John 12:24

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Three applications of this metaphor are: (1) in nature, the death of seeds is necessary to their production of fruit; (2) Jesus consented to die as a means of winning the world to himself; and (3) for all who would be saved, the process is the same. One must renounce himself, loving not his own life, but losing it, and taking up fully the identity of Jesus in order to be saved.

Note here the promise of eternal life. The doctrine of the "last things," or eschatology, as some like to call it, is alleged by some to be lacking in this Gospel; but, as Howard noted, "That favorite term in the Johannine vocabulary, `eternal life,' is eschatological in its origin."[14] The reference to final resurrection and judgment (John 5:24-29), and the recurring refrain, "I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:39,40,44,54) along with such passages as the one before us, make it clear that John's Gospel, in this particular, is no different from the others.