A KERNEL OF WHEAT

John 12:20-50       Key Verse 12:24-25

“²⁴ 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.  ²⁵ 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.”

In today’s passage Jesus teaches us how we can truly be fruitful.  Our God is the God of abundance and fruitfulness.  He commanded us from the very beginning, “Be fruitful!”  The main purpose of life is to be fruitful.  And God planted that desire in every man’s life.   But the question is, “How?”  How can we be fruitful and what is real fruitfulness?  Jacob in the Bible had 12 sons he was surely fruitful.  I have 5 sons and so does Shep. William, some call us fruitful.  But Abraham had only one son, but surely Abraham was the most fruitful of all; his descendants are more numerous than the stars in the sky!  So what does it really mean to be fruitful and how can we become fruitful?  But also in today’s passage we not only learn the way to be truly fruitful, but we also learn the way of glory.  All men want to do great things and for their name to be great.  But again the question: how?  And what is glory?  These are two things that all men want: fruitfulness and glory.  But men don’t know how to be truly fruitful and don’t know what true glory is.  But today Jesus teaches us.

Part I – A Kernel of Wheat, the path of glory and fruitfulness (20-35)

Chapter 12 describes the week leading up to the Passover Feast.  It was an exciting week for the disciples.  It started with a dinner fellowship in Jesus’ honor.  Jesus had done something no man had ever done.  He raised someone from the dead.  The disciples were amazed over His authority and power over even the most powerful power of all: death.  And at that dinner fellowship Jesus was anointed just like Saul had been anointed with oil by Samuel when he was made king.  The religious leaders were concerned because MANY were coming over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him.  But it must have been even more amazing when Jesus entered Jerusalem.  It was Jesus’ TRUIMPHAL entry.  A great crowd came out and waved palm branches (they didn’t have fireworks in those days, so they waved palm branches instead) and sang psalms of praise welcoming Him into the City of David.  The disciples must have been so excited to see what would happen next.

Look at verses 20-22.  “²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.”  A foreign delegation from Greece had come to worship at the Feast.  But before that, they wanted to meet Jesus; so they came to Philip and asked him to introduce them to Jesus.  So Philip told Andrew who in turn told Jesus.  This must have been like icing on the cake.  Not only was Jesus’ fame spreading throughout Jerusalem and Israel it had even reached the far shores of Greece.  Greece was once the super power nation but had been displaced by Rome, just like Israel had.  Maybe these Greeks had come to discuss with Jesus how to overthrow the superpower Rome off the neck of both nations?  Perhaps they wanted to make a treaty and alliance to muster their strength together to make a new superpower nation with Jesus at the head?  To Philip and Andrew and the rest of the disciples it must have looked as though Jesus was on the verge of ushering in His Kingdom with might and power.

So what did Jesus say to His disciples who told him about the Greeks who wanted to see Him?  Look at verse 23, “²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  When the disciples heard Jesus say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” they must have said, “Yes!  Finally!”  They had been dreaming of this day, ever since they had followed Jesus.  Until now they had given up everything to follow Jesus, but had gained nothing from following Him.  But now everything was about to change.  Visions of glory for Jesus and of course for themselves danced in their head.  Jesus would sit on David’s throne and they would all be the ministers in His marvelous kingdom.  Actually what they thought was true and Jesus even told them so. In Mt. 19:28 Jesus told His Twelve disciples, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  So when they heard Jesus say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” they must have been so excited.

But while the disciples were having this beautiful dream Jesus kept talking.  Look at verses 24-28a. “²⁴ 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.  ²⁵ 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.  ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me.  ²⁷ “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.  ²⁸ Father, glorify your Name!”  What was Jesus talking about?  Jesus was talking about dying and giving up one’s life; while His disciples were talking about ruling and human glory.  Jesus was teaching His disciples that their idea of glory was wrong.

The word ‘glory’ has a Biblical meaning.  ‘Glory’ means ‘to reveal’.  When Jesus said, ‘His hour had come’, He was talking about the hour of His crucifixion.    Jesus’ hour was going to glorify God.  Jesus’ death on the cross was going to reveal God’s great and immeasurable love to the whole world.  God revealed His glory through His Son's death on the cross and His resurrection.  So humanly speaking, "glory" is His death on the cross.  Jesus accepted that His death on the cross is His glory, as well as glory to God.  

Men want honor and glory.  But real honor does not come from serving oneself.  Real honor comes from serving Jesus and following His example.  Whoever serves Jesus will follow Him; and whoever follows Him will be found where Jesus was found.  Jesus was born in a manger, not a mansion.  Moses regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt; so he chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.  Jesus had no place to lay His head; Paul confessed he was constantly on the move having known hunger and thirst; even being naked and cold.  Jesus was crucified; tradition says that Peter was also crucified, but upside down.

There is one of our UBF missionaries in the Philippines who several coworkers of ours visited.  They were shocked when they opened his refrigerator and found it was empty except for some bottles of water and not much else.  Yet, strangely he feeds many hungry college students every week; he feeds them with the Words of God.  And they are so well fed by this missionary that he has had to change his Bible center 4 times in the last 2 years.  Presently more than 24 students come each Sunday to the Worship Service and his current Bible center is too small once again.  It is our prayer that God would provide for him a new Bible center that he can remain in for at least the next three years.  Please remember him in your prayers: his name is Msn. Paul Koh. 

Real honor comes from following Jesus, not building up one’s life.  Glory belongs to God.  When Jesus said, “Father, glorify Your Name!”  A voice from Heaven said, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”  God is to be glorified not just once, but all the time and every moment.  He alone is worthy.  Those who follow Jesus' way of life will be in paradise with Jesus.  They will reign with Jesus forever (2 Ti 2:12a).  Jesus was despised and rejected by the world.  But God Almighty made him King of kings and Lord of lords.  Likewise, God honors those who follow the example of Jesus.

But intricately entwined with glory is fruitfulness.  Look at verse 24 again, “²⁴ 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.”  We all understand that if a seed does not fall to the ground and die, a tree cannot  grow and produce much fruit and with it many more seeds.  This is a universal truth and this truth does not only hold for seeds, but for men’s lives as well.  Not only does God honor those who die to themselves, but He also makes them fruitful.  I know one missionary who was the first shepherdess of Japan.  She was the precious princess and daughter of all the hard labor and sacrifice of the missionaries.  Missionary Samuel Lee told them to send her to America and to marry this very sketchy and vague shepherd in Los Angeles.  They really didn’t want to do this.  She was the first fruits of all their labor.  They were afraid that if she left, then no one would be left and they would be back at square one with no growing shepherds and shepherdesses.  But they repented their thinking and like kernels of wheat they died to their own dream and ideas and gave their precious daughter to this suspicious shepherd.  Strangely, after they did so, Japan UBF became exceedingly fruitful.  Now they have many growing shepherds and shepherdesses in Japan.  Also this missionary who came to Los Angeles became fruitful.  She recently realized that seven days a week she gets to teach college students.  She also has five growing sons and her oldest son is praying to be a shepherd at Long Beach City College.  She became very fruitful.

It is important to know how to master the principle of the kernel of wheat.  Jesus' expression, "to hate his life" explains how we can master the principle of the kernel of wheat.  "To hate his life" doesn't mean to contract influenza to reduce one's lifespan.  It means that we must fight the spiritual battle to deny our sinful nature. We must give our time and money to teach the Bible one-to-one to our sheep. Those who have not mastered the principle of the kernel of wheat look powerless and old compared to their ages.  But those who have mastered the principle of the kernel of wheat and live accordingly look like young tiger cubs or eagles in the air.  They run but never get tired.  They study, staying up all night, as necessary.  I know one man who stays up late preparing Bible notes who when he gets tired stands up and places himself in the most uncomfortable position he can in order to keep himself awake.  His Bible notes are like a Bible commentary, like Matthew Henry’s.  Those who have mastered the principle of the kernel of wheat can come to know the glorious death and resurrection of Jesus.  Those who have mastered the principle of the kernel of wheat can glorify God.

When Jesus was troubled, He asked, “²⁷ 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.  ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”  Jesus mastered the principle of the kernel of wheat and He did so in order to glorify God.  Personally, through this part of the passage I was reminded of my own habit.  I have many responsibilities these days, and they seem to be increasing more and more.  But I really don’t like to stay up late at night, it truly is like dying to me.  It seems to be the only time that I have to accomplish some of the responsibilities I have, like preparing Bible notes or messages and so on.  I have up till now just went to bed when I got tired and reasoned with myself that I don’t accomplish anything anyways when I am tired.  So I go to sleep and get a full nights rest.  But because of this much of what I am supposed to do doesn’t get done properly.  My prayer this year is to be a faithful and reliable man.  But because I have not learned to die fully to myself, like a kernel of wheat, I remain a single seed and I don’t accomplish what I am supposed to properly.  My decision and prayer is to die to myself and use my time effectively and efficiently and even sacrificially to serve Jesus properly.  May God help us all to learn this principle of the kernel of wheat in our practical lives.

Look at verses 31-32.  “³¹ Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.  ³² But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”  ³³ He said this to show the kind of death He was going to die.”  Now is the time for judgment, even now.  How we live our lives is very important.  The prince of this world will be driven out.  Sinners cannot stand when Jesus comes again they will be driven out from the presence of the Lord.  But all those who repent will be drawn to Jesus.  Even though He died as a single seed, all men who repent and put their faith in Him, will be drawn to Him.  Just as Abraham had descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, even though he had only one son; Jesus even though He no children and died a shameful death on the cross will draw all men to Himself.  He is the author of fruitfulness.

Part II – Those who remain in their unbelief and do not accept Jesus’ Words not only are not fruitful, but they are in danger of judgment and condemnation (37-50)

The disciples will still very young and were not yet ready to die like kernels of wheat, but they did not stubbornly reject Jesus’ Words.  They had seen all the miraculous signs that Jesus performed and realized that Jesus should be listened to; they believed His Words.  But this was not so with the religious leaders and those who were unwilling to die to themselves.  Look at verses 37-40.  “³⁷ Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in Him.  ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: ‘Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?’   ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”  It was because they did not believe Jesus’ Words that they could not die to themselves.  Isaiah taught the reason they could not believe is because their eyes were blind and their hearts were deadened.  But Jesus is willing to heal them of their blindness and deadened hearts, but they must turn to Him.  Isaiah also was blind and his heart was deadened.  He confessed it in Isaiah 6:5, which reads, “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’”  When he repented his sin, his eyes could see Jesus and he could speak about Him.

Some believed Jesus, but they were afraid they would be put out of the synagogue so they kept quiet; it was because they loved the praise of men, more than the praise of God.  They thought that if they testified about Jesus then their classmates would think they were strange and would want nothing to do with them.  So Jesus told them, “When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the one who sent Me.  ⁴⁵ When he looks at Me, He sees the one who sent Me.  ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.”  Jesus taught them that in reality those who believe in Jesus were in actuality believing in God the Father.  If we disown Jesus, we are in reality disowning the Father.  They are One.  Jesus also taught that He is the light; that is, the life of men.  Those who don’t believe in Jesus remain in darkness and death.  Jesus was teaching them that those who don’t apply the principle of the kernel of wheat are not only not going to be fruitful, they were going to remain in darkness.

Look at verses 47-50, “⁴⁷ “As for the person who hears My Words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.  For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it.  ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My Words; that very Word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.  ⁴⁹ For I did not speak of My own accord, but the Father who sent Me commanded Me what to say and how to say it.  ⁵⁰ I know that His command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”  Jesus was warning them not to frighten them, but that they may seek eternal life.  This is a restatement of what Jesus had said earlier, “²⁵ 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.”  Those who reject Jesus Words will have made a big mistake.  They will be judged by Jesus’ Words at the last day.  When they stand before God’s throne, only the Words of Jesus will remain.  All of their human rationalizations and clever arguments will disappear.  Only the truth of Jesus’ Word will remain.  Those who received Jesus’ grace but abuse it intentionally will hear the Words, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Those who spent all their time making money will hear, “Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life.”

The Word of Jesus leads those who believe to eternal life.  Our attitude toward the word of God is so important.  When we study the Bible and listen to the message and write testimonies, we must do so in the presence of God.  As His Word comes into our hearts we must honor it more than anything else.  When we do so, we can then die to ourselves, like a kernel of wheat and live for God’s glory and share His Word with others so that they may have life.  In this way we can truly become fruitful and glorify God; then we become truly happy.

One Word: The secret of a fruitful life.

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