John 12:20-23
Some times we get it right. This was the case of Phillip in this passage.
Over the time of walking with Jesus, the disciples made some poor decisions; but then again sometimes they made some really good decisions. In this case, Phillip made a good decision without hastily jumping to conclusions like they were so well known to do at times.
When the Greeks came seeking Jesus they asked, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (verse 21)
"But why, then, does this sympathetic disciple not convey the request of the Greeks to Jesus? Why take Andrew with him, as if afraid to go alone on such an errand? Just because the petitioners are Greeks and Gentiles. It is one thing to introduce a devout Jew like Nathanael to Jesus, quite another to introduce Gentiles, however devout. Phillip is pleased that his Master should be inquired after in such a quarter, but he is not sure about the propriety of acting on his first impulse. He hesitates, and is in a flurry of excitement in presence of what he feels to be a new thing, a significant event, the beginning of a religious revolution... but he distrusts his own judgment, and, before acting on it, lays the case before his brother-disciple and fellow-townsman Andrew, to see how it will strike him." The Training of the Twelve, A. B. Bruce, pg. 320.
Sometimes we make impulsive decisions in life. You see, the Jews did not care for or even like the Gentiles. A Gentile was considered of a lower form of life to them. But should he bring this outsider into the presence of Jesus?
But within the heart of Jesus there was no existence of this bias or prejudice they experienced. As Jesus was now within three days of His crucifixion, he had been around several of His own countrymen who rejected His message and would not accept the Gospel! So when the disciples brought the Greeks to Jesus what a refreshing joy it must have brought to Jesus! "What a sight more moving than that of a human being seeking after God, the fountain of light and of life!" Bruce, pg. 321.
This must have encouraged the soul of Jesus after His own people rejected Him time and time again. He must have felt ineffective when His own people rejected His plan to eternal life. Now total strangers came asking to hear His gospel! What a joy to His soul!
"He would have all men believe in Him and be saved. He complained with deep melancholy of the fewness of believers among the Jews; He turned with unspeakable longing to the Gentiles, in hope of a better reception from them. The greater number of believers at any time and in any place, the better He is pleased; and He certainly does not contemplate with indifference the vast amount of unbelief which still prevails in quarters of the world." Bruce, pg. 323.
By the act of the disciples who were not sure about what to do with people who weren't the plan for salvation, Jesus' heart was encouraged. His time to be delivered up to the cross was within three days and He knew it. How it must have been so encouraging to know that if your own people don't want to hear; total strangers do. This must have given Him a boost in his spirit (the human side of Jesus) knowing that all He had shared was not for naught. He was about to die for this humanity who didn't seem to care and towards the end some still came!
Listen to these last few words Bruce shares in the final part of his chapter concerning our salvation: "The principle laid down is this, that in proportion as a man is a partaker of Christ's suffering in His estate of humiliation shall he be a partaker of the glory, honor, and power which belong to His estate of exaltation. This principle holds true even in this life. The bearing of the cross, the undergoing of death, is the condition of fruit bearing both in the sense of personal sanctification and in the sense of effective service in the kingdom of God. In the long-run the measure of a man's power is the extent to which he is baptized into Christ's death." Bruce, pg. 324.
How much power do you have today?
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