Is SEEING always BELIEVING?
Certain
Greeks said:
“Sir, We Wish To See
Jesus”
"Now, there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast." Then, certain Greeks said, “Sir, We Wish To See Jesus”.
The focus of this writing is, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus".
In the Book of John, in Chapter 12, is the event of Jesus entering Jerusalem as a triumphant King, as stated in John:
John 12:12-13: The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”
This
triumphal entry occurred on a Sunday after Jesus’ purposed
journey to Jerusalem over a period of days and at the beginning of His final
week before His crucifixion on Passover, on Friday, and His Resurrection on
Sunday. Jesus was on a mission and
nothing was going to deter Him from that mission.
Sometime after
His entry into Jerusalem, “there
were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.” These certain Greeks expressed to Philip, one
of Jesus’ disciple, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
“Sir,
we wish to see Jesus.” That seems like a simple request
from these Greeks. Or, maybe it was a
very bold statement. Consider the
atmosphere. This was a week of
celebration and worship for the people.
The city was filled with a “a great multitude that had come to the feast”. There must have been crowds wherever one went
in the city. But these certain Greeks
approached a disciple of Jesus and made the request, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” What
was that like?
Picture
yourself at a large conference of hundreds of people
in a very large convention hall and there is a keynote speaker that everyone
came to see and hear. The speaker has
just finished giving a presentation on something very significant, and all the
people were impacted greatly. At the end
of the presentation, many people go to the front of the convention hall to try
and get to the speaker to meet him and share something they are feeling. Maybe, there is a book signing and the line
is very, very long. People are waiting
to reach the signing table, say something to the speaker, hear something from
the speaker, and have the speaker write something significant to them
specifically on the inside cover of their purchased book. Once each person reaches the speaker, they
have only seconds, maybe less than a minute, to have an exchange with the
speaker. Anything longer would be an
infringement on the access of others to meet the speaker. Could that comparison be something like what
the certain Greeks were experiencing?
Maybe.
The
request of the certain Greeks was to Philip, who took the
request to Andrew, and then Philip and Andrew took the request to Jesus. “Sir, we wish to
see Jesus.” Immediately,
Jesus responds to the request. But His
response is not, “Yes, bring them to
me.” Or “No, not now”. Or “What do they want.” His response is, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” And then he launches into a dissertation
about some important concepts that he has been and wants to continue teaching
to the people.
We do not know how Jesus was situated
among the people. Was He is a private
location, separated from the people? Was
He in the center of a crowd, or at the front?
Who could hear Him speak? We do
not know based on the description in Chapter 12. What we know is (vs. 22-23) “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.”
Here is what strikes me about this
chapter 12. Certain Greeks came with a request to SEE
Jesus. Jesus responds with a
dissertation with significant teachings about SEEING and BELIEVING. We are not immediately told if Jesus is
speaking only to “them” (Philip and
Andrew) or to the entire crowd. But, later
is said, “The people answered Him”. So
Jesus apparently was talking to more than Philip and Andrew.
Given the atmosphere of this festival
where multitudes were gathered, and given that Jesus was very aware that “The hour has come that the Son of Man should
be glorified”, how could Jesus respond to a small group of certain
Greeks when the culmination of His coming was at hand? I suspect He spoke to the people about things
that relate to SEEING and believing,
not just to certain Greeks, but to everyone present, and everyone that is to
follow for generations through the Book of John.
Surely, it was a great opportunity to see Jesus in His days on Earth. Surely, many responded to seeing and hearing Him. However,
many saw and heard Him, but did not recognize Him
for who He was and is, and what He was teaching. So, is SEEING Him, in the flesh, necessary to
gain what we should gain from Him? Many saw, many heard, many received, and many did not receive. Seeing
Him is not the issue. Believing Him is the issue. If Jesus showed Himself today to any one of
us, would we recognize Him? Some
would. Some would not. SEEING is not always BELIEVING, as we so say.
_____________________________________________________________
This is a beginning for this
discussion. Where do we go from
here? Let’s take a break and ponder to
SEE what comes forth. In the meantime,
read John 12:20-41 and SEE what you can BELIEVE.
James Eugene Barbush
2021 Blue Mountain Parkway
Harrisburg, PA 17112
(717) 514-5549
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