The Love of God: The Grain of Wheat Must Die

John 12 marks a turning point.

The hour has come.

Jesus will be glorified through death.

And the love of God is revealed in this: Christ does not cling to life. He gives it up willingly so that many might live.

Mary anoints Jesus

Mary takes expensive perfume and anoints Jesus' feet.

Judas objects: "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?"

But Jesus defends her:

"Leave her alone. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial."

Mary understands what the disciples do not.

Jesus is going to die.

And she honors Him extravagantly before it happens.

The love of God is worthy of extravagant worship, not calculated sacrifice.

The grain of wheat

Jesus says:

"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."

This is the principle of the cross.

Death brings life.

One grain dies, and a harvest results.

Jesus will die, and through His death, many will live.

The love of God operates through sacrifice. Death is not defeat. It is the path to multiplication.

The hour has come

Jesus says:

"Now my soul 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."

Jesus does not want to die.

His soul is troubled.

But He does not ask to be saved from the hour. He submits to it.

The love of God is costly. It feels the weight of the cross and still chooses to bear it.

I will draw all people to myself

Jesus says:

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

This is the power of the cross.

Not just for Jews. Not just for one nation.

All people.

The love of God is universal in its scope and particular in its method: the cross of Jesus Christ.

Final exhortation

The love of God in John 12 is this:

Christ dies like a grain of wheat so that a harvest might come.

He does not avoid the cross.

He embraces it willingly for the joy set before Him.

And through His death, He draws people from every nation to Himself.

Do not despise the cross.

Do not think death is defeat.

Because in the love of God, death is the path to life.

Closing prayer

Father, thank You for the grain of wheat that fell to the ground and died. Thank You that through the death of Your Son, many are brought to life. Help us to embrace the way of the cross and trust that death is not the end. In Jesus' name, amen.