There's a small but significant event in John 12; John is the only gospel author who mentions it:

"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). We aren't told who these Greeks were, but this event was noteworthy, and their request was a great one.

In many old-school churches, you'll see a plaque with this statement, as it appears in the King James Version: "Sir, we would see Jesus." It's a reminder to the preacher, "Don't preach your opinion, don't preach politics, don't preach you—preach Christ."

These Greeks were probably interested in the wisdom which they had heard Jesus speaking. The Greeks were known for being philosophers, which means lovers of wisdom. In Acts 17, when Paul was in Athens, he went to Mars Hill, where the philosophers "spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing" (v. 21).

John included this because he wanted you to know that God didn't just love the Jewish people, God loved the world. Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. And even as the Jews were rejecting Him, a door was opening in the Gentile world. There was a new mission opportunity, which would be carried out by Peter—and especially by Paul—as the gospel went out.

Here's what I love. Greeks showed up at the end of Jesus' life, before He went to the cross, seeking wisdom. And when Jesus was born, wise men from the East showed up seeking Him: "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?" (Matthew 2:2). It's as if His life and ministry were bookended by non-Jewish people seeking Him. That's one of the messages John was trying to get across—Jesus is the Savior for all.

As the Greeks were seeking Jesus, He was on the way to the cross to provide salvation for the whole world. So rather than quoting prophecies or the Old Testament to the Greek seekers, Jesus painted a picture of kernels of wheat being put into the ground. The kernel of wheat represented death, burial, and resurrection, illustrating the principle that resurrected life comes from death.

Another theme of John is that although there was incontrovertible evidence, not everyone believed in Jesus. Even the signs He performed in front of them were not enough (see vv. 37-38). Others believed but kept it quiet, because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God (see v. 43).

Jesus said, "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness" (v. 46). But He also said, "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day" (v. 48). Still, today, there are people who believe and people who don't. It's no surprise that we who are believers are the minority in a world of unbelievers.

Wise men sought Him out at His birth and lovers of wisdom sought Him out just before His death. We get the privilege of spreading the gospel around, so that more and more of the world will go after Jesus, as Jesus pursues them—just as He pursued the Greeks who sought Him out in John 12.

As the saying goes, "Wise men still seek Him."