The Legend of Jesus 

John 12:20-50 

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. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him…And, I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. 

The legend of Jesus escalated to epic proportions after the raising of Lazarus. The majority wanted to believe that Jesus was the Messiah and would bring salvation and deliverance from Roman tyranny. Last time, I ended with the following: 

The people are ready to rumble. They would have followed Jesus anywhere.  Jesus could’ve whipped them into a frenzy. But He didn’t. 

Instead of tapping into the emotions of the group, Jesus begins to teach.  

Imagine a huge crowd gathering into a large arena ready to listen to a Rock Concert. Let’s say the crowd has gathered to see Metallica. The curtain finally opens and with great expectation, the lead singer walks out and begins to read poetry. The crowd becomes quiet thinking this may be part of the show, but it doesn’t end. No instruments are on the stage and the other band members remain absent. The crowd grows agitated. Before long, the crowd is yelling and screaming, ‘Crucify Him’. (They wouldn’t actually say that, but you get my point). 

The crowds are ready for a raucous uprising and instead, Jesus opens his mouth and teaches. How disappointing. To add insult to injury, Jesus teaches a series of hard-hitting, difficult to accept, principles of discipleship and commitment. What a buzz-kill. 

Once Jesus thoroughly taught the people the principles of true discipleship and the high cost of following him, He slipped away from the crowd. It was time to let the reality of these words sink in and simmer in their minds. If you’ve ever wondered how the people could turn on Him so quickly from a Hosanna victory parade to ‘crucify him’, it now makes sense. 

There are still a few days before Jesus is to be betrayed so He slips away and spends some personal time with the twelve disciples. John ends Jesus’ teaching with the following: While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.   

The next several chapters will unfold Jesus’ final days on earth. They will be rich, I’m sure. 

Lord, your gift of salvation is free and available to all. Part of the beauty of Your salvation is that You give us the heart to dedicate ourselves to you, to obey You and to follow You. Strengthen us to be faithful lights in this world. Amen