Today's passage in John 12 was rather confusing. There are some Greeks who come to Philip to see if they can gain an audience with Jesus, and Philip and Andrew go to Jesus to ask him, and then Jesus launches into a speech about the coming of his hour, when the Son of Man must be lifted up. It appears as though he ignores the question, even though the text says "Jesus replied." Here's an explanation that makes some sense of the passage (it was located at bible.org, by W. Hall Harris):
"The appearance of these Gentiles wishing to see Jesus indicate that it is time for him to lay down his life—the hour of his glory has come (i.e., his return to the Father through death, resurrection, and exaltation). This point is so important for the Evangelist (John) that we are never actually told if the Greeks get to see Jesus or not!"
Something else we can take from this passage is Jesus' comment that anyone who wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus' sake will keep it. Don't get too caught up in living this life for worldly goods and pleasures. Live for Jesus, by following his commands and caring for others, and you'll find that in the end, that is the most rewarding. Recall Solomon in Ecclesiastes - he tried everything under the sun and found that all of life was pointless unless God was involved.
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