Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 12:23

"And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified." — John 12:23 (ASV)

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come that the Son of man should be glorified.

He was about to die, yet he speaks of his death as being glorified. For the joy that was set before him, he seems to overlook the intervening humiliation in the prospect of the glory that would come of it through the salvation of multitudes of strangers from the very ends of the earth. He looks on these Greeks as the vanguard of a great army of Gentiles who would continue to come to him, and pay him homage. Hear what he says next:

And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

He knew that the hour had come when he must die. Looking through the dark glass of death, he saw what its result would be, and he called it glory. These few Greeks were the advance guard of the great Gentile army of the Lord; he regarded their coming in that sense.