15.11.2025
Joh 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Joh 12:25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Joh 12:26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
We see a distinct compartmentalization in Jesus Ministry .
While He was on earth – His ministered to a particular class of people
After His glorification and surrendering His life to the will of His Father, He could minister to the whole world.
His work in the world and with the Father in heaven was entirely different but complementary. What He started on the earth is completed in heaven.
Joh 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Let’s see the context in which Jesus said this.
In John 12:19, 20 and 21 the reactions of 3 sets of people to Jesus’ ministry are recorded.
Joh 12:19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
Joh 12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
Joh 12:21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
Joh 12:22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
Verse 19- Reaction of the Pharisees
20 & 21- The Greeks – foreigners
22– Andrew and Philip – the disciples
All the three became the signs for Jesus to realize that His time for promotion had come.
For any servant of God, in the worldly perspective, the spreading and branching out of ministry to other countries will be taken as a sign of victory and reward in this world. But for Jesus it was the opposite. From the time of his conception in the womb of his mother Mary, he was in the midst of opposition, “a sign that is opposed” (Lk 2: 34)
First time in his life, his enemies as well as the gentiles and the disciples simultaneously realizes that “the world started following Jesus”.
Look at the word Jesus says,
Joh 12:23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
If you take any business, the first few years are the time of investment. You cannot expect any profit. Sometimes the investment even may go beyond your expectation. You will have to invest everything you have and even may need to get loans to make your business get established. But certainly a time will come when you start getting the profit.
The time of investment for Jesus was 33 years in this world. He invested everything He had, everything His Father had granted Him. Now the time of collecting the yield has come.
Joh 12:24 ……. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Jesus all by himself, was a singular person. He remained alone while he was on this earth. He did not get married nor did he have any family or children. He was alone. But He understood that
If he allows himself to die and perish, like a seed sown under the earth,
“When his soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (Isa 53:10)
This is the meaning of bearing much fruit.
Jesus wanted to bear much fruit and multiply His offspring. The only way for this was to get removed from this earth (disappear from this earth) and get promoted to glory.
This was the next step of further growth in His ministry. i.e.Getting seated at the right hand of the Father and appearing in the Courts of heaven. There He has an important task to do; Appear in the Court every day representing His brethren on the earth (Rev 12:10), work for winning all the cases that come from the earth to the Court of heaven, and see that they all get a favourable judgment from the Father, the Eternal Judge, to the utmost fulfilment of all His passions, ( i.e. To get His Kingdom established on earth.
So now Jesus, after fulfilling His ministry on earth, entered into heaven in order to
“INTERCEDE, BE AN ADVOCATE AND DO THE PREISTLY MINISTRY” there.
For the eyes of the world He would have seemed to be a total failure. All the people of His time would have said,
“Oh this was an untimely death”
“After doing all this, He should have proved to the world that He was the Messiah”
“He left the mission incomplete”.
“He should have lived longer till at least one disciple was enabled to take over and run the ministry” etc.
But history proved to the world that everything happened at the right time for Jesus and Jesus knew “that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father” (John 13:1).
Dear soldiers,
For a servant of God, living in this world and being transferred to the other world is the same. There is no difference. While I am writing this, I experience the joy of being called to serve in Heaven in His presence.
This happened to Charlie Kirk of USA. What a great truth Erika Kirk told her child,
“Dad has gone on a trip to work with Jesus” . That is the fact. Now Charlie is working for the salvation of the citizens of USA and bring the nation US to its original destiny.
There were two phases for it.
- On earth
- In heaven. He has completed the first and has gone to fulfil the second.
He has joined the family of heaven for the Lord’s work.
Eph 3:14,15 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
Jesus showed this model to us. Every servant of God has to go through the same path. In order to give much fruit, (John 15:8, Jn 12:24) we have to be sown under the earth. For some, it will happen while they are living on this earth even before they die. It is equal to another death while living. For others it will happen in their death. In both the cases, In order to know whether you are sown or not to give much fruit there is a criterion.
1Co 15:43,44 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.
The person, either their body, soul or in spirit will go through dishonour, or weakness so that it is raised up in power and glory. If any of us are going through these process, we have all the reason to be hopeful.
Behind the curtain, there will be tears, agony, sweat and groaning of precious souls. We have many such soldiers with us today in AOJ.
We congratulate them for standing for Jesus, for laying aside every weight, and sin and running with endurance the race that is set before you, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. They are a source of inspiration for all of us.
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