John chapter 12, verses 20 through 26. Give attention to this reading. This is the very word of God. Now, among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip went and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life, loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the father will honor him." The very reading of God's word this morning. What if Christmas this year changed your life? Well, of course, for almost all of us, Christmas does change our life every year. We spend about two weeks, and life is completely different than the rest of the year. The next two weeks, you're going to eat differently. You're going to manage your schedule differently. You're going to spend money differently. Things will be completely different. But for most people, two weeks are over and you go back to life as normal. But what if, what if this Christmas your life changed permanently? It was different. What would that look like? What would that be? Because Christmas arrived. Well, or more importantly, because Christ arrived. Because Christ came and he came with a very specific mission and reason into this world, into our lives. He came to bring life through death. And that's a way of living and understanding that's different than how we normally live in this world. What if it changed us? We're at the end of our series, our little mini series, Getting Ready for Christmas. We've been talking about why Christ came. And here we get our final reason, a reason that prepares us wonderfully to come to the Lord's Supper this morning. We get to look at this passage and see one of the key reasons why Christ came. He came to bring life through death. We'll see Jesus unpack that really in two different pieces. There's the foundation, and then what's built upon the foundation. The foundation, he came to bring life through his death, and then what's built upon it, life through our death. Well, let's remember again where we are in our study, John chapter 12. It's Passover time in Jerusalem. And here we are, pilgrims are streaming into Jerusalem, and Jesus is among them. Jesus is one of them. In fact, he comes into the city very dramatically, riding on a donkey, just like Zachariah had predicted the great king would come, the Messiah would come, and the crowds are hailing him as the king. Palm branches and everything. He arrives in the royal city, and the question is, what now? What will this king do? What will this Messiah be? And Jesus explains. He explains that he brings with him life, Well, it starts innocently enough. A group of people is looking to talk to Jesus. John tells us very specifically that these are Greeks. A group of Greeks, Gentiles, probably they're God-fearing Gentiles. God-fearers were a very specific group, which means Gentiles who worshipped the God of Abraham. They weren't full converts, they weren't circumcised, but they sought out the God of Abraham and worshipped him, but yet remained Gentiles. They're probably here in the feast to worship as well. They can't go into the inner court of the temple, but the court of the Gentiles, they can be there and worship. And clearly they've heard about Jesus. Perhaps they've heard about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Maybe they were there in the crowds when Jesus is riding the donkey into Jerusalem. And they conclude, we have to see this guy. We want to have an audience with him. We want to talk with him. And so this group of Greeks goes to Philip and says, we want to see Jesus. They probably pick Philip out because Philip probably appears to them a fairly Hellenized Jew. Philip is one of the few disciples that has a Greek name. And as John here reminds us, Philip is from Bethsaida in Galilee. That's an area where there's a good mix of Jew and Gentile. Remember, it's often called Galilee of the Gentiles. And so probably they think, ah, this guy Philip, he's a Jew, but he knows about us Gentiles, and so we'll go, he's got to be friendly, we'll ask him. So they ask Philip, we want to see Jesus. Philip goes to Andrew, and then Philip and Andrew go and see Jesus. And then Jesus responds to this request in kind of an odd way. He responds with a dramatic pronouncement. A dramatic pronouncement, the hour is here. Now, throughout our study of John, we've been seeing sprinkled in the narrative, these time statements. These time statements about the hour. But up until now, it's all been future. The hour's not here yet. You might remember back in John chapter two, when Mary is there with Jesus at the wedding, and they're out of wine, and Mary is asking Jesus to do something to help, and you remember Jesus' response, my hour's not yet come. Or in chapter seven, when there's a crowd that's seeking to arrest Jesus, we're told they can't. Why? John explains, because his hour had not yet come. Chapter eight, it happens again. They're trying to arrest Jesus. They want to, but no one does. Why? Because his hour had not yet come, John tells us again. Future, not yet, not yet, not yet. Then now Jesus stands up and says, my hour has come. right verse 23 Jesus answered them the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified There's something symbolic in this group of Greeks seeking out Jesus. I think we get the answer a little later on in the gospel when he talks about verse 32, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people, all nations to myself. And here are the nations beginning to seek out Jesus. And it seems to be the symbolic trigger point. Ah, now the hour is here. But the question we need to wrestle with is what does he even mean? The hour for what? The hour for the Son of Man to be glorified. What does that mean? Of course, Son of Man, that's just a reference to Jesus. He liked to speak that way about himself, a messianic title from the Old Testament. But what does it mean for Jesus to be glorified? Well, to glorify someone involves the revealing and the magnifying. I like how one commentator pictures it. If you were going to glorify an artist, what would you do? But put their artwork on display. You'd put it on display so people can see and take in the greatness of it. That would be glorifying an artist. Like across the hall, there are all those paintings put up. Revealing it so that the greatness can be magnified and seen and appreciated. Well, that's what happens when God is glorified. It's not that we increase God's glory. He's a little bit short, and so we add to it. No, no, no. It's the revealing and magnifying of His glory, His glory on display. And here Jesus says, now is the time for the Son of Man, me, to be glorified. The hour when His glory will be put on display and revealed in all its brilliance. So what does that look like? What does that look like? Where is the glory of Jesus powerfully put on display? Or perhaps, since we're talking about time statements, we should say when. When is the glory of Jesus most powerfully put on display? Well, Jesus explains as he goes on from verse 23 to 24. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Verse 24, he's explaining, truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. You see what he's saying? He's saying the hour of my glorification has arrived. The hour of the revealing and magnifying of my glory has arrived because this is the hour of my death. The very death of Jesus is the hour of his greatest glory, which should strike us as incredibly odd when you think about it. His death on the cross, Hold it. Isn't that the hour of his greatest shame? Yes. Isn't his death on the cross the hour of the greatest injustice the world has ever seen? Yes. Isn't that the hour when the enemies of Jesus, Satan, and his earthly enemies boast of his defeat? Yes. But at the very same hour, that is precisely the time when his glory is displayed in the most powerful of ways. Because what is Jesus doing? He's bringing forth life through his own death. And that's what he explains in verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. It's through the dying that you get Life, you get fruit. Kids, did you hear the example that Jesus is using there? His example is planting, right? Seeds and fruit. So say, for example, I wanted to get some tomatoes from my garden next year. Want to get some nice, fresh tomatoes next year. What do I do to get tomatoes? Well, I need seeds. So I go to the store, buy seeds. Well, what do I do with that tomato seed? I guess I could take that tomato seed and just leave it on my desk, take care of it, watch it, make sure nothing happens to it, just let it sit there. But if I protect it and hold on to it, guess what? No tomatoes. But if I take the seed and don't hold on to it, instead get rid of it, bury it in the ground, what'll happen? The plant will grow. And there'll be lots of fruit, lots of tomatoes, right? But you have to take the seed, not hold on to it, but instead plant it, bury it in the ground. The seed dies, as it were. The result of that death is fruit. And Jesus says, yes, that's my greatest glory. That's exactly what I came to do. I came to not hold on to my life, but to give it up, and through giving it up, there comes fruit. There comes life, salvation to the world. After all, Jesus didn't have to die. He had a choice. It wasn't a conspiracy that overpowered Him. That's not what the cross is. Jesus says again and again, He lays down His life willingly. He chose to do this. It was the Father's will, and He chose to obey. Why? Because that was exactly how he would receive the greatest glory. His glory would be on display by going to that crossing, giving up his life, not holding on to it, giving it up, because the result is fruit. Right? Not tomatoes, but even better. Right? Salvation for the world. Salvation for the world. As we talked about a couple weeks ago, because his death is a sacrifice. He's the spotless one who goes and bears sin. The innocent dies in place of the guilty. And life comes to us. Life comes to the world, to all who believe. Eternal life. Forgiveness. The welcome and adoption of God. The Holy Spirit. This life. Because Jesus doesn't hold on to His. Because He's that seed that's planted in the ground. Do you see how glorious this is? Do you see it on display? What amazing love, what amazing commitment to you, that the innocent, holy King of Kings doesn't hold on to his life, but instead, for your sake, believer, he lays it down and you get life. And that glory is on display here this morning as we come to the Lord's table. Glory. And yet in the midst of it, it's death, right? You see the emblems, they're emblems of Jesus' death, right? His body, his blood. That's what's pictured and symbolized here. But the glory of Jesus is on display because it shows us, reminds us, points to that because he died and through his death, we have life. So I want you to think about that as you take in the elements this morning, right? You hold that bread, you hold that cup. Think seed. This is the seed. Because this points me to Jesus and His body. And Jesus didn't hold on to that seed. He gave it up. Gave over His life. Planted the seed in the ground. And then as you actually take them in, you eat and you drink, think fruit. The same way you take food into your body and it gives you energy, it gives you life. Because Jesus didn't hold on to His life, seed, He gave it up. Now I have life. and see and take in the glory again this morning. So life through his death. But Jesus isn't done. Jesus isn't done. Yes, life through his death, that's the foundation, but then he's gonna build on it. Something flows out of it, which is life through our death. As he transitions from verse 24 to 25, we start to get the idea that Jesus isn't just talking about his own death, he's also calling us to die, right? Verse 24, talking about the seed that bears fruit when it dies. And verse 25, whoever loves his life will lose it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it to eternal life. And then the beginning of verse 26, if anyone serves me, he must follow me. And where I am there, my servant will also be. You see the implication of what he's saying. He's saying, if you're gonna be a follower of me, a follower of Jesus, then you're going to have to follow me. The path that I walked on, life through death, that's gonna be your path as well, he said. Instead of holding on to life, giving it up, that's the way of life. That's the way of life. That's the way of bearing fruit. Just as he did now, of course, we don't do it to to bear sin But in terms of our following of Christ, this is what this is the life he calls us to It's a life of life a life of death that issues forth In life, he puts it in these terms as he says whoever loves his life loses it And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. I Whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. That's kind of strange language. What does he mean? Whoever hates his life? Clearly he's not calling us to suicide. That would break God's law. And he's not even calling us to despise the gifts that God gives. That would be lack of gratitude. If God gives us good things, physical, tangible, blessings from this earthly life, to despise them and hate them, that would also be a sin against the Lord, our Father, and Jesus, his Son. But he's calling us to a particular mentality, a particular lifestyle in this world, a lifestyle that doesn't hold on to life and cling to life in this world. but instead a willingness to sacrifice, a willingness to follow in the steps of Jesus. The picture that helps me, I think we've talked about this before, that helps me is Jesus calls us to reject the Christmas buffet lifestyle. The Christmas, probably, you know, I like food, so this is what sticks in my mind. And you know what's coming up. The next two weeks, this is like the two best food weeks of the year. And because your schedule is probably like mine, there's multiple events you're going to show up at. And in each event you show up at, there's the food. And it's not just one thing. It's big. There's multiple things, and appetizers, and main courses, and desserts. And it's all laid out for you. And you know, of course, if you're really into this, you know there's a strategy. You know you have to plan this out. You want to carefully take in what's there. You don't want to overcommit early in the buffet, because there might be something you're missing down at the end. Because what's the goal? It's to find out what the good stuff is, what you really enjoy, and then get as much on your plate as you can before the party's over. That could be quite festive when you do that at a Christmas party. But here's the problem. Here's the problem. As sinners, we want to live all of life that way. Get as much on your plate as you can before the party's over. We want to live life that way. And so we go out in the buffet of this world. And it might be like a Christmas table. We might each like a little something different. Ah, that's OK. That's why there's a variety out there. That's why there's the turkey and the ham. You pick which one you like, and you fill your plate with that. So in the buffet of life, it might be a little different for each of us. Some of you might be more drawn to material, tangible things. And so the latest gadget or the home furnishings or the nice car, that's what draws your attention. Or perhaps it's more experiences for you. Forget about the tangible stuff. I don't care what I drive. But I want experiences that are enriching and interesting and fun. And so it might be going after the nice vacation, or catching the big game, or some experience that really draws your attention. Or maybe you really don't care as much about either of those, and you're all about relationships. It's all about having significant, deep, rich people that you can connect with. And you try to organize your schedule around that. Now, are these things in and of themselves bad? No. And they indeed can be good gifts that the Father gives to us. But the problem comes in when we live for them. When we treat it like a Christmas buffet. We have our favorites. And our goal is to get as much of it on our plate as we can before the party's over. Before life in this world is over. And we live that way. And we plan and organize and ponder, like I'm pondering how to handle that Christmas food. We ponder it and think about it. And this is what life is. I want to get as much as I can. I want to go after what I want. Okay, it might be different than you. I'm going to try to get as much as I can before the party's over. We want to live that way. But you see, the call of Christ is actually radically different than that. What does he say? Whoever loves his life, loses it. Whoever goes into the things of this world, and it's just about filling the plate as much and as quickly and as interestingly as possible. First of all, it doesn't work. We're not satisfied. and truly living that way. The things of this world don't satisfy us now. And truly, that's really what we're all about. Of course, there's no room for Christ in that. And then there's no salvation in it, right? There's nothing but judgment when the party's over. So it doesn't end up working, right? We actually end up losing our life. But of course, he calls us to something different, right? Whoever loves his life loses it. Whoever hates his life in this world We'll keep it for eternal life. We think that focusing on filling the plate actually is going to work, but it doesn't. But instead, Jesus says, when you actually instead focus on walking in Jesus' footsteps, sacrificing for His glory as a part of following Him, seeking to give up your life as God gives opportunity and brings it into your path, that's actually the way to life. Not as a way of salvation. Now here, gee, we have to be careful about that. We're not saying, here is the way you are saved. You do A, B, C, and D. No, no, no. But what Jesus is instead telling us, we know how to, what our salvation is. It comes through faith in the finished work of Jesus, right? It's life through his death. But here he's talking about what the life of the saved looks like, right? So not a way to be saved, but what the life of the saved looks like. And the life of the saved, what it looks like, is not filling your plate as much as you can and living for it. Instead, it's walking in the footsteps of Christ and seeking to give up life, to give up even the good things, certainly give up the sin, but even give up the good things for the sake of Christ and his kingdom and love for others. And that involves sacrifice. It's real, it's a kind of death that Jesus calls us to. Even the small things. I mean, have you ever thought about some of the details of the Christian life and what God calls us to? We just took our offering a few minutes ago. Have you ever really thought about offerings? I don't know any of the details of who gives what, but I do know sort of the overall numbers that indicate that this is a group of very generous givers here at Emmanuel. generously and must be giving sacrificially but you ever think about that when you're writing out that tithe check or putting money in that envelope that if you didn't give all this to the Lord what that could look like in your life did you ever ponder that right it could be for the families here significant increase in quality of life significant bump up in lifestyle right? That bigger house that you don't have, that car that doesn't break down that you would like but don't have, right? The family vacation, right? You stop writing those chai checks. You could have it and have it pretty quickly. But all of a sudden, somewhere in the midst of that, right, Christ breaks in. the way of Christ breaks in and you realize though the world is gonna call with a different voice and say ah this is the way to life you hold on to it you take every opportunity to fill your plate and that'll bring life all of a sudden Christ breaks in and the way of Christ breaks in that that actually the way to life is through death and all of a sudden the picture becomes different now by voluntarily yeah even joyfully setting aside things of this world and focusing instead on the glory of Jesus and the building of his kingdom and magnifying who he is. Yes, at cost. There's the way of blessing. There's the way of life. We end up richer. Richer at the end of the day. Maybe not in physical terms here, but spiritually, yes, and eternal life in the world to come. Offerings, or how about your time? Do you ever consider on a Sunday, if you didn't spend Sundays here, all that you could do with your time? In many ways, time seems like more valuable than money. If you didn't spend Sundays here, all the home projects you could finish up, All the shopping you could do so that the week was easier, or the sleeping in that, oh, who couldn't use a little extra sleep and, you know, watching the big game or whatever. All these things you could do if you just didn't spend Sunday here. You didn't come and worship and use it as a day set apart. What opens up? But again, somewhere in there, the calling of Christ breaks in. And yes, the voice of the world is, you know, fill your plate, fill your plate, fill your plate. But the calling of Christ, the way of Christ is, you know, what if actually there's a better way? And Christ lived it for us. That through the laying down of, yeah, even good things, the laying down of even good things is actually the way of life. No, it's not holding on and clinging and feeling. It's actually voluntarily letting it go. There is actually the way of blessing. What if Christmas actually hit home? What if it really changed how we lived because we really took in why Christ came that he really came To bring life through death and of course that changes us because it gives us eternal life It gives us our salvation and there right there is a huge change But what if that same coming of Christ then? Began to seep into how we lived and how we thought about life that more and more the buffet table attitude of life lost its appeal. Right? We all struggle with this, right? Different ways. And I can't tell you what it is for you, but I'm sure you can latch on to this specifics. You know, part of your life that you're tempted to kind of hold back. Yeah, but, but Jesus, I want to keep this on my plate. I don't want to give this one up. Okay, we'll give aside that. But this is my favorite. I want to keep this one. You know what that is for you. The Holy Spirit can show you what that is. What are you holding back? What if the coming of Christ, this idea of life through death, actually changed us? What if it actually changed us? You do know that the Lord's Supper is really the perfect time to wrestle with this. It's a time when God calls us to respond to the work of Christ. The primary message is what we said in the first part. It's life through His death. And so we take that in, and the glory of His death for us, what He has given to us, Christ will preach it to you as you come to the table. But then there's also a call to respond. There's also a call to joyfully see that there's a different way of living that God is calling His people to. And it's actually glorious. No, it's not the way the world does it. It's not about filling your plate as quickly and as heapingly as the way others do it, but it's actually better. It's actually the way that satisfies. It's actually the way of life. What does even Jesus say in verse 26? If anyone serves me, he must follow me, follow me in the way of death. And where I am, there will my servant be also. There Jesus will be. We will be with Jesus and then he serves me the father will honor him There's life There's life So as you come to the table Use it as an opportunity to recommit yourself to this Jesus who has died for you do it joyfully Do it with with Thanksgiving and remember that as you do Christ gets all the glory right he is held up as the as the great one and The God who is at work even in us, his people. Let's pray. Father, we do pray that you would be at work through your word, through the supper to show us Jesus, to show us the glory of what he has done for us and now what he's calling us to. Father, we pray that more and more we would be that people. We would be that people who sees, Lord, the glory of following in his footsteps. Lord, you know the areas where we struggle, where we're tempted. We need your word to show us the truth. We will need your spirit to give us hearts that more and more long for eternal joys. But we are thankful that you are at work even in us, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, let's sing together. 308, hymn 308. Please stand.