Readings: Jer 31:31-34; Psa 50:3-4,12-15; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33
THEME: THE SERVANT KNOWS WHERE THE MASTER IS!
a. THE GREEKS ALSO WANT TO SEE JESUS
Dearest friends, we are gradually approaching the last days of our Lenten season. In the gospel reading, some Greeks approached Philip stating their desire to see Jesus. Philip, together with Andrew, brought this request to Jesus. We remember that at the beginning of John’s gospel, Andrew and Philip are the two first named disciples of Jesus (Jn 1:40,43), and each one of them brought someone to Jesus: while Andrew brought Simon later changed to Peter (Jn 1:41-42), Philip brought Nathaniel (Jn 1:43-46). Jesus sees this request as the arrival of the hour of his glorification. It is funny reading Jesus’ response. I mean, how does what Jesus says respond to the request of the Greeks who were seeking to see him? What can we make of this?
In the gospel according to John, we see Jesus aiming at establishing a kingdom of God that is opened to all. As a matter of fact, right in the beginning of the gospel, we see what I may call “Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the Children of God”. That is to say, before the coming of Christ, the Jews were seeing themselves as the only people who have right to and reservation in the house of the Father. For the Jews, you need to just be a Jew, and you are guaranteed of God’s love and kingdom. But Jn 1:11-13 makes a U-turn from this mindset. The children of God are not by biological union nor by ancestral root (in Abraham) but those born of the will of God. And these children of God are not united by an ancestor but by the acceptance of Jesus and believing in him (Jn 1:12).
Hence, both Jews and the gentiles can be in this family of God. In the gospel according to John therefore, Jesus sees his mission as that of opening up the kingdom of God to all. In Jn 1, Jesus invites the four disciples of John the Baptist (who were all Jews) to come and see where he lives (cf Jn 1:39). So, for the Greeks, that is, people from gentile nations, to announce their desire to see Jesus, it means that Jesus’ mission has succeeded in bringing the gentile nations to seek for him also, and now, he is ready to consummate it and seal it with his passion, death and resurrection.
Furthermore, another way to understand Jesus’ statement is to see it as a fulfilment of Jer 31:31-34 which is the first reading of today. In Jer 31:31-34, we hear God promising a new covenant in which people would not have to ask others about God and the law of God. Jeremiah prophecies of the arrival of days, in which there will not be need of an intermediary in man’s relationship with God because God can be found by anyone who wants, since he will be living in every heart.
So, in the gospel, when the Greeks come to Philip requesting that he takes them to Jesus, Jesus realizes that the hour to fulfil the prophecy of Jeremiah has arrived. That is, the hour to establish the new covenant in which we need not to go through protocols and processes nor through intermediaries in order to find God because God now lives in us and with us; the new covenant in which no one has monopoly of God because God is present to everyone; the new covenant in which we do not need to be told what to do in order to see Christ because inside us lies the voice of Christ calling us to himself. Hence, the prophecy of Jeremiah about a new covenant of God with his people is fulfilled in Christ. The ‘days are coming’ of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jer 31:31) found its fulfilment in the ‘hour has come’ of Jesus (Jn 12:23).
b. UNLESS A GRAIN OF WHEAT FALLS INTO THE EARTH AND DIES…
With this statement, Jesus speaks of how advantageous his death will be for all. Just as a grain of wheat needs to fall into the earth and dies so as to yield much fruit, so is Jesus’ death going to bring more people than the few Jews and Greeks. Hence, Jesus gave his life just to make me and you part of the fruit of God’s kingdom. Think about it! In order to give everyone access to the Father, the only Son of the Father had to die. Somehow, we can say that Jesus
does not want to remain a single grain, that is, he does not want to remain the only son of the Father. He wants to give all people the opportunity to become God’s children. And in order to do that, he, the One grain, fell and died. Through his death in God the Father, he came forth with many children for the Father. Christ’s death gives us access to become children of God.
But in order to enjoy this new life in God, we must have to abandon our old life because when we cherish more our old life of sin and decay, we loss the life of glory and freedom in Christ.
Apart from the significance of this statement with regard to Jesus’ death, this statement reminds us the necessity of total dependence on God. A grain has to fall into the earth and die. That is, it has to bury itself into that which can provide it with the nutrients it needs. And then, it needs to give up everything it has. In the same way, unless we fall into Christ, who alone can make us grow, and then abandon everything about us in him, we will remain just a grain, unnoticed and irrelevant. For us to bear wonderful fruits, we must die in Christ. Christ is our soil, he holds the nutrients we need in order to be fruitful, and unless the roots of our lives are seated in him, we will remain unproductive and useless.
c. WHEREVER I AM, THERE WILL MY SERVANT BE ALSO
Jesus’ servant stays not away from him. To find Jesus’ servant is to find Jesus. We remember the story of a sick beggar who was assisted by Mother Theresa of Calcutta. Speaking to the man about believing in Jesus of Nazareth, he said to Mother Theresa, “If this Jesus behaves like you and does like you do, then I am ready to become his disciple”. The life of Jesus’ disciple has to be that of Jesus. When we are servants of Christ, living in and like Christ, it will be a contradiction for us to ask “God where are you” especially in moments of difficulty because he is just where we, his servants are. God never changes his position in our lives.
We are the ones rather who move away from God. Whenever we stop serving Christ, whenever we stop following him, then we stop seeing his light. Our sins take us away from God but our good works bring us back to him. God never runs away from us. He has made his home in us. But for us to feel his presence, and see his face always, we must allow ourselves to be buried in him and to have our root seated in him.
Christ, the Only Son of God, died in order to give us the opportunity to enter into this Father-Child relationship with God. As his followers, are we always ready and willing to give up our comforts and privileges in order to give others access to a better life, life in, with, and of Christ?
Fr. Henry Chukwuezugo Nnamah
Catholic Diocese of Aguleri