Seeing Clearly
“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”
John 12:21
The Greeks who asked Philip to see Jesus were devout worshippers of the one true God and had come to Jerusalem to worship at the feast. They joined in the meetings in the temple as far as they were allowed, being Gentiles.
Now they wanted more; they wanted to see Jesus. They had made their choice to worship God, but something about the man who healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and raised the dead stirred a deeper desire to see clearly. They wanted to get right up close to Him, to speak to Him, to look in His eyes and have Him look in theirs, to communicate and discern who He really was.
His response to this request must have seemed enigmatic and somewhat stunning. Obscure and opaque rather than clarifying and succinct.
And Jesus answered them saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 12:23-24
What’s this talk about glory, seeds, and death? Who is this man?
Suffering leads to seeing if we will choose to trust the Son of Man. #encouragement #hope #suffering Share on XThe Greeks did not understand that day among the crowds, but Jesus was self-disclosing to them a deep secret of seeing.
The secret to seeing Jesus, to knowing Him, is dying. Dying to ourselves, our understanding of how things should be, how even Jesus Himself should act and what He should do for us, dying to our presumed right to know the plan and be comfortable and happy.
He never asks us to do something He has not done himself. He never asks us to do something He will not lead us gently through.
He continued His reply to those who wanted to see Him,
“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!”
John 12:27-28
Jesus showed us how to suffer well. He showed us how to obey even when it’s hard and we don’t like what’s in front of us. Jesus showed us how to show God to the world through our refusal to quit, even when it meant facing loss and personal sorrow. Jesus showed us how to fix our eyes on purpose beyond the pain.
Like a seed, Jesus would be covered in darkness and die. But death itself would be changed permanently. It would be robbed of finality. Like a seed that dies, it would bring new life and fruit. Dying would lose its fearful power and finality.
From the Messiah’s death would burst forth a new kind of seeing, a clarity of sight that was made possible only by the preceding, temporary, obedient, yielding to the darkness.
Jesus’s death produced new, beautiful, astonishing, eternal life for every person who would trust Him. His death would produce supernatural sight that casts human eyes above the fragility of earth and its cycles of death and life, to strength and hope that cannot be dimmed or diminished.
I would like to see Jesus.
Therefore, I must yield my present, imperfect seeing, the sight clouded by darkness and suffering, to the promise of new life. The promise of the seed that, when it dies, will bear much fruit.
When I don’t see clearly, I will still trust Jesus. When I find His answers uncomfortable, the path He leads me on frightening, I will still trust Jesus.
The darkness of the seedbed is temporary and necessary. Miraculous powers are at work in my yielding. Like a strong shoot pushing forth toward the sun from the stubborn, rocky soil below, life I cannot see is building, surging, readying itself to burst forth into the light with new strength and form. I will be changed, and I will never be the same again. The new life will take on a completely different form than the seed which cracked and decomposed to make way for its transformation.
Whatever you are facing today, remember the promise of the seed. Suffering leads to seeing clearly for all who will trust Jesus. Will you trust Him with me?
Lord, when I cannot see clearly, I will still trust in You. Amen.
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