Greeks Seek Jesus

Of all the teaching events, John only records one, that shared with inquiring Greeks. Otherwise, he moves from the Triumphal Entry to the Passover feast. This makes the event difficult to place.

There is some difference of opinion as to the ethnicity of this group. The text says they were Greek. The question is, were they Jews from the Greek Diaspora or were they gentiles? Those who argue that they were Jews from Greece argue that they couldn’t have made offerings without being Jewish.

First of all, it doesn’t say they made any blood offerings. More likely, they were gentiles at some level of conversion to Sacrificial Judaism. First of all, “Greek” is the word John uses. Secondly, they asked Phillip if they could see Jesus. If they had been Jewish, they could have entered the inner court reserved for the Jewish men and sought him out themselves. If they were gentile, they were restricted to the Court of the Gentiles, which Jesus had earlier cleared. Though it is speculation, it seems this would have occurred as Jesus left the temple courts and taken place in the outer court, the Court of the Gentiles.

Here, dealing with honest seekers of truth, Jesus is very open and tells of his coming death and the requirement of trust in God’s light.