John 12:17–23
17 The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him.” 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
A missionary tells of his visit to India, when he was invited to preach at Circular Road Baptist Chapel in Calcutta, the church planted by William Carey, who was known as the father of modern missionaries. The missionary said that before preaching he was sitting on an old rickety chair behind the pulpit – the same chair that Carey had sat on 200 years earlier. There was a very old, handwritten sign in the pulpit which was visible only to the person sitting in that chair. It said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Whether that sign was put there by Carey himself is open to debate, but it served as a reminder to the preacher that he must only preach Christ in that church.
The events in John 12 were during what we know as Holy Week – it was only a matter of days before Jesus’ death, and as required by Jewish law, there were Jews who came from all over to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, but verse 20 tells us that some Greeks – Gentiles – were there too.
No doubt they had heard many reports about Jesus, including the recent news that He had raised Lazarus from the dead. These Gentiles were God-fearers. They had had enough of their pagan religions, and were drawn to the one true God of the Jews.
They probably attended synagogue worship in their home towns and regularly travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate the festivals. But when they came to worship at the temple, they could only go up to the court of the Gentiles. There was a wall separating Gentile worshippers from the rest of the temple area and they could not go past it.
Despite this restriction, these God-fearing Greeks wanted to see Jesus. They approached Philip, probably because he was from Bethsaida, which bordered their own Gentile towns, which meant that in all likelihood, Philip would have been able to speak some Greek. So they asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
These men had heard of Jesus, and now they wanted to meet Him so that they could hear His words, put their trust in Him, and be saved.
In verse 19 we see that the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, were rejecting Him, but in the next verse these Greeks, representing the non-Jewish world, wanted to embrace and accept Him.
In coming to Philip, they were, in effect, saying, “Sir, we understand the Jews are rejecting Jesus, but we want to accept Him. We want to hear Him, trust in Him, believe in Him, and be saved.”
The salvation of the Gentiles was part of God’s plan for Jesus. We know that Jesus came to die so that people could be saved, but God’s plan was not only to save Jews, but also Gentiles. This was an old plan; it was a mystery hidden for years in the heart of God, and later revealed to the apostles in the early days of the church. Ephesians 3:6 says, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
We find God’s plan to save Gentiles throughout the New Testament. John introduces Jesus Christ as the Saviour of both Jews and Gentiles, as we read in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus said Himself in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world…”
His mission was to save people from all nations, and that is why these Gentiles came to Philip, saying, “Sir, can you help us? We would like to see Jesus. Would you lead us to Him so we can meet Him?”
They weren’t saying, “We would like to see the beautiful temple,” or “We would like to have an audience with Caiaphas the high priest.”
Do we come to church to see stained glassed windows, to hear beautiful music, or do we come to church to see and meet with Christ?
Why should we want to see Him?
Because only He can save us.
Salvation is found in no one but Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the sinless Lamb of God. It is this Jesus who asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” The answer came by divine revelation: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus is the Messiah. He made this profound statement to the Samaritan woman in John 4: “I am He.” In other words, “I am the Messiah.” There is no other messiah, no other saviour, no other deliverer. That is why we must say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Jesus is the living bread. In John 6:51 He declared, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven,” meaning, “I am the living bread for your soul, the one who came down from heaven. Others ate manna in the wilderness and died, but I have come down from heaven as the living Bread to make you alive.” So we can say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus, because He alone is the living Bread.”
Jesus alone is from above. He came down from heaven, from the Father, to die on the cross for our sins. That is why we say, “Sir, I wish to see Jesus.”
Jesus is the eternal one. In John 8:58 Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” That means He is the eternal one, meaning He is God Himself.
He is the light of the world. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” The world is darkness. Not only is it in darkness, but it is darkness. And Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.”
Jesus is the Son of God. We find this reference to Jesus throughout the gospel accounts as well as the rest of the New Testament.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the beginning and the end. In John 11:25 Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” meaning eternal life is found in Him alone. In Revelation 1 the resurrected Christ tells us, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the First and the Last.”
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the only way to the Father.
These are but a few reasons why we should want to see Him. That is why, when a preacher begins to preach, you should be saying, “Please don’t preach about yourself. Don’t tell us stories. Don’t tell us amusing anecdotes. Don’t talk about health or wealth or fame or philosophy or politics. Sir, we wish to see Jesus!”
Do we want to see Jesus? I hope we do. And if you really see Him, I guarantee you that your life will change. You will be transformed from a sinner to a saint and brought out of death and darkness into life and light. That is why we want to see Jesus.
These Greeks were begging to see Him. In the Greek language the verb means to beg consistently. It was not just a passing or one-time request. Our cry should be the same.
Interestingly enough, John doesn’t tell us whether Jesus met personally with these Greeks or even spoke directly to them. But the truth is, in this passage Jesus addressed their need.
What was their need? What is our need? Salvation. What was the solution?
Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. In verse 23 Jesus replied to Philip and Andrew, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Up to now He had always said, “My hour has not come,” but now, for the first time, he said, “My hour has come,” meaning the hour of His glorification, the hour of His death, the hour of His burial, the hour of His resurrection was here.
This was Jesus’ mission, as He said in Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many,” and as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
17 The crowd that had been with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet Him was that they heard He had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him.” 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
A missionary tells of his visit to India, when he was invited to preach at Circular Road Baptist Chapel in Calcutta, the church planted by William Carey, who was known as the father of modern missionaries. The missionary said that before preaching he was sitting on an old rickety chair behind the pulpit – the same chair that Carey had sat on 200 years earlier. There was a very old, handwritten sign in the pulpit which was visible only to the person sitting in that chair. It said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Whether that sign was put there by Carey himself is open to debate, but it served as a reminder to the preacher that he must only preach Christ in that church.
The events in John 12 were during what we know as Holy Week – it was only a matter of days before Jesus’ death, and as required by Jewish law, there were Jews who came from all over to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast, but verse 20 tells us that some Greeks – Gentiles – were there too.
No doubt they had heard many reports about Jesus, including the recent news that He had raised Lazarus from the dead. These Gentiles were God-fearers. They had had enough of their pagan religions, and were drawn to the one true God of the Jews.
They probably attended synagogue worship in their home towns and regularly travelled to Jerusalem to celebrate the festivals. But when they came to worship at the temple, they could only go up to the court of the Gentiles. There was a wall separating Gentile worshippers from the rest of the temple area and they could not go past it.
Despite this restriction, these God-fearing Greeks wanted to see Jesus. They approached Philip, probably because he was from Bethsaida, which bordered their own Gentile towns, which meant that in all likelihood, Philip would have been able to speak some Greek. So they asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
These men had heard of Jesus, and now they wanted to meet Him so that they could hear His words, put their trust in Him, and be saved.
In verse 19 we see that the Pharisees, the Jewish leaders, were rejecting Him, but in the next verse these Greeks, representing the non-Jewish world, wanted to embrace and accept Him.
In coming to Philip, they were, in effect, saying, “Sir, we understand the Jews are rejecting Jesus, but we want to accept Him. We want to hear Him, trust in Him, believe in Him, and be saved.”
The salvation of the Gentiles was part of God’s plan for Jesus. We know that Jesus came to die so that people could be saved, but God’s plan was not only to save Jews, but also Gentiles. This was an old plan; it was a mystery hidden for years in the heart of God, and later revealed to the apostles in the early days of the church. Ephesians 3:6 says, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.”
We find God’s plan to save Gentiles throughout the New Testament. John introduces Jesus Christ as the Saviour of both Jews and Gentiles, as we read in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus said Himself in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world…”
His mission was to save people from all nations, and that is why these Gentiles came to Philip, saying, “Sir, can you help us? We would like to see Jesus. Would you lead us to Him so we can meet Him?”
They weren’t saying, “We would like to see the beautiful temple,” or “We would like to have an audience with Caiaphas the high priest.”
Do we come to church to see stained glassed windows, to hear beautiful music, or do we come to church to see and meet with Christ?
Why should we want to see Him?
Because only He can save us.
Salvation is found in no one but Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the sinless Lamb of God. It is this Jesus who asked His disciples, “Who do you say I am?” The answer came by divine revelation: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus is the Messiah. He made this profound statement to the Samaritan woman in John 4: “I am He.” In other words, “I am the Messiah.” There is no other messiah, no other saviour, no other deliverer. That is why we must say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Jesus is the living bread. In John 6:51 He declared, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven,” meaning, “I am the living bread for your soul, the one who came down from heaven. Others ate manna in the wilderness and died, but I have come down from heaven as the living Bread to make you alive.” So we can say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus, because He alone is the living Bread.”
Jesus alone is from above. He came down from heaven, from the Father, to die on the cross for our sins. That is why we say, “Sir, I wish to see Jesus.”
Jesus is the eternal one. In John 8:58 Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” That means He is the eternal one, meaning He is God Himself.
He is the light of the world. In John 8:12 Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” The world is darkness. Not only is it in darkness, but it is darkness. And Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.”
Jesus is the Son of God. We find this reference to Jesus throughout the gospel accounts as well as the rest of the New Testament.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life, the beginning and the end. In John 11:25 Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” meaning eternal life is found in Him alone. In Revelation 1 the resurrected Christ tells us, “I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am the First and the Last.”
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the only way to the Father.
These are but a few reasons why we should want to see Him. That is why, when a preacher begins to preach, you should be saying, “Please don’t preach about yourself. Don’t tell us stories. Don’t tell us amusing anecdotes. Don’t talk about health or wealth or fame or philosophy or politics. Sir, we wish to see Jesus!”
Do we want to see Jesus? I hope we do. And if you really see Him, I guarantee you that your life will change. You will be transformed from a sinner to a saint and brought out of death and darkness into life and light. That is why we want to see Jesus.
These Greeks were begging to see Him. In the Greek language the verb means to beg consistently. It was not just a passing or one-time request. Our cry should be the same.
Interestingly enough, John doesn’t tell us whether Jesus met personally with these Greeks or even spoke directly to them. But the truth is, in this passage Jesus addressed their need.
What was their need? What is our need? Salvation. What was the solution?
Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. In verse 23 Jesus replied to Philip and Andrew, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Up to now He had always said, “My hour has not come,” but now, for the first time, he said, “My hour has come,” meaning the hour of His glorification, the hour of His death, the hour of His burial, the hour of His resurrection was here.
This was Jesus’ mission, as He said in Matthew 20:28, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many,” and as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”