Philip

John 12:20-21

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We hear about the disciple Philip in John chapter 12.

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21)

Philip was from Bethsaida, we’re told, which was a town on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Compared to Judea and Jerusalem in the south of Israel, this region of Galilee, where Jesus grew up in Nazareth, had a higher proportion of Gentiles, people who were not ethnically Jewish and who were connected to this Greek speaking Roman world beyond the confines of Israel.

Interestingly, Philip is a Greek name. Famously, Alexander the Great’s father was named Philip. Now a lot of the disciples, as we’ve already seen in previous videos, had maybe both a Hebrew or an Aramaic name as well as a Greek name that they would go by, they would have multiple names. The interesting thing is, Philip is only referred to in the Gospels by this Greek name. So it could have been that though he was a Jew, he had more of a connection to this Greek speaking world and culture. Maybe he spoke Greek more fluently. And that’s why these Greek peoples, so non-Jews who followed the Old Testament religion, come up to talk to him at the festival in Jerusalem.

I bring this up because Greek at the time is what we call a lingua franca. That is, it was a kind of more universal language that spread across cultures and was used for business, for government, for education. And it’s because the Greek language had become so widespread in what was at that time the Roman Empire, and even beyond its borders, that the New Testament, written in the Greek language, could spread so widely. Why Paul, for example, who could speak Greek, could go and preach the gospel, plant churches in all these different places. That’s interesting, because the Old Testament religion did not have Greek as its base language. It had Hebrew as its base language. So the switch to Greek in the New Testament church, and even with the New Testament scriptures, tells us the gospel doesn’t depend on your language.

Your sins are real no matter what language you speak. There is a God who is the source of life, and by your sins you have rebelled against him. And if nothing is done, there’s going to be eternal separation, eternal death in the end. But this God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, into the flesh through the Jewish people for all nations, so that by his death he would pay the penalty for your sin. By his resurrection, he would proclaim that your sins are forgiven. This Lord is gracious, though you have rebelled, God has sent his Son to rescue you.

Now, if you’re understanding the words that I’m saying, that means you just heard a basic gospel message in the English language. And that’s important because English today is what Greek was in the time of Christ. There are more people who speak English in the world, including both native speakers and non-native speakers, than any other language. That means if you speak English fluently, as Philip likely spoke Greek pretty fluently, you have great power. There is great power in being able to serve as a conduit for the message about Christ. Not only do people in your little corner of the world who might speak your little native language, but in being able to reach people across cultures with this message about Jesus. So look for opportunities like Philip to share the message of Jesus so that others would see him and believe.