"The Kernel that Falls into the Ground"

 

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, 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."

 

            John tells us that just before Passover, some Greeks came to Jerusalem and asked to see Jesus. The word "see" in John's Gospel usually means "believe." This is more than just curiosity on their part. Their arrival seems to trigger "the hour" that Jesus has been saying all along has not yet come. Now, finally, the hour has come. Jesus' mission is to the whole word. He will now go to the cross, because "God so loved the world, that he gave his only son."

            Jesus then talks about this "hour" in several different ways. He begins with a simple parable. The hour is when the seed falls into the ground, so that it can sprout and grow and produce many seeds at harvest. This is one way to talk about his death. Jesus must die and be buried in order that sins might be forgiven, in order that he might be raised from the dead, the first fruits of life eternal.

            Death is also, he says, a way of being "lifted up." Jesus will not in fact be falling in his death, but he will be lifted on a cross, lifted for all to see. He will then also be lifted up from the tomb in resurrection and lifted to the Father in ascension.

            Finally, Jesus says that death can be seen as a light going out. So he calls the crowd to take advantage of the light, for he is the light, and soon he will die. If they do not believe and walk in the light while it is shining, they will soon be overtaken by darkness.

            So the seed must fall into the ground in order to produce life. Every gardener knows the feeling. You work all day preparing the soil, planting the seeds and tamping the ground down. And at the end of the day you have nothing to show for it but a patch of dirt. Every day you go out and examine the dirt for signs of little sprouts, half expecting that nothing will happen. It seems a miracle that anything grows at all; much more that the garden flourishes through the summer and produces so much that you can't pick it all. It turns out that it is a good thing to plant the seeds, even though it seemed like a waste of time at the beginning. To keep the seeds safely in the package means they will remain alone. There is in nature this miracle of multiplication, but you have to let go of the seeds, you have to bury them for them to grow.

            The way for God to be glorified and his will to be done is not for Jesus to safely live a long, full life, doing miracles and teaching into old age. For Jesus to live a long life would be for him to remain a single seed. Only by dying can he become fully fruitful. On the cross he produces many seeds, for he is the first fruits of the resurrection.

            Jesus says that the way to keep your life is to lose it. Those who hate their lives in this world will keep them for eternal life. What could that possibly mean? To love your life in this world is to always act for your immediate benefit, always live with your self interest in mind, maximize your profits and pleasure at any cost, and never consider sacrificing for something of enduring value. To hate your life is to do something that is not in your immediate interest, but benefits others and honors God.

            At a recent meeting of our pastors' prayer group, Steve Farish, pastor of Crossroads Church, shared a story about his grandfather. He was a small-town lawyer in Alabama in the 1920's and 30's. He kept a picture of Abraham Lincoln on display in his office, and when pressured, he refused to join the Ku Klux Klan. That no doubt lost him some business. He had courage to hate his self-interest, his immediate profit and community standing, for the sake of the Gospel, for what is true and right.

            When the early church father Ignatius of Antioch went to a martyr's death for his faith, he gave an example of losing his life so he could gain life. As he died, he cried out, "I am God's grain."

            Doing what God wills is sometimes difficult, and often scary. But it always leads to life. I know that many times in my life what I thought I wanted has turned into a dead end. In fact I have on numerous occasions been rescued from what I thought I wanted. It is much better to do God's will, even when it costs you, even when it is hard. Sometimes you have to let go of wants and desires and dreams, you have to lose something, you have to die to something, in order to really live.

            Jesus also struggled with what he wanted as he drew near to the cross. He thought about asking the Father to save him from the hour. He might have desired to have a long life, to avoid death, especially to avoid crucifixion. This caused trouble in his soul. Should he pray to be saved? At the cross a number of people mocked him and called on him to save himself, to plead to God for rescue. But Jesus had already settled that issue. He was clear about his mission on earth, his purpose. And he lived for the glory of God. So he stayed on the cross, and gave his life as a ransom for many.

            It was said of the early Pietists in Europe that they lived for "God's glory and neighbors' good." Whenever they built a new church building, they built an orphanage too. They had a mission, a purpose in living and they stuck to it.

            So, with Jesus. He knew why he came into the world, and so he said "Father, glorify your name." The glory of God is often connected to light in the Bible. The glory of God is the radiance that shines from him. It gives life. It renews. It cleanses and strengthens. When God's will is done in the salvation of people, or when God is truly worshipped, then his glory is known, the light is seen.

            Raymond Brown writes, "Father, glorify your name," is really a plea that God's plan be carried out; for the name that the Father has entrusted to Jesus can only be glorified when its bearer is glorified through death, resurrection and ascension. Only then will people come to realize what the Divine Name, "I Am," means when applied to Jesus.

            The reason that we see the glory of God in the cross is that on the cross Jesus is "lifted up," and so draws people to himself (verse 32). Crucifixion does not draw people. It is a horrible method of execution, and repels people. It was carried out to put fear into people, to stop them from considering certain crimes such as rebellion against the government. Crucifixion never drew people. They hid their faces from it. But when Jesus is lifted on the cross, there is much more there to see than just another man being crucified. The cross draws people. The cross draws us to salvation. The cross changes our hearts. The cross is not a defeat for Jesus or for God. It is the victory over sin, death and the devil.

            Gary Burge writes, "The cross of Christ unmasks those aligned with Satan and opposed to God, those who will crucify the Son. The cross also identifies those who are children of the light, who believe and are saved. When Jesus is 'lifted up' he becomes visible to all, so those who turn in faith find salvation. But the light shining from the cross also exposes every hidden darkness."

            When Jesus speaks of being 'lifted up' he is speaking of being placed on the cross on a hill for all to see, but he means by it that the lifting up continues in the resurrection, a lifting up from death, and in the Ascension, his return to the Father. The "lifting up" is the great work of God by which he sees our hearts, and draws us to himself, setting us free from the power of slavery to sin and placing us before him in glory.

            But there is also a reality to the death of Jesus that sends a caution to the crowds, and to us. Jesus really did die, and in his death it was as if a light went out. For several years Jesus traveled publicly, healing the sick and teaching people the ways of God. He was the light of the world, and he invited people to walk in the light. But when he died, he no longer was with them in that way. For those who observed Jesus, but never believed, those who knew Jesus but never committed their lives to him, his death brought on a kind of darkness, the absence of his light. They could no longer observe him and ponder his words. So Jesus says that they need to understand that soon the light will be taken away, and if they do not respond in faith, they will be walking in darkness. Gary Burge writes, "To refuse to believe is to become a victim of darkness." Sadly, even though light has come into the world, men loved darkness instead of light.

            We have the light. We have seen it in the cross, the resurrection, the gift of the Holy Spirit and in the Word of God. There is light to walk in. But the time to believe is still urgent. Now is the time to receive him as Lord of your life.

            Amen.