John Calvin Commentary John 12:26

"If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor." — John 12:26 (ASV)

If any man serve me. So that death may not be excessively bitter and unpleasant to us, Christ invites us by His example to submit to it cheerfully; and surely we will be ashamed to refuse the honor of being His disciples. But He admits us as His disciples on no other condition than that we follow the path He points out. He leads the way for us to suffer death. The bitterness of death is therefore lessened, and is in some measure made acceptable, when we share with the Son of God the necessity of submitting to it. It is so far from being proper for us to shrink from Christ because of the cross, that we should instead desire death for His sake. The statement that immediately follows serves the same purpose:

And where I am, there shall also my servant be. For He requires that His servants do not refuse to submit to death, to which they see Him go before them as an example; for it is not right that the servant should have anything separate from his Lord. The future tense, shall be (Greek: ἔσται), is used here for let him be, according to Hebrew custom. Others regard it as a consolation, as if Christ promised to those who are willing to die with Him, that they would be partakers of His resurrection. But the first view, as I have said, is more likely; for He later adds the consolation that the Father will not leave unrewarded the servants of Christ who have been His companions both in life and in death.