There is times in preperation for the next commentary that I read what someone else has said that God touches my heart with their words that I find no need to try to re-write what they have already said. Today we take from A W. Pink Exposition of the Gospel of John. May God touch your hearts as well and enlighten you with the eye of faith.
Extra Credit: You generally wont go wrong with Charles Spurgeon. Since we touch on the eye of faith I found this one on True Faith
Jhn 12:20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:
Jhn 12:21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.
Jhn 12:22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
- Why did Philip tell Andrew first and not ask Christ?
Exactly who these Greeks were we cannot say for certain. But there are two things which incline us to think that very likely they were Syro-Phoenicians. First, in Mark 7:26, we are told that the woman who came to Christ on behalf of her obsessed daughter, was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by nation. Second, the fact that these men sought out Philip, of whom it is expressly said that he was of Bethsaida of Galilee, a city on the borders of Syro-Phoenicia. The fact that Philip sought. the counsel of Andrew, who also came from Bethsaida in Galilee (see John 1:44), and who would therefore be the one most likely to know most about these neighboring people, provides further confirmation. That these Greeks were not idolatrous heathen is evidenced by the fact that they, came up to worship at the feast, the verb showing they were in the habit of so doing!
These Greeks took a lowly place. They desired Philip: the Greek word is variously rendered asked, besought, or prayed. They supplicated Philip, making known their wish, and asking if it were possible to have it granted; saying, (Sir, we would see Jesus,) or more literally, (Jesus, we desire to see.) At the very time the leaders of Israel sought to kill Him, the Greeks desired to see Him. This was the first voice from the outside world which gave a hint of the awakening consciousness that Jesus was about to be the Savior of the Gentiles as well as the Jews. Of old it had been said, And the Desire of all nations shall come (Hag. 2:7). That it was more than an idle curiosity which prompted these Greeks we cannot doubt, for if it were only a physical sight of Him which they desired, that could have been easily obtained as He passed in and out of the temple or along the street of Jerusalem, without them interviewing Philip. It was a personal and intimate acquaintance with Him that their souls craved. The form in which they stated their request was prophetically significant. It was not We would hear him, or We desire to witness one of his mighty works, but We would see Jesus. It is so to-day. He is no longer here in the flesh: He can no longer be handled or heard. But He can be seen, seen by the eye of faith! Taken from commentary by A. W. Pink
