03 — The Greeks Who Would See Jesus
The fourth and last Johannine scene in which Philip appears, and one of the most evocative: in the days before the Passion, certain Greeks who had come up to worship at the feast approach Philip with the request “Sir, we would see Jesus,” and Philip, joining Andrew, brings them to the Lord (John 12:20–22). These files exegete the scene itself and then weigh its long reception as a foreshadowing — never in the Gospel an accomplished mission, but a sign pointing toward the turning of the nations to Christ that the hour of the Cross would open.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Apostle)
The scene is brief, but it is hinged at the decisive moment of the Fourth Gospel. The coming of the Greeks is what prompts the Lord to declare, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (John 12:23) — the hour of the Cross. That the Greeks come to Philip is fitting: he bears a Greek name, he comes from the partly Hellenized Galilee of the Gentiles, and in John he is twice the disciple others approach. The Church’s tradition would later read this scene back through Philip’s own apostolate among the Greek-speaking world of Phrygia, and forward to the universal mission. This section keeps the canonical scene and its disciplined reception distinct, treating the “bridge to the nations” as a theological reading of the text, not as a historical claim about the Greeks themselves.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Greeks at the Feast | “Sir, we would see Jesus” (John 12:20–22): who the Greeks were (proselytes or God-fearers come to the feast), why they approached Philip, his joining with Andrew, and the hinge to the Lord’s word on the hour of glorification (John 12:23–24). |
| The Bridge to the Nations | The reception of the scene as a foreshadowing of the mission to the Gentiles; Philip’s Greek name and Galilean origin; the careful distinction between the Gospel sign and the later, separate tradition of his Greek-speaking apostolate in Phrygia. |
See Also
- Show Us the Father — the Supper-exchange that follows in the same Gospel
- The Mission — the later tradition of Philip’s apostolate among the Greeks of Phrygia
- Holy Scripture — the canonical text and its disciplined reading
- St. Apostle Paul — the apostle of the Gentiles whose canonical mission the scene anticipates
References
- The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version and Revised Standard Version. (John 12:20–24.)
- John Chrysostom. Homilies on the Gospel of St. John. Trans. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series I, Vol. 14. (Homily 66 on John 12:20ff.)
- Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John (I–XII). Anchor Bible 29. New York: Doubleday, 1966. (Excursus on the coming of the Greeks.)