Young Adults' Group

Dying To Self

by Pastor Mark
May 10, 2018

The thought of death

One of the hardest things to think about is death. It is not easy to consider the end of one’s life. Yet, this was something that the Lord Jesus had to teach the disciples in view of His impending death. When the disciples brought the request of some Greeks to the Lord Jesus, He took the opportunity to teach them about facing death.

The Lord approaching His death

1. The purpose of His death

“But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” (John 12:23)

The word “that” (hina) is often used to denote purpose or result. The Lord knew that His death was to come soon. He told His disciples that the hour of His death had already come. The purpose of His death was to be glorified. He would glorify His Father through His death.

2. The analogy of dying

“Most assuredly, I say to you, 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)

The Lord Jesus used the imagery of a grain of wheat that must first die. If the grain is alive and alone, it would not yield any fruit. Only when the grain dies on the ground, it would produce fruit. This was symbolic of the Lord Jesus dying on the cross. Through His death, He would become fruitful in saving the souls of many. Through this imagery, the Lord Jesus was teaching the disciples to anticipate His death.

A personal challenge to all His disciples

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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.”” (John 12:25,26)

1. Understanding the paradox of life

The Lord Jesus also took this opportunity to teach His disciples how they should live. He set Himself as an example of how to live and how to die. The disciples had to learn to follow the Lord Jesus…of not being afraid to die. If the disciples learn to “hate” their life rather than to love it, they would keep their life and be rewarded. They would have eternal life. But if they seek to love their life, they would lose it. This is a paradox of life. The use of the present tense for the verb “hate” denotes a continuous action. The disciples must keep on having this mindset and not just for the moment. In so doing, they would find life.

2. The challenge to be servants of the Lord

The Lord Jesus used a certain type of conditional sentence here. It is called the 3rd class conditional sentence where the Greek word “ean” is used. This is to indicate that what Jesus was teaching to the disciples was only hypothetical. It was something yet to the fulfilled. It was left for the disciples to fulfil in being servants of the Lord. The word “servant” in Greek is “diakonos” which means to do humble menial service like the serving at tables. This was the way in which the Lord Jesus sought to serve and the disciples should learn to do the same.

The Lord would regard anyone as His servant if he were to follow Him. Let us be challenged to be like the Lord Jesus…in learning to die to self. Let us be challenged to “hate” our life and to serve the Lord faithfully till the very end.

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