You will never understand life without understanding God; you will never understand God without understanding Jesus. You will never understand Jesus without understanding His death; you will never understand His death without understanding the cross. And understanding the cross is the key to understanding life (v. 24).

In this transitional chapter, Jesus prepares the disciples for what is to come by likening His death to a seed falling into the ground, germinating and producing many seeds (v. 24). Germination is the key principle of agriculture, without which we would have nothing to eat. The hour of glory has come for the Lord Jesus and it is the hour of germination. His death will be the source of great life for many.

It is clear that His death is the pattern which those who believe in Him must follow (v. 26). The disciple must not grasp life and live it selfishly, but follow Jesus into the dirt. Here is another seeming contradiction of Christian living: the way up, is down; to be first, be last; to be rich, become poor; and to live, die.

This is why Jesus came: to do His Father's will and die for sinners (v. 27). In the hour of the cross, He seeks to glorify His Father (v. 28). It is the hour of glory, in which the Father is glorified (v. 28), because it is His plan that is being fulfilled.

Disciples know that following Jesus is a matter of dying to self and so finding life. Paul talks of this death to self in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 and urges the Romans to ″count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus″ (Romans 6:11).

Jesus is the Germinator (not the Terminator). The disciples must understand that His death will glorify God, bring many to life, and provide them a pattern for their own living.