The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified

 

 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of 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 if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this 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 

 

Yesterday we read that a great many of those among the ruling parties of the temple knew that Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; 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 those from Jerusalem 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.  Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of 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."  My study bible comments that these Greeks were Gentiles who believed in the God of Abraham, who came to participate in the Passover feast.  That they are still called "Greeks" shows that they were not yet full converts to Judaism.  It says that as Jesus had taught His disciples not to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5, 15:24), the disciples approach Him before bringing these inquirers.  Glorified is a reference to Christ's death on the Cross.  My study bible adds that His obscure response indicates two things.  First, the answer that these Greeks (or rather, Greek-speakers) are seeking will not be found in words, but rather in the Cross.  And second, that the Cross will be the event that opens all manner of grace to the Gentiles.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this 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."  The image of the grain of wheat dying in order to bear fruit gives a particular significance to Christ's death on the Cross:  that it will give life to the world (John 6:51).  My study bible explains a custom common to many Orthodox churches:  boiled wheat is sweetened and spiced, and served at memorial services for the departed faithful, in order to affirm God's promise that those who have died in Christ will rise again to life.

 

 Christ's powerful words in today's reading are probably the most profound in the Gospel, in terms of not just their significance and meaning. but the power of the events themselves that Christ describes here, the life that comes from His sacrifice on the Cross.  The grain of wheat is a powerful image:  a tiny grain, falling to the ground, broken.  It dies, but it does so to give life, and life abundantly.  As Jesus says, it produces much grain.  This is an unshakeable image.   All too often, we tend to think that our heroes are just that:  images to look up to, people who sacrificed for an entire group, leaders who stand head and shoulders above everyone else.  But Jesus does not stop with the powerful description of His own death and sacrifice, and its abundant life-giving effects.  It is of the utmost importance for us all to understand that Jesus does not stop there.  He goes on to say, "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me."   In other words, this gospel message is not just about the story of Jesus, the story of Christ's Passion, the story of His sacrifice and the abundant resurrectional life He offers to all of us through these events.  His command follows His statement about Himself with the illustration of the grain of wheat.  He asks us to follow.  We are the ones who must put into action our own willingness to give up the life of the "worldly" that is offered to us, and take up instead the life that Christ offers in His own example, that of following in love and dedication to God.  This is not only about Jesus, in some powerful sense.  It is rather that Jesus calls us to take up the same life.  His life may have led to the powerful images we have, to the depths of death and suffering, and transfiguring all of it so that we might have an abundance of life that wasn't possible without Christ's mission.  But Christ's mission into this world, the Incarnation and life of the Son as Jesus Christ, isn't only about Jesus.  We miss His point entirely if that is where we leave it.  Christ's mission is about finding disciples, those who are willing to take up our own cross and follow Him.  He says, "Where I am, there My servant will be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor."   We are not asked simply to worship, honor, and behold Christ as Messiah and Savior.  We are asked to live life as He did, to understand the point of sacrifice for the same purpose, in the same love, which produces the same fruits.  There is only one Christ, of that there is no doubt, and only one Son.  But He calls each of us to follow in the same dedication, and promises that we, also, will produce "much grain."  We are meant to participate in His life, the one He offers to us in the Eucharist.   Like Christ, we might not be able to see all of the fruits of our lives, or even live to see them, but nevertheless, we are promised the same kind of action and purpose, should we decide to take up our own crosses.  When we lose sight of the productiveness and creativity hidden in sacrifice, then we lose our way, and we enter into a losing battle based on selfishness, and what looks expeditious or opportunistic.  We lose the power hidden in our faith and the teachings of Jesus.  But no matter what the project, life asks of us sacrifices in the name of what is higher or better, and for the purpose of that which is greater.  If you raise a child, it asks sacrifice to do a good job.  If you need to complete a creative project, one must give up one's time and effort that could be put into something else.  A loving marriage asks mutual sacrifice of both persons.  In the end, one must weigh the greater goal against the temporal sacrifice.  When we lose sight of the meanings in suffering, and the transcendent values to be found there, then we lose our way with Christ.  The love in the sacrifice on the Cross cannot be forgone or unseen and still be Christian.  Our faith asks of us a particular effort, and that effort is simply to weigh in our lives everyday the options before us.  What is worthy of us, and what is not?  What are the higher goals?  Whom do we serve?  There is no loss in this sacrifice, only a choice to be made for what produces more fruit, more grain, and especially a higher and greater love.  Let us note that Jesus begins by putting all of this under the umbrella of glory:  "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."  We are invited into this fellowship to share in that glory, and there is where we should see our own crosses, our own sacrifices for the higher and greater meaning of our lives.