“But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’” John 12:23-28
In the hour of trial Jesus was clear about his purpose for coming to the earth. He was not confused by dissenting voices around him, and he did not doubt his own intentions. He could clearly see the reason for his purpose, and he expressed it with the metaphor of a grain of wheat which goes into the ground and dies, but which produces much grain. Jesus did not cling to this early life. He knew that the sacrifice of his life would produce eternal life. Those who want to serve the Lord must follow him. A true disciple will take up his cross daily and follow Jesus.
This story about Hank Aaron and Yogi Berra is told, and it is revealing about knowing our purpose. During the 1957 World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Yankees, slugger Hank Aaron came up to bat. Yogi Berra, the Yankee catcher, noticed he was holding the bat wrong. “Turn it around,” he told Aaron. “So you can read the trademark.” (That’s the usual wisdom on how to hold a bat.) Hank never looked back, but said, “Didn’t come up here to read. Came up here to hit.” And brother, did he ever.
That is a great story about purpose. Aaron knew what his business was at the plate, and he would not be deterred by the comic quips of that famous Yankee catcher. In fact, Yogi Berra knew what his purpose was, too. He would do whatever he could to rattle or distract an opposing hitter. They were both dedicated to their purpose.
When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he referred to God’s purpose in sending his son to die on the cross. “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death” (Acts 2:23). God even uses men with evil purposes to accomplish his own plans. This is a plan that was in place from the foundation of the world, as we read in Revelation 13:8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
Paul declares that it was God’s purpose to call us into the church of Jesus Christ from the foundation of the world, “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will…” (Eph. 1:4-5). As we continue to read in the Book of Ephesians, we discover that we are chosen through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can say that God preordained the plan of salvation and not individual men and women. God chose Jesus to fulfill his purpose and plan, and we are chosen in Christ through the gospel. When the hour of suffering came for Jesus, he was not looking for a hiding place, and he was not looking for an excuse to duck out. He would set his face steadfastly for Jerusalem and walk confidently in his father’s purpose and plan. We need to know our purpose and be faithful to it so that we, too, may glorify God.
L Scott Gage
