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Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida at Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but it if dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."
- John 12:20-26
In yesterday's reading, we read of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. This takes place after the raising of Lazarus at Bethany (see Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick and Jesus said, to them, "Loose him, and let him go". In yesterday's reading, we read that Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! The King of Israel!" Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt." His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. My study bible explains, "These Greeks are Gentiles attracted to Judaism, either god-fearing or full proselytes, who came to participate in the Passover festivities."
Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida at Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. John's Gospel has built into it an answer to the leadership's disparaging remark (from yesterday's reading): "Look, the world has gone after Him!" Indeed, the Gospels themselves reveal what is to come, when the Greek-speaking world (that is, the international language of the time) will "go after Him" and come to know Him through these Gospels written originally in the Greek language. Already, those Gentiles drawn to Judaism are aware of Jesus' ministry, long before anyone is called "Christian."
But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified." My study bible says that this hour is "the great hour of salvation through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, leading to the salvation of the human race." Throughout the Gospel, Jesus has told His disciples, and the Evangelist has told us, that "His hour had not yet come." Now, His announcement of this time is complete, the hour is at hand.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but it if dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in the world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor." My study bible tells us: "The image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit signifies that Christ will die in order to give life, a principle of self-sacrifice which applies to all those who follow the way of Christ."
Jesus' saying about the grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies has inspired much commentary and understanding. Surely, we apply it first to Himself, to His going to the Cross, His death and Resurrection -- and in this context we are to understand His "hour" that has come. But Jesus doesn't just stop there. He includes us in this journey of sacrifice. How do we follow Him? Perhaps there are hints at other meanings to this, deeper meanings that touch all of us, elsewhere. In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus will teach us about doing things in secret, as opposed to openly for show: "When you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly" (Matthew 6:3,4). He also says, in the same chapter, that the hypocrites make a great show of prayer to be seen by others. But He tells His disciples, "You, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (6:6). He then teaches them the Lord's Prayer, in which we are taught to pray, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (verse 12). Again in the same discourse, Jesus teaches about fasting, that it must not be done for show, but in secret "so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (verse 18). And so important is this principle, that He finally teaches us, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (verses 19-21). What do all of these teachings have in common with the grain of wheat that falls to the ground? All of them involve some form of sacrifice, or if we really want to be correct about it, an exchange. We exchange one thing we are attached to, perhaps we love it, but in return we are given something much greater, something heavenly, of the heavenly life of the Father for us. Jesus sets the ultimate example in going to the Cross - He gives His earthly human life. But when we let go of something that hurts us, in forgiveness for example, where we feel someone else owes us (as in a debt), we are in effect setting up an exchange through God. We invite in another party through which our affairs are handled, and a true exchange is made. This is forgiveness. Jesus gives up His life to the Father, and in exchange we have Resurrection, the keys to the Kingdom, the life eternal given to all of us. We give up a perhaps precious show before men, for the "praise of men" -- in fasting, in prayer, in almsgiving. But in exchange, Jesus promises a reward from our Father who sees in secret. Everything goes through an exchange through which the Father is broker, in a sense. We're not in control of this exchange, and it feels like sacrifice. But the promise is there: we exchange something worldly for something heavenly. And so we should think of carrying the cross and following Him, as He teaches here. This is not just about the life that is to come after this one, but I believe we can experience this exchange right here and right now. Forgiveness has given us the great capacity to be set free, to be unloosed from something that will never pay us otherwise, it sets us apart to learn new things and to grow, and I have found tremendous exchange through forgiveness, where life has rewarded me in ways far beyond the value of what I gave up. So prayer and almsgiving and fasting can work the same way, when we let God into the exchange, and give up what we get for show from others. This is not some sort of magical formula, but I believe we should pray for guidance as to the particular things Christ asks of us to give up. Let us consider sacrifice and exchange, and God's promise to us, Christ's asking us to follow Him and to serve Him. We don't know what we get in exchange, but it is also the promise of life in abundance. We just have to let in the divine, with God as the party that we give to, and from whom we receive. It shifts our lives around, and gives us great things in return -- even to experience the love that sets us free from so many things and teaches us that we are so much more than our limitations. And there is something greater than this: by inviting God in to be our "exchanger," we also serve: what we receive somehow becomes a blessing to the whole of the community of believers in one way or another. One gift of prayer, for example, touches many, even in unseen ways. Let us remember His sacrifice - but let us also remember His teaching: one grain of wheat falls and dies, but if it dies, it produces much grain.
