<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>John 12;20-23<div><br></div><div><b>20. &nbsp;Now among those who went&nbsp;up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.</b></div><div><b>21. &nbsp;So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-saida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”</b></div><div><b>22. &nbsp;Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.</b></div><div><b>23. &nbsp;And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified…</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Our Lord was filled with his Father’s love for the entire world, not just the Jews, (the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as he called them). &nbsp;He certainly cared for Gentiles, (remember the Canaanite woman with the severely possessed daughter. Matthew 15;21-28). (Philip, likely had a Gentile father.&nbsp;&nbsp;He&nbsp;may have been recognized as having an openness&nbsp;toward&nbsp;Gentles, therefore the Greeks chose to approach him.)</div><div><br></div><div>The reason why Jesus did not say to Philip and Andrew, “Wonderful! &nbsp;Bring those Greek converts to Judaism over to me, I would love to meet them” &nbsp;is found in the&nbsp;‘<i>wish’ </i>of the Greeks. &nbsp;They desired to “<i>see Jesus”, </i>Jesus knew the world would never see&nbsp;(know)&nbsp;him aright, unless it saw Jesus on the cross, displaying the Father’s love by his bloody&nbsp;suffering and death, and three days later his astounding resurrection.</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Jesus’ reply makes perfect sense, in essence he was saying, “If you want to know me, watch me die for you.” &nbsp;Jesus was focused on obeying&nbsp;the will of our Father, all good things come to us&nbsp;from his sacrificial&nbsp;obedience.</div><div><br></div><div>I also&nbsp;especially love Jesus’ reply to his disciples,&nbsp;because it teaches us that the glory of God, (<i>“the hour for the Son of man to be glorified”)&nbsp;</i>&nbsp;begin in the hours of darkness as Jesus hung upon the cross. &nbsp;Glory has it’s birth in dark,<span>&nbsp;death defying,&nbsp;</span><span>sacrificial love. &nbsp;That is why so many Congressional Medals of Honor (CMH)&nbsp;</span><span>are awarded posthumously. &nbsp;The full shining&nbsp;glory of God is indeed likened to that seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, but always remember, his radiant splendor was revealed to Peter, James, and John, as he talked with Moses and Elijah about his impending death to be accomplished in Jerusalem.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Thank you merciful Father for the love which constrained Jesus, ever driving him forward to the dark hours of the cross for us, (they were indeed glorious).&nbsp;Bless us all to not be distracted from our own obedience,&nbsp;being living sacrifices consecrated to your glory, displaying your love to a world still in darkness. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day,&nbsp;progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</span></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br><br><a href="https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>


John 12;20-23
20.  Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.21.  So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-saida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”22.  Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.23.  And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified…
Our Lord was filled with his Father’s love for the entire world, not just the Jews, (the lost sheep of the house of Israel, as he called them).  He certainly cared for Gentiles, (remember the Canaanite woman with the severely possessed daughter. Matthew 15;21-28). (Philip, likely had a Gentile father.  He may have been recognized as having an openness toward Gentles, therefore the Greeks chose to approach him.)
The reason why Jesus did not say to Philip and Andrew, “Wonderful!  Bring those Greek converts to Judaism over to me, I would love to meet them”  is found in the ‘wish’ of the Greeks.  They desired to “see Jesus”, Jesus knew the world would never see (know) him aright, unless it saw Jesus on the cross, displaying the Father’s love by his bloody suffering and death, and three days later his astounding resurrection.
 Jesus’ reply makes perfect sense, in essence he was saying, “If you want to know me, watch me die for you.”  Jesus was focused on obeying the will of our Father, all good things come to us from his sacrificial obedience.
I also especially love Jesus’ reply to his disciples, because it teaches us that the glory of God, (“the hour for the Son of man to be glorified”)  begin in the hours of darkness as Jesus hung upon the cross.  Glory has it’s birth in dark, death defying, sacrificial love.  That is why so many Congressional Medals of Honor (CMH) are awarded posthumously.  The full shining glory of God is indeed likened to that seen on the Mount of Transfiguration, but always remember, his radiant splendor was revealed to Peter, James, and John, as he talked with Moses and Elijah about his impending death to be accomplished in Jerusalem.
Prayer:  Thank you merciful Father for the love which constrained Jesus, ever driving him forward to the dark hours of the cross for us, (they were indeed glorious). Bless us all to not be distracted from our own obedience, being living sacrifices consecrated to your glory, displaying your love to a world still in darkness.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”



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