An Anatomy of unbelief

much to a single grain of wheat is there? It doesn’t look much. You can’t do much with it. But put it in the ground so that it dies and comes to life again and you discover its glory as it bears much fruit. So too, Jesus’ death and resurrection will bear much fruit as we’ll see in a moment.
Second, Jesus’ glory comes about through the Father being glorified. Its as though with the coming of these Gentiles, Jesus is suddenly hit by the harsh reality of what he’s about to face. So he says "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say--’ Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name." His glory is totally dependent on the Father being glorified. His glory comes from his willing submission to the Father’s will. Jesus is about to sacrifice his life in order to bring glory to God. Again we’ll see how that will happen in a moment. By the way, have you ever thought that when you obey God it both brings glory to God and to you at the same time? You might give that some thought next time you’re deciding whether to obey God or not.
Thirdly, Jesus glory comes about as he’s lifted up from the earth. But this exaltation isn’t what we might at first have thought. John explains for those of us who are a bit slow on the uptake. Being lifted up is a euphemism for crucifixion. His glory comes about through him being crucified.
And Fourthly, his glory comes about because his being lifted up has a profound effect: 32"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." Jesus death isn’t just an act of sacrifice with some vague inherent value. It isn’t some vague dying for the sake of others, the way you night infer from the Primates comments at the recent seminar here in Melbourne. No, he dies for a purpose: to draw all people to himself. He dies in their place so that all might come to the Father on the grounds of his saving death, irrespective of race or gender or social standing. In his death he takes on himself all the shame and guilt of the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike, and in the process drives the prince of this world from his throne.
Here’s the significance of the Greeks coming to see Jesus at this moment. They’ve come to seek out the salvation he’s bringing for all the world. But notice that when he’s raised up, what will happen isn’t that people will seek him out. Rather he will draw all people to himself.
So we see it all coming together. Jesus’ glory comes about as he dies and rises again to bear much fruit to the glory of God. The fruit that he bears is the lives of men and women from everywhere who are drawn to him as a result of his saving work on the cross, where he takes on himself all the shame and guilt of the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike, and in the process drives the prince of this world from his throne. And God is glorified in this because by it the promise he made to Abraham all those years ago, that through his descendant all the peoples on earth would be blessed, has now been fulfilled.
But having said that, we immediately discover that although Jesus came to draw all people to himself, individuals don’t necessarily respond.
Those in the crowd who have heard what he’s just said are a bit surprised by it. Their understanding was that the Messiah was going to come to restore the kingship to Israel and establish his