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"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.
- John 12:27-36
On Monday, we read about Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Then, the Pharisees had said among themselves, "Look, the world has gone after Him!" In yesterday's reading, the Gospel told us that 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."
"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour." My study bible tells us that "this verse gives a glimpse of the Gethsemane experience of Jesus." (See Matthew 26:36-46.) It teaches us of Jesus' steadfast love for the Father: He will do what He has to do in order to fulfill what God the Father calls Him to do in His earthly mission as Son, as God and man.
"Father, glorify Your name." A note teaches: "The Father's name is an extension of His Person. The Son worked for the glory of the Father, and His death is now to be offered up to complete that purpose and to show the Father's love for all people. The divine voice gives assurance that the death of Jesus is not humiliation but glorification through the fulfillment of God's plan for the redemption of the world."
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." There's a long note here in my study bible that is quite illuminating. Lifted up, it tells us, is "a reference to the lifting up of Christ on the Cross, which is His glorification and will lead to the salvation of the human race. At the same time this event is a judgment on the unbelieving world of darkness and the abolition of the power of the ruler of this world, Satan." My study bible explains, "We live in a state of tension between the victory won (see 1 John 2:13) and that yet to be won (see 1 John 5:4,5)." Jesus speaks of the purpose of the Cross, of His being "lifted up." It is to draw all peoples to Him. This is an extension of His statement in yesterday's reading, about the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and produces much grain. In John's chapter 3 Jesus explained about the Cross to Nicodemus, comparing it to Moses "lifting up" his staff to save Israel from death in the wilderness: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."
This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, "We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?" Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. My study bible tells us, "The theme of Jesus as the light receives renewed emphasis. The crowd wants to know the identity of the Son of Man. But Jesus challenges them to come to the light while there is still time to become children of light. Christ is the 'light from Light' (Nicene Creed). In union with Him, we partake of His light, becoming children of light." We remember His earlier words, before His healing of the man blind from birth: "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When the disciples protested that He again sought to go to Judea (for the healing of Lazarus), while the leadership sought His death, He told them, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
An ancient commentator, Ammonius of Alexandria (late fifth-early sixth century), has written regarding Jesus' words of judgment in today's reading: "As if in a court of law, it is said to the devil, 'Granted, you have killed everyone else in the human race because they were sinners. But why did you kill the Lord?' The time of sojourning on earth is the 'judgment of the world,' since Christ is about to justify humanity and to remove the arrogance of the devil. The judgment he speaks of here then is not the condemnation of the human race. Rather, Christ’s death justifies all humanity against the devil, who is the one who is under judgment because he had wronged the world" (Fragments on John 41). It seems to me this is a brilliant and loving reading of Jesus' words introducing us to the theme of Judgment in the Cross. Witnessing and testimony become important aspects of judgment, as in a courtroom. But here, the witness is the Lord Himself, and His witnessing is against the one that binds us, that has harmed the world and mankind. In this sense, Christ's victory over death is a victory for all of us, because it declares truly the injustice of death, of the one that afflicts us with evil and all forms of suffering and death in the world. It is for this reason that we understand truth as a two-edged sword: it enlightens those who want it. But out of the mouth of a babe, or one who remains in innocence, it becomes a kind of judgment against those who would do it harm. To carry Christ's light within us, we don't need to be perfect people in the sense that we have no more to learn and no place to grow, in the sense that somehow we're not in need of God's love and mercy! No, God's mercy works through our weakness, and God's strength, says St. Paul, is made perfect in our weakness. To walk in this light is not merely to help others, but it is also to help to bring judgment against that which harms and limits human beings. When we participate in Christ's love and light, we enter into His struggle, we are invited into the arena. Let us remember the love that invites us in, to become children of light with Him.
