Jesus Revealed Himself Through The Cross

What Did Jesus Do?

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
John 12.21, 23

Do you know the song inspired by the inquiring Greeks In John 12.20? I bet you do: “Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him...” There is no greater or more important desire that could ever bestir the hearts of men, women, and children than the desire to see and know Jesus. And thanks be to the Father, who sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts to turn them from the world so that we might seek Christ. But just who was it whom the Greeks sought?

It's not likely that they were totally ignorant of what Jesus had been doing. Word might have reached them about the feeding of the 5000 (see John 6.1-14). Or, perhaps, they might have traveled through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem, and met a certain woman and heard about her life-transforming encounter with a stranger who had asked her for a drink of water (see John4.1-42). They might have even bumped into a man who, after 38 years as an invalid, had become one of Jerusalem's most enthusiastic liturgical dancers (See John 5.1-17). It is all but certain that they knew about the raising of Lazarus (see John 11.1-44; 12.17-18). So, I believe it is safe to say that the Greeks wanted to see the worker of such signs.

But Jesus was going to show the Greeks, and his disciples, even the world, something far greater than a worker of signs. “So, some Greeks want to see me, do they? Well, I will not just show myself to them, I will give them the opportunity to look upon me in all my glory!” Wow! To see the Son of Man in all his glory, that would really be something, wouldn't it? Sounds even better than Pay-Per-View.

Except, Jesus went on to say some rather odd things about a grain of wheat dying, and hating one's life in order to have eternal life, and the need for any and all who would serve him to actually follow him. In short, Jesus was telling the Greeks, and us, that, if we want to see him, we have to look to the Cross. At the Cross we behold his glory. At the Cross we meet the one who died in order to bear the fruit of eternal life for many. At the Cross we see the Christ who willingly laid down his life so that he might take it up again. Somehow, I don't think this is what the Greeks expected. I am certain that his disciples didn't understand (see John 12.16). And, I have a pretty strong sense that many people today might be looking for Jesus in the wrong places.

Many today, not unlike Peter, want to see Jesus on a mountain top where, unscarred and transfigured, he will hang out and tabernacle with us, away from the world and all its woes. But the hill where we truly get to see Jesus has three crosses on its summit. There, on that hill, hanging on the Cross, we see all the compassion, the forgiveness, the grace, the love, the mercy, and the power of God. It's not a pretty picture, but it is a glorious one. If we would see Jesus, if we would follow him, and be with him now and forever, the Cross is the place to find him.

Yes, Jesus was a worker of great signs, and not only ancient Greeks, but many people today, want to see the author of miracles. But Jesus did not come into the world to work miracles, but to bear the Cross. So, you want to see Jesus, do you? Then take up your cross and follow him.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4