Day 12, John 12

Blogger: Greg Lafferty

Jesus has a disturbing way of responding to adoring crowds. Typically, right when our fervor reaches fever pitch, he makes some scandalous statement that either sends you away sulking, or worse, furious. Imagine the political rally where the candidate says, “Thank you! Thank you very much! But you have no idea how I’m about to tax and spend this nation into oblivion.” Or the athlete who says to Bob Costas, “You know, America gets so fired up when we win, but I did this for me alone and the fortune I’m going to make in endorsements.” Suddenly we’re not enjoying such a magical gold-medal moment after all.

Jesus does his own version of this in John 12. Crowds are clamoring to see him and his amazingly resurrected friend; thunderous throngs shout Hosanna! as he enters Jerusalem; even some non-Jews seek an audience. And what does Jesus say right when the world is at his feet? “It’s time for me to die. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it produces no fruit. And unless you die with me, you’ll never see eternal life.”

Kind of takes the edge off the party, don’t you think?

But, of course, this is precisely what Jesus needed to say. For it has never been about popularity, Q-rating, or political clout. It has always been about God’s glory, which is magnified by our humility. A humble, atoning death was what Jesus came to achieve, so that we might come back into a proper relationship with God—one in which we bask in his glory, not our own. As Jesus said, “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.” The good news is that if you’ll go where Jesus went in humility and selflessness, you’ll also go where he went in future glory and exaltation.

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