John 12:20 - Meaning and Application

Honor is here paid to Christ by some Greeks who came with respect and wanted to speak with him. We are not told which day of Christ’s last week this was. It was probably not the same day he rode into Jerusalem, because that day was taken up with public work, but perhaps a day or two later.

First, we are told who these men were who paid this honor to our Lord Jesus, certain Greeks among the people who came up to worship at the feast (John 12:20). Some think they were Jews from the dispersion, that is, Jews scattered among the Gentiles, and were called Greeks, or Hellenist Jews. Others think they were Gentiles, those often called proselytes of the gate, such as the Ethiopian eunuch and Cornelius. Pure natural religion found its best help among the Jews, so pious Gentiles joined their solemn meetings as far as they were allowed.

There were devout worshipers of the true God even among those who were outside the commonwealth of Israel. In the later years of the Jewish church, many Gentiles came to the temple in Jerusalem. That was a happy sign that the wall between Jews and Gentiles would one day be taken down. Though these Greeks, if uncircumcised, were not admitted to eat the passover, they still came to worship at the feast. We should thankfully use the privileges we do have, even if others are kept from them.

Second, we are told what honor they paid him, they wanted to know him better (John 12:21). Since they had come to worship at the feast, they wanted to make the best use of their time. So they went to Philip and asked him to bring them into personal conversation with the Lord Jesus.

Having a desire to see Christ, they were active in using the right means. They did not decide it was impossible to get near him just because the crowd was large. They did not stop at wishing, but tried to do something about it. Those who want the knowledge of Christ must seek it.

They came to Philip, one of his disciples. Some think they already knew him, perhaps because they lived near Bethsaida in Galilee of the Gentiles. If so, it teaches us to use our friendships with godly people to grow in our knowledge of Christ. It is good to know those who know the Lord. But if these Greeks were from near Galilee, they would likely have met Christ there, where he usually stayed. So it seems more likely they asked Philip simply because he was the first disciple they could reach.

Their request showed respect for Christ. They made use of one of his followers to get an opportunity to speak with him, which means they saw him as someone great, even though he looked ordinary. Those who want to see Jesus by faith now that he is in heaven should go to his ministers, whom he appointed to guide troubled souls in their search for him. Paul had to send for Ananias, and Cornelius for Peter. The way these Greeks came to Christ through Philip also pointed to the work of the apostles and the use God would make of their ministry in bringing the Gentiles to faith and discipling the nations.

Their request to Philip was brief: "Sir, we would see Jesus." They addressed him respectfully, as a man worthy of honor because he belonged to Christ. Their desire was not merely to see his face, so they could tell others they had seen the one everyone was talking about. They wanted real conversation with him and to be taught by him, though it was not easy to find him free, since his time was so full of public work.

Now that they had come to worship at the feast, they wanted to see Jesus. In our worship, and especially in the gospel passover, our deepest desire should be to see Jesus. We should want to know him better, trust him more, and become more like him. We should want to see him as our own, keep fellowship with him, and receive grace from him. If we do not see Jesus, we miss the whole point of coming.

Third, Philip reported this to his Master (John 12:22). He told Andrew, who was also from Bethsaida and was a senior apostle, together with Peter. He consulted Andrew about what should be done, and whether the request would be welcome, because Christ had sometimes said that he was sent only to the house of Israel. They agreed that the request should be brought to Christ, but Andrew was to go with him. They likely remembered Christ’s promise that if two of them agreed about anything they asked, it would be granted them (Matthew 18:19).

Christ’s servants should help one another and work together to bring souls to Christ. Two are better than one. It seems Andrew and Philip brought this message to Christ while he was teaching in public, because later we read of the people standing by (John 12:29). He was seldom alone.

Fourth, Christ accepted this honor, as shown in what he said to the people afterward (John 12:23 and following). He foretold both the honor he himself would receive by being followed (John 12:23-24) and the honor given to those who follow him (John 12:25-26). This was meant to guide and encourage these Greeks, and all others who wanted to know him.

He saw ahead to the rich harvest in the conversion of the Gentiles, of which this was like the first fruits (John 12:23). Christ said to the two disciples who had spoken well for these Greeks, though they were unsure whether it would come to anything, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." He would be glorified by the Gentiles joining the church, and, to make that happen, he would first be rejected by the Jews.

Notice the purpose in this. It was the glorifying of the Redeemer. If the Gentiles were beginning to seek him, if the morning star appeared to them, if that blessed daybreak had begun to reach the ends of the earth, then the time had come for the Son of Man to be glorified. This was no surprise to Christ, though it may have seemed strange to those around him.

The calling, especially the effective calling, of the Gentiles into God’s church greatly added to the glory of the Son of Man. The increase of the redeemed increased the honor of the Redeemer.

There was a set time, an appointed hour, for the Son of Man to be glorified. That hour finally came when the days of his humiliation were over. He speaks of its nearness with joy and triumph: “The hour has come.”

The strange way this glory would come was through Christ’s death, shown by the picture in (John 12:24): “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Christ is that grain of wheat, the most valuable and useful grain. This picture shows, first, the necessity of Christ’s humiliation. He would never have been the living source and root of the church if he had not come down from heaven to this cursed earth, and then gone up from earth to the cursed tree, the cross, to complete our redemption.

He had to pour out his soul to death, or he could not divide the spoil with the great, as Isaiah said (Isaiah 53:12). He would have a people given to him, but he had to shed his blood to purchase and purify them, to win them and keep them. His suffering was also needed to prepare the way for the glory he would receive through the gathering of many people into his church. Without satisfaction for sin, and without bringing in everlasting righteousness, he would not have been ready to welcome those who would come to him. In that case, he would remain alone.

This picture also shows the great benefit of Christ’s humiliation. He fell to the ground in his incarnation, when his glory was hidden in human flesh. But that was not all. He died. This living seed accepted the laws of death. He lay in the grave like seed under the soil. Yet just as seed rises again fresh and fruitful, and with a great increase, so the dying Christ gathered thousands of living believers to himself and became their root. The saving of souls up to this day, and all the way to the end of time, comes from the death of this grain of wheat. By it the Father and the Son are glorified, the church is filled, the body of Christ is kept alive, and will one day be completed. Then the Captain of our salvation, who brings many sons to glory through the power of his death and is made perfect through suffering, will be praised forever by saints and angels (Hebrews 2:10, Hebrews 2:13).

Christ also foretells and promises a rich reward to those who truly accept him, his gospel, and his cause, and show that they do by faithfulness in suffering for him or serving him. In suffering for him, he says in (John 12:25), “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Christ often taught this, because the great purpose of his religion is to loosen our grip on this world by setting another world before us.

The danger of loving life too much is serious. Many people, by clinging to this life, ruin themselves. A person who loves bodily life so much that he gives himself over to appetite and makes plans to satisfy sinful desires will shorten his days and lose the life he prized so highly, along with a far better one. If someone loves the body, its comforts, and its pleasures so much that he denies Christ for fear of losing them, he will lose real happiness in the next world while trying to secure an empty one in this world. A man may give skin for skin to save his life and still make a fair trade, but if he gives his soul, his God, and his heaven for it, he pays far too much. He is like the man who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

There is also a blessed reward for a holy disregard of life. The person who is willing to risk bodily life in order to keep the life of the soul will gain both, and in eternal life will gain them with far greater blessing. Christ’s disciples are called to hate their life in this world. That does not mean hating life itself, but loving the next life more than this one. Our life in this world includes everything we enjoy here, riches, honor, pleasure, and even long life in possession of them. We must hate these things in the sense of treating them as unable to make us happy, fearing the temptations they bring, and gladly giving them up whenever they stand in the way of serving Christ (Acts 20:24; Acts 21:13; Revelation 12:11).

This shows much of the power of godliness, because it conquers our strongest natural desires. It also shows much of the mystery of godliness, because it is the highest wisdom, yet makes people hate their own lives. Those who, in love to Christ, hate their lives in this world will be richly rewarded in the resurrection of the righteous. Whoever hates his life entrusts it to One who will keep it for eternal life and return it with the rich gain that heavenly life can give to earthly life.

Christ also speaks of serving him in (John 12:26): “If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also.” Some understand that last part as part of the duty, where I am, there let my servant be, close by me and attending on me. We read it as part of the promise, there he will be with me in happiness. And so that this might not seem like a small reward, Christ adds, “If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.” That is enough, more than enough.

The Greeks wanted to see Jesus (John 12:21), but Christ makes it clear that seeing him is not enough. They must serve him. He did not come into the world to be a display for us to admire, but a King to obey. He says this to encourage those who want to know him to become his servants. When a master hires servants, he usually sets both the work and the pay. Christ does both here.

The work Christ asks of his servants is simple, right, and fitting. First, they must watch their Master’s steps: “If anyone serves me, let him follow me.” Christians must follow Christ, follow his ways and commands, do what he says, follow his example, and walk as he walked. We must go where he leads us and in the way he leads us. We must follow the Lamb wherever he goes before us.

If anyone serves me, if he puts himself in that place with me, let him devote himself to my work and be ready for my call at all times. Or, if anyone truly serves me, let him make his connection to me open and clear by following me, just as a servant shows who his master is by following him in the street.

Second, let them stay near where their Master is. “Where I am, there let my servant be,” ready to serve me. Christ is present wherever his church is gathered, in the meetings of his people, where his ordinances are given, and there his servants should be, ready to appear before him and learn from him. Or, “Where I am to be in heaven, where I am now going, there let the thoughts and desires of my servants be. Let their lives be set where Christ is seated” (Colossians 3:1-2).

Here are the wages Christ promises his servants, and they are rich and noble. First, they will be happy with him: “Where I am, there my servant will be also.” To be with him while he was here in poverty and shame might seem like little honor. So he must mean being with him in paradise, sitting with him at his table above and on his throne. The joy of heaven is to be with Christ there (John 17:24). Christ speaks of heaven as if he were already there, saying, “Where I am,” because he was sure of it, close to it, and it was always on his heart and before his eyes. The same joy and glory that he counted reward enough for all his own service and suffering are offered to his servants as their reward too. Those who follow him in the road will be with him at the end.

Second, they will be honored by his Father. He will repay all their trouble and loss by giving them an honor that fits a great God to give, yet far beyond what weak people could expect. The One who gives the reward is God himself, who counts what is done for the Lord Jesus as done for himself. The reward is honor, true and lasting honor, the highest honor, the honor that comes from God. It is said, “He who waits on his master, humbly and faithfully, will be honored” (Proverbs 27:18). Those who wait on Christ will be honored by God in a way that will be seen clearly one day, even if it is hidden now. Those who serve Christ must humble themselves, and the world often treats them with contempt. In return for both, they will be lifted up in due time.

So far, Christ’s words are meant for the Greeks who wanted to see him, and he is encouraging them to serve him. We are not told what happened to those Greeks, but we gladly hope that those who asked for the way to heaven, with their faces turned that way, found it and walked in it.