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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

You came, you saw, you conquered???

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Um, third person (the words bolded earlier) singular is he/she/it. Thus,
"He came, he saw, he conquered."
I was referring to you, dear JL, as being the subject "he." Our next lesson in Latin will be on noun singular and plural endings. Or dwashbur can teach us a bit of Greek.

Believe it or not I studied Greek in Bible college. I don't recall the endings. Too long ago.

The story follows after the triumphal entry. The Jews at the feast were seeking to make Christ King, to follow Him, even against those who hated Him and his popularity.

But this was not His purpose. As the Jews came with palms and a great many were seeking His counsel and to look upon Him, the focus is upon the hour of his death. He sought to love them that were with Him more and to prepare the disciples for His death. See 12:13,27,13:1,34

This is where the significance of the Greeks lie, albeit I'm not sure of their specific place in society, Christ says as an answer to their request, now I must go die like this wheat. This so that the kingdom of heaven can multiply. He was preparing for his death and putting off the hopes of those that would make Him King of Israel.

Does that help?

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The Jews at the feast were seeking to make Christ King

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How do you know that?

John 12:13 - Luke 19:38 - Mark 11:9,10

Lets not forget that Herod sought to kill the coming King, fearing that He would usurp his authority.
Matthew 2:3

To this day, Jews believe Christ is not the Messiah because He had never ruled as King, this is a central tenant of the Jewish belief about the Messiah. It would make sense that those treating Christ like royalty, believed He was this King.
Micah 5:2 / Genesis 49:10

In 30 BC Herod was declared by the Roman Senate the great King the Jews, these territories were later annexed by the Romans (6ce) and the Jews lived under Roman rule at the time of the Triumphal Entry. This was to be the fulfillment of the Messianic rule of Judea, they were promised a king, I imaging common thought at the time was that this King would free them from the Romans.

You are right. I misread your post to say that the GREEKS were seeking to make Him king. My bad.

I have been thinking about this a bit more, and reading the prophecies in Isaiah, Psalms, and elsewhere. I believe that the Greeks are specifically mentioned as a fulfilment to some of these prophecies.

The Greeks and the gentiles are often used interchangeably in the New Testament, and there are several prophecies explaining that Christ would be the redeemer for all nation's, to establish a covenant with the gentiles, and to be a light for the whole world. Isaiah 11:10 stands out exceptionally for this question concerning the Greeks.

See:
Isaiah 42:1-7 - Isaiah 66:18-20 - Habakkuk 2:14 - Zechariah 9:9-10
Galatians 3:8 (Genesis 12:3) - Isaiah 2:2-3 - Isaiah 11:10

Except that there is no evidence Jesus even talked with this group of Greek men, much less gave them any spiritual benefit.

More along the lines of seek Him, not so much be a disciple.

I like that thought.

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Originally Posted by InfoJunkie4Life

More along the lines of seek Him, not so much be a disciple.

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We don't seek Him. He finds us!

WG, I think it's a bit of both...

Relative to this discussion:

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Originally Posted by Isaiah 11:10

“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.”

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We don't seek Him. He finds us!

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The first steps certainly belong to Him. Wow! We agree on something.

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Except that there is no evidence Jesus even talked with this group of Greek men, much less gave them any spiritual benefit.

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Thank you. He never even seems to have answered the question of whether they could see him or not, he went off on a different topic. Hence my question: why is this even there?

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Originally Posted by dwashbur

Thank you. He never even seems to have answered the question of whether they could see him or not, he went off on a different topic. Hence my question: why is this even there?

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Encouragement to the rest of us Greeks?

Found this on the internet which was interesting, especially the thought that these were Greeks who had accepted the Jewish faith and thus were in Jerusalem on a feast day, but still doesn't completely address your question. "

"When you read the passage, the Greeks came to Philip. Instead of simply bringing them to Him, Philip goes and gets Andrew, as though there was some kind of hesitation. As if Philip thought to himself, "Should I bring these Greeks to Jesus?" If you read the whole passage above Matt 15:21-28 this Canaanite woman is crying out to Jesus and he is ignoring her basically because she is not of the House of Israel. I am sure this was something the disciples / apostles of Jesus were very aware of and so the hesitation of Philip.If you look at Acts 10 & 11 it is absolute proof that even after the ascension the Apostles strongly thought that the message was for the Jews only. The only conclusion to make here in John regarding Philip with the Greeks is that Philip did hesitate due to this knowledge that Jesus was primarily ministering to the lost of the house of Israel."

DWash, have you ever read the NET translation? Just wondering what you think of it. I would imagine its study notes would appeal to you.

It's been ages since I looked at it. I think I stopped consulting it when I bought a Logos package.

I have pondered this and pondered this. We know that He came for the lost house of Israel. Mathew 15:24 Could He have been implying he had nothing to talk to them about until AFTER his death, burial and resurrection? Because after Jesus is informed that there were Greeks who wanted to meet with him in verse 24 He goes on to say unless a corn of wheat falls into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it brings forth much fruit. Gentiles were grafted in after his resurrection. Just a thought. Am I way off??????