Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, 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. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their 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 soul 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.”
John 12: 23-28
I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to reference these verses, with the death rates from this pandemic rising daily, but these were the verses God put on my heart. “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.” A kernel of wheat has to die if it is to bear fruit, and really, we also have to die before we can bear fruit. I’m not talking about physical death here, but about the death of our selves, our wills, and maybe the life we lived before we became followers of Jesus. When we love the world, it is hard to put aside that love and do what the Lord is asking us to do. When we hate the world (not people but the evil things in the world), it frees us to follow Christ.
If we want to serve Jesus, we need to follow him. If we want to follow Jesus, we need to go where Jesus goes. We can’t do that if we are tethered to this world and our life here. We have to die to our wants and desires here in this world to be promised eternal life in the next. I love what Jesus says here, how he relates to our wish to escape the troubles of this life, but how poorly would we have fared if he didn’t complete the mission to which God had called him. Can the kingdom of God survive if we don’t complete the mission to which God has called us? Of course it can, but we will have missed out on the opportunity for God to glorify His name through us, and we will be poorer for it. When we complete our mission of following Jesus, how wonderful it will be to hear God say, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.”
Father, give us the strength to die to our selves, our wills, and the life we lived before becoming your followers. Help us to serve you by following Jesus, and going where he leads. We know the way will not be easy, and our hearts will be troubled, but guide us to live a life that brings glory to your name. We want to claim the freedom you have given us to follow Jesus and receive everlasting life. We ask all these things in the precious name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.
