Life from a Grain

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven,  “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this indicating the kind of death he would die.

John 12:20-33

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Selfless Love

Some Greek proselytes to Judaism who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover feast asked Philip for an introduction to his master. Perhaps they had witnessed the palm branches and fanfare, accompanied by shouts of “Hosanna!” as Jesus rode into the city upon an ass. A mixture of curiosity and hope prompted the Gentiles to inquire into the identity of the “blessed [one] who comes in the name of the Lord” (John 12:13). Perhaps they had also heard about the raising of Lazarus, which provoked the Pharisees to complain, “Look, the whole world has gone after him” (John 12:19).

Jesus did indeed come to unite the Jews and Gentiles, but his way was anything but triumphal and glorious in the eyes of the world. Jesus looked ahead to the bloody culmination of his earthly mission—his crucifying death and resurrection. Divine glory manifests in selfless love. Against every natural, self-preserving instinct, the God-man descended into the earth in order to ascend.

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

John 12:24

Traditional Chinese Translation

《生命源自一粒穀物》
生命源自一粒穀物
從被殺者身上蹦出。