Being a Disciple Means Being with the Master

Well, this morning we're going to be continuing our look at the theme of discipleship. You may remember that last week, we looked at some of the very strong statements that Jesus made in Luke 9 about what it costs to follow Jesus, that we are to deny ourselves, that we are to take up the cross daily. And this morning, we're going to be looking at John's version of that account. John's version of that moment of Luke 9. It's actually in Luke 12, in John 12.

But it's got a very Johannine theme. It's actually a technical term, Johannine. But we'll get to that soon. Before we do that, I just want to tell you a little story. One of my first experiences of sharing the gospel was when I had just come out of school.

I had just left school, and I had taken up a job as a part-time labourer doing just, you know, that really drudgery type work where you're digging trenches and you're literally building things by your blood, sweat, and tears. And we were busy building a big factory, a foam factory in the Wacol area, west of Brisbane. One day, I was asked to help out one of the permanent staff. His name was Brad, and he was a boilermaker, a really good welder, and we were asked to build cages which this foam would be loaded into. And so we spent, I don't know how many days, welding together huge cages. Now, you can imagine that it wasn't particularly stimulating, especially after the first two or three were built.

So I took the opportunity to ask him about all things spiritual. And I asked later what he thought of Jesus Christ. I was surprised by how open he was about the whole thing, and he was very keen to share his philosophies and so on, the philosophies of a boilermaker. But at one point when I sort of came to really push him on the issue of Jesus Christ and his lordship, he just couldn't take that leap of faith. He just couldn't make that decision.

And he gave the ultimatum. He said, for him to believe, Jesus would have to come to him and show himself. He would have to see Jesus to believe. No Jesus, no faith.

That was the ultimatum. Have you ever heard that when talking with someone? I've heard it a few times actually. After that, I would believe if I was able to see Jesus. If I was able to know that He was real, that He was fair dinkum, I would believe.

If God was able to give me a sign right here, right now, I would believe. Perhaps you've wished that yourself in those moments of doubt where you've questioned the existence of Jesus Christ, where you wish that He may have given you a sign or shown Himself to you somehow. How can we experience Jesus today? How can we know His realness? How can we see Jesus today?

Well, this morning we come to that question on the lips of some people in Jesus' time who came to Him and wanted to see Him. We're going to have a look at John 12, if you have your Bibles with you. And like I said before, this is John's account of that moment where Jesus explained the cost of following Him. John 12, and we're going to start reading from verse 20. Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the feast.

They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. Sir, they said, we would like to see Jesus. Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. And then Jesus replied, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.

Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No. It was for this very reason 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 that were there heard it and said it had thundered. Others said an angel had spoken to Him. Okay. So far the reading.

So we see Jesus in John chapter 12 having just entered Jerusalem after the triumphal entry. Remember that? When He was on the donkey and people were putting down palm fronds and laying down their clothes for Jesus to walk on, and there were hundreds of people cheering Jesus on as He came into the city, thinking that He was going to come and establish a new world order. He was going to conquer the Romans, drive them out of the holy city of Jerusalem. This was a week before Jesus' crucifixion.

And so this is where Jesus' fame was at its peak, at its absolute peak. His fame was good. It was a fame that people were attracted to. And people were shouting. We can see that in earlier in chapter 12, you know, Jesus coming in. Hosanna.

We just sung that as well. Save us, Lord. Now is the time for salvation. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

Just imagine the commotion. Just imagine. And so it's in this, maybe only a few minutes or hours after Jesus came into the town of Jerusalem. And it says there in verse 20, there were some Greeks among those who had gone up to worship at the feast. It means the Passover. You'll remember that the night before Jesus was crucified, they were celebrating the Passover.

So these were Bible-believing Greeks who didn't become full Jews by being circumcised. They were God fearers. And they had gone to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to celebrate the Passover. So these Greeks are intrigued and interested by what Jesus had been saying, what Jesus had been teaching. He talks about the kingdom of God and what that's going to look like.

And so they come up to one of Jesus' disciples, Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee. Now, that's an interesting thing to mention, but it means that he was very Greek. He probably spoke Greek really well. Being from Galilee was more gentile than sort of the hub, which was Jerusalem, which would have been Aramaic or Hebrew. So they come up to Philip, they start speaking to him in Greek, obviously, and they say, we would like to see this Jesus.

And Philip goes to Andrew, and Andrew and Philip in turn go to tell Jesus. They say, Jesus, these men, these people, these Greeks want to see You. Now, we're just going to put a pause on here quickly. When John uses this word see in the Greek, it means much more for him than just perceiving with the eyes. When John uses this, he uses it with a very special significance.

It's much more than that. It's actually a spiritual seeing as well. And that's how it can be translated a few times and we'll talk about that a little bit later. So these Greeks didn't want to just see Him and go, oh, that's the Hebrew-looking guy, the Jewish guy, Jesus. They wanted to experience Him as well.

They wanted to perceive what He is about. They wanted to witness Jesus. And so Andrew and Philip, they go to Jesus, and Jesus gives an answer which is completely not related, almost it seems, to that question. They ask, we would like to see Jesus, and then Jesus says, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. And He gives this whole talk about how someone needs to give up their life to be with Jesus, and how people have to follow Him to be with Him.

That seems pretty logical. Follow someone and you'll be with them. So Jesus starts. He says, first of all, a kernel of seed or a kernel of wheat, sorry, must fall to the ground and die for it to become many seeds. Again, in our NRV translation, we've got a little bit of inconsistency here, and I just want to point that out.

In verse 24, it says that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. That in fact is not correct. That should say it produces many fruits. I don't understand why they have translated it that way because it says kapos, which is fruit.

There's no reason for it to be called seed because seed is a completely different Greek name that is sperma. In other words, Jesus says, unless a seed dies, it won't produce many fruit. And Jesus is saying here and predicting His death. Jesus says, unless I die, there won't be a lot of fruit to come. In our understanding oftentimes of theology, we think of fruit as being those virtues that Paul spoke about.

Right? That the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, and all that sort of stuff. That's Paul's usage of fruit. However, when we come to John, when he talks about fruit, he means disciples. When John talks about bearing fruit, bringing in a harvest of fruit, it means disciples.

Unless Jesus dies, there won't be any fruit. There won't be any disciples. Unless Jesus dies, the explosion of Christianity was never going to take place. Jesus must die and ascend, He says, for the explosion of Christianity to happen and many believers to be born. So let's remember that aspect of fruit and discipleship.

The second thing that Jesus says is He gives the paradox of discipleship. The paradox of what it means to follow Him. Love your life and you lose it. Lose your life for Jesus and you find it. Love your life, you lose it.

Lose your life, you find it. You can gain stuff. You can gain possessions, you can gain wealth, you can gain knowledge, friends, family, status, a great job. But in order to find Jesus, you will have to forego stuff. You will have to avoid stuff.

You will have to put Him first when stuff wants to take priority. In Him, Jesus says, you will find eternal life. Only a few chapters later, Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. In Jesus, you will find this life that He is talking about. And then the third statement Jesus makes in verse 26, which is my all-time favourite verse in the Bible.

And it's so uncommon. No one, you know how people have life verses? This is my life verse, but it's a weird one. I'm a hipster, so I'm allowed to be different. Jesus says, whoever serves me must follow me and where I am, my servant also will be.

Again, that makes sense. If you follow someone, you're going to be with them. But there's a significance here that Jesus is trying to point out. Losing your life and following Jesus means you'll be serving and being where Jesus is. You'll be serving and you will be where Jesus is.

But the question is, Jesus is going to die a week later. Jesus is going to ascend. He must ascend for the explosion of Christianity to happen, for fruit to be born. So how can we be with Jesus when He's gone? What does this mean?

Jesus is only going to be around for another week. John is trying to say here that this goes and extends beyond the disciples then. This is a spiritual truth that spans the entire human history from that time onwards. Jesus infers His ongoing presence through the mission of the church, by the empowering presence of the Spirit. For the Gospel of John, this is the statement.

Discipleship of Jesus is in the mission field. Discipleship of Jesus is doing what Jesus was doing. So the apostle John's purpose for John 12:20 to 29 is to answer the question of the reader, the Christians who came after Jesus. How do I see Jesus? He's not around anymore.

It's thirty, forty, fifty years after Jesus. How do I follow Him? How can I find intimacy with Him? How can I find communion with Him? How do I know that this question on the lips of the Greeks are meant for us?

We flip to John 20, just quickly. John 20 verse 28 and 29. You'll remember the story. It's doubting Thomas, struggling with this Jesus that everyone says is around, but he hasn't seen Jesus. It's doubting Brad right here.

I haven't seen Him. And I will believe if I touch Him. Jesus shows him His hands and His feet. Verse 28 of chapter 20, Thomas said to Him, My Lord and my God, and he worships Jesus. Then Jesus told him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed.

But blessed are those who have not seen and have yet believed. This is a statement that John writes of Jesus for the comfort and the assurance of believers. How do I know that the question on the Greeks' lips are meant to symbolise the question of us as readers? Because Jesus speaks of another time of seeing and believing that is blessed, or believing despite seeing. Jesus is talking about us.

Jesus gave the Greeks who asked a question. We want to see Jesus, an answer that didn't fit the question. Follow me, He says. Do what I do and you will be with me. You will know me.

You will have communion with me. This is a spiritual statement that Jesus is making. Jesus knew that these Greeks wanted more than to see Him. They wanted to experience Him. They wanted to witness Him.

They wanted to taste His presence. They were intrigued by Him. And the question is, can we see Jesus? Can we be with Jesus? Jesus says, yes, but this is how.

This is how. True communion with me, Jesus says, is found in the mission field where I am busy. Anything else, Jesus says, will be disappointing. Anything else will be further away from me. What is a disciple's greatest desire?

It's to be with their master. What is the greatest desire of a disciple but to be with their master? Intimacy, unity, relationship. So where are we closest to Jesus? Being where He is most actively at work.

Do you want to be exhilarated by His power? Do you want to be thrilled by His presence? If you want to cast off the lethargy of your faith. If you want to be absolutely overwhelmed by His grace, astounded by it, Jesus says, be present where I am active. If you are tired of your discipleship being forced, being guilt ridden, being unfulfilling, if you desire to see the majesty and the power of God come through magnificently in and around you, then be at the coalface of the Gospel's advance and you will see it.

If we are able to think back on those times where we have sensed and we have tasted God's power and Jesus' closeness at its most profound, then I, speaking for myself, have to think back on times where I've been able to share the Gospel with someone and see them accept Jesus Christ for the first time. The most exhilarating experience. It has been where I've been able to pray for people and I've been able to hear that lives have been changed, that people have been healed or whatever. That is the most exhilarating experience of following Jesus. That, I believe, is the closest experience.

If you doubt that the Holy Spirit can work through you, if you doubt that the miraculous can still be done, that people can still be healed even if there is no medical hope, if you doubt that some of those very explicit demonstrations of God that was happening in the early church can still happen today, if you question how we will be able to see the powerful working of Jesus Christ, who is now the king of this universe in this day and age, the Bible over and over again, not just in John 12. The Bible over and over again shows that these amazing displays of power, these amazing displays of Christ working through His people were happening with the advance of the Gospel, with the sharing of the Gospel, on that coalface, as the kingdom of God and its proclamation was made to the ends of the earth. In other words, the Gospel and God's visible power go hand in hand. That's why I question sometimes, you know, that continuous repetitious prayer for miracles or healing in some churches because it's just praying to the old same old saints.

And I don't doubt that God can't heal, but those miracles were always signs to the truth of the Gospel. They were always signs to Jesus Christ being alive and active. That's why I believe those miracles happen more in Africa, dark Africa. In Asia, under the oppression of so much evil. We can't waste our life in second-rate discipleship, thinking that just by doing what we do and going on with our life is enough.

It's boring. It's unfulfilling. Want to experience Jesus more richly, more vibrantly, be where Jesus is working, be where Jesus is working. Anything less will be disappointing. So the question then is, where is Jesus working?

Is it just having an evangelistic gift? Is it just praying for healing or for miracles to happen? I believe that we can't limit it, actually. This mission field is not just limited to simply that. It's not just the unsaved people. We know from 1 Corinthians 15 that Jesus is in the process of establishing His kingdom here on earth.

1 Corinthians 15 says that Jesus Christ is in the process of conquering all the forces that are opposing Him. He's establishing His kingdom further and further until at the end of time, He can bring His kingdom and present it back to God the Father and say, it's done. I accomplished the task. I've restored what has originally been yours. I have won it back for you.

As Christians, the Bible says our task is in the furthering of this kingdom. The mission field is not less than preaching the Gospel to the unsaved, but it is more than that. It is not less, but it is more. Our task as Christians is in the process of furthering the kingdom of God here on earth. Whether it be a vet treating God's creations with compassion and good stewardship, whether it be a salesman who doesn't succumb to unethical practices to make a buck, whether you're a social worker pulling kids back into school, or a volunteer caring for the elderly, whether you're a mechanic, an accountant, an engineer, a pharmacist, a doctor or a lawyer, our job, our place here on earth is all part of God's kingdom.

But how we work, where we invest our time, who we work with, how we treat them, all of that is part of the furthering of the kingdom of God. It could be. It's not necessarily. The question is, are we actively looking to find where Jesus is working in our sphere of influence?

And it's difficult. It's very easy as a pastor to say, yeah, I'm active where Jesus is active. I can understand that it's difficult to think, man, how can me just building a house be doing it for the furthering of the kingdom of God? But I believe if we seek Christ, if we ask Jesus Christ to show us, He will show us. And we can wrestle a little bit with the question: how can we make our workplace more effective or efficient?

How can we have a kingdom vision, a kingdom mind when we talk about being environmentally friendly, perhaps because we believe that this is God's planet as well. How can we promote employee welfare? How can profits be used better to help the community? How can customers feel the love of Christ? That is all part of this mission field.

It is all being active where Jesus Christ is active in conquering and putting His enemies as the footstools of His feet. Can you see how limitless this mission field is? It is absolutely limitless. If we ask Christ to lead us, to show us where He is working in our sphere of influence with our gifts, our talents, our passions, our desires. He will show us. His intimacy.

You will be absolutely thrilled. I guarantee it. With how amazing Jesus Christ is, you will see miracles happen. You will see answered prayers. Yes.

It could be leading an Alpha course with your next door neighbours, sharing the Gospel with them, but that's not the only mission field. Whoever serves me, Jesus said, must follow me. And where I am, they will also be. Let's follow Jesus. We want to be with Him.

Disciples want to be with their master. We want to experience Him. If we are His servants, let's go to where He is.