The crowds are shouting "Hosanna! Save us now!" They're waving palm branches. Kids are on their daddy's shoulders trying to get a glimpse. The atmosphere is electric. And Jesus says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
Scripture Focus: John 12:23-24
"And Jesus answered them, saying, '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.'"
Between verses 23 and 24, there was likely a hush of excitement. Think with me. Jesus has referred to His hour throughout John's gospel. John 2: "My hour has not come." John 7: "My hour has not come." John 8: "My hour has not come."
And now, after raising Lazarus from the grave, with crowds following Him like you've never seen—Jesus says, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
And Peter looks at John: "Let's go, baby. Let's ride, boys. This is it. He's going to set up His kingdom and we're going to be on His right and His left."
That designation—the Son of Man—is taken from Daniel 7. Daniel has a vision of all the powerful empires of this world: Babylon, Medo-Persia. They're dominant. They're militant. And there comes the Son of Man. And He's more powerful than every kingdom combined. And He stamps out all of His enemies. And His rule is forever and ever and ever.
That's the Son of Man.
And Jesus just said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified."
They're psyched.
And then He bursts their bubble in verse 24: "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."
When Jesus speaks of His hour, He's referring to His death. The disciples are grabbing each other with excitement in verse 23. In verse 24, they're hanging their heads.
If you take a seed and you put it in a mason jar and you place it on a counter, what's going to come of that seed? Nothing. In order for any life to come from that seed, it must first be buried, planted. It must die. And then once the shell of that seed begins to rot and decompose, only then will the life within that seed begin to germinate and produce a crop, produce fruit.
We wouldn't be here talking about the life of Jesus unless He died.
Jesus says, "For anything good to come in My life, I need to die." And interestingly, He says this is the hour of His glorification.
Jesus's death is not just the pathway to His glorification when He is resurrected and then ascends and is exalted. Jesus's death exhibits God's glory in and of itself.
What is God's glory? God's glory is the manifestation of His character. And the truest picture of the character of God is made manifest as the Creator of the universe, the Son of God, hangs naked on a tree.
You want to see God's glory? Picture the God-man with a crown of thorns, nails in His hands and His feet.
1. Are you waiting for Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom that serves your agenda, or have you embraced that His kingdom is established through the cross?
2. Do you understand that Jesus's death wasn't Plan B—it was the plan from the beginning, the hour He came for?
3. What does it mean for you today that God's glory is most clearly seen not in power and triumph, but in sacrifice and death?
Stay dialed in