JESUS, THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A MINISTRY
(John 12:20-36)
By Lay Pastor Budy Avianto Lemah Putro, Sunday, August 2, 2020
Shalom,
Although our service and worship should be held online nowadays, we must be assured that God is Spirit and He is omnipresent. Our life opportunities should be best used for serving the Lord despite the current situation. But let’s have a clear direction in our ‘busy’ ministries. Hence, the Bible gives us a clear direction to whom we shall take the perfect example of a ministry from. And who does the Bible refer to? John 12:20-23 wrote, “Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.”
JESUS IS THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A MINISTRY
Reading the verses above, it seems that Jesus’ response was not correlated to Phillip’s and Andrew’s information. Was Jesus wrong? Surely He wasn’t! Jesus – the Word – is perfect. What examples can we learn from His answer?
At that moment Jesus was heading to Jerusalem for the Passover and many people were following Him after He performed some miracles: water turned to wine in Cana wedding, the healing of the son of a certain nobleman, the feeding of five thousand people with five loaves and two fish, Jesus’ walking on water, the healing of a born-blind man, the resurrection of Lazarus from death, and so on. So many people were following Him that the Pharisees said, “... the world has gone after Him” (John 12:19).
Some of the followers were non-Jewish people. They wanted to meet Jesus but since they couldn’t, they asked the disciples to help them.
Introspection: What about us? Do we still have the desire to meet Jesus personally? Surely we can’t see Him directly at the moment, but He is the word that we read and hear every single day. The more we read the Bible, the more we desire to know Him deeper.
Who was Jesus that came to this world? John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”….“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us” (v.14). “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world” (v.9). “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him” (v.11). Who rejected Him? The Israelites, His own firstborn (Exodus 4:22) who were even considered as God’s lover because of their ancestors (Romans 11:28).
Thanks to the Israelites’ (God’s own people) rejection, that those who accept Him (believe in His name), now have been given the right to be the children of God (John 1:2). Originally Jesus came to the world not to seek us for we were not His firstborn nor His lover. We were gentiles, without Christ, without hope and without God, so we did not have the right to partake in His promise (Ephesians 2:12). However, we who were afar, are now near by the blood of Christ (v.13). How is this possible? The Apostle Paul told us a secret: some of the Israelites refused to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, and they even crucified Him; consequently, God turned to save the gentiles to spark the jealousy on the Israelites’ side because God still loves and is faithful to them (Romans 11:25-36,11).
Thus, Jesus’ answer, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified” toward Philip’s and Andrew’s message about the Greeks (non-Jews) coming to see Him, is not wrong. In His prayer to His Father, He said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You” (John 17:1).
What was Jesus’ mission as the messenger of God? He was given the power over all living things and He shall give eternal life to those who recognize God as the One and only God and believe in Him who was sent by His Father (v.2-3). Doesn’t God so love the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)?
As a messenger of God, He came to this world to introduce His Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. He also introduced Himself not to boast about His power, but to carry out His mission to the end (John 17:4) by dying on the cross. Jesus knew exactly that when other nations (including the Greeks) believed in and received Him, then His mission was accomplished (v.5).
We should be really careful not to use the opportunity for the fame of ourselves though God uses us as His instrument for it is not the example that Jesus had shown.
When was Jesus glorified? It was upon the cross when He said, “it is finished’” (John 19:30). What happened after He gave up as the accomplishment of His mission on earth? He bore the sins of the Jews by whom He was crucified and asked the Father to forgive them (Luke 23:24). His disciples who were dear to Him, left Him alone. Peter denied Him. Judas Iscariot betrayed Him, then committed suicide afterwards. But the chief centurion, a non-Jew, glorified God and believed that Jesus was a righteous man (v.46-47).
Another example that Jesus gave us is that we should not retaliate but forgive those who hurt us instead.
What did Jesus do after He rose from the dead? He came to His disciples who were gathering and fearful of the Jews and He gave them peace (John 20:19). Jesus’ saying, “... unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24-25) was proven by His death that bore a lot of fruit. He commanded Peter to feed His sheep. Peter felt sorry for his denial and Jesus gave him new strength to suffer (even to die) in glorifying God (John 21:18-19). Peter continued his ministry by following the example of his Teacher who had served perfectly until He was glorified.
THE PERFECT MINISTRY OF JESUS IS AN EXAMPLE FOR THE DISCIPLES
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:26-27).
Jesus accomplished His mission and ministry as an example for His disciples and us. During His three- and-a-half-year ministry, He recruited all His disciples, foreknowing their fleshly weakness. He wanted His ministry to become an example for them. Therefore before His death, He told them: “where I am, there my servant will be also”. In other words, the disciples could not serve by their own will, rather according to what He had shown. And that also applies to us.
History tells us that after Jesus was glorified and returned to heaven, the disciples were no longer afraid and they boldly evangelized though it cost their lives as martyrs.
What about our ministry in this difficult situation? Are we growing weaker and living in fear because our daily activities as well as church activities are limited because of Covid19?
Jesus loves us and even died to bear the sins of mankind. He requires that we have the mind and feeling like Him (Philippians 2:5). To prove His love, He emptied Himself and became a servant for us (v.7). Though He was a sinless man, He also experienced fear, sadness, anger, hunger and so on. But He obeyed the Father who sent Him to save the people who love Him. Because of His obedience, “... God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord ...” (v.9-11).
Jesus left the example of obedience to us, and He longed that we have the same mind and feeling as His in our ministry. When the Mother of James and John asked Him that her sons might seat at the right and the left side of His throne, it sparked anger among the other ten disciples (Mark 10:35-37,41). Jesus answered, “... but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant ... For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve ...” (v.43-45).
It is normal for someone to have a desire for a high position, but the Kingdom of Heaven’s system is different. Jesus had accomplished His ministry and it was succeeded by His disciples and now by us, with this formula: died as a seed to bear fruit for glory.
On their journey of following Jesus, the disciples witnessed how Jesus had performed many miracles and introduced His Father through His teaching. Jesus started His ministry by being baptized in Jordan river and His disciples followed Him thereafter to Galilee, Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. After He prayed in Gethsemane, He was arrested and ended up being crucified and died on Golgotha.
Right before Jesus was ascended to heaven, He told His disciples to be His witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the world (Acts 1:8). He sent them to continue His ministry and the Holy Spirit He had poured on them spurred their zeal to militantly preach about the Kingdom of God and introduce its owner as the one true God (Acts 2:1-4). Thanks to the missionaries who came to Indonesia bringing the gospel, now we – the non-Jews – are able to read the Bible and listen to the word of God. As a servant, we also should take His perfect example and have the desire to meet and know Jesus more closely by eagerly reading the Bible.
Having been saved by the the blood of Christ and equiped with His word and the Holy Spirit sent by the Father to become our helper and comforter (John 14:26), we are to continue Jesus’ ministry by taking His example as the guidance. Our ministry should start at Jerusalem (means peace) that is to bring the good tidings to those closest to us: our family and relatives who haven’t known Jesus so that by accepting Jesus they can be saved. From there, we can enlarge the circle to our neighbors and friends. We should not be selfish and content with our own salvation.
Let’s continue the ministry pioneered by Jesus and let’s follow His steps by willingly being marked with humility, obedience, faithfulness, responsibility and boldness to suffer for Him so that in the end we can be counted as a faithful servant and worthy to partake in the joy of the Master (Matthew 25:21- 23,29). Don’t be afraid to continue the mission of evangelism especially in bad situation for we are not alone. Jesus Christ is our defender and we will be more than conqueror (Romans 8:31-39). Amen.
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