18. Jesus Is Planted inside of Me

The central event of John Chapter 12 is Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem just days prior to His crucifixion. This arrival includes His riding on a young donkey as the crowds shouted “Hosanna!” These are the same crowds that will cry, “Crucify Him,” a few days later.

The psychological and emotional setting is the contention over Lazarus being raised from the dead and the despair and determination of the Pharisees to put them all to death. John intends us, then, to interpret the things Jesus says in this chapter by the milieu of that setting.

Agitation and Distress. Inside this setting Jesus says two very cryptic things that have been misunderstood ever since. He said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified,” and He said, “Unless a grain of wheat is planted in the ground and dies, it remains alone.” We will see that these two mysterious things are the same.

There is a shadow that seems to rest on the things Jesus says in this chapter including His agitation of soul. Yet it is not His own imminent execution that distresses Jesus, but rather, that the Father’s purposes be accomplished in the lives of His disciples.

The Measure of His Cost. In fact, we will see this very stress developed more through Chapter 13 and the events prior to Judas leaving the upper room.

I had made note early on in my Bible career that Jesus did not share the wondrous things of Chapter 14 until Judas was no longer there to hear them. As I wrote out the statements of faith, of Christ as us, for this chapter, I was struck by how this shadow of Jesus’ great distress and agitation cast itself upon the words. Of truth, Jesus’ primary concern is this planting of Himself into us, for this is the measure of His COST.

A Garden. In fact, we must see the words of Jesus in John 14, 15, 16, and 17 as a parenthesis coming out from and sandwiched between John 12:27 – “Now my soul is agitated” and 18:1 – “where there was a garden.”

Yet here is something I had not realized. John did not include the agony of Gethsemane in his account. For our purposes, however, we will bring in the accounts of Gethsemane including Luke’s use of the Greek word agonia, as we know now Gethsemane’s critical importance in what Jesus is calling “glorification,” this planting of Himself inside of us.

Speaking the Same Word. It’s not possible to see what a passage of Scripture is about without speaking it as Christ made personal as us and without entwining that Word together into a whole. Then it is that the passage takes on a meaning we never knew before and we see that meaning in every line, even when we are not speaking it as homologia, the same word.

Sometimes it’s possible to separate the threads and weave them into meaningful wholes and sometimes it’s not, according to each passage. Here we find three different but related topics, and we are able to weave the threads together into beauty.

The Planting of a Seed. The first topic is the story of what happens when you plant a seed into the earth. Salvation is NOT of us; Salvation is always the ongoing work of the Lord Jesus.

~ Jesus is planted as a Seed inside of me, into my body of earth, into my desire to see and experience Him. Jesus takes upon Himself my outward appearance, and He takes upon Himself the appearance of the Church, local and universal. Jesus lives as me, and He lives as all of my brethren together. Jesus brings forth the fruit of Himself inside of me and among us together. Jesus causes me to be just like Himself. I am a seed of God, just like Jesus. I walk together with a Church of many seeds just like Jesus. ~

Keeping Your Soul. The planting of Jesus as a Seed inside of us is the larger picture. But what happens inside each of us, then, in response to this new DNA inside of us?

~ I see Jesus; I am drawn to Him. I turn away from a soul of pretending and Jesus heals me. I love my soul, my story of self; therefore I set it aside. I lose my story of self inside the pretending of this world, and thus I keep and protect it anew into age-unfolding life. I hear Jesus’ words. I watch and keep guard over them. I am judged already by every Word God speaks. I experience and partake of Jesus; in so doing, I experience and partake of God. God gives me His full completion. My end result is age-unfolding life. ~

A Life Given. Finally we have the meaning of glory, as the glory of Jesus becomes our glory as well. The meaning of glory has been so not understood in Christian thinking. In fact, it has been turned almost into the opposite of what God’s glory really is.

~ I am come for the Father’s purposes inside each moment of my life. I possess the light, the Lord Jesus, inside myself. I walk in the light. I love the glory of God. God sent me as a light into my world. I do not judge; I save. My glory is a life given for the sake of others. ~

Jesus prayer birthing the Kingdom comes out from glory; we must know what it means.

The Jesus Secret Page. As I first began to fit these statements of faith together, I quickly saw two boxes I wanted to include on the page. The first is “The Story of a Seed,” and the second is “The Renewing of a Soul.” These two things together are the whole meaning of Salvation and they are the reason for Jesus’ agony and distress of soul, that He, as every Word God speaks, now as a man just like us, would accomplish in His Church over two thousand years all that the Father sent Him to accomplish. And thus we need a third box as well, a clear definition of “glory” as it pertains to Jesus and thus to us.

Transubstantiation and Metamorphy. We begin by seeing that this whole picture in John 12 is identical to John 6, just in a different form. The planting of the Seed of Jesus into us is transubstantiation, and our response in return, the renewing of our souls, is metamorphy.

And again, the first time John presented these things was in the meaning of LIFE, from conceived of God to rivers flowing out. This layout is the same, except from the point of view of the WAY, the Way that Life takes in doing what Life does. Bread that becomes you; a Seed that becomes you – the same.

In Seeing They Do Not See! Jesus quotes Isaiah again, “In seeing they do not see.” When I had written on my earlier website that “God sent Jesus to make us just like Himself,” I was challenged by a non-Spirit-filled Calvinist, in so many words, “No, the Bible says that God sent Jesus to take us to heaven.” I see Jesus planted in us, making us just like Himself on every page of the Bible. This brother, though I’m sure he also studied “the Bible,” saw none of that.

Why? Because of three Nicene absolutes. 1. Jesus is far away. 2. Salvation someday is up to us to get something right. 3. Salvation someday is a change of geography.

Only One Seed. This is a terrible, terrible thing, that one who “seeks to know the Lord” can study the Bible intensely for a lifetime and never see the obvious, never see what God has written there. John said that there is ONLY ONE SEED, the Lord Jesus, and that this Only-Seed brings forth His same Kind.

But the definitions of the word “death” are critical, that is, that we use the right one of several very different definitions. In this context “death” does not mean annihilation, it does not mean separation from God, and it does not mean the loss of the physical body. Here, death means only “the outward appearance of death.”

Thank You, Father. It does NOT look like Jesus, yet it is. It does not LOOK like the Seed of Life, yet it is. It does not look LIKE the fullness of Christ, yet it is. And so this most precious of truths is turned, by the supposed “absence” of Jesus, into one more “die to self” hopelessness, the task of Sisyphus that cannot ever be accomplished, the crucifix, the ever-dying, but never-living “Christ,” the “struggle against sin,” the exaltation of self. And we say with Paul, “Thank You, oh Father, that it is Jesus who is inside of us causing us to be all that He is.”

The path of my life was the travel from one to the other.

His Agony Shared with Me. This is the distress of Jesus; this is His agony in Gethsemane, that He would not only be planted inside of me, but that He would succeed in causing me to know such a wondrous thing.

Indeed, Jesus shared His same agony with me as the course and fabric of my life in order to accomplish this wondrous transition out from the fantasy of my own pretending soul and into the glory of sharing story with Jesus. I know the meaning of John Chapter 12 by forty-six years of distress until I knew Father-with-me and nothing else. This is the true essence of GLORY!

The Basic Metaphor. Yet we must also include the basic truth of this metaphor, that is, the Way of Life.

The Seed is Jesus planted in the earth to become something very different in appearance, the plant, you and me as individuals and the entire Church, local and universal. From the Day of Pentecost until now Jesus has always walked the earth, He has always lived as us, the Church has always been His fullness, Jesus filling all inside of all. That is the Apocalypse, for it doesn’t look like Jesus until that moment when the cover is taken from the eyes of everyone and they see many just like Jesus as His fruit.

The Story of a Seed. Jesus is the one and only Seed as every Word God speaks, the only Kind out from God. Yet Jesus does not want to be alone; He wants me to be with Him inside of God. Jesus is planted inside of me by the Spirit and through my faith in Him. Here, inside my earth, Jesus does not look like Jesus but like me. Yet as I acknowledge Him as my only life, Jesus springs forth in me as the growing of the plant, causing all my humanity to align with every Word God speaks. I water that Seed, I keep guard over it, I acknowledge its power. As I do, Jesus transfers His substance to me and I am metamorphosed into His image. Then the cover of outward appearance is lifted for all to see that I am one of many seeds just like the Lord Jesus.

Bread and Seed. The two primary metaphors of Word are Word as Bread and Word as Seed. In fact, the Bread is made from Seed and the Seed becomes the Bread. Yet they speak of two different things, but each necessary for the other.

Bread is Word entering us to become the building blocks of our life, but Seed is Word entering us as DNA to order and arrange those building blocks into the order of Life. The Word is life, yes, but without the correct arrangement of that Word into God’s living patterns, life is not yet. This is why we need Jesus Himself inside of us.

Considering Metamorphy. Yet now we are considering metamorphy, that is, our involvement with the substance of that Word and with the ordering of that Word into our own self-stories. Bread is substance; Seed is arrangement and design.

For twenty-three years God gave me Word to eat, even while bringing me into the bright-shining light of NOT confidencing upon myself. That Word was my Bread, though I did not understand it. Then, for twenty-three years, as God healed me bit by bit, so He gave me Word as DNA that took all that Word I had eaten as Bread and arranged it into the Lord Jesus as me.

A Story of Words. And the key to unlocking all the truths of Scriptures that we might see and understand and be healed is to realize that the SOUL is a story of words inside a spirit self-awareness. The soul is not a “life” separate from the Spirit, a “life” that must still “die” in a dying that never comes.

Be metamorphosed by the renewing of your mind MEANS change the way you think by changing the words you speak. This is exactly what Jesus means in John 12:25. Change the story you tell yourself about yourself from self-exaltation (which is pretending) and self-cursing (which is self-exaltation) to a new self, which is ME!

Keep Your Soul. Yet consider how He says it. – The one who loves more his soul, his own story of self, loses it, and the one who loves less his soul, his story of self inside this world, will keep and protect it into age-unfolding life.

We do not “lose” our souls, for such an experience is utterly demonic, and is, in fact, the story of pop culture today. The goal Jesus presents is to FIND and KEEP our souls, our true and only real story of self. Yet this includes not losing one thing that is us, but rather, a full weaving together of our story and Jesus’ story.

Jesus must give us Himself before we can become like Him.

Gaining Our True Selves. We lose only two things, pretending and unthankfulness. And having lost those two things, we shudder in horror when we see them held tightly by others, for we know how utterly WORTHLESS they are, and more than worthless, positively dog crap, as Paul said.

By gaining our true selves, the complete weaving together of Jesus’ Words with our own story, we discover to our utter amazement that we have lost nothing, but rather, we keep and carry a life of immense value into the age. I can no longer comprehend why anyone would want a life not symmorphosed with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Renewing of a Soul. I am a story of words inside a spirit self-awareness. I create definitions of myself that roll around in my mind constantly. Before I acknowledged Jesus as my life, my story of self was filled with unthankfulness and pretending, mixed with the true pains and joys of my life experience. I want to keep my story of self, yet I also want it to be brand new. Jesus gives me His Story of self and takes mine as His own. With Jesus, I learn to weave His story and mine together as my own. I give thanks for all things, for all my life is Christ. I no longer pretend, for my true story of self has become glorious. My life itself does not change except that pretending and unthankfulness are gone. Jesus and I are woven together; my soul is renewed.

Two Expressions of Glory. And now we come to the definition of “glory.” This is always the third part of three, the completion of God – And we also. The purpose of the Seed planted inside of agony is many more seeds just like itself. And the purpose of many more seeds just like the Only-Kind of God is to become bread for many, as Isaiah said. – Bread to the eater and seed to the sower (Isaiah 55).

Glory means two things, different from each other, but always tied together. Glory means first, the deepest value of the heart, and it means second, a job well done.

Sharing His Glory. Jesus’ distress and agony show us the deepest value of His heart, that we, as seemingly worthless as we are, would BE WITH HIM inside of the Father. And His resurrection gives us the certainty of a job well done, that we are just like Him.

One of the important things I am gaining from this study is just how much Jesus was disappointed by His disciples. If I disappoint myself, as I always do, and if you disappoint me, as so often happens, then I know that I am just like Jesus, and that He is sharing His agony with me. That is, I share His deep desire, that is, I share His glory.

Just Like Him. Here are Jesus’ two expressions of glory in John 17. – “I have finished the work that You have given Me to do,” that is, “I have given them Your Word.” And – “Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me would be with Me where I am (inside of You).”

A finished job to win one’s deepest desire. And He’s talking entirely about you and me, personally, that we would be just like Him as seed and as bread.

Yet we will see the real essence of glory and the incredible importance of utter human failure when we get to the joining together of John 19 and Psalm 22 – a Soul set forth for us.

Glory. Glory begins as the deepest desire and value one holds in one’s heart, and it is completed as a task well done. Jesus’ deepest desire, the thing He values most is to have me with Him, just like Him, inside of the Father. To win His desire, Jesus is willing to take all that I am into Himself and to be planted inside of me, now appearing as me. Jesus is willing to carry me inside of Himself all the way through death and into life. Jesus, as every Word God speaks, accomplishes by His power every purpose for which God sent Him into me. As I acknowledge that He does, so I glory in the victory of His task well done.

“I Will Drink Your Cup.” I did not understand it then like I understand it now, but you can see why I have always tied together this planting of the Seed into the ground and the meaning of a Man rising to His feet in Gethsemane – “Father, I will drink Your cup.” This is always personal and it always brings tears to our eyes, for that is me, in all of my searing failure, that Jesus is willing to drink.

And when I see that Jesus WANTS you inside Himself just as much as He wants me, so I know that I share His deepest desire and that I share His cost, that I would set forth my soul for my brothers and sisters as well, that is, GLORY.

Reading for Next Time. The lesson next time is titled “A False Contention.” This topic will cover Chapter 13, which is not a Jesus Secret page. Read Chapters 12 and 13 together, again.

Here’s the thing. Jesus includes the “son of perdition” in His prayer that birthed the Kingdom. More than that, the idea that Jesus at His lowest point did not feel like a complete failure is contrary to Scripture and contrary to the meaning and essence of Salvation. Judas was Jesus’ biggest “failure.” – The one eating bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me (Psalm 41:9). – “What you do, do quickly.”

Our Prayer. Our prayer this time is to synergeo together with God out from the authority of Jesus given to us, that we might see the knowledge of God overcome the opposition of this world.

There is NO war of good versus evil. There is no contention between God and the devil over the “souls” of men. The WAR is the knowledge of God through us, which is LIFE, overcoming all opposition, which is death. Yet we are not concerned at present about the world, but about our brethren, the Church, that they would know that Jesus is already planted inside of them, that they would be set free from the world’s lies and rescued from death.

Let’s Pray Together. “Father, in the name of Jesus, we see the wickedness of this world pushing lying like never before, and all the murder that comes with the lies. We see our brethren caught in this flood of vomit and we are distressed. We are distressed, Oh Father, because You are distressed and You are sharing Yourself with us.

“Yet we also stand in Your confidence, Father, that now is the time of the revelation of Jesus Christ, now is the time of His glory. And we stand with Jesus inside Your presence for the sake of Your people who are bowing in false submission to death.

“In the name of Jesus, we confound all the intentions of the powers of evil in this world, that their schemes would fall apart and come to nothing. In the name of Jesus, we speak the rescue of our brethren from the intentions of the evil one. We call upon the earth to open its mouth and to swallow all the lies.

“Lord Jesus, You are planted in the earth of each Christian on this planet and You live now as them. Lord Jesus, by the power of the Devoted Spirit, awaken them to Your substance as them. Lord Jesus, we are Your faith found now upon this earth. We speak the celebration of Your Victory in all Your Church. Cause Your people to turn, cause them to KNOW You, cause them to live as Your revelation forever. Let it be so; it is so.”