John 12:20-33
20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27“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.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
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In John 12:20-33, Jesus is speaking to a non-Jewish group of people that have asked to see Him. Part of his message to this group is a strong and clear mandate not to center ourselves on worldly things – but on what God wants us to focus on.
Jesus says to the group in John 12:27-28: 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. Father, glorify your name!’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.’
In this part of the scripture, there is a voice from the heavens in response to what Jesus has told the group. Some believed that the heavenly response was just thunder, but others believe it was from angels. Jesus offers the following to the crowd (John 12:30,31) …“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. …”. It seems to me that an important part of this message is that God gives each of us enough proof of God’s existence and we make our own decision to either believe and follow him (hear angels) or not believe (hear thunder).
Prayer: Please God, we ask that you help us abandon worldly pursuits and focus on Jesus. We also ask that you help us hear the angels in our daily lives and not to dismiss them as thunder.
—Sam Sidhom