John 12:23

23 And Jesus responded to them, saying, `The hour hath come that the Son of Man may be glorified;

John 12:23 Meaning and Commentary

John 12:23

And Jesus answered them
Not directly and particularly; he did not in plain terms signify what was his will, whether these Greeks should be admitted or not; and yet expressed himself in such a manner as shows he was not averse to it, but was pleased with it, and takes notice of it, as an evidence of the near approach of his glorification:

saying, the hour is come, that the son of man should be glorified;
by rising from the dead, ascending to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and from thence pouring forth the Spirit upon his disciples, who should go and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, as well as Jews; and which would issue in the conversion of many of them, and so in his glory, of which the coming of these Greeks was an earnest. But he intimates, in the next verse, that he must first die.

John 12:23 In-Context

21 these then came near to Philip, who [is] from Bethsaida of Galilee, and were asking him, saying, `Sir, we wish to see Jesus;'
22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.
23 And Jesus responded to them, saying, `The hour hath come that the Son of Man may be glorified;
24 verily, verily, I say to you, if the grain of the wheat, having fallen to the earth, may not die, itself remaineth alone; and if it may die, it doth bear much fruit;
25 he who is loving his life shall lose it, and he who is hating his life in this world -- to life age-during shall keep it;
Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.