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.
Now among those who went up to
worship at the festival were some Greeks.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him,
"Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
· This might not seem so strange to us, that is, a request by some
people to one of the apostles to see and meet Jesus. What is unusual is the
people who asked. They are “Greeks”, which could mean they could be Jewish
people who spoke Greek and lived outside of Judea among the other folk. It
could mean that they were Greek people who had become Jewish by conversion,
which did happen in those days. The fact that they were in the temple for
worship means that they were Jewish and not pagans from Greece.
· They have a request: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
It makes sense; Jesus is well known and respected by the people. He has
recently raised a man – Lazarus – from the dead, a spectacular event. When he
entered the city, just a short time prior to this meeting, he was met with
crowds waiving palm branches, after which the Pharisees said ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’
· However their request to see Jesus has a deeper meaning. Now, in them,
the entire world has come to see Jesus. Jesus responds with a prayer and a
further declaration that when I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all people to myself. John noted that this is a reference to
the death he was to suffer, being lifted up on the Cross. It is in this cross
that we come to know Jesus in his most real sense as the saviour of the world.
· The Greek’s request is the request all of us who have encountered Jesus
have in one way or another. The desire to see, to meet Jesus is always with us.
If he is the one who loves us and the one who is the pattern for the lives of
all believers, the desire to meet him, see him, know him would be great.
· Although Jesus is called the Word-made-flesh and was like us in all
things but sin, we do not see him as he is now. The Gospels tell of his
appearances to the disciples and of his ascension to heaven. All of them are
quite mysterious and powerful and still leave us wondering. The desire to meet
and know Jesus as he is would be great. Barring a special situation, we do not
meet Jesus this way… as much as we might want to.
· Where we do encounter Jesus is in the Word, in the Gospels and in the
prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures. We encounter him in the letters, written
by Paul, John, Peter, or some unnamed disciple, that give us some of the
experiences of the early Church. We hear the word of witnesses to the life,
preaching, and power of Jesus. To us, as the letter to the Hebrews states the word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12). As to the Word itself, Jesus says Heaven
and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. (Matt.
24:35) Jesus is called the Word of God and that Word is something we can hear.
The Gospel of John tell us that it was written so that you may come to
believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through
believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)
· We also encounter Jesus in those actions we call “Sacrament.” In
Baptism, we receive the grace of new life in Christ as we come to the simple
washing with water. Every time we see that simple and yet grace-filled action,
we remember our own baptism, even if we were then too young to know what was
going on. The Word-filled water is for us as well.
· Finally, we encounter Jesus present in the community of believers,
For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.
(Matt. 18:20) How the community of Christians stands in the world can show the
face of Jesus not only to the members of the community but to the entire world
as well.
· Isn’t that what our on-going mission to entire world is?
They came to Philip … and said to
him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
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