John 12:20–21: “Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'”

March 19th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

It wasn’t strange to find Greeks in Jerusalem during Passover, because, at that time, Greeks were well known as travelers driven by a desire to discover and experience new things. More than 500 years before this, Herodotus had traveled through much of the Western and African world and written about it. But Greeks didn’t travel simply for the sake of traveling. Socrates and Plato had written 400 years earlier that Greeks should be seekers of truth. It was not unusual to find a Greek who had gone from teacher to teacher in the search for truth, so it is possible these men were simply in Jerusalem seeking truth. But 600 years earlier, Isaiah had prophesied that this would happen: “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, / Who shall stand as a banner to the people; / For the Gentiles shall seek Him, / And His resting place shall be glorious” (Isa. 11:10).

These Greek men’s statement was classic, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Wouldn’t you like for this to happen to you at work or school or in your neighborhood? We all hope that people will come up to us and say something like, “Tell me about Jesus, you seem like a person who knows Him.” Phillip must have been approachable, as he listened carefully to them and got involved. But Philip didn’t take them directly to Jesus, but instead took them to Andrew. Perhaps Phillip knew Andrew was someone who could relate better, because he was the guy who was good at taking people to Jesus. Andrew was the one who brought the little boy with loaves and fishes to Jesus. And it was Andrew who brought his own brother, Peter, to Jesus. Was it because Andrew had discovered that no one could ever be a nuisance to Jesus? He already understood that Jesus would never turn any true, seeking soul away. A fact that is still true today.

“LORD, help us to lead others to You this day.”