grain of wheat — Bible — Andrew Forrest

John 12:20-26

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. 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. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

As usual, someone has come forward to Jesus with a question or a remark, and as usual, Jesus replies cryptically in a way that seems to be a non sequitur or otherwise irrelevant. Philip and Andrew tell Jesus that some God-fearing Greeks want to see the man that everyone is talking about, but instead of directly addressing that request, Jesus says:

23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified [John 12:23].

Remember, in the Gospel of John, Jesus’s “glorification” is actually His crucifixion. He will be “lifted up” on the cross. So, whenever you read “glory” or “glorified” or “lifted up” or “glorification” in John, you need to think of the crucifixion.

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 [John 12:24].

Here, Jesus makes a profound point about how life comes through death. If the seed stays attached to the stalk, there will be no new life. It’s when the seed “dies” and is detached from the stalk that new life is possible.

25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life [John 12:25].

Jesus then applies this point to His followers—the people that are willing to lose their lives for Jesus will, paradoxically, actually keep their lives, whereas those who hold on to their lives will ultimately lose them.

26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him [John 12:26].

Jesus then tells His followers that they will have to go where He goes, and that if they do that, the Father will reward them.

The Greeks want to see Jesus, but Jesus doesn’t seem to answer their request. (His answer comes in v.32). Then, Jesus says that His followers will have to go where He is going, but Jesus doesn’t specify where that is.

We’ll have to read on to see how He ties His response to the Greeks’ request with information as to where He is heading.

QUESTION OF THE DAY
Why does Jesus make the point that life often comes through death?

P.S. The little spiritual aphorism from Jesus about the grain of wheat (vv. 24–25) is the epigraph to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s great novel The Brothers Karamazov, and whenever I see John 12:24–25 quoted anywhere, it always makes me think of that book. (Highly highly recommended, by the way.)