Lose it or Keep it

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOSE IT OR KEEP IT

 John 12:20-26

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They 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. 23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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.

NIV

There is the question as to why some Greeks would have come up to the feast to worship. We know there was a court of Gentiles in the temple area, and these Greeks, according to the word translated as Greeks would be Gentiles. This word Hellen means a Greek-speaking person or resident of Hellas, which is Greece. Some think they could be Jews who were among those scattered and lived there, but made their way to Jerusalem for the Passover. No one really knows for sure, so we are not sure why John included that fact. The response of Jesus does not seem to make any connection to who these Greeks were or why John made mention of them, other than Jesus no longer has any time for meet and greets because the end is about to begin. Jesus makes this wonderful comparison between a kernel of wheat and himself. Within himself, the single kernel is eternal life. He is divine, he has been and will be forever as he is God in the flesh. However, he is the only one who is eternal and unless he is planted in the ground, which uses the term, dies, it will only remain a single seed, or he will be the only one who is eternal. However, because he will die, just the kernel of wheat, many kernels will grow from that single one. The truth is right there, not hidden at all. The only way for us to have eternal life is through being a result of Jesus’s death. But his next words are pointed directly to how we live as being a result of his death, resurrection, and ascension. We do live in this world, we are humans created by God to live on the earth he created for us. Although he created a perfect paradise and that was closed off to us because of the sin of Adam of whom we are descendants in the flesh. The world as it exists now, although still a great place which provides, because of the creation of God, all the needs of mankind. We have an abundance of energy, water, food, raw materials to make whatever we desire and beauty all around us. Because God created us, we have the mental capacity to learn and thus have developed so many amazing things, invented devices which enhance our lives, medical miracles that increase our health and prolong our lives. The list of accomplishments of the human race is astonishing. So living here, at least for us who live in this country and for most of the other advanced countries around the world, is pretty good. But even for those who are less as fortunate as us, life is still precious and for the most part, all humans struggle to stay alive as long as they can. We could get caught up in this enjoyment of life and all it has to offer way too quickly. This is what Jesus is speaking to when he said those who love their life will lose it and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. It is difficult to hate all the material blessings God has gifted us with, but in reality, they will all fade away, and it is for certain we will one day leave them all behind. We should not get too attached to that which is temporary. Sure it would not serve much simply giving everything away, but on the other hand, everything we have does not actually belong to us either. Our goal, our desire, our ambition is not or should not be about what we gain here, but what we gain in Christ, eternal life. What we know for sure is that God has our days hear numbered. He knows the when we will step into eternality and our life is in his hands. This is where we should be focused, where our minds and hearts should be centered. When Jesus said if we serve him, we follow him. That is we too will die and be buried, but we will follow Jesus in resurrection and ascension so that where he is, we will also be. Because we follow Jesus, the Father will honor us. Is that not far more important than anything honor this life could bring us? Let us keep our eyes upon Jesus, which is the only way we can follow him. If our eyes get distracted by this life in the world, we may lose sight of him. We cannot love this life more then we love Jesus. Love life and we lose it. Love Jesus and we gain life, eternal life.