He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."

- John 12:20-26

Yesterday we read that a great many of those from Judea and Jerusalem knew that Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Lazarus and his sisters; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of their followers went away and believed in Jesus.  The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out:  "Hosanna!  'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!"  Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it, as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion;  Behold, your King is coming,  sitting on a donkey's colt."  His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

  Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."  Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.  But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."   These Greeks are Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham, and who have come to participate in the Passover feast.  That the Gospel calls them Greeks shows that they weren't yet full proselytes (or converts), according to my study bible.  Jesus had earlier taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5, 15:24), and so the disciples approach Jesus before bringing these inquirers to Him.  When Jesus says that the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified, He is referring to His death on the Cross.  This "obscure response" means two things, says my study bible.  First, the answer these Greeks are seeking won't be found in words, but rather in the Cross; and secondly, the Cross will be the event that opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles. 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."  This image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit teaches us that Christ's death will give life to the world.  In many Eastern churches, the tradition at memorial services is to prepare boiled whole wheat kernels, sweetened and spiced, to affirm God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.  Jesus once again reaffirms the consistent teaching and promise we read throughout John's Gospel, of the closeness of relationship between Himself, the Father, and His followers in an absolute bond.

"He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."  Jesus follows His teaching about the grain of wheat with one that emphasizes those who follow Him, and our own responsibility for obedience and love.  It extends even to all the things of our own lives.  He calls us to be like Him.

Christ teaches that he who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.   He is not only speaking about Himself, but He is teaching us all that His example is just that -- an example for the rest of us.  It is the supreme example, but He calls all of us to follow Him.  In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus ties today's teaching with the cross for each of us.  He says, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" The kind of obedience Jesus asks for isn't a soulless, mindless obedience.  It is the obedience found in the love of and loyalty to God who is love and who loves us.  Over and over again, Jesus has emphasized that the true lodestone of faith is the love of God.  He has repeatedly chastised the religious authorities for knowing the minutiae of the Law and scrutinizing the Scriptures, but failing to have the love of God in their hearts.  It is this love, this bond, that unlocks the value and the blessings of everything else.  It is out of this love that Jesus' obedience comes, even unto death -- to the Cross.  It is this love that makes sense of the Crucifixion.  It is the answer to Job.  It is the key to Jesus' teaching, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."   It is the key to that rock over which the gates of Hades cannot prevail.  It is in that love and loyalty and faith that Jesus can liken His life to that of a grain of wheat, and in which we can behold the working of God whose ways are not our ways and whose thoughts are not our thoughts.  It is in this sense that we are bound to Christ, and in which He can tell us that we must follow Him, and then where He is, so we shall be, for the Father shall honor those who serve Him.  Let us remember what is truly precious, what binds us in love, even beyond the life we know.  It's only in love that we can follow Him, and it's in this love that the Son of Man is glorified.