“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.” (John 12:24)
In John 12, we read how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. This miracle attracted a lot of attention. It seemed that Jesus was finally gaining popularity! And indeed, He said that “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”. But the road to glory would not be easy. Instead of becoming a beloved and celebrated king, Jesus would be rejected and despised. He would be sentenced to death.
To explain why all this must happen, Jesus compared himself to a grain of wheat. If such a grain is to bear fruit, it needs to be buried in the ground. “What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (1 Corinthians 15:36) In a similar way, Jesus had to die, He needed to be crushed for our iniquities. There was no other way for Him to satisfy God’s wrath. And He was willing to sacrifice Himself for the sake of sinful humans. He gave up his life in order to offer sinners abundant eternal life.
Thank you, Jesus, that you died in our place!
Baptism is a sign that you died and resurrected with Jesus. How is your new life different from your old life?