Oakhaven Church Podcast

3.06.22 - Gospel of John XXVI - Jesus Centered

March 08, 2022 Larry Mudd
Oakhaven Church Podcast
3.06.22 - Gospel of John XXVI - Jesus Centered
Show Notes

Today's passage in John follows directly on the donkey's heels, as it were, of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He immediately is introduced to some Gentiles whose request to "see Jesus" triggers resonance with John's prologue and overall themes of light and sight. The presence of these Greeks seems to mark a moment for Jesus in which He reflects on the nature of His mission - to die like a grain of wheat placed in the ground so that an abundance of life can result.

God confirms and affirms Jesus by speaking from heaven to His son, the only time this happens in John's Gospel. This centering affirmation also conveys to those who hear it (thinking it either thunder or an angel) that God is "up to something" with this Jesus. Jesus links his conversation with the Greeks to His much earlier exchange with Nicodemus (who represents "His own" in the prologue - "He came to his own and they did not receive Him") in John 3:14-16:

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

To investigate this most important of stories further, go here.