The Hour Has Come

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15      “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

    see, your king is coming,

    seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince 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 show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them. (John 12:12-36, NIV)

REFLECTIONS:

Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. At the end of this last great journey, he is welcomed by crowds singing his praises and acclaiming him as Messiah. People have come from all over the known world for the feast; not only Jews but also some Greeks, quite possibly "God-fearers"—non-Jews who wanted to worship Israel's God but who had not taken the steps of becoming actual proselytes. They come first to Philip, and tell him they want to see Jesus. Philip tells Andrew, and together they go and tell Jesus. And just when we expect Jesus to turn and address the Greeks, something quite different happens. Jesus sees that people from the wider world are coming to find him and wanting to speak to him, wanting to listen to him—and he receives this as part of the sign that the time has come for him to be glorified. He declares: "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified" (verse 23).

Throughout the New Testament, including this Gospel, the glorifying of the Son of Man is connected with the vindication of Israel over the nations. A time will come when God's purpose will be fulfilled for Israel and through Israel for the world. How can this come about? Jesus seizes upon an image similar to one that he used many times in his parables, the image of the sower scattering seed. The seed sleeps in the earth and then rises, but the people who have sown it do not understand exactly why. They simply work and wait for the time of harvest. Now, Jesus turns this image in a new direction.

In verse 24, he tells his listeners that unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, just a single grain; but when it dies, it bears much fruit. What is he talking about? I think he is talking at two levels: about himself, but also about Israel. Israel has longed to hug to herself the purposes of God, affirming that she and she alone should be the people of God. Jesus has seen other so-called messiahs, other would-be leaders of Israel, encouraging Israel to think in that way, that she is the sole focus of God's concern. But he says: No, the grain of wheat must fall into the earth and die, because only then can it bear much fruit. The city of Jerusalem is filled with Greeks, Romans, Syrians, Africans, Arabians—and they must all share in God's harvest. And not only them, but people across God's world are also waiting.

Jesus is not just talking at that level, of course; he is also talking about himself. He is Israel in person, he is the one who, like the grain of wheat, will fall into the earth and die. Otherwise, he would simply be filling the air with useless words about himself and his few hearers. Through his death, however, he will bear much fruit. In verses 25-26, then, he issues a challenge to all those who follow him, both in his own day and subsequently. Those who love their life will lose it; those who hate their life in this world will obtain eternal life. And this "eternal life" is to be understood in the Jewish sense of the age to come, not some timeless eternity in a distant heaven but the dawning of a new day.

In our culture today there is a great deal that is turned in on itself, focusing on the world inside our heads, whether through virtual-reality machines, avatars, gaming devices, iPods and iPhones, or whatever. People create a little world around themselves and then go about bumping into other people, literally and metaphorically.

As Christians we are called to a very different attitude. We are called to be a people whose lives reflect Jesus' life in being given to others, in being poured out for the world. I am not talking about hating life in a kind of self-destructive sense, but about the need to look at our lives in terms of the calling to serve. We are called to give ourselves gladly to our fellow men and women, to the world, to be the people who will find this way of living reaffirmed in the new world that God makes.

And this is not something we can do apart from Jesus and from God: "Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be" (verse 26). This is the challenge that Jesus issued to Peter after the resurrection, when they met on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus said: Peter, follow me. I have trodden this way already. You must come after me and do what I have done, as my faithful servant. And where I am, there will you be also. Verse 26 indicates that this calling is for us all. "My Father will honor the one who serves me." God is glorified by being truly himself, namely the life-giver, the lover, the healer (as we saw in John 11), and so Jesus is glorified when he works as the means by which God gives new life.

When we follow Jesus as his servants, we become people in whom the love of God is shed abroad in the world, and so we too are glorified. These words of Jesus come to us as words of calling, which will mean different things to every person who hears them. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain, and ultimately it will be lonely and old, and have nothing to show for its life. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

After announcing a self-giving calling for Israel, for his followers, and—first and foremost—for himself, Jesus faces the painful reality of this calling and he says: "Now my soul is troubled" (verse 27). We see here an anticipation of the events in the Garden of Gethsemane, described in the other Gospels (see Matthew 26:36-46). Jesus reasons with himself: How can I possibly put my life totally at God's disposal? How can I go the way of the cross? What should I say—"Father, save me from this hour"? No, he says, it is precisely for this reason that I have come to this hour.

Whenever we are following in the way of the cross, a moment will come when we say: "If only there were some other way. If only God would stop the world, would make something happen so I didn't have to go through this painful process." Jesus, himself, prays in Gethsemane that the cup might pass from him… yet he still affirms God's will rather than his own. He has come to the climax of all he has been doing up to this point. And so he prays: "Father, glorify your name" (verse 28). In other words: God my Father, be God my Father, and be in and through me, so that the world may know and believe that you are God my Father.

Then a voice came from heaven. This happens very rarely in the Gospels. A voice spoke and said to him: "I have glorified (my name), and I will glorify it again." In other words, Jesus, as God's beloved Son, has brought glory to him. What Jesus is now going to do will bring even greater glory to God's name. God will be revealed in his full glory through this final work of Jesus.

As usual in John's Gospel, the crowd misunderstands what has happened. Some say that it was a thunderclap, some say that an angel has spoken to Jesus. And Jesus tells them that the voice has come for their sake, not for his. They need to know the significance of what is about to happen.

What they will see is a young would-be messiah led to his death at the hands of the pagans, a common enough sight in the first century. They have to realize, however, that this is the moment when Israel's destiny will be fulfilled, when God will pronounce judgment on the pagan world that is in rebellion against him, when he will vindicate his true people. This will be the moment when the forces of evil rage against God, but discover to their astonishment that even when they are doing what they characteristically do—killing people who get in their way—by that very means God will win the victory over them (see also Colossians 2:13-15).

In verse 32, Jesus concludes his long answer to the question of verses 20-21, the question of the Greeks who have come to the feast and who want to see Jesus. He talks about being lifted up, being glorified, which John's readers know by now means being lifted up on the cross in the sight of all people. When Jesus is thus lifted up, Jews, Greeks, Romans, slaves—in fact, everybody—will be drawn to the love of God. In other words, they will be drawn away from their allegiance to the rulers of this world who think they have it all in their grip, who think that by killing Jesus they are merely increasing their hold on God's creation. Jesus says: No, when they do that, they will ironically become the means by which the love of God is revealed. I will be lifted up, and I will draw all people to myself.

Again, the crowd admits that they don't understand. In their minds, if Jesus is the Messiah, he should reign in this world forever. The Messiah ought to go on from glory to glory, leading his people in a victorious military revolution against the Romans. How can the Son of Man be lifted up? Who is the Son of Man? This is a question that New Testament scholars have argued about for many years, because Jesus does not provide a direct answer. He speaks about the light and the darkness. The light is with you a little longer, he says. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness won't overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, turning away from me, from my embodiment of the saving, loving purposes of your one true God, then you will find yourself in outer darkness indeed. So while you have the chance, while you have the light, believe in it, so that you may become children of light.

In other words, while you have the true Israel, the Messiah, with you, believe in him so that you yourselves may be the true Israel, God's people for the world. While you have among you, the One who is shining God's light, believe in him so that you may in turn become the people of God through whom God will glorify his name. This calling comes back to us again and again, every day in every generation. We must believe in the light of the love of God and Jesus, so that we, in turn, may become children of light. Then, through us, God can complete his purpose to draw all people to himself through Jesus.

PRAYER:

Most gracious Lord, sow in our hearts the seed of your own life and love so that we, in turn, may give our lives as seeds that will bear fruit in your kingdom. By your grace, grant that we may walk in the light while we have it, and may reflect it to those around us.

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I am still reflecting on our little getaway to Matinicus Island in Maine. The fresh, cool, ocean air. The waves crashing upon the rocky beach. The screeching of the seagulls. The hum of the lobster boats checking their traps. The towering Spruce and Pine trees. The fresh-picked blueberries and raspberries. The taste of fresh lobster. The stunning sunsets, beautiful beyond description. Maine is a lovely place, especially during the summer months. I highly recommend visiting this beautiful state. If you ever do want to visit, my in-laws have a couple of lovely rental properties on Matinicus Island and in Freeport.