Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 12. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- I don’t know if you have ever had trouble when planting your garden, but I know I have. In fact, the past two years I have had the dickens of a time getting beans and peas to grow. This past year not one seed produced a plant, and I planted many seeds.
- We don’t think about it, but it requires a good deal of faith to plant a seed. We lose the immediate value of the seed – it could be eaten, and a handful might provide a good measure of energy for us. But we are willing to let the seed “die” because we have hopes of many more seeds being produced – which would be a much larger gain or benefit.
- My garden is small scale, with little investment but the cost of a seed package and a little effort. I’d hate to think about planting a whole field and having the result I’ve had the past couple of years. Farmers have more faith in the seed companies than I might have.
- In our text we see that God has faith, and the Lord Jesus has faith, in the plan of salvation that they determined for us – which included the death of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. I’m certain the faith was not in us, in how we would “produce,” but rather in the power of God’s love for us, revealed so clearly and poignantly in Christ’s death and resurrection. But according to the plan of God, “THE GRAIN OF WHEAT MUST DIE.” And yet it is so very true that:
I. The Death Of Christ Brings Much Fruit, Much Life To Us
Text: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
Paul talks about this fruit, in his letter the Thessalonians:
1 Thess. 2:13 “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.”
James also identifies this fruit of Christ’s death:
James 1:18 “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
A. Christ’s Death Brought Redemption To All Of Humanity
Eph. 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”
1 John 2:2 “He is the blood atonement for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
B. His Death Is The Source Of Faith And Renewal In Life And Love For All Who Believe
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life.”
And John clearly identifies the powerful dynamic Christ’s love at work in our hearts and minds:
1 John 4:19 “We love because He first loved us.”
C. And All Who Believe In Him Have Eternal Life
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
Statement: The early believers in Christ Jesus – brought to newness of life by the word of truth, the Gospel – were the firstfruits of the death of Jesus, the grain brought forth and produced through His resurrection from the dead, of those to be saved. Many more have come to faith and salvation by now – millions, and probably billions. This is what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of His own death bearing “much fruit.” And we are among that fruit – thanks and praise be to God!
Application: It is important for us to rejoice in this newness of life that we have in Christ Jesus, this redemption, this forgiveness, and eternal life. It is important for us to recognize that it came through death, the death of Jesus, and that it took faith to accomplish this! For the application of this principle has a lot to do with us, with our lives here and now in this world, and this also requires faith from us. But first, let’s be sure that we rejoice in the realities that we are blessed with through the death and resurrection of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We are the fruit; we have eternal life, and shall not come into condemnation but have passed from death to life.
Transition: Paradoxically, Jesus almost immediately applies this reality, that “THE GRAIN OF WHEAT MUST DIE” to His disciples, to those believing in Him and following Him. He speaks of “losing” life by loving it, but “keeping” one’s life by hating it and following Jesus into His death. And so we consider that:
II. Jesus’ Death Also Brings About Our Death, The Death Of Our Sinful Nature
A. Now, Believers In Jesus, His Disciples, Hate The Sinful Flesh, And Life In This Fallen World Of Sin – And We Give Up Our Self, Dying To Self
Text: “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Luke 9:23 “And He said to all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
The apostle Paul explains how this reality of “dying to self” has already occurred in believers, in those who have been baptized:
Rom. 6:3,4 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
B. So We Now Follow Jesus And We Are Where He Is, As His Servants
Text: “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also.”
This is why we gather together at church, as His people, to hear His Word, and to receive His Sacrament:
Matt. 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Luke 10:16 “The one who hears you hears Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and the one who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”
Matt. 26:26-28 “Take, eat; this is My body. . . . Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
C. So We Also Seek To Serve Jesus, Seeking Honor From The Father And Not From Men
Text: “If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”
Statement: This takes faith – that dying to self and joining ourselves to Christ will bring forth much fruit. We like that one kernel of wheat which is our “self” – and we are fearful of “planting” it in commitment to Christ. Fact is, this has already happened in our baptism, where we were buried with Him and died to sin – so our fear is of the reality, the claim that God already has upon us. What we fear is not what we imagine – what might happen “if” we were to die to self, but rather of what God has already blessed us with and done for us in baptism. And this is really an irrational fear – rooted in our sinful nature – for there is nothing but goodness and glory that comes from being with Jesus and dying to self.
Application: In a very real sense then, being at church and being with Jesus – where He has promised to be with us in fellowship, Word, and Sacrament – is more important than just “learning” something or fulfilling a commandment. It is serving Him, following Him, and being where He is. It is living in death to self, and participating in eternal life. It is being Christ’s fruit and bearing fruit. And this is essential also for us, for “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
May God grant such blessed dying to each of us, and the much fruit which only He can create. Thanks and praise be to God. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.