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The False Teaching
Marcus
Borg on Belief Net: If we look at a single verse, we read,
"Very truly I tell you, unless a
grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single
grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (John 12:24). In short, for
John, the way or path of Jesus is the path of death and resurrection
understood as a metaphor for the religious life. That
way--the path of
dying to an old way of being and being born into a new way of being--is
the only way to God.
Catholic
New Advent: It would seem that there was no other possible
way of human deliverance besides Christ's Passion. For our Lord says (John
12:24):
"Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the
ground dieth, itself remaineth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit." Upon this St.
Augustine
(Tract. li) observes that "Christ called Himself the seed."
Consequently, unless He suffered death, He would not otherwise have
produced the fruit of our redemption.
Augustine:
But the height of His glorification had to be preceded by the depth of
His passion. Accordingly, He went on to add, “Verily, verily,
I say
unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” But He
spake of Himself. He Himself was the grain that had to
die, and be
multiplied; to suffer death through the unbelief of the Jews, and to be
multiplied in the faith of many nations.
Christians
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Catholic, Protestant, Liberal, fundamental, Radical, etc. present
two main views of John 12:24. Specific to Jesus
only, to
the Christian life in the world or to both. All tragically
err.
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Exposing the Error
This
false teaching that makes of John 12:24 only a metaphor for the
religious life is fueled by Paul who may have been the first to
teach it.:
Rm.6:11
Thus you
also reckon your
selves to be dead to sin but zoe-living to God in Christ
Jesus.
Cl.2:12
. . . having been buried
with him in [his] baptism, with whom also you were raised together
through faith in the action of [the] God having raised him out of the
dead, and
you being dead by transgressions and with uncircumcision [of your]
flesh, he made us alive with him.
Like the seed, one has died with
"Christ" and been raised with him to produce much
fruit. Just get baptized! Then you have fallen into the ground
and died with Christ and been raised with him. Jn.12:24
is therefore a metaphor
for the religious life.
They don't need Paul who believe that this metaphor is specific only
to Jesus. He, alone, is the seed that had to die to arise and bear
fruit, the fruit usually understood as "born again believers." As Augustine
writes, first quoting the Lord: Verily, verily, I say
unto you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
But
He
spake of Himself. He Himself was the grain that had to
die, and be
multiplied; to suffer death through the unbelief of the Jews, and to be
multiplied in the faith of many nations.
Being blind due the love of
life,
Christians of every
stripe and era do
not realize the Great Principle of the Lord. They love their lives and
cannot integrate the truth of John 12:24-25 into their faith; thus they
are driven to invent interpretations contrary to the Truth. It is for
this reason that the
Lord is called a rock of
offense and a stone of stumbling (Isaiah
8:14).
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Declaring the Truth
John
12:24 in context reads:
Jn.12:23 The hour is come that the son
of man be glorified. 24 Truly truly I say to you,
unless [a] grain of wheat having fallen into the earth die, it remains
alone, but if it die, it bears much fruit. 25 The [one] philia-loving his
psyche-life will lose it, and the [one] hating his
psyche-life
in this world will guard it to zoe-life eternal 26 If anyone be serving me, he
must be following me, and where I am, there also will be the [one]
serving me. If anyone be serving me, the father will honor him.
27 Now my
psyche-life is troubled, and what should I say? Father, save me from
this hour? But because of this I came to this hour.
Vs. #23 and the last vs, #27 are about the Lord so, is the entire
context about him and is vs.
24 about the death of Jesus only? No! Vs. 25 opens and closes
with "the one" - this Great
Principle is universal and non specific.
Vs. 26, beginning with If anyone be serving me
is exclusive of Jesus, for he cannot follow himself! Follow to where? . . .where I am, there also
will be the [one] serving me.
Where was he going? I
come to you Holy Father. Then
he says :If anyone be serving me, he
must be following me. He
is leading his followers to the Father, but those that love their lives
in the world will not want to "fall into the ground and die" as Jesus
did, therefore they will lose their lives rather than keeping them for
life eternal. If we love the Father per the Great
Commandment, we want to go to him per the Great
Principle. If not, then one cannot go
when
one's hour has come, because one does not want to go.
The hour is come, - But because of this I came to
this hour. More
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