John 12:20-33
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 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. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
27 “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. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Conversation
Who of you have met Jesus?
Who of you wish you could meet Jesus in person? Why?
What do the Greeks expect to see?
What do you think of Jesus’ answer?
What does God’s voice sound like?
If God’s Voice is for our sake…what is it saying?
Sermon: “Sir we wish to see Jesus.”
Seeing is believing… On week day evenings during the supper hour… we like watching Jessica Fletcher solve murder mysteries. Along with Jessica and the sheriff we all enter the scene of the crime at the same time… We all see the same evidence… and we all hear the same version about what happened. The evidence usually includes;…an angry argument…the murder weapon…blood on hands or a piece of clothing…and all point an accusing finger at one particular person. Based on the overwhelming evidence… he sees the sheriff arrests the obvious person for murder.
However, Jessica is always hesitant to jump to the same conclusion. She has a questioning mind… For her obvious clues and signs are too obvious… She sees them as planted evidence. But to her the small and insignificant details…out of place are far more important. Invariably she sees some small thing or hears some insignificant detail that is out of place. At the moment of seeing it…she can’t put a finger on why the detail is important. Eventually another insignificant unrelated detail…triggers her mind into comprehending why a small item is so important to the case.
Sometimes we are like the sheriff…who comes into the scene and sees everything… but miss the most significant piece of information. We wish we could see Jesus…if we could just see him and talk to him…then it would be so much easier. It would be good to hear his voice in person…and learn more about him…what he really is like. If we could meet him in person…it would be a lot easier to understand and have faith and fully believe in Jesus.
Today in Jerusalempeople are gathering for the festival of Passover. People are preparing…their usual plans are being made for the Passover… The usual meal of unleavened bread… bitters…and roast lamb…is being prepared.
This year though there is a difference at the festival …rumors have been spreading that the long awaited Messiah…may also make an appearance. Crowds gather around…hoping to see some sort of a sign… Some in the crowd have already seen some of the wondrous deeds Jesus has done. Others have only heard about them. But they gather in the hope that they might see something great. Even foreigners from Greece… have heard about him and are in the crowd…inquiring about seeing Jesus. It is probable that they are curious about Jesus…wondering whether he might have the leadership qualities…needed to form an opposition to theRoman Empire.
In the church we like to consider ourselves hospitable and welcoming to inquirers. We want them to feel that they have come to a place where they can feel at home. I wonder how the Greek inquirers feel about their encounter with Jesus. Jesus does not seem to acknowledge their presence… instead speaks about the coming of his hour…and glory… and then launches into and agricultural science lesson about wheat production. Before they are able to grasp the concept about the grain of wheat dying to produce much more … Jesus is talking about loving and losing life and eternal life. He continues the world wind lesson with the requirements and consequences for becoming his followers…and how they must follow and stay with him. He ends his speech with resignation and troubled about his destiny with this appointed hour. He sounds unsure wondering whether he ought to ask to be saved from it. To any observer looking for leadership qualities this encounter…the evidence…does little which might convince casual inquirers…that Jesus possesses any.
On the day in question…Jerusalemis crowded. They are there seeing Jesus and hearing everything he says …the way we wish we could… They are there to examine the evidence in real time. No different from us the crowds come with their own interests and agendas. They have families and they need to work; to put food on the table, clothes on their back and a roof over their heads. They are looking fro compassionate but strong leaders, who will help make their lives better. So when they hear about a possible new leader…they are curious. With great anticipation…they gather to see him…
But what they see in the leader is less that they expect. After the long journey toJerusalem…rather than doing what they anticipate…Jesus is resigned to die…not taking on a new leadership role. The evidence all points to the obvious… Jesus is not an adequate leader.
Today we return to the scene with new eyes… Our eyes are not the eyes of the crowds. Like the detective we see evidence differently. We see Jesus through the eyes of faith… for us his leadership is not political…and is not about power. We know about Jesus’ appointed hour…and what it means. We hear the metaphor about the dying grain of wheat…which produces a large harvest…and it makes sense to us. We see Jesus willing to lose his life to save the lives of many including us. We hear the voice from heaven and know that it is more than just thunder.
We come to the scene with hind sight and see the same evidence… But in addition to the immediate evidence …like the detective or mystery writer…we come to the scene having seen other evidence which helps us interpret what we are seeing. We know that Jesus is like no earthly leader … We remember hearing that Jesus’ leadership comes out of God’s love for the whole world. We remember hearing that Jesus comes to save not to condemn. We remember hearing Jesus speak about his death…but more significantly that he would be also raised. And we come from the time after all of these significant details have been revealed to us… Through his death and resurrection the evidence is seen completely differently.
Today Jesus calls us to see and hear him differently. When all our common sense and experience questions our faith… he calls us to remember all the things we have learned about God’s love…for us and the world. He calls on us to follow his example…being willing to lose our lives rather than saving them…for the sake of others. He calls on us to proclaim God’s saving love for the world…teaching them to see and hear as we have. He calls on us to teach the world about God’s new way of leadership and glory… where the least as important as any.
Let us live knowing that God loves us and Jesus saves us. Let us be thankful for the evidence we have seen and heard about our Savior. Let us follow and do all the things Jesus calls us to do. Thanks be to our God. Amen.
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