Lectionary Reflection — 18 March 2018, Fifth Sunday in Lent
20-21There were some Greeks in town who had come up to worship for the Passover Feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee: “Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?”
22-23Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip together told Jesus. Jesus answered, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24-25“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it’s never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it’s buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.
26“If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.
27-28“Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? ‘Father, get me out of this’? No, this is why I came in the first place. I’ll say, ‘Father, put your glory on display.’”
A voice came out of the sky: “I have glorified it, and I’ll glorify it again.”
29The listening crowd said, “Thunder!”
Others said, “An angel spoke to him!”
30-33Jesus said, “The voice didn’t come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me.” He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death.
Other readings:
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In this, our last Sunday in Lent, we left with a puzzling passage from John’s Gospel. We’re told “some Greeks,” who had come to the Passover Feast, approach Philip, request an audience with Jesus, and wonder if Philip might facilitate their encounter. Philip checks with Andrew and they both approach Jesus about the request. Jesus responds with this story about dying wheat and his struggle about finishing the work he set out to do from the beginning. Strange indeed.
What’s puzzling for some people, though, is they don’t feel Jesus answered Philip and Andrew’s inquiry.2 But my take on it is he did. Not in a “yes” or “no” way, but in what the inquiry meant. That is, what if Jesus had seen this exact same scenario played out in a vision or dream? I mean, Jesus has been given these types of visions before when he first called Philip (John 1.43-51). So it’s not out of the ordinary for this to happen.
My guess is that at some point during Jesus ministry, perhaps even during one of his times away in prayer, he was given a vision of this very scenario — of Philip and Andrew asking him about meeting with some Greeks who come to Jerusalem for Passover. When that scene plays out, he knows that time’s up.3
We can see, then, that Jesus’ reply isn’t puzzling. He’s addressing the deeper things the events pointed to — his upcoming death. But even in this, there is Hope. When Jesus compares his life to that of a grain of wheat, he says that, if he hold onto what he has now, the life he has now with his disciples and such, he won’t make any impact. In fact, it will only destroy what he’s trying to accomplish.
No. The only way for this to work is that he’ll have to die. Just like a grain of wheat must be buried in the ground to produce a whole stalk of wheat, he must die and be buried for the work he started to continue. As he’s explained over and over again in some of the stories he’s told, e.g., the yeast hidden in the dough (Matthew 13.33), for God’s Realm to be established and then grow, he must become the grain of wheat. He must die and be buried.
He then tells the disciple that this life of self-sacrifice is the only life his followers can truly have. They must follow him in The Way. That’s the way he’s served God and the world. That’s what serving him looks like, too.
But this isn’t just a story about Jesus’ death. Far from it. It’s also a story about the overthrow — the judgment — of the Satan, the adversary, the one who opposes this type of sacrificial living. What is missed by some people is that these two events — the death of Jesus and the judgment of the Satan — are the same event. It is precisely because Jesus dies that the Satan is overthrown. In fact, Jesus is crowned the world True King at his crucifixion (John 19.19). That’s why Paul said if the rulers of that age had known what was going to happen they wouldn’t have crucified Jesus (1 Corinthians 2.6-8).
One last point. I like how we get a glimpse into Jesus’ struggles here. He tells his followers that he’s “storm-tossed.” I love this expression! It shows us that this was a real struggle for Jesus.4 That he, too, must have faith to endure The Way of self-sacrificial Love. It’s not an easy Way to follow. It’s a real, true struggle. This is why we can rest assured that Jesus will show mercy on us during this time of Lent for he, too, struggled just as we struggle now:
14-16Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we don’t have a high priest who’s unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he didn’t sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
As we approach Holy Week, may we “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
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In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
3. In The Message, Jesus responds to Philip and Andrew’s request with, “Time’s up.”
4. For more insight into the very real struggle of Jesus, please see the post The Jesus who Struggled.
5. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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