Sunday, November 24, 2013

God of Thunder.

John 12:20-33
 "Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship Jesus; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

Philip is a Greek name and so naturally the Greeks would come to Philip to ask about Jesus. It is probable he spoke the Greek language.

Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, 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."

As the Greeks were coming to see Jesus, he spoke of how his death was like a seed which would produce many other seeds. These Greeks were evidence of people other than the Jews who would come to him for salvation. 

Then he said,
"Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, 'Father, save me from this hour'? But this is the very reason I came! Father, glorify your name!' Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again."

The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."  He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

I believe that the voice of God thundered while the Greeks were standing by because this would be sure evidence to them that Jesus was God, for their chief God was a God of thunder. 

Zeus is the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeus 

I read once of a tribe in Africa who heard the gospel but didn't really believe until they heard the story of Jesus spitting on the dirt and healing a man's eyes. In their culture, spittle was considered a healing medicine. When they heard Jesus also used spitting, they believed.

What also moves me in this Bible passage are the words, "Now is my soul deeply troubled." I feel so sorry for Jesus, having to go through what he went through for us. He knew he would soon be arrested, tortured and nailed to a cross. Perhaps these Greeks saw him on the cross as the day turned dark with clouds.


2 comments:

Rick Watson said...

Hey Belle, How's it going. I haven't visited in a long while. Hope all is well with you.

Rick

Belle said...

Hello Rick. Yes, all is well with me. As I've aged, my fibromyalgia is a bit worse so I am very tired a lot of the time. Also, my sister lives with me now and my mother visits a lot. I just have no time to read blogs and comment! I do make time to write about God my savior though! He is the strength of my life. I hope you are well also.