And there were certain Greeks among those who came up that they might worship in the feast;
Jerusalem is full for the feast, and among the worshippers are some Greeks — people from outside Israel. Their wish to see Jesus looks like a small thing, yet it turns the direction of the whole chapter, and the Lord answers it by speaking of His own death.
The word "Greeks" here does not mean Jews who spoke Greek. It means people from outside Israel, and that is why they came to Jesus through someone else.
These men were not Hellenists, that is Greek-speaking Jews, but Hellenes — Gentiles, people who were not Jews at all. Their coming, and their wish to see Jesus, opens the third great testimony to the glory of Christ as the Son of Man. A Gentile had no claim on Christ as the Messiah, so these Greeks were right to come to the Lord through the Jewish disciples, just as the Gentile centurion had earlier sent his message to the Lord through the Jewish elders. The Lord at once speaks of Himself as the Son of Man, the title under which He becomes the way of blessing for all people (verse 32).
What were they looking for? One writer traces their wish back to the emptiness of the gods they already had.
Religion drew them. The gods they worshipped as Gentiles were only "dumb idols," and we can safely assume they were tired of the emptiness of their Greek myths. So they now said they wanted to see Him whose name and fame had spread through the land. Perhaps they expected to find in Him something that would meet their own empty and needy souls.
This says something about Jesus, not only about the men who asked.
This is no small testimony in itself to the glory of the person who stood among them. Israel rejected Him, and the despised Gentile looked for Him. The one refused Him; the other asked after Him. The last is first.
The way they came — outsider, then disciple, then Jesus — matches an old picture of the nations taking hold of a Jew. It also points to a day still ahead.
This surely reminds us of Zechariah 8:23, where we read, "In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.'" The Greeks did not come to Jesus themselves, but through Philip and Andrew. In the same way, when He comes in His glory as the King of Israel, the nations will see that God has blessed His people, and they will go up to worship at Jerusalem. Then His house will truly be a house of prayer for all nations.
His reply looks like it ignores the question. He was looking past these few men to what they stood for, and to the one thing that could bring such people in.
When the Greeks come up to the feast wanting to see Jesus, what does He say? "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." He was going to the cross and to death, yet He says the hour had come for Him to be glorified. How could that be? Jesus sees in the Greeks in front of Him a sample of the ingathering of the Gentiles. He knew well that the only thing that would draw the Gentiles was His own cross and His glory in heaven.
There was a real barrier. They had come to worship, but they stood outside the promises God had made to Israel.
They had come to worship at Jerusalem, yet they were strangers to the covenants of promise. A completely new order of things was needed to bring them in. They had no right to the promises; Jesus must die to lay the foundation for this new order of things.
People still want to see Jesus. There is only one place to look.
If the Gentiles were really to see Jesus, if any of us were to see Jesus, how must we see Him, and where? We must see Him taking up a service that the law did not lay upon Him, a voluntary service of love that made Him the Sufferer. We must see Him lifted up on the cross. Jesus would have been no use to us, He would not have been "JESUS" to us at all, if He had not gone to that cross.
- Asked — The nation that had Him refused Him, while outsiders came looking for Him.
- Relayed — Having no claim on Israel's Messiah, they came through Philip and Andrew, a picture of the nations taking hold of a Jew because God is with him.
- Answered — The Lord looked past the few men to the many they represented, and called that moment the hour of the Son of Man's glory.
- Costly — They were strangers to the covenants of promise; only a new order of things could bring them in, and that meant He must die.
- Seen — Anyone who wants to see Jesus must see Him at the cross; without that cross He would be no use to us at all.
these therefore came to Philip, who was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and they asked him saying, Sir, we desire to see Jesus.
Crowds had just welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as Israel's King. Then a small group of foreigners at the feast asked a disciple for an introduction. Their small ask turned the Lord's words toward His death. It also raises a question: how could anyone outside Israel come to Him at all?
These visitors were not Jews but Gentiles. That is why they came by way of a disciple.
These Greeks were not Greek-speaking Jews. They were Gentiles — people outside Israel. Their desire to see Jesus is what brings in the third great testimony to the glory of Christ as the Son of Man. The Gentile had no claim on Christ as the Messiah. So these Greeks were right to approach the Lord through the Jewish disciples. The Gentile centurion had done the same earlier, sending his request to the Lord through the Jewish elders.
The contrast with the religious leaders at the same feast is sharp.
The request did not come from the Pharisees or the chief priests. They had plenty of chances to see Him and hear Him at that very feast. No, it was the desire of Greeks (Gentiles) who had come to worship there… It is in itself no small testimony to the glory of His person who was among them. Israel rejected Him, but the despised Gentile came looking for Him. The one refused Him; the other asked for Him. The last is first.
The way they came pictures the way the nations will one day come.
The Greeks did not approach Jesus directly. They came through Philip and Andrew. In the same way, when He comes in His glory as the King of Israel, the nations will see that God has blessed His people, and they will go up to worship at Jerusalem. Then His House will truly be a house of prayer for all nations.
Philip did not answer the question himself. He found someone who would take it straight to the Lord.
But what could Philip do? Were not these Greeks outside the boundary? Would the Lord receive them if he brought them to Him? Philip was a puzzled servant that day, because he did not understand. But he goes and tells Andrew, and in that he was wise. He felt that Andrew would find a way out of the problem. And Andrew did, for he brings him straight to the Lord with the difficulty.
We are never told that the Greeks got their meeting. The Lord's answer looked straight past them.
His thoughts turn at once to the hidden meaning of granting such a desire to the Gentiles. It signified His death. Rejected as Israel's Messiah, He would take the wider place of Son of man. As Psalm 8 shows, that title covers a much larger range than the "Anointed" of Psalm 2. But to fill that larger range, He must first die!
The necessity was not a limit on His power but on man's condition.
He Himself was the true grain of wheat that would bear rich fruit. Yet even He could do so only by death and resurrection. This was not, could not be, from any lack of power in Him. It was because of man's condition that it could not righteously be otherwise before God. Only death can meet the evil, or fill the void — and only His death… Living, He must remain alone. Dying, He bears much fruit in the power of His resurrection.
In these few enquirers the Lord saw far more than the men standing in front of Him.
In the Greeks standing before Him, Jesus sees a sample of the gathering in of the Gentiles. The Lord knew well that only one thing could draw the Gentiles: His own cross and His glory in heaven. So He looks through all the scene that lay in between, for He had to accomplish redemption and to go up on high. But from this little sample He connects everything with His glorification, and speaks of it as a present fact.
Ask to see Jesus today, and there is one place to look.
Do you say, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus"? My answer is, Look at the centre cross on Calvary. THIS IS JESUS — the thorn-crowned Nazarene, despised and rejected by men, crucified on a criminal's cross. This is Jesus, and beside Him there is no other.
- Outsiders ask. Gentiles had no claim on Israel's Messiah. Yet they asked what Israel's own leaders never asked at that feast.
- Grace makes room. Philip did not know if he could bring such people to Jesus. Andrew took the problem straight to Him, and that was the wise move.
- Death answers. The Lord replied by speaking of the grain of wheat: living, He must remain alone; dying, He bears much fruit.
- The title widens. Rejected as Messiah, He takes the larger place of Son of man — and only under that title do Gentiles come in.
- The harvest begins. In a handful of enquirers He saw a sample of the nations drawn by the cross, which is where anyone still goes to see Jesus.