Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to John
chapter 12, the chapter that we read, and reading for our
text, verse 23. Verse 23, And Jesus answered
them, saying, The hour is come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. John chapter 12 verse 23. Our
text is an answer. We have in verse 20 certain Greeks
coming up to worship at the Feast of Tabernacles and they come
to Philip and they say to him, Sir, we would see Jesus. So Philip goes and he tells Andrew,
and then Andrew and Philip, they tell Jesus. And this, our text,
is our Lord's response to this desire, sir, we would see Jesus. You know, if we were to ask to see a person, it could be asked, well, in what
light do you want to see them? If it was someone that had a
position, whether in the military, or a policeman, or even a minister,
You might say, do you want to see this person in their suit
and tie, in their office, in their uniform? Do you want to
see them in their work, in their job, in their position, or do
you want to just see them casually? You just want to see the person. There are those of us, perhaps
if we had someone important want to come and see us, we think,
well, we better put on our best show, either spruce ourselves
up a bit and to put ourselves in a good light, especially if
it was someone of importance. So when we have this idea of
one that is asking, sir, we would see Jesus, And to have this thought,
well in what light then is Jesus to be seen in? And the answer
that our Lord gives at this particular time points really to the light
that he would have himself seen in. That is that he should be
glorified in the work that his father gave him to do. And really, in the following
verse, And he's pointing to his own death as a corn of wheat.
We know if we put a corn of wheat as a seed in
the ground, and it grows up, we think of the parable of the
sower with our Lord, and from that one grain can come 30 grains,
or 60 grains, or 100 grains. And the Lord is saying in his
death, then there's going to be much fruit. There's going
to be life through his death. There are going to be those that
are saved from the wrath to come. They're going to be those that
are blessed through his death with life. He's going to be the
firstfruits and there's going to be others that follow. You might say, well, wouldn't
it have been like Herod? He wanted to see our Lord. He'd
heard of him and he wanted to see some miracle done of him. That could have been the other
way, of course. We don't know what the Greeks
had in mind. We're certainly told with Herod.
And in this chapter, there were those that came because of a
very notable miracle that our Lord had done. He'd raised up
Lazarus from the dead after he'd been dead four days. And many
believed on the Lord because of that. But our Lord doesn't
say, well, here are these Greeks wanting to see me, I'll work
another miracle. Well, it was to be a miracle,
but not in that way. Really, the work that the Lord
had done, He had glorified His Father upon the earth. The works
that I do, they testify of me, but they also glorified His Father. He did in his father's name.
The same later on with the apostles. They also were miracles. They never did it to glorify
themselves. They always put the crown on
the head of the Lord Jesus and said that it was through his
name that these that were lame that they could walk and those
miracles were done to glorify the Lord. So our Lord, when he
was on earth, those things that he did glorified his father and
showed that his father in heaven was his father and that he did
those things by his power and by his authority. And so we have the idea of being
glorified and what that actually means and the desire of these
Greeks to see the Lord in what light that he was to be seen. And so our Lord's answer to Andrew
and to Philip, no doubt to be relayed to these Greeks, the
hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. And he says in another place,
and I, if I be lifted up above the earth, will draw all men,
both Jews and Gentiles, unto me. And so we have the idea that
glorification is to reveal, reveal a glory, to show a glory. And as yet, the Lord had certainly
shown the glory of his Father and the power in miracles, but
the Lord did not come, that that should be the end. He says later
to Pilate, to this end was I born. So I want to look with the Lord's
help this evening. Firstly, who shall be glorified? Our Lord doesn't say, there is
come that I should be glorified. He chooses to say that the Son
of Man should be glorified. So our first point, who should
be glorified? The Son of Man. Secondly, how He should be glorified. We've hinted at that already. And then thirdly, when? When
he should be glorified? Our Lord says in our texts, the
hour is come that the Son of Man should be glorified. But firstly, who should be glorified? He uses this title, the Son of
Man, and does it in such a way that then There are those that
are asking these questions and saying, who is this son of man? They have said that they had
heard that he abideth forever. In verse 34, the people answered
him, we have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. How sayest thou the son of man
must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? They
understood that he was speaking of Christ. And like the two on
the way to Emmaus, we trusted that it should have been he that
should have redeemed Israel. It's almost as if they were wondering,
is this the Christ? Is he not the Christ? Why is
he speaking in this way, as an indirect way? but the title he gives himself
is the Son of Man. And it is especially noted as
this is John that is speaking this because one of the emphasis
that John has right through his gospel is that Jesus is the Son
of God. It is the main teaching that
right through, we have at the end of chapter 20, many other
signs, truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which
are not written in this book, but these are written, that he
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing he might have life through his name. So many, they
saw him Jesus of Nazareth, we think of the Apostle Paul, Saul,
Tarsus, that he did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the
Christ and persecuted those that followed him. John's message
is he is the Christ, he is the Son of God. That was the testimony
of the eunuch as well, that Jesus is the Son of God, that is what
he believed. But what our Lord is speaking
now, and He gives Himself the title, the Son of Man. And the emphasis is this, that
here He is, Emmanuel, God with us. The sacrifice that He is
about to make is absolutely vital that He should be man. He needed
to be manifest in the flesh. He needed to be born of a woman
and made under the law. He needed to be in the position
to be able to redeem his people, a real man, and yet truly God. But for one to shed his blood,
for one to offer up this sacrifice, he must do so as the God man. When Jacob wrestled with the
angel, the blessing was given to him because he had wrestled
with God and with man and prevailed. They wrestled a man with him
till the breaking of the day. And so what should be glorified,
the one that should be glorified was the Son of Man. In all the
Lord's life here below, it was a humiliation It was as is set
before us in Paul's epistle to the Philippians, that he, though
he was exalted, though he was with the Father, yet he humbled
himself, became obedient even unto the death of the cross.
Wherefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. And our Lord's humiliation and
humbling to come to this world, it was to culminate in this end
in view, this sacrifice that must be performed by the Son
of God as the Son of Man, as one that was able to die, able
to lay down his life and take it again, one that was sent for
that very purpose. And so who should be glorified? It is the Son of Man. Our Lord, of course, had a glory,
and He spoke of that, that He had with His Father before the
world was. But here is a glory that is to
belong to His manhood, belong to Him as a real man, a man that
was to suffer, a man that was to be obedient, a man that was
to be the firstfruits, Man that was to be a substitute for his
dear people. Have we been like these Greeks
and desired to see Jesus? How have we seen him? Have we
viewed him as the son of man? Viewed him in this world? and yet the creator
and former of it. Now John begins this gospel and
he speaks of the coming of the Lord in this way, all things
were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. In him was life and the life
was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness comprehended it not. He was in the world, and
the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. The Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. And here is God manifest in the
flesh. Manifest as the son of man, born
of a woman, made under the law, in a position to offer up the
sacrifice that he is to do. So up to this time, he glorified
his father in the miracles that he did as a man. They wondered
at it, how could this man do such miracles. When he gave sight
in the ninth chapter of John to, as you recorded there, to
the man that had been born blind, and they said that how could
this man, if he were not of God, how could he do these miracles
if God was not with him? Those things that he did, he
did to show who he was and the authority that he had. from heaven. The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, may we truly view him as he is, the Son of Man, the
Son of God, and we view him here on the threshold of being glorified
as the Son of Man. So I want to look then secondly
at how he should be glorified. I want to refer you back to the
prophet Isaiah. Certainly in this passage here,
the quotations from Isaiah, they refer to Isaiah chapter 53. And in that chapter, we have
a very vivid description of the sufferings of our Lord some 700
years before they happened, came to pass, and yet very clearly
told that he was taken from prison and from judgment, who shall
declare his generation of my people was he stricken.
He made his grave with the wicked and with the rich, and because
he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth."
And remember, he was hung on the cross between two thieves,
with the wicked, and he was buried in the tomb of the rich man,
Joseph of Arimathea. And we have further there, that
it pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief,
when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. he shall
see his seed, he shall see his people, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. The work of our Lord is so clearly
set forth here in Isaiah 53, and it was this portion that
the eunuch was reading, and it was so blessed through the preaching
of Philip. But it is in the In Isaiah 53
we have in the verse 13 and 14, Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Now that is speaking of him being
glorified, exalted, extolled and be very high. But how was
he to be that? as many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred more
than any man, any man, and his form more than the sons of men.
The emphasis is on his being a man and the sufferings that
he was to endure as a man and that is how he was to be extolled
and made very high and glorified was through his sufferings. We would think it a strange thing
that that should be so but It is in this way, I believe it
was this way that our Lord spoke to Peter when he told Peter of
the death that he was to die. In John 21 verse 18, When thou
wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest.
But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands,
and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest
not. This spake he signifying by what
death he should glorify God. And what he was saying is Peter
would die as a martyr and glorify God in dying, not as he did before,
denying that he ever knew the Lord, but in rather than denying
his name, yet to be put to death for his name. But Peter never
redeemed any by his death, but our Lord Jesus Christ was by
His death to glorify God and to be glorified Himself as the
Saviour, as the Redeemer, to be given the crown put upon His
head, signified even with His name. His name shall be called
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. It is a glory, a crown, that
none other shall wear. The only sacrifice made to put
away sin was made by our Lord, was made at Calvary, and none,
no minister, no other man ever has that crown placed upon his
head as being the saviour, as being the one that put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself, who bore the wrath of God in
the place of all the people of God, the crown of salvation,
the crown of redemption, that crown belongs to the Lord and
he alone is glorified in that. When he rose from the dead, he
showed himself to his disciples and he showed his hands and he
showed his feet. When they were terrified, thinking
he was a spirit, he said that a spirit had not flesh and bones
as ye see me have. and he ate before them, showing
that he was a real man, a real man risen from the dead and he
had glorified God and glorified his Father and he himself was
glorified in that which he had done. That crown of glory is
upon the head of the Lord. And so, how he should be glorified,
was really in a, as viewed by the disciples, as viewed by those
in Jerusalem, you saw dear man that was condemned by the authorities,
that was condemned by really a lynch mob of the Sanhedrin,
that was whipped till his back was torn, and then to carry his
own cross, the mile and a half or so out of Calvary, to be mocked,
to be jeered, to be laughed at, to be ridiculed even at first
by both of the thieves crucified with him. Later, one of those,
their eyes opened to see who he was and to be saved through
him. But looking on that scene, Would
it be a scene that one would think, here is one being glorified,
lifted up? What a different scene than maybe
you'd think with Haman bringing Mordecai throughout the streets,
saying, thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth
to honour, arrayed in wonderful robes. Well, we know, I mean,
this account here was as near as we could come to that, as
it were, leading up to it. This is Palm Sunday and this
is the six days before the Lord was to suffer. It answered to
the time four days before the Passover. The lamb had to be
sought out, spotless, pure lamb, and put aside and kept for four
days and then offered up at the Passover, and so our Lord, he
comes to Jerusalem as that lamb, as set forth in Isaiah 53, as
a lamb, before her shearers is done, so openeth he not his mouth. And the Lord then is that lamb
that is led to the slaughter. And wonderful that we read of
this here on the next day in verse 12. Next day, much people
were come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was
coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, went forth to
meet him, cried, Hosanna, blessed is the King of Israel, that cometh
in the name of the Lord. And that was fulfilling the scripture.
These things understood not his disciples at the first, but when
Jesus was glorified. This was not Jesus glorified. In our esteem, it would be. They're
all praising him. In another place, when the Lord
was rebuked, Lord, tell these to hold their peace. He said,
if these should hold their peace, the very stones would cry out.
But this is not the time when he is to be glorified. This is
not his hour of triumph and glory. It is to be in the cross. And
when we look at visually what we've seen the greater glory
coming in with the mall singing Hosanna and with the palm trees
and the garments in the way and him riding on the ass or in agony
upon the cross and bruised and torn and nailed and with a crown
of thorns and the jeering people and all his disciples forsaking
him and fleeing from him. And then his father hiding his
face from him and the wrath of God falling upon him. And yet that was the way that
he was glorifying his father. That's the way that he was glorifying. And really we may say this, this
is the way that he is glorified now in a gospel day. Well I want to then look at our
third point, when. When he should be glorified. The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. If we're thinking of it as the
time that he should be taken, crucified and slain, there was
many other times that the Jews tried to take him, they tried
to cast him down from the brow of the hill, and he went forth
through the midst of them. And he said that his hour was
not yet come. But now it is, the hour is come. Throughout three years of ministry,
he'd had years of popularity, years now of when they were seeking,
or the last six months especially, when they were seeking to slay
him. But they could not take his life
away from him until that appointed time and appointed hour. It was
the same when his coming was into this world 4,000 years before,
in the Garden of Eden, the fall of man, the promised seed of
the woman that should bruise the serpent's head was given.
And the church had to wait those 4,000 years to that fullness
of time, when the fullness of time was come, that he should
come forth from the Father, that he should come to this world. That time was set and appointed
by God, and now this time, the time that the Lord was on earth,
was set and appointed, and now the hour is come. settled from
all eternity, appointed by God, told by the apostles, he who
was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken them by wicked hands, crucified and slain. In our text, there's a setting
forth of the clear order of God, the Lord in control, in salvation,
Our times were in his hand, his own times were in his own hand,
and man could not do what they wanted to do until his set time
came. And so this hour, this time,
when the Lord suffered at Calvary, in the whole history of the world,
the history of the Church, there's only that one time, there's no
other time, when Christ was suffered, no other time that sin was put
away, no other time that was when the Lord was glorified in
saving his people from their sins, putting away the sins of
his people. If your sins are mine put away,
if they are blotted out, they were blotted out there at Calvary. the great fulfilment of the Passover,
when I see the blood, I will pass over you. The blood in that
Passover lamb, it was the means of preserving those that were
sheltering in those houses from certain death. And so with the
Lord Jesus Christ, he is the Passover lamb, and this time,
was the time that it should be slain. What a sacred time, and the Lord
said that with desire of desire to eat this Passover with you
before I suffer. The Jews were very diligent,
they were wanting to attend to that feast and to have that Passover,
little realising that all they were doing was showing forth
the type and the shadow, but right in their midst was the
true Paschal Lamb. This was He that was pointed
to over all those years, and those that walked by faith right
through the Old Testament all looked to this time, that the
Son of God should come. Solomon, when he dedicated the
temple, which was a type of Christ, his self, he said that heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that
I have built, but will God in very deed dwell upon the earth. And God did dwell upon the earth
in our Lord Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man. If thou hast
seen me, thou hast seen my Father also. And this then, is the hour
and is the time for the sacrifice, the offering to be made. The hour is come. So it points to Calvary. It points
to Christ's death and rising again. I want to look at this
in the way of a gospel day as well. The hour has come that
the Son of Man should be glorified. If we are saying that the Lord
Jesus is glorified in his sufferings and crucifixion, then it is no
wonder that the Apostle Paul, when he preaches, says, I determine
to know nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him. Crucified, not just Jesus Christ,
but him crucified, because that is his glory. And our Lord said,
that I, if I be lifted up above the earth will draw all men unto
me. He was lifted up upon the accursed
tree. He was signifying the death,
he should die, but he is also lifted up on the pole of the
everlasting gospel. You remember with Moses in the
wilderness when the people had sinned and he was commanded to
raise up a brazen serpent, brass, a type of sin, and the Lord made
sin for us. And those that looked on that
brazen serpent, they were healed of the venom from the serpents
that were biting them. And our Lord says in John 3,
that even as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but should have eternal life. And
so in the preaching of the Gospel, we lift up, we extol, we glorify
the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach Him crucified. We preach
him as the only name given among men, whereby we must be saved. He is also lifted up in the ordinances
of the house of God. In believers' baptism, there's
a being buried with him in baptism and rising again in newness of
life. Our Lord instituted baptism. Then we have also the Lord's
Supper. Following on from the Passover,
the Lord instituted the Lord's Supper. This do in remembrance
of me, as oft as ye do eat this bread and drink this cup, ye
do show forth the Lord's death till he come. And the emphasis
again in the Church of God is glorifying the Lord, it's showing
forth his death, preaching Christ crucified. That is the life of
the people of God, is to see one suffering in their stead,
to see the wrath of God extinguished. His sacrifice is a propitiation,
a wrath-ending sacrifice, and it's for a poor sinner to see
this. And we bring it before those
of you that may feel your sin, those that you've grown underneath
the burden of it, those who feel how vile, how black you are. and how sin works in your thoughts,
affections, in your words, in your works, in your ways. Who
shall deliver me from this body of death? The apostle said, he
said, when I would do good, evil is present with thee. And you
may feel that. And the people of God do when
the Lord shows them what they really are. But if the Lord has
shown us our sin, he's shown you what a sinner you are. than
we have in the Gospel, showing the Lord Jesus Christ made sin
for us, who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness
of God in him. He is as the substitute for his
people, like when Abraham was commanded to offer up Isaac,
at the last moment the Lord stayed his hand and showed him a ram,
caught in the thicket by his horns, and that was offered up
in the stead of his Son. The Lord Jesus Christ is offered
in the stead of his people. It is Jesus in the sinner's place. And that is what we see in the
Gospel, and that is what we lift up. The hope of the people of
God is the mercy that flows to sinners that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but should have eternal life. So
the hour is come. This is a gospel day. We may say this evening hour,
as we preach the word, the hour is come. But the day of grace,
the time from Christ of first coming to his second coming,
is the hour that the Son of God is glorified in the preaching
of the Word. He is glorified as he is lifted
up before sinners so that he is believed on and trusted in
and that life is given through his dear name. So there's another
hour that has come. and that is in the lives, the
individual lives of his people. Every one of us born in sin and
shapen in iniquity, but there is a set time to glorify the
people of God, a set time to save them, to call them by grace,
to quicken them into eternal life so that the Son of Man shall
be glorified. The hour has come, and you might
this evening, as a seeker, as one that desires salvation, you
say, but is the hour come? Am I saved? Am I one of God's
children? Has the Lord blessed me? Is the
Son of Man glorified before you? Is He? Unto you which believe,
He is precious. In Isaiah 53, and it's referred
to here, that he is as a root out of dry ground, there's no
form or comeliness that we should desire him. In verse 38, Isaiah
says, who hath believed our report? To whom hath the arm of the Lord
been revealed? The sovereign, blinding, of the
eyes of the unbelievers and those in a natural state and under
the curse of the law, but the wonderful opening of the eyes
spiritually to see the Lord, to see His glory, to have the
Son of Man glorified before a sinner, then we know the hour has come.
Then we know the hour has come. Yes, it may be that the soul
has been quickened into life many months before, and under
that life they feel their sinnership, they feel the curse of a broken
law, they feel their need of the Saviour. But then comes the
time, the hour has come, that instead of Moses, the law came
by Moses, grace and truth by Jesus Christ, that the Son of
Man is glorified, and that it is a blessed time for a child
of God to realise the preciousness and loveliness of Christ. It
softens the heart, it breaks the heart to see the love of
Christ. God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is the greater love, and
no man than this, than a man, lay down his life for his friends. And when this is shown to a sinner,
when they see that, that hour has come, that is the blessing
of the Lord. The Lord is glorified as he never
will be in any other way before a sinner, to see my Jesus crucified. By far excels all things beside. It is there that the Lord is
glorified in the hearts of His people. There He is precious,
there He is lovely, because it's what He has done for them in
redeeming them, in saving them, in shedding His precious blood
for them. And you know there are many times
for the people of God, it can be said the hour has come. Maybe
you've gone a long while and you miss your Lord, you feel
so far off, so hard, so cold. Will the Lord visit again? Will
the Lord come again? You know, when the Lord rose
from the dead, we read of many visits, sovereign visits of the
Lord for his dear people. And each time that the Hours
come, then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord,
how precious. They saw Him not only crucified
but risen from the dead. The debt paid, the joy to see
the empty tomb and a risen Saviour. May we know much of those precious
visits from our once crucified but now risen and exalted Saviour. But you know there's another
hour coming. The gainer is a set hour. The
Lord says in John 14 that in his father's house there are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and
receive you unto myself that where I am, thee may be also. That hour is also set. and there
will come a time with each one of his dear people that they
know that that hour has come. And the Son of Man should be
glorified in taking to himself the purchase of his precious
blood. He says in John 17, Father, I
will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am
that they may behold my glory. And that's not just the glory
in heaven it is in heaven but in heaven he is as a lamb that
has been slain he is there exalted in glory after he has wrought
the salvation of all his dear people here below that multitude
is so say behold i and the children whom thou has given me there
is his glory here is all of thee All of those grains, he says
in here, that if a corn of wheat fall into the ground, it abideth
alone, but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. And in heaven,
there's innumerable multitude. Here is the fruit. Here is the
purchase of my pains. Here is the redeemed multitude
with me. There is the glory of Emmanuel. the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. May we look forward to that time.
May we live here below as those that really value that inheritance,
the Lord who is our inheritance, the heaven that he has prepared,
the mansions he's prepared. May we often meditate and think
upon what the Lord has prepared for us, though he cannot enter
into the heart of man what he hath done, but that we believe
that it is and that it shall more than recompense all of the
pains and the sorrows and the griefs that we may know and feel
here below. May we value that crown that
the Lord has given us and shall give us and that we shall cast
before him and that we shall see him in all his glory, that
hour is coming, it will come. We've seen it come to dear brethren
that we've walked before here below and loved them. And that
hour will come to us as well. The hour is come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. The Lord will not be glorified
if one of his blood-born children are not brought safe to heaven.
Each one is a jewel in his crown. It is that day when he makes
up his jewels and that shall be his glory. May we be part
of that crown, part of that glory, part of what the Lord has done
on earth, that he might have a people with him and to all
eternity, redeemed, saved, washed in his precious blood. The hour has come that the Son
of Man should be glorified. May the Lord grant us a part.