John 12 NLT
Jesus Predicts His Death
20 Some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration 21 paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew about it, and they went together to ask Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. 26 Anyone who wants to be My disciple must follow Me, because My servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves Me. 27 “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! 28 Father, bring glory to Your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to My name, and I will do so again.” 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to Him. 30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not Mine. 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Myself.” 33 He said this to indicate how He was going to die. 34 The crowd responded, “We understood from Scripture that the Messiah would live forever. How can You say the Son of Man will die? Just who is this Son of Man, anyway?” 35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine for you just a little longer. Walk in the light while you can, so the darkness will not overtake you. Those who walk in the darkness cannot see where they are going. 36 Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.” After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.
As I read and reread this passage, I keep focusing on the kernel of wheat. The imagery of this is fascinating to me. The farmer prepares the soil and places the seed in the ground. It is given water and light and warmth from the sun. Soon green sprouts up and starts reaching skyward. With care It gets bigger and stronger. Eventually it produces its fruit. When the fruit is ready, it is harvested. The plant is chopped down. Left to dry, decay and go back into the ground as feed for the next crop.
God prepares the soil in our heart. He does this by drawing us to Him. We are dead in our sin, our meaningless life. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He is the water and light and warmth that starts the growth in our soul. We start to grow in our faith and reach toward Jesus. We learn more about Him through fellowship and study of His word. Eventually we produce fruit. We can no longer contain all we have learned. It starts spilling over to others around us. Or faith and love for God can't be contained, we begin to feed others the truth.
When we have completed our purpose, served God the way intended, we are harvested. Our life here in this world ends. We are placed back in the ground and the next generation carries on. We have gone full circle. But our physical death is not the end. It is the beginning of the best eternal life. A better life then we could ever imagine.
24b But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.
36a Put your trust in the light while there is still time; then you will become children of the light.”
Blessings, Cecilia
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