There’s Something About That Name

Fifth Sunday in Lent
Passion Sunday
Light of Christ Anglican Church

Rev. Michael J. Moffitt, March 17, 2024

SCRIPTURE John 12:27–36

On the evening of February 17, 1976, I walked into a little pub in downtown Roanoke for a bite to eat. It had been a long day, and I was hungry. It was a Tuesday evening and there weren’t many people there, but they had a live band performing. During their break one of the band members came over and sat down across from me. He asked me how I was doing, and I told him I was a bit overwhelmed because my wife had just given birth to our daughter a few hours earlier. He asked if we had chosen a name and I smiled and told him her name was Amy.

We talked for a few moments, he congratulated me and went back to do another set. He dedicated the opening song to our newborn daughter singing “Amie” by Pure Prairie League. That night my heart was full of love for that little girl whom I had known for a few hours and for 48 years whenever I hear her name my heart responds, and my love is rekindled.

However, when I hear the name Jesus everything in me responds to it because that name is above every name and means more to me than any other name, including those I love passionately.

In 2003 Bill and Gloria Gaither introduced the song, “There’s Just Something About That Name.”

“Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
There is something about that name.
Master. Savior. Jesus.
Like the Fragrance after the rain.
Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.
Let all heaven and earth proclaim.
That kings and kingdoms will pass away.
But there is something about that name.”

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:9–11,

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

It’s at the name of Jesus that demons flee, the sick are healed, and the captive is released from bondage. There is no other name in heaven or on earth that has that power. Our Father in heaven has declared it so.

The response to the name of Jesus is never neutral. His name will always invoke a response of praise or indifference or even blasphemy. The name of Jesus is used as an exclamation or a way to express rage. You can notice that you’ll likely never hear anyone use the names of the gods of other religions in such a manner. We are caught up in a spiritual battle where the name of Jesus always brings a response. God’s people and the heavenly host rise up in joy and power at the name of Jesus and the demonic flee at the mention of his name.

This morning we will be considering the story from our Gospel reading in John 12:27–36. We’ll see that even hearing about Jesus is wonderful, but it pales in comparison to knowing and experiencing him personally.

Today is Passion Sunday and the fifth Sunday of Lent, marking the beginning of the two-week period called “Passiontide.” Passion week comes after next Sunday, Palm Sunday. Our focus continues to be that Jesus Christ intentionally moved forward toward his betrayal, arrest, cruel physical abuse, and crucifixion on the cross. He did it so that we could know him intimately and experience him personally.

Before we consider our gospel text, it’s helpful to remember that earlier in chapter 12 John has already laid down the circumstances leading up to our passage. In Verses 9–11 he writes of the chief priests’ plot to kill Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, “on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.” In the triumphal entry into Jerusalem in verse 19 records the frustrated Pharisees as saying, “Look the whole world has gone after him.”

Because of the Feast of Passover there were huge crowds in Jerusalem, but I think the spiritual tension in Jerusalem was a tangible presence as light and darkness met for a showdown. Jesus and the Prince of Darkness were both there for battle, but a battle that Jesus knew he would win, but at a great cost.

You probably have noticed that we are experiencing a similar moment within our country today as Christ-followers and those who hate Christianity seem to be about to collide. It’s good to know that the battle in Jerusalem long ago has already been settled and Jesus won. This guarantees victory to those who follow him in faith and obedience, although it will likely come with a price to be paid.

There is also a warning there because just like in the time of Jeremiah he wrote in Chapter 31:2, that there were those who considered themselves the children of God but had broken their covenant with Him. This was also true when Jesus and his disciples entered Jerusalem. There were those who wanted to know him and there were those who wanted to kill him. It was a sorrowful time because for the most part the ones who wanted to kill Jesus were the ones who claimed that all their hope was in the coming Messiah.

Prior to our passage John writes in 12:20–23,

“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. And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.’”

Apparently Jesus didn’t make time to speak with them but saw this request as the sign that all things concerning his mission had now begun to be fulfilled. It was time for the Son of Man to be glorified through laying down his life.

Many present for Passover probably had heard about the things that Jesus taught and heard of the many instances where the sick were healed, the blind received their sight, the deaf could hear, demons were cast out, and even the dead had been raised. Events like these would have gotten around and they probably wanted to meet Jesus personally and talk with him. I can understand that desire, can’t you?

Many Gentiles were attracted to Judaism’s ideas because of its higher moral emphasis compared with paganism. They could have come from the Decapolis and heard testimony from the demon-possessed man from the country of the Gerasenes in Mark 5. He had been set free by Jesus and instructed to go throughout the Decapolis and tell what God had done for him. This was a power that was unknown before, and they likely wanted to see the one whom everyone was talking about.

I think it’s interesting to note that it was Gentile Wise Men who came to worship Jesus as a child, while Israel’s king was trying to find him in order to kill him. Now it was again Gentiles who came seeking him at the time of his death while the Jews were the ones seeking to put him to death. From the time of Abraham, God promised that through his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed. As children from the line of Abraham, Israel had refused to be a nation that revealed the creator God to the world.

It would be Jesus who in obedience to the Father would open up the door for men and women from all nations to come to him by faith. The time to accomplish that was at hand but even the disciples could not yet see it. You’ll notice Phillip doesn’t go directly to Jesus but to Andrew who was from his hometown. I suspect he wasn’t sure what to do about the requests from the Greeks.

In Matthew 10:5 Jesus had instructed his disciples, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 

Plus Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem would have sparked a powerful nationalism in the hearts of the Jewish community. They believed they were receiving their Messiah and King who would defeat the Roman Empire and restore Israel to the place of power like in the days of King David.

So Philip and Andrew went to Jesus about the request of the Greeks to see him. Many times Jesus’ responses seem obscure at the moment but become clear later on, and that was true here at the news of the Greeks’ request. Jesus answers by acknowledging that the hour had come for him to be glorified, referring to his death on the cross.

Dr. Rod Whitacre, in his commentary on the Gospel of John, writes,

“It may seem strange to refer to Jesus' death as a glorification. But the death is at the heart of the Son's revelation of the Father, for God is love and love is the laying down of one's life (cf. 1 Jn 4:8; 3:16). So in the cross the heart of God is revealed most clearly. Selflessness and humble self-sacrifice are seen to be divine attributes. Throughout his life Jesus has done the Father's will, and such selflessness is a key component in the eternal life he offers. God's own life is a life of love that denies self for the sake of the beloved, and therefore such love is the very nature of life itself, real life. "Sacrifice, self-surrender, death, is the condition of the highest life: selfishness is the destruction of life". Thus, the cross is not just a one-time event that atones for sin, though it is certainly that. It is the most dramatic case in point of the pattern of divine life that exists for all time.”

Let’s read John 12:27–29,

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’”

Previously, Jesus showed how his death would affect the disciples, but here the humanity of Jesus is shown. He knows that he was to be beaten, cruelly tortured, and crucified, but the real concern came as his troubled soul reflected his anticipation of bearing the wrath of his Holy Father in the place of sinners. The synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, record his dilemma in the Garden of Gethsemane but John reveals that the struggle there began earlier.

It’s important that we not forget that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, still was fully human. Again Dr. Rod Whitacre gives a helpful comparison,

“But in Jesus' becoming fully man, his divine attributes worked within the confines of true humanity, somewhat like a Mozart symphony being played on a kazoo. Human nature in its true, unfallen state is capable of expressing much more of the divine nature than we could have dreamed based on our experience, which is limited to fallen, rebellious, spiritually dead human nature.”

That was the point of his coming. He came to live from birth to death as the perfect man, something Adam failed to do. Only then could he be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. The Apostle John recounts something that he personally witnessed. In his humanity, Jesus indicated that he was breaking under the strain of the crisis. He felt overwhelmed by the inevitability of what was coming.

As we read in our passage from the Book of Hebrews this morning,

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

I believe it to be important that we consider that Jesus’ greatest temptation was not about immorality, selfishness, anger, injustice, and all the things we struggle with, it was having the Father turn his back on him, breaking the thread of love and oneness. Actually, I can commiserate with Jesus in this. It doesn’t seem like a sin but a response of love. I don’t believe for a moment that the Father wanted this any more than Jesus did, but they both knew that we would have no way back to the Father without this perfect sacrifice.

But what we are seeing is sinless humanity being tempted with rebellion against God and His will. We are drawn back to the scene in the Garden of Eden, but this time the one who represents us chooses faithful obedience. This is why he came, but it had gotten very real, the end was a matter of days. His question was partly rhetorical and likely meant to help the disciples understand the situation but there was that part of him that was tempted to back out. He had to follow through with the plan that he and the Father had determined before the foundation of the world. If he had backed out, he might have averted the immediate disaster but at the price of failing to achieve his redemptive purpose. He came to accomplish his original purpose of completing the mission that his Father had entrusted to him. He was afraid, but resolute because He wanted the Father's name to be glorified, no matter the cost!

The voice from heaven is the third and final instance recorded in the gospel narratives, and the only one in John. In the Synoptic Gospels it was the voice at his baptism, (Mt 3:17; Mk 1:11; Lk 3:21–22); and at his transfiguration, (Mt 17:5; Mk 9:7; Lk 9:35). On each occasion it was the Father openly revealing his love and pleasure in His Son and it confirmed the authority of Jesus and the acknowledgment of his mission by the Father. John testifies that the voice was a genuine, audible sound, even though the crowd did not understand it. This situation is similar to the circumstances of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, where those who accompanied him heard a noise but could not distinguish the words (Acts 9:7; 22:9). Clearly, God is heard by those to whom he chooses to speak.

The Father's name was an extension of the Son, and the Father’s glory was the desire of the Son. The prophets foretold that the Messiah would be called “Emmanuel, God with us.” The Son's death completes the purpose of the Father and shows His love for all, thus glorifying Him. Christ is in effect saying, “Father, lead Me to the cross.” This is the Lord's divine response to the human temptation to avoid the Cross (v. 27). The Son who lovingly remains in union with the Father responds, “Father, glorify your name.”

In this we see that temptation itself is not sin, but we also see the agony of dying to self. However, it’s not the same thing as our dying to self. In the case of human beings, we are to die to the “false self,” which is in rebellion to God. In Jesus’ case it is the opposite, he is living in union with God and must give that up to fulfill the role of the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The Father's response refers to the signs already performed by Christ but also points to the death and resurrection to come.

Finally, let's read John 12:30–33,

“Jesus answered, ‘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. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

Jesus declared that the final crisis had arrived, and it would bring decisive action. The Father who was glorified through the Son would now glorify the Son. The time for judgment had come, and Satan, the prince of the world would be exposed for what he is, a liar and the enemy of God. This did not imply that the final day of judgment had come but that God, through His final revelation, would now hold all people responsible for their obedience or disobedience.

The judgment is the unveiling of the true state of affairs and the separation of humanity between those who follow Jesus Christ and those who follow self. This revelation would be the work of the Holy Spirit that continues as Jesus ascends back to the Father. The word "world" here and throughout the rest of this Gospel and throughout most of the New Testament refers to that which is in rebellion against God, especially in religions that claim to be the people of God.

As we have seen and continue to experience, there is much talk of God, and many activities that claim to be for him, but are essentially motivated by the love of self and have little or nothing to do with God. Jesus made it clear that to follow him is to live for his glory and that often means laying down our lives for the sake of others and of the kingdom of God. The cross exposed the reality of religious systems that do not reveal Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation and condemned them. The only true religion is complete submission to God, as we see Jesus submitting to the Father.

The reference to “the ruler of this world be cast out” does not mean that Satan has no influence in this world, it’s noticeably clear that he does. In 1 Peter 5:8 reminds us, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” And later The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:19, “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

Satan is not yet destroyed but his power to deceive has been broken. God’s people who submit to Jesus Christ can now live free from his control.

St. Augustine of Hippo, 4th Century theologian, philosopher and Bishop wrote,

“Where is he cast out from? From heaven and earth? From this created universe? No, he is cast out of the hearts of believers. Since the invader has been cast out, let the Redeemer dwell within, because the same one who created was also the one who redeemed. The devil now assaults from without but does not conquer the Redeemer who now has taken possession within the believer. The devil assaults from without by throwing various temptations into the believer, but the person to whom God speaks within, and who has the anointing of the Spirit, does not consent to these temptations.”

As we continue on our Lenten journey and Passiontide let us remember that our rebellion makes Christ’s sacrifice on the cross necessary but let us rejoice in the gift given to us through the obedient sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. What a beautiful name it is, Jesus Christ our King!

Let’s pray.