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Summit Church
Hear The Claims Pt 3 | We Would Like To See Jesus | Jim Ladd
Locations & Times
Summit Church
7200 S Clinton St, Centennial, CO 80112, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:45 AM
Two Study Tips:
When a passage names a people group, a Public Official, a Religious Official, etc., pause to understand them and why the passage mentions them.
This passage is a turning point in John. The arrival of the Greeks signals that Jesus’ mission is beginning to reach beyond Israel toward the nations. Their simple request—“We would like to see Jesus”—becomes the trigger for Jesus to announce: “The hour has come.” The cross is no longer approaching; it is now at the center of the story.
And the key is that now Jesus is to be glorified.
When a passage names a people group, a Public Official, a Religious Official, etc., pause to understand them and why the passage mentions them.
This passage is a turning point in John. The arrival of the Greeks signals that Jesus’ mission is beginning to reach beyond Israel toward the nations. Their simple request—“We would like to see Jesus”—becomes the trigger for Jesus to announce: “The hour has come.” The cross is no longer approaching; it is now at the center of the story.
And the key is that now Jesus is to be glorified.
WORD STUDY
Glorifying isn't just complimenting someone — it's making visible what was already true but hidden. Think of it like finally turning the lights on in a room that was beautifully furnished the whole time.
Old Testament roots
The Septuagint uses δοξάζω mainly to translate כָּבַד (kabad) — the Hebrew word behind "the glory of the LORD" that fills the tabernacle in Exodus and the temple in 1 Kings 8. Kabad carries the idea of weightiness — something so substantial it can't be ignored. So when John reaches for doxazō, he's reaching for the word that Israel's Scriptures used for God's own manifest presence.
Glorifying isn't just complimenting someone — it's making visible what was already true but hidden. Think of it like finally turning the lights on in a room that was beautifully furnished the whole time.
Old Testament roots
The Septuagint uses δοξάζω mainly to translate כָּבַד (kabad) — the Hebrew word behind "the glory of the LORD" that fills the tabernacle in Exodus and the temple in 1 Kings 8. Kabad carries the idea of weightiness — something so substantial it can't be ignored. So when John reaches for doxazō, he's reaching for the word that Israel's Scriptures used for God's own manifest presence.
Jesus is now focused on how He is going to change the entire world for everyone - this is His glory - and He is showing us what following Him will ask of us as well. And here it is in a phrase:
The Big Idea: Letting Go is the only way to Get a Grip.
1. Jesus Glorified is Jesus Crucified
When Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” we might expect triumph, power, recognition, and a throne.
Jesus immediately talks about dying.
When Jesus says, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” we might expect triumph, power, recognition, and a throne.
Jesus immediately talks about dying.
This is one of John’s great paradoxes: Jesus’ humiliation is his glorification.
2. A Fully Surrendered Life is a Fully Fruitful Life
“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.”
the seed is Jesus himself.
“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.”
the seed is Jesus himself.
A wheat kernel (grain) is a complete little package: an embryo, a food supply (endosperm), and a protective seed coat. As long as it stays dry and intact, it's just that — one self-contained seed, doing nothing.
Germination begins when the kernel absorbs water. That triggers something real: the seed coat ruptures, and the kernel's own stored starch gets broken down by enzymes to feed the embryo. In a very literal sense, the seed as a self-contained unit is destroyed in this process — it's consumed from the inside to fuel new growth.
Once the root and shoot are established, wheat does something agriculturally significant: it tillers. A single wheat plant sends up multiple stems (tillers) from its base, and each fertile tiller produces its own head (spike) of grain. A single wheat head typically holds 30–50 kernels, and one plant can produce several heads.
Surrendering your life is the way of Jesus
Jesus immediately moves from his death to our discipleship:
“Senseless surrender” is jet fuel for reproduction and multiplication.
Jesus immediately moves from his death to our discipleship:
“Senseless surrender” is jet fuel for reproduction and multiplication.
“Hating” one’s life doesn’t mean self-loathing. It’s a Semitic way of describing radical preference or allegiance. Jesus is saying: Don’t make preserving yourself your highest good.
Natural human instinct says: Protect yourself. Promote yourself. Secure yourself. Control your future. Preserve your comfort.
And we see his humanity in “Now my soul is troubled.” Jesus isn’t numb to death. He feels its horror. Yet his deepest prayer isn’t “Protect my life,” but “Father, glorify your name.”
3. To Know the Servant, You Must Become a Servant
The Christian life is therefore not primarily “become the best version of yourself.”
It is “give yourself fully to Christ so you can discover the life of Christ in you."
The life you clutch becomes smaller.
The life you surrender to Jesus becomes fruitful.
It is “give yourself fully to Christ so you can discover the life of Christ in you."
The life you clutch becomes smaller.
The life you surrender to Jesus becomes fruitful.
in the Kingdom of God, surrender isn’t the end of life. It is where real life begins.
Response:
* Reflect on the scandal of the cross
* What is holding you back from complete surrender to God?
* Where is God calling you to serve selflessly right now?
* Reflect on the scandal of the cross
* What is holding you back from complete surrender to God?
* Where is God calling you to serve selflessly right now?
Discussion Guide
John 12:20-33 — "The Seed That Had to Die"
Icebreaker
Tell us about a time something in your life had to break or end before something better could start. (A job, a relationship, a plan, anything.)
Discussion Questions
1. Read John 12:20-33 aloud. What's the one line that jumps out at you — good, confusing, or unsettling?
2. Jesus says a seed has to fall into the ground and die to produce a harvest. Where have you seen that pattern play out in real life — not spiritually, just practically? (Think: training, parenting, starting a business, recovery from something.)
3. Jesus says, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it." Put that in your own words. What do you think he actually means — and what does he not mean?
4. Jesus says his soul is "troubled" right before he surrenders to what's coming. Why does it matter that Jesus was scared and obedient, rather than fearless?
5. If surrender and fear coexist, what do you think it actually looks like on a Tuesday afternoon — not in a crisis, just in ordinary life?
6. The cross was a humiliating, brutal execution — yet John calls it Jesus' "glory." Does it feel strange to call something disgraceful "glorious"? What is God saying about power, winning, and strength by choosing that path?
7. What's one specific thing — not a vague "everything" — that you sense God asking you to hand over right now?
8. Jesus says, "Where I am, my servant also will be." Where is one place this week — home, work, a relationship — where you could actually serve someone with no payoff for yourself?
Icebreaker
Tell us about a time something in your life had to break or end before something better could start. (A job, a relationship, a plan, anything.)
Discussion Questions
1. Read John 12:20-33 aloud. What's the one line that jumps out at you — good, confusing, or unsettling?
2. Jesus says a seed has to fall into the ground and die to produce a harvest. Where have you seen that pattern play out in real life — not spiritually, just practically? (Think: training, parenting, starting a business, recovery from something.)
3. Jesus says, "Anyone who loves their life will lose it." Put that in your own words. What do you think he actually means — and what does he not mean?
4. Jesus says his soul is "troubled" right before he surrenders to what's coming. Why does it matter that Jesus was scared and obedient, rather than fearless?
5. If surrender and fear coexist, what do you think it actually looks like on a Tuesday afternoon — not in a crisis, just in ordinary life?
6. The cross was a humiliating, brutal execution — yet John calls it Jesus' "glory." Does it feel strange to call something disgraceful "glorious"? What is God saying about power, winning, and strength by choosing that path?
7. What's one specific thing — not a vague "everything" — that you sense God asking you to hand over right now?
8. Jesus says, "Where I am, my servant also will be." Where is one place this week — home, work, a relationship — where you could actually serve someone with no payoff for yourself?