Thinking about Sunday, April 2, 2006 - John 12:22-30

My blogging went dormant for a while after the one Sunday school class finished reading the Lost Books. I had largely taken my direction for this blog from the topics they were exploring. So when they finished, I was without a clear direction about where to go next here in this spot. Then I happened on the idea of offering some background information and other thoughts related to the text, or texts, for the following Sunday’s worship. In other words, here is some of my thoughts and info from reading and thinking about my sermon for the next week.

So here is my first installment along those lines. I welcome suggestions, questions, and other comments as this process gets refined and hopefully better as it goes along.

It is a bit of an unusual time to begin such an endeavor given that it is the 5th Sunday in Lent. The Sundays are in Lent and not of Lent because they are not a part of Lent’s 40 days. We’ve departed from the Markan gospel readings and picked up a few Sundays with readings from John. For Sunday, April 2, the gospel reading is John 12:22-30 wherein we hear some Greeks coming and asking to see Jesus. It is always helpful to situate the text in context and understand what comes before and after it. Just before our reading, Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead. Before receiving news of his friend’s illness, Jesus had withdrawn across the Jordan most likely because the powers that be were already after him. They were just looking for a reason to get Jesus out of the way. When I say the powers that be, I’m predominately referring to the Romans. They were the ones with the real power in Palestine during this time. If any Jewish sect was involved in trying to get Jesus out of the way (John 11:45-57), there motivations were quite different from the Romans. They looked at the crowds and knew that Rome would not be pleased with the turmoil that would surely come with this man. They acted out of self-preservation and likely at the direction of the Roman authorities as well. Also remember that John is written about 70 years after the ministry of Jesus. At the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd, it is easier to blame the Jews than it is to blame the Romans who still rule the Mediterranean world in which the church lives. So when Jesus comes to the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he puts himself at risk.

Between our reading for this Sunday and the raising of Lazarus, several important events unfold. Back at the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet with a costly perfume as a foreshadowing of his death. There is also a nice connection here with Jesus washing the disciples feet in John 13 – both stories use the verb wipe (ekmasso) to describe the act. The crowds continue to grow as well when Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey and they greet him with palm branches waving. In response to this scene, the Pharisees can only throw their hands up in frustration – “You see, you can do nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him!” Perhaps these words point to the mission to the Gentiles.

As we come finally to our reading for the day, lo and behold, the Gentiles come looking for Jesus. They approach Philip and ask to see Jesus. Interestingly at the start of John’s gospel, Philip wonders if anything good can come out of Nazareth when Andrew invites him to come and see Jesus. Now, he brings others to see what good can come out of such a place. Philip has come full circle after seeing Jesus and observing his ministry. Can we say the same or do the same? Has our experience with the Messiah changed us such that we can lead others to see Jesus?

As I look at Jesus’ response to those who would see him, I am initially confused by it. Why wouldn’t Jesus welcome them with open arms? Maybe this is my own transference onto the text.(?) We chase down anyone that comes wanting to enter the church. Jesus on the other hand, here, offers a summation of Jesus’ message and a fulfillment statement about Jesus’ time of death being upon him. For wheat to be wheat, it has to be used for its purpose. For us to live and truly know life, we have to live our purpose. As followers of Jesus, that means serving others. We’re used to earning our own way, getting where we want and need to go via our own wits. Such a viewpoint is challenged here. We’re called to be servants and everyone knows servants cannot earn their own way.

“My soul is troubled,” Jesus says. He chose the life he would live and he knew it could lead only to one thing – death. Jesus accepts that path yet again. The sounds of heaven confirm Jesus’ identity as the messiah and Jesus suggests that his death by crucifixion will draw people to him and in turn draw them to God. He says that the cross will be salvific. But…I don’t think he is saying that God is demanding his death as a sacrifice. Rather, I believe that Jesus knew where his life would lead him, that all of the things he did would so anger the powers that be and upset their apple carts that they would have to respond by getting rid of him. He also knew that even if what he did and taught would lead to death that he had to travel that path anyway. He knows that the time for the response of the authorities is approaching and he is preparing himself and other around him for death.

I find several questions in this Sunday’s text. What is a servant? How is Jesus’ death a salvific act? What is our nature and purpose? There are others as well that I’m skipping over to get to the one that keeps popping into my head. The question that won’t leave me alone is, “Where do we come to see Jesus?” Theologian Douglas John Hall writes, “Faith needs not only to hear but in some real – if different – sense to ‘see’ Jesus” (Citation lost but I think it is from an essay that he wrote for The Living Pulpit.) To fill this need, we create images of Jesus. Hall offers 3 examples of such created images: the Divine Jesus who is out of this world, removed from our pain and suffering; the Conquering Jesus who sits in final judgment, one ready to give the thumbs up or thumbs down; the Accepting Jesus who loves me, even if we’re not ready for the truth and hard work of the transformation that such love brings.

So which one do we prefer? Is there another image that might serve us better? Jesus calls us to life here and now and as such shouldn’t we witness his presence with us in this "here and now" life? I think so! I witness that presence in our life together as the Body of Christ, as the church, in those moments as we reach out to neighbor and stranger alike, and as we offer forgiveness and love to one another. Answering the question of where we see Jesus for me comes in the form of the stories we tell of our life together. Where are those places and what are those stories?