The gospel for the Fifth Sunday of Lent (John 12:20-33) takes place just after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead(John 11) and made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the start of Passover week.

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Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’

Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

The pilgrims included some Greeks, who admired and followed the One God of Israel, rather than the multiple goods of their own culture. They had come to Jerusalem for the feast to share in their admiration for the God of the Jews.

They may have heard stories of Jesus’ miracle with a mixture of skepticism and curiosity. As they entered Jerusalem, on that spring morning they had seen a palm-waving crowd greeting someone riding a donkey. From the cheering, the pilgrims realized that this was the one who was credited with raising Lazarus from the dead.   

Bethsaida was a town at the intersection of Jewish and Greek-speaking cultures and Philip had probably learned to speak both Greek and Aramaic when he grew up. The Greeks approached Philip who informed Andrew of the request and together they went and told Jesus.

Their request to see Jesus conveyed a deeper sense than just looking for an introduction. Elsewhere in John’s gospel, (1:18, 1:33, 1:51, 3:3, 8:38, 11:40, among others) the verb ‘to see’ is associated with affirmation, acceptance and understanding.

The presence of the Greeks triggered something in Jesus.

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This is where the story gets strange. You or I might have asked something like, “What brings you here?” Instead, Jesus looked past them and declared,  

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

The Greeks may have wondered whether Jesus was even speaking to them. Was he implying that they had arrived at a turning point when he said by the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Or he could have meant that they were fortunate to arrive at this time because they would see him glorified? As for the glorification, the Greeks may have wondered if he was referring to the cheering people? Or did “glorification” mean a welcome by the chief priest? By Pilate?

Of course, Jesus was referring to his resurrection a week later, but they couldn’t know that.

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By way of explanation, Jesus continued,

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 

Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Mark’s gospel cites Jesus making a similar statement For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (Mark 8:35: the gospel of the Second Sunday of Lent.)

As for the grain of wheat dying, Jesus wasn’t talking about agricultural principles. He was drawing on nature to explain the relationship of his own life to eternal life… and he invited others to join him in the leap of faith  

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Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

‘Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—“Father, save me from this hour”?

No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.

My soul is troubled, may have seemed incongruous in light of his celebrated entry into Jerusalem. The Greeks had seen it and heard the stories that he had raised a man from the dead.

Jesus was clearly engaged in an inner dialogue over something else that distressed him. Perhaps he doubted that he was up to the challenge that his Father had given him. It was also clear that his Father was a reference point in the discussion about what troubled him

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Returning to his opening comments to the Greeks about the son of man being glorified he said,

Father, glorify your name.’

Jesus’ prayer was not for his own rescue or benefit, but for the glory of the father. He seemed to be praying for the strength to live up to the Father’s expectations that had been laid on him.

Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’

The crowd … heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.’

The Father heard the anguish in Jesus’ words and sought to reassure him… not that the burden would be taken away, but that he would endure. He knew that Jesus would do the hard, torturous work of showing us how to live…and die… faithfully.

Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

The voice effectively said that “I know you will do what I have asked and your obedience will glorify my name.” Stretching the interpretation, the words might have also meant, “and I will glorify you in return.”

This message was heard publicly. It echoed the events of his baptism when a voice called Jesus the beloved son (Luke 3:22) … and reinterpreted the baptism, this time, with a baptism in Jesus' own blood.

Jesus continued in what appears as a commentary on the message of the voice from heaven

Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

The judgement of this world was ironic. Those who sentenced Jesus to death would be judged for it. More to the point, Jesus, the reviled and punished one, sentenced to death, would attract all people to himself by virtue of his faithfulness to the Father… But that was to come later.

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  • ·How do you imagine the Greeks reacted to Jesus’ statement The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified when they first met him?
  • Dwell on Jesus saying, My soul is troubled. Did he fear the physical torture? Is it concern for his own steadfastness in the face of the torture? Did he think his suffering might be meaningless?
  • Do you think these same Greeks would have been around a week later and heard the stories of both Jesus’ death and resurrection? Would they have recalled his words or a week earlier? How would they have responded?

Peace

Michael.