Now…at the feast were some Greeks…came to Philip…and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
John 12:20-26
After Jesus’ “Triumphal Entry,” He goes into the Temple. He cleanses the Temple as He had done the previous years of His earthly ministry. Matthew tells of Jesus healing the lame and blind there in the Temple. Here, in John, we see that there are some Greeks, in the Temple, who tell Philip that they “want to see Jesus.” These Greeks would be in this part of the Temple, the Outer Court, because they were proselytes to Judaism and had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Jews who were part of the Diaspora would not be referred to as Greeks and they would be allowed into other parts of the Temple not available to non-Jew proselytes. Philip may have been the Disciple that they recognized, or were told of him, and they asked him for an audience with Jesus. Philip goes to Andrew, who is the Disciple who brings the people to Jesus, according to Scripture, and they ask Jesus. If the Greeks are with Philip and Andrew, as they asked Jesus, His response is to tell that His “hour” has come for Him “to be glorified.” Jesus adds that “a grain of wheat” must die in order to bear much fruit and that those who follow Him, in obedience, will be honored by God the Father. Even in His final hours of His earthly ministry, Jesus teaches His followers of the necessity to hate one’s life in this world to gain eternal life in Heaven and, being fruitful means dying to one’s corrupt worldly flesh which will be how the Christian serves the Lord and others and, God the Father will honor the one who does so.
Source: S C Ball April 3, 2023
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