The Greeks See Jesus

 John 12: 20-33 Lent 5, March 21, 2021

 
Some Greeks ask to see Jesus.

John 12, Fifth Sunday in Lent Yr B
Cerezo Barrero

It doesn’t say a whole lot about them,

but we can infer some things.

It says that they were Greeks in town worshipping

for the festival of the Passover.

In other words, they were Gentiles by birth, non-Jewish people

But they’re in town for the Jewish festival

like people come to town for a Greek Festival or an Italian Festival.

 

Maybe they’ve converted to the Jewish faith.

Not unheard of, even in that time.

Or maybe they haven’t converted, but they’re spiritually curious,

Like people today they’re trying out different things,

hoping to find the one that fits.

Or maybe they are just religious tourists

fascinated with other people’s spiritual practices.

Like people of different faiths, or no faith, visiting churches and temples.

 

For whatever reason they’re there,

now they want to see Jesus.

Jesus had developed a reputation for

doing many impressive things and they just wanted to see him.

If it were modern times, they might have just wanted

to get a selfie with him to show their friends.

They just want to see Jesus.

See what he’s all about.  Just observe, not get involved.

Like they told Andrew, and Andrew told Phillip,

and Andrew and Phillip told Jesus.

“We want to see Jesus, please. “

 

So , I don’t think these Greeks at the festival

or Andrew and Phillip, were quite prepared

for the speech that they got.

Somehow their arrival prompts Jesus to tell

them and the crowds around him that this is it.

Now is the time for Jesus to be glorified.

And for that to happen, he was going to die.

 

Uh, we just wanted to see Jesus.

 

Jesus talks about his death, he compares himself to wheat,

saying if a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,

it spreads it’s seeds around so that more can grow.

In other words, Jesus death isn’t just a death

it’s for the benefit of all people, so that others can live.

 

Now, we believe that in Jesus death there’s life,

that somehow because Jesus died and rose,

that  gives us eternal life.

 

But there’s more to it than that,

because Jesus also says this life and death cycle applies to us:

He says, “Those who love their life lose it and those who

hate their lives will keep it for eternal life.”

 

The Greeks are getting much more than they bargained for here.

 

Hate our lives? What does Jesus mean by that?

Should we reject everything

on this earth and just focus on Spiritual things?

Should we be negative all the time, should we always complain,

or be outraged by everything in this world?

(it seems that some Christians have taken Jesus words to mean just that.)

I thought we were supposed to live with gratitude every day.

That seems more healthy and Christ like than hating our lives.

 

I mean, I don’t hate my life, I  actually love my life.

I love my job, my husband, my home, my friends.

I love doing the things I enjoy.

I love my life. Does that mean I’m going to lose it?

 

And those Greeks just wanted to see Jesus.

 

I don’t think Jesus wants us to actually hate our lives.

Jesus is using hyperbole again, exaggeration, which he uses often,

and which often throws people off.

 

What I think he means is this:

We should not cling to the things of our lives,

and be willing to give them up if we need to.

We should long for God’s kingdom, God’s ways, God’s will.

And do everything to see it come to reality.

Even if gaining the kingdom means losing something that you

have grown fond of  and even love.

Hate your life. Don’t love all the things of this world so much

that you won’t trade the gospel for them.

 

The gospel of Jesus, the gospel of serving others,

of justice, and love requires sacrifice.

As Christians, we are asked to give up things that

we love in order to see God’s vision through.

 

Those who cling to the  things of this world,

the power, the comforts, the predictability,

their status, their reputations, even their traditions,

and refuse to give them up for God’s vision,

will find that the things they cling to are temporary

and unsatisfying.

Jesus is saying don’t love the things of this life so much,

that you are not willing to release them for God’s sake.

 

To quote Martin Luther:

“Were they to take our house, goods, honor,

child, or spouse, though life be wrenched away,

they cannot win the day, the kingdom’s ours forever.”

 

And all those poor Greeks wanted to do was see Jesus.

 

This world is filled with stories of people who cling to their

power and their money and their comfort and won’t

give it up, even if it means taking many, many lives.

 

Kings and queens and presidents  and pastors,

and prime ministers, and CEO’s

and senators and representatives ,

 who hold onto their positions long after they’re able to do the job.

 

The president of Syria has refused to leave office,

even though it has meant ten years of war and his

country basically destroyed.

 

The US has trouble letting go too,

Our own leadership in this country is filled with

people who won’t relinquish their power to the next generation.

The average age of the senate is 63 years.

And the oldest Senator is 88 years old.

 

And there is a generational wealth gap.

Although they make up a majority of the population

people 25-40 only have 5% of the wealth. Down from 15%

a few decades ago. People over 50 are holding 75% of the

country’s wealth.

 

And many of us have made sport of dismissing generations

younger than us, insulting millennials, and generation Y and Z

calling them weak and sensitive, and insulting their choices,

and their likes and dislikes, and basically insinuating

that they aren’t capable of leadership

just because they want to-- or have to –

do things differently than we did them.

 

And our own love of our comfort and our own waste

and use of fossil fuels are leaving a huge problem for

the next generations in the form of pollution

and climate change that we’re just beginning to see

and experience and understand.

Do we cling to our lives so hard that we can’t let some of it go?

 

Pr. June, we didn’t want to hear all this.

We just wanted to come and see Jesus.

 

And here is Jesus.

Jesus loved his life, I’m sure.  He loved his friends,

he loved his ministry, he loved to eat and drink.

He nurtured and cared for us and saved our lives,

and then he stepped aside and his followers take over.

 

Jesus had the ability to live eternally on earth and rule forever.

But Jesus didn’t do that.

Maybe it would have been nice to have him around.

But he didn’t want to be about him, he wanted it to be about us

and about future generations who will share the gospel with

their future generations.

Jesus became the seed that bore much fruit.

Generations and generations of fruit.

 

Like those Greeks at that festival. We want to see Jesus.

And certainly we certainly have. We have seen the light in the world

that scatters the darkness, and we can testify to that.

 

But Jesus doesn’t just want us to see him.

Jesus wants us to be him.

Jesus doesn’t need religious tourists who

just say they saw him, Jesus wants disciples.

Jesus saved us, so we could be him to the world.

Be his hands and feet, and do his work.

And also when the time comes, to hate our lives

to let go of what we have, and let the seeds fall,

so that others can live.

 

“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 

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. 

Those who love their life lose it,

and those who hate their life in this world

will keep it for eternal life. “

 

Let us see Jesus. Let us truly see Jesus.

And let us be Jesus for the sake of the world.