Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. (John 12:20-22)

It was the final week. The ministry of Jesus has healed, cleansed, taught, and given life and hope to many. He has also angered several in power. Tensions had continued to build and had gotten to the boiling point. It all came to a head in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Passover. With all of this happening, I think it fair to assume that there would have been quite a bit of talk about Jesus among all those who have come to this very important festival. That may be what caused these Greeks to come to find him. Whatever their reason, these Greeks that we meet in John 12 give voice to something that many of us want. We wish to see Jesus.

Our children wish to see Jesus. It is a wonderful thing to see our kids get excited about Bible classes. Their curiosity and ability to absorb information is amazing. We watch as they fall in love with this Jesus that they meet in those Bible stories. As they age, there are many things vying for their attention and offering all kinds of options to them. It can be confusing. They know about Jesus, but want to see if he is really what he claims to be. They wish to see Jesus.

Our spouses wish to see Jesus. Keeping up with the daily routine, building a life and future together, work pressure, money stresses, and many other things can make life challenging. Husbands and wives need to know they can count on each other, that there is stability and security, that they can really lean on one another. They wish to see Jesus in each other.

Our friends and neighbors wish to see Jesus. It seems that everyone is searching for something greater than themselves to give meaning to life. There are plenty of folks that seem to offer solutions: the right house, the right neighborhood, the right relationship, the right job, the right credit card, the right car, the right cause, the right body type, etc. Could it be that hope and a secure future are what are really being sought? Perhaps they’ve tried these things that they thought would do the trick, only to come up empty. They wish for real hope. They wish for a real future. They wish to see Jesus.

Those who come to worship wish to see Jesus. Every Sunday we gather and worship. Maybe life has knocked us around a good bit during the week. Maybe we show up tired and worn down. We need to be reminded of who we are and whose we are. We come wishing to see Jesus.

There are those who come and visit our churches. They come looking for some encouragement, some direction, some refreshing, in desperate need of grace and mercy. They come wishing to see Jesus.

In all these instances we have an opportunity to help. We, like Phillip, have an opportunity to honor their request. Listen to the response of Jesus when Phillip and Andrew inform him of the request.

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 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. (John 12:23-26)

We honor the request of those who wish to see Jesus by living a life that indicates that we have seen him. To our children who wish to see Jesus we model a life that takes his teaching seriously, demonstrates self-giving love and grace and talk with them often about our experience with him. We demonstrate that he is a priority in our lives. To our spouse who wishes to see Jesus we demonstrate the faithfulness that we see in him. We love and serve selflessly. We live lives devoted to him knowing that he is real. We make home a place that is safe and secure and where love and grace are evident.

To friends and neighbors who wish to see Jesus, we live lives that take Jesus seriously. There is something notably different about us as we seek to glorify God in our actions the way in which Jesus did.

To those we worship with who wish to see Jesus, we demonstrate love and service to one another. We hold one another lovingly and humbly accountable. We understand that we are all on this journey together and that we seek the good for one another.

In trying to honor all of these requests to see Jesus we need to get rid of the things that tend to obscure him from view. We need to get rid of our pride, our seeking our own way, our desire to be in charge and put our lives completely under his lordship. We do that because of the great promises that he has made. We do that because he has forgiven us and made us alive when we were dead in our sin. We do that because when our lives are over here, we wish to see Jesus.