“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.’ Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.” John 12:20-22 (NKJV)
Greeks, who apparently were proselytes to Judaism, had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. They wanted to see Jesus.
This interaction is believed to have taken place on Tuesday, two days after the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the crowds shouted “Hosanna,” and palm branches were spread out before Him.
“They came to Philip.” Possibly they chose him because of his Greek name, or perhaps they knew where he was from; but ultimately, they came to him because they knew he was a disciple of Jesus!
We don’t know exactly why they were so interested in seeing Jesus. The text indicates in John 12:9 that news of the resurrection of Lazarus had stirred great interest in learning more about Jesus, and as a result many believed in Him. This prompted some of the large outpouring of praise on Jesus as He entered Jerusalem and likely had something to do with the interest of these Greeks.
This scene made me raise the question: “If someone wanted to see Jesus today – to know more about Him – to see beyond the superficial presentation of Jesus that is publicly displayed in our world – Would that person consider asking Me?”
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (NKJV)
May we be bold in our faith in Jesus! May others see Christ in us! May we live in such a way that others will know we will help them see Jesus!
-J. Helbig
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