened to all those big claims? The exact words are not used. but you could echo the words the devil used in the temptation of Christ. If you are the son of God, come down from the cross. If you are the son of God, why is God treating you this way? If you are the son of God, why are you having to cry out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The hour of crucifixion was an hour of tremendous shame, social, spiritual, personal, The hour of the crucifixion was an hour of rejection. How does it feel if you're excited to see somebody and they turn away? They don't care to see you. They quietly skip out instead of saying hello. Well, that's a very small, little bit of rejection. How did Christ feel when his disciples abandoned him? How did Christ feel when his own people clamor for his death? The hour of crucifixion was an hour to be avoided if you look at it in that light. The way to glory was through that deepest humiliation. The way to conquer was by this most tremendous suffering. But you can understand why the Lord Jesus was troubled in his soul. You can understand why even after this episode recorded in the Gospel of John, the other Gospels will tell you about his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he's sweating, as it were, great drops of blood because of the distress. But now we come to how he does actually pray. He raises the question, should I pray, Father, save me from this hour? Or at least he retracts that and issues another petition. It's similar to what happens in the Garden of Gethsemane where he says, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. So facing this trouble of soul, experiencing this trouble of soul and facing this hideous ordeal, the Lord Jesus. could understandably have prayed, Father, save me from this hour. But that's why he came. That's what he's been working towards. That's what he's been pursuing. That's the explanation for his incarnation. That's the explanation for his public ministry. That's the explanation for his miracles. The explanation for his preaching and teaching. It all makes sense at this hour. And without this hour, it all goes for nothing. So he will not pray to be spared. He'll still pray, but he's gonna pray a different way. He has a different petition, and that different petition is, Father, glorify your name. Now, there is a bedrock. There's a place where you, too, can take your stand. When the Lord Jesus was faced with the worst sufferings imaginable, the most contemptible death, the most harrowing ordeal to even get to that point, and then, worst of all, the curse of the law against sin, the wrath of his Holy Father, How does he strengthen himself to go through that? How does he calm the trouble in his soul so he can persist? Father, glorify your name. That was bigger than his sufferings. That was bigger than the trouble in his soul. There was a perspective. that could give value, purpose, and meaning to his deepest depths. Now, we are not only called upon to follow the example of the Lord Jesus. We are called upon to rest in him in many ways where we couldn't possibly follow his example. But I don't think we should skip over this. What is the meaning of our lives? Is there an hour, a day, a moment that will give value to our whole experience? Is there something that redeems our lives from worthlessness? Well, the simple answer is yes, this same thing, that God would be glorified. That's the reason to live. are probably familiar with these famous words. What is the chief and highest end of man? Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God and fully to enjoy him forever. If you have some other purpose in your life, it's not good enough. It will not hold up to the depths of trial and distress that can absolutely come upon you in this life. When your heart is broken, when your life has been burned down around you, God can still be glorified. That's a bedrock on which to take your position. Another catechism will ask, how can you glorify God? The simple answer is by loving God and doing what he commands. We're not called upon to glorify God in exactly the same way as the Lord Jesus was. Some Christians are called upon to glorify God by martyrdom. That's a little bit different. And many Christians are not called upon to glorify God in one of those dramatic ways. But you are called upon to glorify God by loving him and doing what he commands today, and again tomorrow, and again on Sunday, and so on throughout the rest of your life. And that gives value. That gives purpose. That's a reason to carry on through whatever the difficulties may be. And you notice that this was the attitude of the Lord Jesus, because what is his father's answer to this prayer. A voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. That was the answer the Lord Jesus needed. That was the encouragement that he required in order to carry on, knowing that his sufferings would not be for nothing but that they would be for the glory of God. And so for the third time that we know of in his life, a voice came from heaven. A voice came from heaven when he was baptized to say, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That voice came again on the Mount of Transfiguration with the same words and now that voice comes to say, I have glorified it and will glorify it again. In other words, the ministry of Christ was fruitful. The life of Christ had purpose and value because it had resulted in the glory of God. And this also is a recurring theme in the Gospel of John. We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. According to John 1.14, when the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, he manifested the glory of God to us. And he'll say that again in John chapter 17, talking about his disciples, that he's glorified God among them that he's shown them glory." And that comes up with reference, for instance, to his miracles, with reference to the miracle of turning water into wine. He glorified God by that. With reference to healing the man born blind, that was a manifestation, an exhibition of the glory of God. So throughout his ministry, the Lord Jesus has been glorifying God. He has been making the glory of God known in a variety of ways. God assures him of that. Everything that has gone before will not be wiped out in some catastrophic failure now. Instead, it will be added to, it will be built on, it will reach a climax because when the Lord Jesus suffers in his hour of torment on the cross, he glorifies God He glorifies the justice of God. God did not spare his own son when his son was laden down with the weight of our sins. God is a God of exact justice who will by no means clear the guilty. He glorified his love. We were the ones who deserved the punishment, but God finds a way to show mercy and grace to us without any unrighteousness. He glorifies his wisdom in solving that difficult problem, how to be just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus. On the cross, God is glorified. That thought gave Christ the courage, the steadfastness, the resolution to go to the cross, to see it as an hour of glory, even though it was an hour of rejection, and torment and death. In our greatest sufferings, with an uplifted head, we wait for the very one who suffered for us to come as our judge from heaven. In our greatest torments, we can lift up our heads, we can join our hearts and our voices to the Lord Jesus Christ. And with him leading us in this act of worship, we can pray, Father, glorify your name. Do you think that God will not fulfill that prayer? Do you think that after the demonstration of what He can do in that concentrated form in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He's forgotten how to glorify His name in our sufferings and hardships and trials? Battered and beleaguered Christian, do not lose heart. You are joined to Christ. The hour of your suffering is also an hour of glory because you are in Him. And oh, if you don't know the Lord Jesus, if you're not familiar with Him, with the greatness of His saving work, today would be a great day to look to Christ. Just call out. If you don't know what else to do, just in your head say, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, and see where it goes from there. but he is very merciful. He's merciful to all who call upon him and he makes the promise that those who come to him, he will never by any means cast out. So come to him by faith today. Amen.
The Hour of Glory
Series Good Friday
The recollection that his sufferings were for God's glory enabled the Lord Jesus to press on toward his approaching hour.
Sermon ID | 41925358326750 |
Duration | 29:32 |
Date | |
Category | Midweek Service |
Bible Text | John 12:27-28 |
Language | English |
Documents
Add a Comment
Comments
No Comments
© Copyright
2025 SermonAudio.