John 12:20-29 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him” (NIV).
Why did Jesus refrain from talking with these Greek gentlemen? Seems like the perfect opportunity to show His divine wisdom. Yet Jesus did not talk with the Greeks, rather after this event which included some more interaction with the crowd, He “hid himself” (verse 36).
The Bible never records Jesus discussing Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle, though those philosophers were still huge in the culture of His day. This seemed to be Jesus’ chance to be a witness for the truth in the face of the world’s great philosophers. Seems like a prime opportunity for Jesus to rock the philosophical world. Instead Jesus reiterated His mission, which involved death, and then He opened an opportunity for God to be audibly revealed.
Greek discourse, which I was raised on, involves question and answer sessions, and strives towards logical statements of an “if –then” nature. Yet in telling of His mission Jesus used an “Oriental” style. This style involves a bit of a vague discourse, usually containing metaphors, where the main message may be tucked away in the middle of the address rather than stated upfront or in the grand conclusion. “Oriental” discourse was the culture of the Ancient Near East, thus it fit the culture of Judah. In this manner Jesus talks about His mission to the Cross.
After Jesus affirmed and exalted His mission, God the Father spoke from heaven. Wow.
I do not think Jesus was ignoring the Greeks, rather He took the opportunity to have the living God directly reveal Himself from earth and from heaven. God does want us to engage in discourse with folks. When studying at Colorado Christian University, I did some research on the writings of early Christians. A topic of interest to a number of early Christian writers was Greek philosophers. Makes sense because the early Christian writers were usually highly educated. Sometimes these early Christians would try to explain that the wisdom of Christianity did not contradict certain Greek wisdom rather was a real life fruition. And look at Paul’s great statement in Athens to the Greeks regarding the altar to the “To An Unknown God,” in Acts 17.
Yet the foundation of discourse must be that God revealed Himself. We fallen humans are not able to obtain the wisdom of God on our own accord. We fallen humans could never have discerned God had He not revealed Himself to us. (I learned that from John Stott.) God revealed Himself that day in an audible voice from the Father in heaven to all who were willing to listen. And God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus was Immanuel, which means “God with us.” The truth of the person of Jesus is He was God incarnate, which means God in the flesh.
His divine nature was expressed more and more throughout His ministry as He continued performing miracles. This may be the reason even Greeks wanted to talk with Him. But this is also the reason why He threatened many religious leaders who expressed their concern they were going to lose their lofty positions, since the Empire had a history of squashing countries or territories they perceived to be insubordinate. Or maybe their secret fear was Jesus was going to defrock them. So they worked to murder Jesus. Yet Jesus allowed Himself to be murdered, the result of which was that Jesus was the atonement for sins for anyone. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law and the Prophets by being the sacrificial atonement on the Cross for the wages of sins, which is spiritual death. Then the Father resurrected Jesus, and He lives today. If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will not perish, rather you will have eternal life with Jesus forever.
Hunter Irvine
