Kaleo San Diego Church

Tonight you can call me Pastor Kevorkian because I want to teach each of us to die.

Last week we spoke about the Passover and it’s significance, we then read one of the most beautiful examples of love and sacrifice for Jesus as Mary anoints Jesus for burial with a perfume that was worth a years wage.

We discussed her sacrifice as it cost her something, we spoke of her position which was one of the lowest servant, and we spoke of her giving to Jesus her only human glory by letting down her hair and washing his feet with what was to be reserved only for the eyes of her husband.

We finished last week by asking the Lord to give us the hands of Martha, the witness of Lazarus and the heart of Mary.

This week I am going to ask the Lord to Kill us, both individually and as a church.

Let’s pray….

There are three acts of worship that are given to Jesus in chapter 12, one of them we just spoke of with Mary’s personal worship of her King. The second is found in verse 13 as the Jews come to welcome their King, it is primarily a National worship, and the third is found in verse 21 where the Greeks come to worship Jesus, which shows us the scope of the Gospel, personal, national and now international.

We know that in the last chapter, chapter 11, the Chief Priests and the Pharisees have committed to plot to kill Jesus. You can be sure that Jesus knew of their open agreement to murder Him, yet how does he respond to the question given in verse 56 of chapter 11? Will He come to the feast?

This is one of only a few incidents in Jesus life that all four Gospels report.

Let’s read.

The Triumphal Entry

Verse 12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

It is estimated in one Passover, by the Jewish historian Josephus in one Passover around AD 66-70, there was approximately 2.7 million people that participated in Passover that year. There was approximately 270,000 animals sacrificed during that one Passover.

This was a tremendous amount of blood that was shed and here Jesus comes to be the final, ultimate sacrifice for all time.

On Thursday night, we participated in a little exercise which taught us how many people we are connected to in relationships.

We know these relationships have been sovereignly given to us by our Father for His glory in proclaiming the Gospel. We spoke about the difference between gimmick evangelism that is primarily event driven, and simple social or Celtic evangelism that flows out of love for those we are already in relationship with.

People are tired of gimmicks and marketing ploys, we are marketed every day between 1500 to 2000 times per day, and if you have internet access that number only grows.

People have learned to tune out gimmicks, we have become very selective in what we choose to take in as valuable information and we discard the rest.

We know from the last chapter Jesus had just performed perhaps the greatest miracle in the Scriptures, He has just risen His friend Lazarus who was dead for 4 days.

The news of this miracle has spread through relational networks. Those that witnessed this miracle told everyone that they were in relationship with and the news traveled fast.

There was no gimmick, no marketing ploy developed by the Apostles as they sought out strategic advice from business men that are paid for such advice, they crowds came because someone they knew told them about this man named Jesus.

These people are now looking for Jesus.

Verse 13 (they) took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"

This is a fulfillment of Psalm 118:25-26 25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

The Jews want their King to come now! They want to be delivered, they want to be free. But it isn’t the kind of deliverance and freedom that you are thinking.

They want Jesus to come and declare Himself as King, and the go braveheart on the Romans. They are looking for William Wallace.

They want a fight, and Jesus seems to be the kind of man that has the power to overthrow the oppressive rule of the Romans and to give them their own nation with their own King.

And so they come out and lay down palm branches, which is customary for the welcoming of a military general or great national leader.

In our day if they was a great battle that had been won, we would hold a parade, in the days of Christ, if there was a war about to be waged, they would have a parade as well, and instead of waving American flags, they would grab a palm branch.

They are not looking for the kind of King that Jesus is coming as. This is evident even to this day. The Jews are still looking for their Messiah, because they are not able or willing to accept a lowly, humble, servant Messiah like Jesus. They want the other half of Messianic prophecy which is the great King of glory, coming to rule in power and might.

Their systematic theology has gotten in the way of Biblical theology. They are unwilling to accept, to this day, the rest of Scripture because it is not what they are looking for, or want.

We know this is true because a few days later in Chapter 19 of this Gospel they cry out a different phrase. It changes from “hosanna,” to “crucify Him!”

Jesus doesn’t fit into their nice neat little theological and political package and so He needs to die. And die He does.

People are happy to welcome Jesus as long as He does what He is told and furthers their agenda. Whether that agenda is political, social, theological, sexual, financial, or any other type of agenda. But as soon as Jesus says something to them that seems to contradict their agenda, they are ready and willing to scream out “crucify Him.”

Things have not changed much, have they?

Verses 14-15 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt."

This is in fulfillment to Zechariah 9:9- "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.

This is extremely important. First because it shows the fulfillment of prophecy, but it also gives a very clear insight as to the Kingship of Jesus first coming.

If you were a great military leader, about to go out in battle, you would ride in on a war horse, a large powerful horse that would be decorated in battle armor. It was a simple of power and would even cause those that would thing of opposing this military leader to think twice about rising up against him. This would garner fear and respect from the crowd, because of the outward display of power and glory.

Yet Jesus didn’t choose a war-horse did He? He didn’t choose to adorn this young donkey colt with battle armor. He came in riding on a symbol of humility and submission. A symbol of peace, not war. It was a symbol of a servant King.

Jesus first coming was to demonstrate His submission to His Fathers will. Not to the submission of the will of a group of people.

Verse 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.

His disciples at first don’t get it. It is not until later that they remembered Zechariah’s prophecy and Jesus own words about Himself that they finally got it.

How true is this for each of us. Often times we never know the will of God until we look back and see it. People that claim to know God’s will and can tell you precisely how things are going to play out in your life, are usually freaks.

God asks us to walk in a daily, relationship with Him. He has mentioned how we are to live each day, and has even instructed us to rely upon Him even for our basic needs.

Anyone that tells you that God’s will is to be rich, or powerful, or well known, or well liked, or anything like that is usually speaking presumptuously and will find themselves on the receiving end of God’s justice.

What has God planned for you and I? I have no idea. I know that I need to love my wife and kids, I know I need to love Him above all else, I know I need to love my neighbor and enemy, but beyond that, I don’t have a clue.

If you have walked with Christ for any length of time, you know that clarity comes after, not before. You can look back on things in your life and say “that’s why God did that.” God is not in the business of asking your approval or permission for His will to be done, He simply does it and then allows you to see it done after the fact. That is called faith.

This is exactly what happened with the disciples. They didn’t get it either, until after it was already done.

Verses 17-19 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"

Good gossip continues, the story is continuing to spread and the Pharisees are not happy.

They even unwittingly proclaim truth. Just like Caiaphas did in the last chapter by saying that Jesus would need to die for the people so that everyone doesn’t perish, the Pharisees say “look, the whole world has gone after Him!”

Now, just as an aside, did the entire World go after Jesus during this Passover? No, they are speaking of a large group of people. We always need to remember context when we read such words.

John the Baptist says in 1:29 “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the word.” Did that mean that John was saying that every human being that lived in the past, the present and the future was now without sin? No, John was using the word “world” as a way of saying that a great number of people from the world would have their sins forgiven. If he meant the opposite we would have universalism and everyone would be going to heaven, and none to hell and we know the Scriptures definitely don’t teach that.

The Pharisees see Jesus popularity as a problem, not as a blessing to be welcomed.

Luke records that Jesus, when rebuked by some Pharisees for all the commotion, said "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out" (Luke 19:40). And Matthew records how the children (who are invariably the most perceptive among us) persisted in their shouts of "Hosanna to the Son of David!" even when Jesus entered the temple and began ministering there. When the chief priests became indignant at the praise of the children, Jesus defended them quoting Psalm 8:2 "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise" (Matthew 21:16).

The Pharisees could not stop what was happening.

Verses 20-21 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

The Greeks have now come to meet Jesus. This gives us insight to the global scope of Jesus ministry. Jesus ministry was not just contained with Mary or His disciples. It wasn’t simply kept in Jerusalem. The Gospel of God’s Son is not bound by geographic borders. It has gone out to the world.

This is the beginning of Jesus' promise in vs. 32 "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men (from different nations and tribes ) to myself".

Jesus Gospel is not confined to white, middle class, Americans that like minivans and strip malls. The gospel is for every tribe, whether it is the tribe of emo or goth. Whether it is straight edge or speed metal, whether it is rap or classical, the gospel is for each tribe. It is also for every tongue, whether it is English or Spanish, German or Cantonese, or even if the tongue is pierced, it is for every tribe and tongue.

This is what is happening. The reach of the Gospel is busting out of Jerusalem, and has found it’s way 2000 years later from Jerusalem to us. How? Someone told the story.

Verse 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.

Someone wants to see Jesus, and what do the disciples do? They have a meeting about it! This is humorous. The quickest way to kill evangelism is to have meetings about evangelism. Form a committee, plan an event for next year, wait until we have enough money to rent out Qualcomm.

Rule of thumb; if someone comes to see Jesus, introduce them!

Verse 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.

So did they get to see him? Probably. But the way Jesus handled the request is probably not what they expected. They said, "We wish to see Jesus."

Does he show himself to them? Yes he does. The same way he shows himself to us - - with truth about himself that becomes a truth about us. This is the way Jesus appears in power: he gives truth about himself that becomes truth about us.

This is the heart of our passage. "The hour has come", Jesus said, "for the Son of Man to be glorified". The hour has come; the time is here; this is it! The Son of Man will be glorified.

This is a very, very significant statement, especially because of Jesus' use of the term "hour". John frequently referred in the earlier chapters of his gospel to "Jesus' hour" or to the equivalent expression "Jesus' time".

In John 2:4, when Jesus' mother informed him that they had run out of wine at the wedding in Cana, he told her "my hour has not yet come". In John 7:6 when his brothers urged him to go up to Jerusalem publically, openly, Jesus replied "My time has not yet come". Later on in that chapter, after Jesus did go up to Jerusalem secretly, the Jewish authorities tried to arrest him. But John records in John 7:30 "no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come". And finally, after Jesus taught in the temple proclaiming himself to be the light of the world, John writes in John 8:30 "no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come". Jesus knew his heavenly Father's plan for his life.

But now the time has come. Jesus time, set for Him by His Father was now here. This statement is the heart of our passage. All that follows is explanation and interpretation.

Here is a truth that Greeks didn’t expect.

Verse 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

My pathway to glory is through death. Do you want to see that?

Tell the Greeks that I will not come to them now, because I have a hard work to do so that I might bear them as the fruit of my life and ministry. If I leave the road I'm on to go and be seen by men, I will remain alone and you and the Greeks will not be saved. But if I go and die on my way to glory, then I will bear much fruit -- you will be saved and the Greeks will be saved, and all who believe in me will be saved. This is what I want them to see. See me dying. See me bearing fruit.

Jesus demands that we, as his disciples, follow him to glory down the same Calvary Road that he travelled.

It is about death. The death of our Messiah, and the death of ourselves.

The cross is the central focus for Jesus now. He is intently looking towards what must be done in order for His Father to be glorified and in order for His children to be reconciled.

That is the truth about Jesus that he reveals to the Greeks. But now it also becomes a truth about them and about us.

Jesus' self-revelation is always a confrontation. He says in verse 25 and 26: my dying for your salvation is also my design for your imitation. If you want to see Jesus, be prepared to become like Jesus. This is what happens. Do you mean it when you say: "We wish to see Jesus?" Do we mean it tonight? Jesus says, If you mean it -- if you want to see me -- prepare to become like me. Prepare to follow me on the road I am going.

Verses 25-26 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Will we hate our lives in this world? Will we follow him on the path to Calvary? Will we serve the Son in this way? Will we let the truth about the Son of Man become truth about us?

This is the way we see Jesus and the way we show Jesus. He reveals himself to us as a Person who goes to glory and bears much fruit by dying, by hating his life in this world. That's what we see. And then he says, Follow me. Die with me. Hate your life in this world with me. Serve me. And if we do, we show Christ to the world.

Christ means to be seen by the Greeks and by every other people group in the world. And the way he means for it to happen is by our becoming like him in his dying so that others may see him in us.

Two things are unmistakable here. One is that this is hard. And the other is that this is glorious. Don't miss either of these. If you only see the hard part you will miss the power and the freedom. If you only see the glorious part you will minimize the sacrifice. So let me show you four hard things and four glorious things.

First, the hard things:

Verse 24: the grain of wheat must die. "Unless the grain of wheat fall into the ground and die..."

Verse 25: Jesus calls us to hate our lives in this world, "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world..."

Verse 26a: Jesus calls us to follow him -- on his Calvary road, leading to death. "If anyone serves me let him follow me..."

Finally, verse 26b: he calls us to serve him. To take the role of a waiter at his table to do his bidding, no matter what the demand or how lowly the status.

That’s what it means to be a Christian, a disciple of Jesus. And it’s hard. Jesus knew it would be hard. That's why he said in Matthew 7:14, "The gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

It’s hard to die. It’s hard to hate your life in this world. It’s hard to follow Jesus on the road that leads to the cross. It’s hard to take the role of a servant in a world of power.

But it is also glorious. And the glory compensates for the hardness of it all. In fact the glory turns the hardness of it into the most significant life imaginable.

The life Jesus is calling for here is glorious in its outcome and it is hard.

Here's the glory:

Verse 24: Yes the seed must die, but "if it dies it bears much fruit." The death is not in vain. It bears fruit.

Verse 25: Yes, if we love our lives we will lose them; and yes, we must hate our lives in this world. But why? What will be the outcome? That we may keep it to eternal life. "He who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal."

What we lay down for Christ he will put in our hands again with glory. You cannot out-sacrifice his resurrection generosity.

Verse 26a: yes, we must follow him to Calvary. But with what outcome? "And where I am, there shall my servant be." Jesus used those very words one other time (John 14:3), and he meant heaven: "I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also." If we follow him to Calvary we will be with him in heaven.

Verse 26b: yes, we must become his servants. But what does the Father do to his servants? "If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

Jesus tells us; we are to die, we are to hate our lives in this world, we are to follow Jesus on the Calvary road and we are to become servants.

He then tells us what will happen when we do; we bear much fruit, we are confident in our eternal life, we join Jesus where he is in glory and the Father honors us.

Evangelism comes by our death

We are praying for a heart of evangelism in our fellowship and throughout San Diego and around the world. That God would come in power and make his church vibrant and strong and bold and joyful and radical in obedience to him.

When I read this text as I studied this week, it came with the force of a warning and an invitation: beware of praying a heart for evangelism. Why? Because before there will be the life of evangelism we need to die.

Beware of praying for great fruitfulness in this ministry and in your personal life. Why? Because only if the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies does it bear much fruit Know what you are asking.

But if you are willing, I invite you to seek this. There is nothing of greater worth. Not many are willing to even think about it. But I offer it to you in Jesus' name.

So I have been asking myself, and I want you to ask yourself tonight, "What in me must die?" What must die for my life and ministry to bear more fruit?

Is there a corporate dying that we have to go through as a church in order to bear more fruit? What in our church must die for us to bear more fruit? It's a scary question because the answer is hard.

Let me close with two points

First, if you are a Christian you have already died. This is not a second or third stage in the Christian life. This is the meaning of becoming a Christian. Becoming a Christian means dying. Here are the key texts:

Galatians 5:24, Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Don't panic here, thinking, "I’m not a Christian, I still have a rebellious, unbelieving, self-centered tendencies." Of course you do, so do I. But don’t let your experience become the main authority here. The word of God says, "Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh." That is something we are called to believe and live by.

Colossians 3:3, You have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

As Paul says: I am crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

My old unbelieving self died; the “me” that lives, lives by faith (moment by moment) in Christ.

So when I ask myself and you about dying as a means to a heart of evangelism we need to understand that we are not talking about becoming Christians all over again.

So why am I asking, when I say, "What in me must die that I might be a more fruitful father and husband and pastor? What in us must die as a church for us to be more fruitful?" I said a moment ago that there are two points. The first was, if you are a Christian you have already died.

Now the second one is: If you are a Christian, God calls you to die daily.

God calls us to experience practically in daily life what is true about us positionally in Christ.

In Christ we are dead to sin and our lives are hidden in Christ in God. Now because that is your position in God's mind, put it into practical experience.

Luke 9:23, If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

The word "daily" shows that following Jesus means a daily dying, not only a once-for-all dying. Each day I must experience in practice what is true of me in my position in Christ. I am once for all "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20; 5:24) -- that's my position; my life is hid with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Yet I must believe this reality and act on it and experience it. I must become in practice what I am in my position. And the practice confirms the reality of the position.

You have died and your position is in Christ. Now experience this death by daily putting to death your sinful actions.

I want you to glory in what it means to be a Christian. We don’t become a Christian by working away at all the things we must die to.

We become a Christian by a decisive work of God in and for us. Then comes a life-long experience of becoming in practice what you are by your position.

Q-Is there something God is calling me to die to that I might experience more fully my position in Christ; that I might see Christ more clearly and show him more compellingly?

Q-Am I striving against my very nature as a Christian by trying to keep alive something God sentenced to death when I became a Christian?

Q-Are my weaknesses as a father or a husband or a witness because of something that needs to die in me -- some old habit, some secret sin, some root of pride, some fear of looking silly, some desperate need for approval, some desire for wealth?

I pray that God gives you honesty in answering those questions. I also pray that you allow yourself to die so that He might live in you.

Let’s pray…

Communion.

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