A Message of Hope

In these next couple of posts, I’d like to focus on John 12:23-33.  The first few verses say,

²³Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Just before Jesus said these words, Philip and Andrew had brought a group of Greeks who had asked to see  Jesus, to him.  Jesus realized that their arrival signaled that it was time for the gospel to go out to all peoples.  But before that cold happen, he would have to be “lifted up.”

Jesus says that, for him, the path to glory must lead through death.  The plant cannot grow, bear fruit, and produce more seeds, unless that first seed dies.  Jesus’ own life was that first seed, and he knew that he had to die in order for the kingdom to grow.  Now that was quite different from what the crowds were expecting from their Messiah.  But today, in retrospect, we can accept what he was saying.  He was saying that his death was necessary in order to accomplish a greater good. 

That’s a harsh reality, but we experience it in other dimensions as well.  Last week we celebrated Veterans Day as a way of saying thank you to those who put their lives on the line so that others may have freedom.  On Memorial Day we remember those who lost their lives for what they saw as a greater cause.  And as horrible as war is, we as a society dare to ask our men and women of the armed forces to be willing to make that sacrifice.  We expect it, not just of our soldiers, but of our law enforcement and firemen as well.  Wives and children expect it, and rightfully so, of husbands and fathers.  We know that, sometimes, some people have to sacrifice their lives so that others can live.  And most of us are willing to say, “I don’t want to die, but – if it came right down to it – if the people I love the most, if the country I love or the values that I hold dear were on the line, I’d do it.  I hope to avoid that sacrifice, but I’d make it.” 

“In the meantime, though, I’m going to get the most I can out of life, I’m going to love my life, I’m going to give myself and my family the most comfortable life I can, we’re going to enjoy ourselves; I’m going for the gusto; I’m going to get everything out of life that I can.”

And Jesus says, “Wait, wait, wait, wait.  It doesn’t work that way.”  Following me doesn’t just mean being willing to say, “I believe in Jesus” when someone is holding a gun to your head.  It’s much more difficult than that.  It’s much more difficult to say, “I believe in Jesus,” and to live that way when no one is holding a gun to your head, when you could just as easily not make that confession, when you could just as easily not live that way, as when you’re forced to take a stand one way or the other.

If you really want to live, if you really want to grab life by the horns, you’ve got to give up your right to your own life.  Not just be willing to die – really lose your life while you’re still living and breathing.

When Jesus says you have to “lose,” your life – he doesn’t mean “misplace” it, so you can find it later.  The word he uses means to destroy it.  When he says you have to “hate” your life – he’s not talking about self-loathing, he’s talking about not letting your own life distract you from following him.  In Luke 14 he says you have to “hate” your family if you’re going to follow him.  What he means is that you don’t let your relationships, you don’t even let your own self, distract you from following him.

You may well be aking, “Doesn’t Jesus care about me—about my life, my problems, my challenges?”  Of course he does!  He loves you intimately and personally and is ready to carry your burdens.  In fact, he is so focused on you, that you don’t have to be; you can be focused on him  He is much more capable of dealing with these things than you are, so let him!