What was the difference between Jesus' hour of suffering and the hour of His glory? Stay tuned, Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition is next. Welcome to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind with author and teacher Dr. R.C. Sproul. Dr. Sproul is also the Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching at St. Andrews, a Reformed congregation in Sanford, Florida. Throughout John's Gospel, beginning in Chapter 2, we're told of Jesus' hour that had not yet come. As the Gospel progresses, you get a sense that the hour will be a time when the Father glorifies the Son. Then, we get the sense that the hour was a dreadful time of suffering. What was the hour Jesus was referring to, and when did it come to pass? What took place during that hour? Was it a time of glory or suffering? Today, as we continue our study of the Gospel of John, Dr. Sproul will teach us about the single most important moment in the life of Christ. Here's Dr. Sproul with today's message, The Hour Has Come. This morning I'll be reading from chapter 12, verses 20 through 30. 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. And 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, but 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. And 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. And 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. He who has ears to hear the word of God, let them hear it." The context for these words of Jesus is given to us by John when he mentions that there were these Greeks who were present at the feast during what we now call Holy Week, and they were there for Passover And we're not told for sure whether they were simply Greek-speaking Jews, but in all probability, they were not just Greek-speaking Jews, Jews of the diaspora, but they were in fact Greek people, Gentiles, who were there for the feast. Well, John doesn't tell us, but if we sort of peek between the lines, we know that from Mark's account of Holy Week, that Jesus also cleansed the temple during this time. And that part of the temple that was cleansed was the outer court where all the merchandising was going on. And that outer court of the temple was known as the court of the Gentiles. There was the outer court, then the holy place, then the holy of holies. But only the Jews could go into the holy place or the inner court of the temple, and of course only the high priest and that once a year into the inner sanctum of the holy of holies. And so the Gentiles who had embraced Judaism and were the God-fears, were not yet circumcised, could only come to the outer court. In fact, Josephus tells us of a visit to Jerusalem during the Passover of a Roman magistrate, the governor of Syria by the name of Vitellius, who with all of his power and all of his authority was not permitted beyond the wall of separation between the outer court and the inner court. Now why does John bother to even mention this dimension of the narrative. I can only guess. But I think the hints to why this is significant may be seen in the words that Jesus gives when Philip, who hears the Greeks in their request, they want to have an audience with Jesus. When they say, we would see Jesus, they're not just simply saying, can we find out where He is so we can take a look at Him. No, they're saying, we would see Him, meet with Him personally. We have some things we'd like to discuss with Him. And so Philip goes to Andrew, and we remember when we started this church that we talked a little bit about Andrew, and we said every time we find him in the New Testament, he's busy bringing people to Jesus. And that's why we named this church after him. That we might be busy bringing people to Jesus. And so, The message is delivered to Jesus, and one of the oddities is we never know whether Jesus accedes to the request. We don't know whether He said, okay, I'll meet with them. All we know is what He said to the request from Andrew and Philip. Jesus answered them saying, now what did you expect them to say? You'd expect them to say, of course, bring them over. I'm happy to meet with the Gentiles. I talked to the Syro-Phoenician woman. I ministered to Hermeneid. I didn't come simply to Israel. I came mainly to Israel, but also I have a mission beyond the borders of Israel. I have many sheep that are not of this fold." He doesn't say any of these things, at least whatever else he said and recorded here in the text. Immediately he focuses on the significance of the moment, and he says this. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now that statement alone is enough to keep us busy for the next several weeks, because we know and have noticed throughout the gospel of John that on frequent occasions Jesus makes reference in a cryptic manner about His hour that was coming. And sometimes his hour referred to his hour of exultation, his hour of glorification, and yet other times when he spoke of the coming hour, it was the hour of his debasement, it was the hour of his passion, it was the hour of his humiliation. But two things strike me about this statement from Jesus. The first thing is, He's no longer speaking about the hour in a future way. The hour is no longer distant, but it's at hand. And He says to those who are around Him, the hour has come. But we also see in this statement that that distinction between the hour of shame and the hour of exaltation disappears. Because now when Jesus speaks of His hour that has come, it is the hour of His glorification. Let's read it again. The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now again you would think that that would be a triumphal statement. Say, wow, the Greeks are here. It's time for me to be glorified. But he follows this up immediately with the statement, most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But you see, he speaks in the same breath of the hour of his glorification and of the hour of his death. Now we know, and boy, those who have been at the conference this week heard this so richly expressed over and over and over again, that the way to glory is the Via Dolorosa. The way for Christ to be exalted was the road that was paved with the passion of His agony. Satan in the wilderness had offered Him a more excellent way, a way that would bypass the cross. All he had to do was genuflect for a moment where no one would see him, and all of the kingdoms of the world would be his. No cross, no suffering, no passion, no humiliation. And Jesus refused that way because it was not the Father's way. And so, we heard this week about how the road to the empty tomb went through Golgotha. But beloved, Jesus is saying more than that. He's not simply saying that the only way I can be exalted is through my humiliation. He's not saying that the only way I can enter into glory is through the debasement of my trial and of my death. He's saying more than the consequence of that suffering. What He's saying is In the death, in the pain, in the suffering is my glory. Not that the glory comes through it, but it's there. That's why we glory in the cross. Why? How can the cross be the moment of His exaltation? How can the cross be that time in which the Son of Man is lifted up because in His death in the cross He is obeying the Father and He is glorifying the Father. And all who obey the Father and give glory to the Father are honored by the Father. And listen again to what our Lord says. He says, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. One grain plucked from the stalk, one piece of that grain, one seed of grain, if it stands alone and if I take it home and put it in a jar or pin it up as a trophy on the wall, it's worthless. For anything to come of that one seed, for anything to benefit anyone else from that piece of grain, it has to fall. It has to fall to the earth, and it has to die. So that when it dies, it brings forth fruit in abundance. Oh, how I love the promise in Isaiah 53 that is given to the servant of the Lord, that he may see the fruit of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Away with this doctrine of the atonement that says that Jesus died to make salvation possible. As if our Lord went to the cross, and when He was raised from the dead, He returned to heaven, and there He got a seat on the fifty-yard line to observe the consequences of His action, and He wrung His hands in anxiety saying, oh, I hope somebody takes advantage of this. And His I don't think so. But the Father gives Christ's sheep to Him as His inheritance. It is not possible that the atonement of Christ, even theoretically possible, that it could go without fruit. The Father makes certain that that wheat that dies bears fruit. And ladies and gentlemen, if indeed you are in Christ and have tasted of the bread of heaven, you are that fruit. And that fruit is not just given to Israel, but in the context of this statement, Jesus is anticipating his church, which includes these Greeks who no longer will be kept on the fringe of the church, no longer be set into the outer court. with a wall of separation, with the penalty of death for anyone to pass through that. We remember that on the day of that atonement, only hours away now from our Lord, the curtain in the temple is rent. The division between the holy place and the holy of holies is torn asunder. But not only is that, but the dividing wall between the Jew and the Gentile is demolished. by the atonement of Christ. He who loves his life will lose it. 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. If you're going to be my disciple, you're going to have to follow me, and it means you're going to walk. in the shadow of the cross, you're going to participate in my humiliation. And the Apostle Paul warns again and again, if we're not willing to participate with Christ in His humiliation, we will have no part in His exaltation. If you're ashamed of Him, He will be ashamed of you. But if you are a Christian, then you embrace Him not only in His exaltation, not only with a theology of glory, but you embrace him in his shame. Jesus says, now my soul is troubled. We have to realize that we're separated by two thousand years from these. We hear these words, they bounce off our ears. They don't penetrate to our visceral parts. We don't really become engaged in them as they were existentially. But think about it. Use your imagination. Be there. Be in the presence of Jesus. You've seen His power. You've seen His glory. You've heard His words. And all of a sudden, you hear Him say, Now, my soul is troubled. The word that he uses here means revulsion. It means horror. Our Lord said, my soul is horrified. by what I am facing. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. There's a difficulty here in the construction of the original. Is Jesus saying, well, what shall I say? Should I say, Father, spare me from this, save me from this hour? Well, that's what he does say in Gethsemane, isn't And maybe that's what Jesus is doing. He's putting that as part of the rhetorical question, what shall I say? Shall I say, Father, spare me from this hour, save me from this hour? Or there's another way to read it, and I prefer the second reading, frankly, where Jesus expresses the horror now that grabs His soul, and He says, what can I say? And then he directs his words to God, Father save me from this hour, a pre-Gethsemane Gethsemane. And yet he says, but for this purpose I came to this hour. I know He can't take that cup away. This is my destiny. This is why I'm here. It's horrible to me now. I see it in all of its blackness and all of its fullness as it awaits me now just hours away. I know He can't remove the cup. It's the purpose. It's my raison d'etre. That's why I'm here. That's why I came to this hour. And listen to what Jesus says here. Father, glorify my name. No, that's not what he said. That is not what he said. Father, glorify thy name. That's the higher purpose of the cross. Christ is glorified in His suffering. Christ is glorified not only by the empty tomb, but He's glorified, the Father is glorified by the satisfaction of His justice, by the manifestation of His perfection when His Son pays the debt for sin. God is glorified. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind Weekend Edition with R.C. Sproul as he takes us through the Gospel of John. What are the core differences between the Roman Catholic Church and classic Protestantism? How do we keep from losing the gospel to works-based salvation? Today's message, Christ Alone, is the fifth in a ten-part series entitled God Alone. In this study, Dr. Sproul teaches us about the five non-negotiable tenets of the Reformation that were recovered from eclipse in the 16th century. We're making the entire series available in a five-CD set for a donation of any amount to the ministry today. To get your copy, give us a call using our toll-free number, 1-800-435-4343. Again, that's 800-435-4343. Or you can go online to rymoffer.com. That's R-Y-M as in renewing your mind and the word offer.com. That web address is for this week's special offer only. In the God Alone series, Dr. R.C. Sproul examines the biblical doctrine of redemption as summarized in what are called the Five Solas of the Reformation. Dr. Sproul teaches the meaning and significance of Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Solus Scriptura, and Soli Deo Gloria. These are no mere antiquated Latin terms from a Protestant-Catholic theological debate. Let Dr. Sproul unpack the richness of the liberating and life-giving biblical truths embedded in each of these five foundational teachings. Again, the entire ten-part God Alone CD series is available for a gift of any amount to the ministry. So call now, 1-800-435-4343. 435-4343. Or you can go online to rymoffer.com. That's R-Y-M as in renewing your mind. And the word offer.com. That'll bring a close to this weekend edition of Renewing Your Mind. Thank you for being with us. Join us again next weekend as Dr. Sproul continues to take us through the Gospel of John. Until then, you can keep up with us on Facebook at Facebook.com slash Ligonier. Ligonier is spelled L-I-G. O-N-I-E-R. You're listening to Renewing Your Mind, Weekend Edition, the listener-supported radio outreach of Ligonier Ministries in Orlando, Florida. Yeah.