Fifth Sunday of Lent
Today’s gospel reading is a fascinating passage, and it calls for some exegesis. I am going to depart from my regular structure of a three-points-homily and reflect on the deeper meaning of today’s gospel.
“Some Greeks had come to the Passover Feast” (Jn12:20). Who are these “Greeks”? They were people who were of Greek Origin who probably lived in Jerusalem and practiced Judaism to the best of their ability. As Greeks, they approach Phillip (12:21), the apostle with a Greek name. Phillip, instead of telling Jesus, went to Andrew (12:22), perhaps because Andrew was also a Greek name and he came from the same town as Phillip. Together they went and told Jesus that the Greeks were there to “see” (12:22) him. When John says that the Greeks came to “see” Jesus, he does not mean that they were merely curious. It could mean affirmation of Jesus, acceptance of Jesus, or the opposite – the refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the ‘revelation’ of God. The Greeks seek not merely to look at Jesus. They seek a deeper insight.
"The hour has come" (12:23). Jesus makes the coming of the Greeks a teaching moment. He says “The hour has come” (12:23). At Cana in Galilee, Jesus had said to his Mary, his mother, “My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). But as the Greeks come “to see Jesus” the question of the hour is resolved. His hour has finally come. The Greeks, meaning, the world is coming to Jesus and the hour has come for the Son of Man to be revealed and the Father to be glorified by the Son. This was to happen not in some distant future, but that very weekend. Jesus would be put to death within the week.
"Unless a grain..." (Jn 12:24). To explain the significance of the hour, Jesus shares a parable – “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit” (Jn 12:24). Jesus is about to be slain, but the hour of his death will also be the moment of his glorification. It is his self-gift which will result in eternal life for the world.
“Whoever loves his life loses it..." (Jn 12:25). Immediately then, Jesus includes a teaching for his disciples and readers like us. Those who wish to come to eternal life must, like him, be prepared to lay down their life as a self-gift. Hence Jesus’ words, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me…” (Jn 12:25). And there is a reward for those who follow Jesus “… Where I am, there also will my servant be” (12:25). The disciples must exhibit the opposite attitude of the opponents of Jesus who are unable to accept the revelation of the Father in Jesus. Jesus’ opponents love their own lives. And they will lose it.
“I am troubled now” (12:27). It is important that we hear Jesus say, “I am troubled now” (12:27). It shows us his humanity. Jesus links his anguish with “the hour.” But he turns this moment of anguish into a moment of prayer. He prays, “Father, glorify your name!” (12:28). Jesus does not pray, “Father, save me from this hour.” Rather, his focus is on his Father’s glory. For that matter, Jesus’ entire life has been focused on accomplishing the Father’s will and glorify the Father. But this time, it involves suffering. It involves a total self-gift, a total sacrifice, a suffering and death for the sake of eternal life for the human race. Jesus is troubled but overcomes his anguish of ‘the hour’ with prayer. He is determined that he is “lifted up” on the cross, that his life and death give glorify to the Father, and that all people are drawn to him (12:32).
Practical Implication
The practical implication of today’s scripture lies in Jesus, words, “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.” What does this mean for us? It means walking in the footsteps of Jesus. It means coming to the realization that the purpose of our life is to give glory to the Father. Every hour is ‘the hour’. There are hours when we too might be troubled. But the life that gives glory to God is one which through prayer, through our sacrificial self-gift, through our dying to self, brings glory to God.
I read this text below recently. The author is anonymous. I invite you to pray this with me pray together.
“Each of us is like a grain of wheat planted by God.
And just as a grain of wheat must die so as to produce a harvest,
so we too must die to self in order to bear the fruits of love.
This dying to self is a gradual process and happens in little ways.
Every act of humility involves dying to pride.
Every act of courage involves dying to cowardice.
Every act of kindness involves dying to cruelty.
Every act of love involves dying to selfishness.
Thus the false self dies, and the true self, made in God’s image,
is born and nurtured.
It is by giving that we receive.
It is by forgiving that we ourselves are forgiven.
And it is by dying that we are born to eternal life."
- Fr Satish Joseph