First You Have To Die

First You Have to Die

Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives.”

John 12:23-24

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.

Matthew 16:25

Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

Romans 6:5

When a dormant (the plant version of asleep) seed is planted into the ground for forty days at forty degrees and takes in water, it miraculously begins to expand. The seed coat is broken, and out comes the little roots and the little shoots. Life sprouts! But in order for there to be a plant, the seed itself has to die.

This is the example from nature Jesus used to help prepare his disciples for his coming death on the cross. The kernel of wheat (or seed) is Jesus himself. He is the Son of Man who will be glorified. He is the grain of wheat who must fall to the ground and die in order to bring about a “plentiful harvest.”

When Jesus spoke about how it was necessary to die in order to harvest new life, he meant it to be applied in our lives too. If we want to bear fruit or have a lasting impact on our world, first we’re going to need to die. When Jesus tells us we need to die, he’s talking about dying to self, or to selfishness. It means dying to the attitude that says, I am going to live for myself; the purpose of my life is to make myself happy and to experience all that life can give me.

It’s hard to die. We fear we’ll lose our individuality, our personalities, and our freedoms. But when our lives revolve around ourselves, we aren’t really living at all. And when our self-centeredness begins to die, that’s when we really begin to live.

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What does it mean that a seed has to “die” in order to grow a plant?

How did Jesus’ death produce a harvest of new lives?

What fruit can be harvested in our lives when we die to ourselves?