Death, Life, Service, Fruit

Lesson #196

Jesus continues his response to the Greeks: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24 ESV). Again Jesus turns to nature to help him explain why he must die. He asks us to consider a grain of wheat. If it remains protected in a granary someplace, it will continue as a grain of wheat, but if it is taken and sown into the soil it begins to deteriorate as though it was dying, but as this is happening a hidden force from within brings forth new life which roots into the soil and sends up a shoot through the soil to light and air above. The plant continues to grow and eventually reproduces the seed sacrificed with many more seeds. Stored in the protection of the granary, the seed accomplished nothing, but sown into the soil to die it is able to reproduce itself many times. Jesus, as the Son of God, could have remained in the safety of heaven, but he was sent to earth to die and in so doing, life emerged from him to become the life of men. The life we sinful people needed was locked up in the Son of God and through the death of Jesus it was made available to us. Jesus is the Life, the source of Life for us and through his death on the cross that life is made available for us only if we believe and come to Jesus, denying ourselves, to be crucified with him. Only when we are crucified with him through faith will we be dead to the world to rise in the newness of life. As crucified ones, as we are poured out as a sacrificial offering which allow Jesus to live out his life in us producing much fruit. As believers in countries of persecution offer their bodies as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), they bear much fruit and Christianity experiences tremendous growth.

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25 ESV). To make his point, Jesus speaks here in absolute terms to emphasize a point. He who “loves his life” means to delight your life in this world more than you delight in God, and “whoever hates his life in this world” means to think so little of your life and so much of God, that you are willing to sacrifice it all for God. Here in the west, examples of this are few and far between, but in nations where persecution is the norm, people are willing to sacrifice their life just to be a Christian, to own a Bible, and to stand with Jesus and defend their faith in him. These who love God so much more than their own lives, who are willing to sacrifice their body as a demonstration of their love, are the ones who in the end demonstrate that they have eternal life.

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him” (John 12:26 ESV). Verses 24 through 26 are not for the faint of heart or one who is looking for a life of comfort. Verse 24 speaks of dying in order to bear fruit, verse 25 indicates that our love for the Lord is to be so great that in comparison we hate our life in this world, and here in verse 26 we find that service means sacrifice and suffering. The one who is truly born again will desire to serve Jesus and in order to serve him we must follow him to be where he is. The language of these verses suggest that we must follow him to the cross because there we are to be crucified with him, which is required if he is going to live his life in and through us. A Biblical Christian is one who is willing to sacrifice everything, including his life to follow Jesus. A clear picture of what this is like is obtained by learning from our persecuted brothers and sisters.

I have been engaged in such a study for the past two years and as a result I am finding a fresh understanding of many passages in the Bible. Believers in the west must understand the culture in which the Bible was written and interrupt the text through that culture. Those who are being tortured and suffer in prison describe the honor of suffering, the blessing they experience, the fellowship of suffering, and the closeness of the Lord. They describe the love they feel and the ability to forgive. Unless we experience this ourselves or get close enough to these who are suffering, we are unable to adequately understand verses on suffering. I am so thankful for the experience I obtained in China teaching in an underground school, being followed by police, getting through checkpoints to meet up with believers in unfinished high-rise buildings or in remote apartments. I learned to sleep on plywood and eat food I didn’t realize you could eat. I miss the relationship I had with students whose parents were in prison for sharing their faith. Are we willing to be where the Lord wants us serving him? If we are and are serving him, the Father will honor us.

Prayer

Father, I don’t believe many in America understand the implications of the verses covered in this lesson. If we truly understood and lived out these verses, I believe our lives would be radically different. In fact, people might refer to us as aliens and strangers as described by Peter and as a result we would probably experience persecution as they were when Peter wrote 1 Peter. Lord, our love for you has grown cold and with passion we seek the things of the world, not the things from above. Maybe it is time for us to carefully read Matthew 7:21 – 23 and be sure we are not part of that group the Lord doesn’t know. Father, have mercy on us.