Joh 12:26 . Requirement and promise, in accordance with that which was expressed generally in Joh 12:25 .

.] on the way of my life-surrender; comp. Mat 10:38 ; Mat 16:24 .

] comp. Joh 14:3 , Joh 17:24 . The pres. tense represents the fut. as present: where I am, there will also my servant be , namely, after I have raised him up (Joh 6:39-40 ; Joh 6:44 ; Joh 6:54 ) in the Parousia. Comp. Joh 14:3 , Joh 17:24 . That following after me will lead him into blessed fellowship with me in my kingdom. Comp. Rom 8:17 ; 2Ti 2:11-12 . For the counterpart, see Joh 7:34 . According to Luthardt (comp. Euth. Zigabenus 1), the being on the same way is meant, consequently the contents of that requirement are simply turned into a promise. A feeble tautology, especially after Joh 12:25 ( ).

. . . . .] Parallel with the preceding, further designating, particularly and specifically, the promised happiness, and that in the light of the divine recompense contained in it. This thought is expressed by the conjunction of and , which verbs have the emphasis (it is different previously, when bore the emphasis); he who serves me, him will the Father honour , actually, through the in the everlasting life, comp. Rom 2:10 ; Rom 8:17 . The , however, is here to be understood with the previously enjoined quality of following Christ.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 1672
THE BENEFIT OF FOLLOWING CHRIST

Joh 12:26. If any man sense me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

THE Christians life is certainly a life of difficulty and self-denial, not only as being contrary to our natural inclinations, but as exposing us to the contempt and hatred of an ungodly world. From the very days of Cain to this present moment, the wicked have hated, reviled, and persecuted the just. The prophets were all, without exception, treated with great malignity. The Apostles were deemed as the very filth of the world, and as the off-scouring of all things, both by their own people the Jews, and by the Gentiles in every place. Our blessed Lord himself, in whom no fault whatever could be found, was an object of abhorrence to his whole nation, and was put to death by them as the vilest and most odious of malefactors. And we also are taught to expect similar treatment at the hands of those amongst whom we live. Nor are we at liberty to shun the cross by any relaxation of our principles, or by any deviation from the path of duty. Our Lord tells us plainly, that he who loveth his life shall lose it; and that he only who hateth his life in this world, shall keep it unto life eternal [Note: ver. 25.]. But if this appear hard, the encouragement which our Lord affords us is amply sufficient for the support of our minds. His injunction is, If any man serve me, let him follow me, even unto death. And for his encouragement I assure him, that where I am there shall also my servant be: yea, if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Here we have, on the most unquestionable authority,

I.

Our duty set before us.

II.

Our encouragement to perform it.

I.

Our duty is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, whose we are and whom therefore we are bound to serve. But how must we serve him? Our Lord says, If any man serve me, let him follow me: Let him follow me,

As his Teacher, to instruct him.
As his Master, to rule him.
As his Saviour, to save him.
As his Example, whereby to regulate the whole of his conduct.
We must follow Christ as our Teacher, to instruct us. Christ is a Teacher come from God. He has left the bosom of his Father, and come down to earth to declare him to us, and to make known to us his mind and will. In particular, He is come to inform us what plan his heavenly Father has devised for the restoration of a guilty world to his favour; and in what way they must walk so as to please and honour him. And he expects that we come to him with the docility of little children, and receive instruction from his lips: Learn of me, says he, for I am meek and lowly in heart [Note: Mat 11:29.]; that is, Learn of me, for I can bear with your infirmities, and will carefully convey instruction to you as you are able to receive it. It was in this way that Mary sat at his feet, whilst her more earthly-minded sister Martha was cumbered about providing for the guests whom she was about to entertain: and this was the good part which Mary chose, and which, our Lord assured her, should never be taken from her. To inculcate this lesson, and to induce this habit, was the real scope of our Lords address to the Rich Youth, who desired to know what he must do in order to obtain eternal life. Our Lord told him to keep the commandments. And, when the Young Man, ignorant of their spiritual import, affirmed that he had kept them all from his youth up, our Lord said to him, Go and sell all thou hast, and come and follow me; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven [Note: Mat 19:21.]; by which he meant, not that the sacrifice of earthly treasures would purchase those which are eternal; but that by disencumbering his mind of earthly cares, and attending diligently on the instructions that should be given him, he should gradually be guided into all truth, and finally attain that eternal life about which he had professed so much concern. This is what our Lord requires at our hands also; and not at the commencement of our career only, but throughout our whole lives. After he had taught his Disciples during the whole of his ministerial life, even after he was risen again from the dead, he both expounded to them out of the prophets all that related to himself, and opened their understandings that they might understand the Scriptures [Note: Luk 24:44-45.]: and in like manner must we, to the latest hour of our lives, come to him for the illumination of our minds by his word and Spirit. We shall still need the same teaching as at the first, and must come to him for that spiritual eye-salve which he alone can give [Note: Rev 3:18.].

Next we must follow him as our Master, to rule us. We call him Lord and Master; and we say well; for so he is. But to what purpose shall we call him Lord, Lord, if we do not the things which he says? His word must be a law unto us at all times, and under all circumstances. There is no authority whatever that is to be regarded in comparison of his. When the Disciples were forbidden to preach in his name, they made this appeal to their Rulers; Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye [Note: Act 4:19; Act 5:29.]. So whatever menaces be used to intimidate us, and to deter us from the path of duty, we must say with St. Paul, None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto me [Note: Act 20:24; Act 21:13.], so that I may but discharge the duty I owe unto my Lord, and approve myself to him as his faithful servant.

Further, we must follow him as our Saviour, to save us. There is no other Saviour, no other name under heaven given among men whereby we, or any human being, can be saved. It is he who has by the sacrifice of himself effected our reconciliation with our offended God: and he says, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness that the wounded Israelites might look unto it and be healed, so, says our Lord, have I been lifted up, that whosoever shall believe in me may not perish, but may have eternal life [Note: Joh 3:14-15.]. But our eyes must be to him alone. We must not blend any thing with his all-sufficient merits. We must not look partly to ourselves and partly to him; for he will not endure any rival, or give any part of his glory to another. If St. Paul desired to be found in Christ, not having his own righteousness but the righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ [Note: Php 3:9.], much more must we renounce all dependence on our own works, and seek to be justified by Christ alone. As in heaven there is but one song, To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and the Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever; [Note: Rev 1:5-6.] so on earth must there be an entire and exclusive affiance in him for all the blessings of salvation.

Once more, we must follow him as our Example, to regulate the whole of our life and conversation. When he washed his Disciples feet, he declared, that he intended in this symbolical act to shew, how they were to demean themselves towards each other; and, by the example he then set them, to inculcate the necessity of their performing towards the meanest of their brethren every possible act of condescension and love [Note: Joh 13:12-14.]. So by St. Peter we are informed, that under still more trying circumstances the Lord Jesus Christ has set us an example that we should follow his steps, and more especially in those duties which are most difficult and self-denying. As he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, and when he was reviled, reviled not again, and when he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously [Note: 1Pe 2:21-23.]; so we, under all the heaviest trials that can come upon us, are to suffer them with all meekness, blessing those who curse us, and praying for those who despitefully use us, and persecute us [Note: Mat 5:44.]; our determination, through grace, must be, not to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good [Note: Rom 12:21.]. In a word, the whole mind must be in us that was in Christ Jesus [Note: Php 2:5.]; and under all imaginable circumstances we must approve ourselves as followers of Christ, walking as he walked [Note: 1Jn 2:6.], and doing only those things which will please and honour our Father which is in heaven. It must at all times be our very meat to do his holy will [Note: Joh 4:34.].

Now this, I apprehend, is the import of those words, If any man serve me, let him follow me: let him follow me for all the ends and purposes for which I came into the world, that he may honour me before men, and become fully meet for all the blessedness which I will award unto him.
To enforce this precept, our Lord adds the richest possible encouragement: Where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
Now I would ask, Where was our Lord when he spake these words? In his human nature he was on earth; but in his divine nature he was in heaven. For thus he said to Nicodemus; No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven [Note: Joh 3:13.]. And after our blessed Lord had completed on earth the work which his Father had given him to do, he was raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of God, far above all principalities and powers, and was invested with a throne and a kingdom as the just recompence of his obedience unto death. Now says our blessed Lord, such is the felicity that awaits all my obedient servants, and such the glory that shall be accorded to them. Whilst he was yet on earth, he told them, that he was going to heaven to prepare mansions for his obedient followers, and that in due time he would come again and receive them to himself that they might be with him, in a full enjoyment of his presence and glory [Note: Joh 14:2-3.]. He also made it a part of his intercessory prayer just before his death, Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me [Note: Joh 17:24.]. And St. Paul has told us, that at the last day the Lord Jesus will come again in power and great glory, and gather together his obedient people to meet him in the air; that so they may be ever with the Lord [Note: 1Th 4:17.]. At the instant of death shall this felicity be conferred on our souls, as on the dying thief in paradise; and at the day of judgment shall our bodies also be restored to life, that in union with our souls they may have a full and everlasting participation of this glory. Well, therefore, does the Apostle add, Comfort ye one another with these words. And are there any circumstances under which these words must not administer comfort? The Lord Jesus glorified his Father when on earth: and now he is glorified with him [Note: Joh 17:4-5.]. And, if we glorify God by following his dear Son, will he not glorify us also? Yes: he will honour us, even as he has honoured the Lord Jesus. He will acknowledge us as his beloved children before the whole assembled universe. He will exalt us to the kingdom which he has prepared for us before the foundation of the world. He will place us on the very same throne on which he has placed his Son [Note: Rev 3:21.]: he will assign to us the office of judging the world, yea and of judging angels too, as assessors in judgment with him [Note: 1Co 6:2-3.]: and he will give to us the very same glory which he has given to him [Note: Joh 17:22-23.]. Doubtless in all this the Lord Jesus will have the pre-eminence, even as the sun, which is the fountain of light, has above the twinkling star, which emits only a borrowed radiance: but as far as what is finite can be compared with what is infinite, we shall enjoy in our measure the same blessedness and the same glory which Christ himself possesses; being heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ [Note: Rom 8:17.].

Behold then what encouragement is here afforded us! Did Christ himself for the joy that was set before him endure the cross and despise the shame, till he was called to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God [Note: Heb 12:2.]? Methinks we should do the same: we should account no commandment hard, nor any suffering grievous. We should consider ourselves as altogether devoted to the Lord Jesus, and yield up both our bodies and our souls as living sacrifices to him [Note: Rom 12:1.], to be consumed, as it were, if he see fit, on his altar by the flames of martyrdom, but especially and above all by the fire of his love.

But who can conceive aright of this glory? We can form no idea of what it was to behold the Lord Jesus on Mount Tabor, when his glory shined above the brightness of the meridian sun: how much less can we conceive what it must be to see him as he is in glory! There he shines, not only in all the brightness of the Godhead, but in the tempered effulgence of the Lamb that has been slain [Note: Rev 5:6.]. There we shall see, not merely the glories of his nature, but all of them exhibiting in the brightest possible array the wonders of his love. There we shall behold him not merely as God, but as a Redeeming God, yea, as our Redeemer, and our God, and our portion for ever. Tell me, does not this afford us encouragement to serve him, and to follow him without the camp, bearing his reproach [Note: Heb 13:12-13.]? Surely not life itself should be of any value, but to honour him with it. See what men will do for earthly advancement; what cares, what labours, what privations will they endure; if by any means they may obtain the favoured objects of their ambition! And shall we account much of any labours or sufferings which we may be called to endure in order to the attainment of this glory? I blush to think how stupid and brutish we all are: Methinks, that acknowledgment of Agur was but the just expression of his feelings, and well befits every one of us, I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man [Note: Pro 30:2.].

And now, my brethren, let us improve this subject, first in reference to ourselves, and next in reference to the mournful occasion before us.
In respect to ourselves, we are here of necessity called to inquire what our habits are, and what our prospects? Whose servants are we, and whom do we follow? The Apostle appeals to us, that To whomsoever we yield ourselves servants to obey, his servants we are to whom we obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness [Note: Rom 6:16.]. Let me ask you then, Whose sentiments you have adopted, and whose precepts you have followed? Do you not find, on a retrospect of your past lives, that you have adopted for the most part the maxims of a corrupt world, instead of receiving explicitly, and following exclusively, the commandments of your God? Let me further ask respecting your views of salvation: Have you seen and felt your utter incapacity to save yourselves, and fled to Christ for refuge as to the hope set before you, renouncing every other ground of dependence, and relying altogether upon his blood and righteousness for your acceptance before God? And have you consecrated yourselves to God as his redeemed people, that, having been bought with a price, you may glorify him with your body and in your spirit which are his? And do those who are around you, behold in you such a resemblance to Christ, as constrains them to acknowledge you as his peculiar people, who have been brought by him out of darkness into marvellous light, and are shewing forth his virtues in the whole of your life and conversation [Note: 1Pe 2:9. the Greek.]? If you are really Christs, you are living epistles of Christ, known and read of all men [Note: 2Co 3:2-3.]? Now inquire whether it be so with you? for on this depends all the consolation which is here afforded us. I appeal to you, whether you can reasonably hope to be with Christ hereafter, if you do not serve him here; or, that God will honour you as his redeemed people in heaven, if you do not honour him in this world as his faithful servants? He has told you expressly, Them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed [Note: 1Sa 2:30.]. Yes indeed, if the obedient shall come forth to everlasting life, the disobedient will awake only to shame and everlasting contempt [Note: Dan 12:2.]. Of this there can be no doubt. I will appeal even to the most confident amongst you, Do you yourselves believe, that God will put no difference between those who serve him and those who serve him not [Note: Mal 3:18.]? You cannot but know that he will act as a righteous Judge, though you are unwilling to regard this truth in reference to yourselves with all the solemnity that it deserves. Behold then, ye servants of the world, ye stand altogether self-condemned. Ye know, and must know, that God will recompense men according to their works; and that they only who seek for glory and honour, and immortality, can ever have eternal life. Suffer me then to ask, If in the eternal world ye be not with Christ in heaven, where, and with whom will ye be? Oh! this is an awful question. I pray you to answer it to your own souls. To the Jews who rejected him, our Lord said, Whither I go ye cannot come: so must I say to you who make it not the one end of your lives to serve and honour him: Ye shall die in your sins; and where Christ is, ye cannot come [Note: Joh 8:21.]. I pray you, lay this to heart, and give up yourselves to him without delay, as his willing and devoted servants.

In reference to the mournful occasion on which we are assembled [Note: The Funeral of the Rev. C. S. Hawtrey, July 27, 1831.], one sentiment pervades us all; viz. that our loss is our brothers gain. Our loss is indeed great. To his bereaved family it is irreparable, except as the bereavement may bring them, as I hope it will, to God, and be the means of spiritual and eternal welfare to their souls. To the Church of God the loss will be exceeding great. Who, that has known our departed brother from the first moment that he undertook to advocate the cause of Gods ancient people, must not bear witness to his unremitting zeal and diligence in this high calling? Truly in labours has he been very abundant; as all who have been connected with the London Society [Note: The Society formed for the Conversion of the Jews.] can witness. In truth, it is wonderful how a person, not naturally robust, should have been able to sustain all his diversified labours and fatigues. In all his counsels and deportment, they who have seen the most of him will attest, that he has manifested, in no ordinary degree, the meekness of wisdom, and rendered incalculable service to the cause in which he has been so long engaged. To the children in the schools he has been a parent from the beginning; nor can we doubt but that several of them, who have died in the faith of Christ, will be his joy and crown of rejoicing for ever and ever. O that God may be pleased to raise up another like unto him, endued with the same holy zeal and heavenly disposition! As for himself, we cannot but congratulate him rather than condole with him. If St. Paul accounted it better to depart and be with Christ, than to protract the most favoured existence upon earth, no doubt our departed brother feels this realized in himself at this time. Who can conceive what blessedness he now enjoys in the presence of his Saviour, and in the very bosom of his God? Could we but now behold the crown of glory placed upon his head, and the throne on which he is seated at the right hand of God, and could we appreciate the transports of his soul in singing the praises of his redeeming God, we should not wish him back in the midst of us, but should congratulate him, saying, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. The office that remains for us, is, to follow him, as he followed Christ, and to stand ready for that summons which all of us must ere long receive; that, whenever it be sent, we may be found with our loins girt and our lamps trimmed, and may receive that welcome which has been vouchsafed to him, Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Ver. 26. If any man serve me, let, &c. ] Art thou not glad to fare as Phocion? said he to one that was to die with him; . (Plut.) How much more to die with and for Christ!

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

26. ] Connexion: The ministering to, or intimate union with, Christ (the position of Philip and Andrew and the rest, and that into which these Greeks seemed desirous to enter) implies following Him, and that, through tribulation to glory.

, the essential present in My true place, i.e. (ch. Joh 17:24 ) in the glory of the Father.

by glorifying him in My glorification, ch. Joh 17:24 .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Joh 12:26 . This law is applicable not to Jesus only, but to all: . The badge of His servants is that they adopt His method and aim and truly follow Him. The result of following necessarily is that , “where I am, as my eternal state, there shall also my servant be”. is especially a servant in attendance , at table or elsewhere; a may serve at a distance: hence the appropriateness of in this verse. The office of may seem a humble and painful one, but [omit ] , to be valued or honoured by the Father crowns life.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

John

A NEW KIND OF KING

AFTER CHRIST: WITH CHRIST

Joh 12:26 .

Our Lord was strangely moved by the apparently trivial incident of certain Greeks desiring to see Him. He recognised and hailed in them the first-fruits of the Gentiles. The Eastern sages at His cradle, and these representatives of Western culture within a few hours of the Cross, were alike prophets. So, in His answer to their request, our Lord passes beyond the immediate bearing of the request, and contemplates it in its relation to the future developments of His work. And the thought that the Son of Man is now about to begin to be glorified, at once brings Him face to face with the fact which must precede the glory, viz., His death.

That great law that a higher life can only be reached by the decay of the lower, of which the Cross is the great instance, He illustrates, first, by an example from Nature, the corn of wheat which must die ere it brings forth fruit. Then He declares that this is a universal law, ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.’ And then He declares that this universal law, which has its adumbration in Nature, and applies to all mankind, and is manifested in its highest form on the Cross, is the law of the Christian discipleship. ‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me,’ and, as a consequence, ‘where I am, there shall also My servant be.’

In two clauses He covers the whole ground of the present and the future. Many thinkers and teachers have tried to crystallise their systems into some brief formula which may stick in the memory and be capable of a handy application. ‘Follow Nature,’ said ancient sages, attaching a nobler meaning to the condensed commandment than its modern repeaters often do; ‘Follow duty,’ say others; ‘Follow Me’ says Christ. That is enough for life. And for all the dim regions beyond, this prospect is sufficient, ‘Where I am, there shall also My servant be.’ One Form towers above the present and the future, and they both derive their colouring and their worth from Him and our relation to Him. ‘To follow’-that is the condensed summary of life’s duty. ‘To be with’-that is the crystallising of all our hopes.

I. The all-sufficient law for life.

‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me.’ Everything is smelted down into that; and there you have a sufficient directory for every man’s every action.

Now although it has nothing to do with my present purpose, I can scarcely avoid pausing, just for a moment, to ask you to consider the perfect uniqueness of such an utterance as that. Think of one Man standing up before all mankind, and coolly and deliberately saying to them, ‘I am the realised Ideal of human conduct; I am Incarnate Perfection; and all of you, in all the infinite variety of condition, culture, and character, are to take Me for your pattern and your guide.’ The world has listened, and the world has not laughed nor been angry. Neither indignation nor mockery, which one might have expected would have extinguished such absurdity, has waited upon Christ’s utterance. I have no time to dwell on this; it is apart from my purpose, but I would ask you fairly to consider how strange it is, and to ask how it is to be accounted for, that a Man said that, and that the wisest part of the world has consented to take Him at His own valuation; and after such an utterance as that, yet calls Him ‘meek and lowly of heart.’

But I pass away from that. What does He mean by this commandment, ‘Follow Me’? Of course I need not remind you that it brings all duty down to the imitation of Jesus Christ. That is a commonplace that I do not need to dwell upon, nor to follow out into the many regions into which it would lead us, and where we might find fruitful subjects of contemplation; because I desire, in a sentence or two, to insist upon the special form of following which is here enjoined. It is a very grand thing to talk about the imitation of Christ, and even in its most superficial acceptation it is a good guide for all men. But no man has penetrated to the depths of that stringent and all-comprehensive commandment who has not recognised that there is one special thing in which Christ is to be our Pattern, and that is in regard to the very thing in which we think that He is most unique and inimitable. It is His Cross, and not His life; it is His death, and not His virtues, which He is here thinking about, and laying it upon all of us as the encyclopaedia and sum of all morality that we should be conformed to it. I have already pointed out to you in my introductory remarks the force of the present context. And so I need not further enlarge upon that, nor vindicate my declaration that Christ’s death is the pattern which is here set before us. Of course we cannot imitate that in its effects, except in a very secondary and figurative fashion. But the spirit that underlay it, as the supreme Example of self-sacrifice, is commended to us all as the royal law for our lives, and unless we are conformed thereto we have no right to call ourselves Christ’s disciples. To die for the sake of higher life, to give up our own will utterly in obedience to God, and in the unselfish desire to help and bless others, that is the Alpha and the Omega of discipleship. It always has been so and always will be so. And so, dear brethren, let us lay it to our own hearts, and make very stringent inquiry into our own conduct, whether we have ever come within sight of what makes a true disciple-viz., that we should be ‘conformable unto His death.’

Now our modern theology has far too much obscured this plain teaching of the New Testament, because it has been concerned-I do not say too much, but too exclusively, concerned-in setting forth the other aspect of Christ’s death, by which it is what none of ours can ever even begin to be, the sacrifice for a world’s sin. But, mind, there are two ways of looking at Christ’s Cross. You must begin with recognising it as the basis of all your hope, the power by which you are delivered from sin as guilt, habit, and condemnation. And then you must take it, if it is to be the sacrifice and atonement for your sins, for the example of your lives, and mould yourselves after it. ‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me,’ and here is the special region in which the following is to be realised: ‘He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life shall keep it unto life eternal.’

Now, further, let me remind you that this brief, crystallised commandment, the essence of all practical godliness and Christianity, makes the blessed peculiarity of Christian morality. People ask what it is that distinguishes the teaching of the New Testament in regard to duty, from the teaching of lofty moralists and sages of old. Not the specific precepts, though these are, in many cases, deeper. Not the individual commandments, though the perspective of human excellences and virtues has been changed in Christianity, and the gentler and sweeter graces have been enthroned in the place where the world’s morality has generally set the more ostentatious ones; the hero is, roughly speaking, the world’s type, the saint is the New Testament’s. But the true characteristic of Christian teaching as to conduct lies in this, that the law is in a Person, and that the power to obey the law comes from the love of the Person. All things are different; unwelcome duties are made less repulsive, and hard tasks are lightened, and sorrows are made tolerable, if only we are following Him. You remember the old story in Scottish history of the knight to whom was entrusted the king’s heart; how, beset by the bands of the infidels, he tossed the golden casket into the thickest of their ranks and said, ‘Go on, I follow thee’; and death itself was light when that thought spurred his steed forward.

And so, brethren, it is far too hard a task to tread the road of duty which our consciences command us, unless we are drawn by Him Who is before us there on the road, and see the shining of His garments as He sets His face forward, and draws us after Him. It is easy to climb a glacier when the guide has cut with his ice-axe the steps in which he sets his feet, and we may set ours. The sternness of duty, and the rigidity of law, and the coldness of ‘I ought,’ are all changed when duty consists in following Christ, and He is before us on the rocky and narrow road.

This precept is all-sufficient. Of course it will be a task of wisdom, of common sense, of daily culture in prudence and other graces; to apply the generalised precept to the specific cases that emerge in our lives. But whilst the application may require a great many subordinate by-laws, the royal statute is one, and simple, and enough. ‘Follow Me.’ Is it not a strange thing-it seems to me to be a perfectly unique thing, inexplicable except upon one hypothesis-that a life so brief, of which the records are so fragmentary, in which some of the relationships in which we stand had no place, and which was lived out in a world so utterly different from our own, should yet avail to be a guide to men, not in regard to specific points, so much as in regard to the imperial supremacy in it of these motives-Even Christ pleased not Himself; ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.’

And so, brethren, take this sharp test and apply it honestly to your own lives, day by day, in all their minutiae as well as in their great things. ‘If any man serve Me,’ how miserably that Christian ‘service’ has been evacuated of its deepest meaning, and superficialised and narrowed! ‘Service’-that means people getting into a building and singing and praying. Service-that means acts of beneficence, teaching and preaching and giving material or spiritual helps of various kinds. These things have almost monopolised the word. But Christ enlarges its shrivelled contents once more, and teaches us that, far above all specifically so-called acts of religious worship, and more indispensable than so-called acts of Christian activity and service, lies the self-sacrificing conformity of character to Him. ‘If any man serve Me,’ let him sing and praise and pray? Yes; ‘If any man serve Me,’ let him try to help other people, and in the service of man do service to Me? Yes; but deeper than all, and fundamental to the others, ‘If any man serve Me, let him follow Me’-Is that my discipleship? Let each one of us professing Christians ask himself.

II. We have here the all-sufficient hope for the future.

I know few things more beautiful than the perfectly naive way in which the greatest of thoughts is here set forth by the simplest of figures. If two men are walking on the same road to a place, the one that is in front will get there first, and his friend that is coming up after him will get there second, if he keeps on; and they will be united at the end, because, one after the other, they travel the road. And so says Christ: ‘Of course, if you follow Me, you will join Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be.’ The implications of a Christian life, which is true following of Christ here, necessarily led to the confidence that in that future there will be union with Him. That is a deep thought, which might afford material for much to be said, but on which I cannot dwell now.

I remarked at an early stage of this sermon how singular it was that our Lord should present Himself as the Pattern for all human excellence. Is it not even more singular that He should venture to present His own companionship as the sufficient recompense for every sorrow, for every effort, for all pain, for all pilgrimage? To be with Him, He thinks, is enough for any man and enough for all men. Who did He think Himself to be? What did He suppose His relation to the rest of us to be, who could thus calmly suggest to the world that the only thing that a heart needed for blessedness was to be beside Him? And we believe it, too little as it influences our lives. ‘To be with Christ’ is ‘very much better’; better than all beneath the stars; better than all on this side eternity.

What does our Lord mean by this all-sufficient hope? We know very little of that dim region beyond, but we know that until He comes again His departed servants are absent from the body. And, in our sense of the word, there can be no place for spirits thus free from corporeal environment. And so place, to-day at all events for the departed saints, and in a subordinate degree all through eternity, even when they are clothed with a glorified body, must be but a symbol of state, of condition, of spiritual character. ‘Where I am there shall My servant be,’ means specially ‘What I am, that shall My servant be.’ This perfect conformity to that dear Lord, whose footsteps we have followed; assimilation there, which is the issue of imitation here, though broken and imperfect, this is the hope that may gladden and animate every Christian heart.

To be with Him is to be like Him, and therefore to be conscious of His presence in some fashion so intimate, so certain, as that all our earthly notions of presence, derived from the juxtaposition of corporeal frames, are infinite distance as compared with it. That is what my text dimly shadows for us. We know not how that union, which is to be as close as is possible while the distinction of personality is retained, may be accomplished. But this we know, that the coalescence of two drops of mercury, the running together of two drops of water, the blending of heart with heart here in love, are distance in comparison with the complete union of Christ and of the happy soul that rests in Him, as in an atmosphere and an ocean. Oh, brethren! it is not a thing to talk about; it is a thing to take to our hearts, and in silence to be thankful for; ‘absent from the body; present with the Lord.’

And is that not enough? The ground of it is enough. ‘If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’ That future companionship is guaranteed to the Christian man by the words of Incarnate Truth, and by the resurrection of his Lord. The ground of it is enough, and the contents are enough-enough for faith; enough for hope; enough for peace; enough for work; and eminently enough for comfort.

Ah! there are many other questions that we would fain ask, but to which there is no reply; but as the good old rough music of one of the eighteenth-century worthies has it, we have sufficient.

‘My knowledge of that life is small,

The eye of faith is dim;

But ‘tis enough that Christ knows all,

And I shall be with Him.’

‘It is enough for the disciple that he be as’ that is, with ‘his Master.’ So let us take that thought to our hearts and animate ourselves with it, for it is legitimate for us to do so. That one hope is sufficient for us all.

Only let us remember that, according to the teaching of my text, the companionship that blesses the future is the issue of following Him now. I know of no magic in death that is able to change the direction in which a man’s face is turned. As he is travelling and has travelled, so he will travel when he comes through the tunnel, and out into the brighter light yonder. The line of a railway marked upon a map may stop at the boundaries of the country with which the map is concerned, but it is clearly going somewhere, and in the same direction. You want the other sheet of the map in order to see whither it is going. That is like your life. The map stops very abruptly, but the line does not stop. Take an unfinished row of tenements. On the last house there stick out bricks preparatory to the continuation of the row. And so our lives are, as it were, studded over with protuberances and preparations for the attachment thereto of a ‘house not made with hands,’ and yet conformed in its architecture to the row that we have built. The man that follows will attain. For life, the all-sufficient law is, after Christ; for hope, the all-sufficient assurance is, with Christ.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

My Father. Greek. the Father. App-98.

honour. Greek timao, only used by John, here, Joh 5:23, and Joh 8:49.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

26.] Connexion:-The ministering to, or intimate union with, Christ (the position of Philip and Andrew and the rest, and that into which these Greeks seemed desirous to enter) implies following Him,-and that, through tribulation to glory.

, the essential present-in My true place, i.e. (ch. Joh 17:24) in the glory of the Father.

-by glorifying him in My glorification, ch. Joh 17:24.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Joh 12:26. [319]) , any man, in this verse, is in the first instance placed after the , and subsequently it is placed before, producing thereby the greater emphasis [ – ]. [The second implies, However much he may have been despised by the world.-V. g.]-, let him follow) on that road, which has been set before Me. The imperative here promises, and invites by a most immediate perception of glory close at hand.-, shall be) The promise. Comp. Rev 14:4, These are they which follow the Lamb, whithersoever He goeth-the redeemed from among men. [The following of Christ, of itself, leads the servant to the same place where His Master dwells. But by wandering from Him to this or that side, the servant fails in reaching the wished-for end.-V. g.]-, will honour) A comprehensive expression, corresponding with , should be glorified, Joh 12:23. [Such a one truly is distinguished by greater honour than what can be devised by the greatest of great men, throughout the wide worlds extent, or can be bestowed on the most deserving person, whether living or dead, in tear or peace.-V. g.]-, him) as fellow-heir of the Son. Rom 8:29, That He (the Son) might be the first-born among many brethren.

[319] , Me) This is put twice with great force.-V. g.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Joh 12:26

Joh 12:26

If any man serve me, let him follow me;-To follow Jesus is to do his will, to be actuated by the same principles that moved him. In living like him, we will be made like him in character and so will be fitted to dwell with him. [Follow me in the pathway of self-abnegation and self-sacrifice to which I have already alluded.]

and where I am,-[The present tense used for the future. He would be with his Father in heaven.]

there shall also my servant be:-[Having followed me in self-sacrifice, he shall be with me in glory.]

if any man serve me, him will the Father honor.-As God honored his Son so will he honor all who serve his Son. [How little does modern Christendom realize the lesson of this passage! On what miserable foundations of self-indulgence and self-saving are men building hope of glory and honor at God’s right hand, which can find a solid foundation only on self-denial and self-sacrifice.]

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

serve: Joh 13:16, Joh 14:15, Joh 15:20, Luk 6:46, Rom 1:1, Rom 14:18, 2Co 4:5, Gal 1:10, Col 3:24, Col 4:12, 2Pe 1:1, 1Jo 5:3, Jud 1:1

let: Joh 10:27, Joh 21:22, Num 14:24, Num 32:11, Mat 16:24, Mar 8:34, Luk 9:23, Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2, Rev 14:4

where: Joh 14:3, Joh 17:24, Psa 17:15, Mat 25:21, 2Co 5:8, Phi 1:23, 1Th 4:17, 1Th 4:18

him: Joh 14:21-23, 1Sa 2:30, Pro 27:18

Reciprocal: Jos 22:5 – serve 2Ki 10:5 – We are thy servants 2Ch 30:8 – serve Psa 86:2 – save Psa 91:15 – honour Psa 101:6 – that they Psa 116:16 – truly Son 4:8 – with me Isa 55:4 – a leader Dan 3:30 – the king Mal 3:18 – between him Mat 4:19 – Follow Mat 13:21 – for Mat 19:21 – come Mat 24:47 – That Mar 8:35 – will save Mar 10:21 – take Luk 5:27 – Follow me Luk 12:37 – that Luk 19:13 – his Joh 10:4 – he goeth Joh 12:43 – the praise of God Joh 14:4 – and the Joh 15:15 – I call Joh 21:19 – Follow Act 14:22 – we Act 20:19 – Serving Act 27:23 – and Rom 2:10 – glory Rom 8:17 – if so be Rom 16:18 – serve Eph 2:6 – sit Phi 1:1 – the servants Jam 1:1 – a servant 1Pe 1:7 – might 3Jo 1:11 – follow Rev 7:3 – the servants Rev 22:3 – his Rev 22:4 – they

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

A LIFE OF SERVICE

If any man serve Me, let him follow Me.

Joh 12:26

Here is the secret of true Christian service. In what must the Christian worker follow Christ? In His

I. Obedience.He came to do Gods will. Have we tried to find Gods will concerning us? It is so much more pleasant to do the work which is most congenial to us. But if we are to follow the Master, our desire will be to be used of Him just as He will, and when, and where.

II. Humility.How much Christian workers of all kinds are tempted by pride. How much we think of our work, our preaching, etc. If Christ is to use us, we must have the humble spirit which will enable us to take the lowest place (even that of a door-keeper if need be). It is more difficult to get good workers for the lowliest offices than it is for the highest, because men and women have not learnt to follow Christ in His humility.

III. Love for all men.We have our favourites; Christ loved all men. It is so much more congenial to look after the goody people. We need a large heart if we are to follow Him Who came to seek and to save the lost.

IV. Self-denial.How little does self-denial enter into our lives! If we keep the Friday fasts and the Lenten fasts, we think we have done all that is required. But it is possible to observe these seasons and yet to be strangers to any real denial of self. If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross. The cross does not enter sufficiently into our lives. Yet no cross, no crown.

Illustration

A life spent in the pursuit of enjoyment cannot justly claim to be a human, still less a Christian life. Every exceptional indulgence in amusement or living which we admit, every use which we make of money or leisure for rest, for travel, for the accumulation of works of art or literature, must satisfy two tests before it can be approved by an awakened conscience. It must be found to contribute directly or indirectly its full value to the efficiency of our work; and it must not be such as to cause even the weak to offend by a perilous example.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

6

Serve is from a different Greek word from the one that suggests a slave. It means to minister to or wait upon, such as serving one with the necessities of life. No one can render such service to Christ today directly. But that kind of service can be given to his disciples as he taught in Mat 25:35-40. On the principle that such service is regarded by Jesus as if it were done for him personally, so the Father will honor that servant for his loving ministry as having been done for his Son. But this material ministration should be considered only as one phase of our service to Christ. We should be even more concerned with rendering service to Him in the great Cause for which he died and “fell into the ground.”

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Joh 12:26. If any one serve me, let him follow me. The words apply the law just spoken of as the law of nature and of man, and therefore also as the law of Jesus, to every individual. The following is neither general nor outward, but specific and inward,a following in that path of suffering and sacrifice even to the cross, the thought of which was at the moment peculiarly present to the mind of Jesus (comp. Joh 13:36), and it supposes the possession of His spirit (comp. 12). A special emphasis lies upon the first Me, as if our Lord would say, If it be Me that any man would serve

And where I am, there shall also my servant be, in that glory to which I am immediately to be exalted (Joh 17:24).

If any one serve me, him will the Father honour. Any one, Jesus says, for the thought of the universality of His salvation now fills His breast; and the Father, even He who will be to all His sons what he is to the Son. We ought not to pass these last two clauses without observing how, amidst all that equality of sonship which-runs through this part of the Gospel, the wide distinction between the Son and the sons is still preserved. In that future home of which Jesus speaks He is, it corresponds to His nature to be there; they shall only be brought to share it: He, too, is the Master, they serve.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, “If any man assumes the title, and enters into the sacred engagement of being Christ’s servant, let his conversation correspond with his profession, and let him be willing to follow me in the thorny path of affliction and sufferings from this assurance, That all his grievous sufferings shall end in eternal joys; Where I am, there shall my servant be, and him will my Father honour.

Learn hence, 1. That all that will be Christ’s servants, must be his followers: they must obey his doctrine, and imitate his example.

2. That Christ’s servants must not expect better usage at the hand of an unknown world, than he their master met with before them.

3. That such as serve Christ by following of him, shall at death see him as he is, and be with him where he is: Where I am, there shall also my servant be.

4. That God will crown the fidelity and constancy of Christ’s servants, with the highest dignity and honour: If any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Ver. 26. If any one serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be; if any one serves me, him will my Father honor.

To follow, here: on the pathway of sacrifice, which alone leads to the glorious metamorphosis. The Greek term: where I am, is a present of anticipation; it refers to the state of the celestial glory of Jesus, as the promise: shall be there also, refers to the participation of the faithful disciple in that state (Joh 17:24). , shall honor, recalls the shall be glorified,, of Joh 12:23. The Father will honor the faithful servant who has consented to bear the shame of His Son in renouncing all glory of his own; he will make him participate in the glorification of this Son. Herein is for both thekeeping of the life which they have given up. Perhaps Andrew and Philip had seen with a somewhat carnal satisfaction the conduct of these strangers desirous to render homage to their Master. Jesus, accustomed to silence continually within Himself even the most lawful aspirations of the natural life, in view of His divine mission, suppresses by a word these ambitious thoughts on the part of His disciples. Then, immediately after having thus declared the law which obliges Him to die, He feels in His whole being the reaction of this formidable thought.

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

For disciples of Jesus, self-sacrifice does not just mean putting others before themselves. It also means putting Jesus first (cf. Joh 10:4). The disciple who wants to serve Jesus must follow Him. He or she must go where Jesus goes and do what He does. True servants stay close to their masters.

Jesus said these words on the way to the Cross and His glorification. Likewise His servants who follow Him could and can count on death, figuratively if not literally, but beyond that they can anticipate glory from the Father (cf. Joh 17:24). The true disciple’s life will essentially duplicate the experiences of his or her Lord.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)