We want to see Jesus.
One of the real challenges of living in Central Florida is dodging all the tourists. Our roads get clogged, but it’s not just that they are busy. A chunk of the people on them aren’t sure where they are going. They know they have to take a left turn in 10 miles so “slower traffic keep right” doesn’t matter to them. Or they will suddenly realize that left is a right and veer across three lanes to make it. This inspires others to treat the highway like a slalom course, zipping back and forth. It’s a challenge. And I’m no different when I’m in a strange place, unsure of where I’m going.
Who are these Greeks? We don’t know! They could be Greek-speaking Jews from distant places visiting Jerusalem on a Passover pilgrimage. They could be Greek-speaking Gentiles from just about anywhere who are there for the celebration, interested or merely curious observers. John tells us that they want to see Jesus, but he doesn’t tell us why. Do they seek his healing touch? Have they been attracted by the spectacle of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem? Are they sensing the tension in the air? We don’t know. And we don’t hear whether or not he actually meets them.
What John does share is Jesus’ three-part response. First he says it’s time. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified,” which he also said at the very start of his public ministry, at the wedding at Cana, where he did his first miracle changing water into wine. He will say it again when he sends Judas out from The Last Supper after sharing the bread and the wine with him. It will also be a focus of his high priestly prayer that night before he died.
His glorification is to come in an unusual way; he is to die. We tend to think of death as an end, but Jesus explains it will be a transformation for him. In order to fulfill his ministry, the Kingdom of God spreading across the world, he could not stay as he was, an itinerant rabbi whose public ministry was conducted all within 100 miles of his home.
True, his disciples could go out and repeat his teachings and perhaps they would continue in perpetuity. But that isn’t the Gospel. The Gospel, the good news, is that we all have an open invitation to a direct relationship with him. In order for Him to reach me like that, to reach you, to reach any and all people, he cannot remain as he was. He has to transform “to bear much fruit.”
And note the beauty of this analogy. We know that everything about a future tree resides inside its seed, all detailed in its genetic code, its DNA. Everything about Jesus is already within him, too. But he has to die, for us, to realize that potential.
Next he shares his second point, which is that his followers have to undergo a similar transformation in this life, which involves a fundamental shift in our identity from “me first” to Jesus first. That’s hard.
We spend a great deal of time, energy and focus on identity. It was the fuel of teenage angst for many of us, and in many respects it never really ends because it distinguishes us as individuals alive, with meaning and purpose. Where are you from? Where did you go to school? What do you do? How old are you? Hair care, skin care, our clothes all frame our identity. What music do you listen to? What shows or movies do you watch? What are your favorite books? Who are you and why do you matter?
That identity, our notion of self, is naturally wired for self-preservation, position, power, and success. We are naturally wired for lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, envy, wrath, pride and every other sin. But if we were to cling to our notion of self, if we stayed just with that, we’d be all inwardly focused and stuck as we are. Like the seed that is unplanted. And in the words of Ecclesiastes, it is all vanity. It will, as we noted at the start of this season of Lent, all come to dust along with all that we have. Worse, clinging to ourselves would mean we are not clinging to Him.
Jesus said, “Those who love their life will lose it.” We have to yield our identity and let it die like a seed in the earth – like the seed scattered on good soil – so that we can grow to be like him. If the seed doesn’t die, if it isn’t planted, it will never grow to the fullness of what it was ever meant to be.
But when we do yield ourselves to Jesus, he enables us to grow into an entirely new being. His promise is that when we cling to him, “Those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” Forever.
We don’t lose the essence of who we are, – the DNA and genetics of the tree are always in the seed – but we are released into the wide world to grow and bear much fruit. The truth is we don’t even know who we truly are until we yield our sense of self and realize this growth.
His third point explains how this will work. “Whoever serves me must follow me.” As we embrace our identity in Christ we embrace his will, which leads immediately to service. For Jesus, following his Father’s will means going to the cross, and he’s almost there. He won’t stray from it. In that obedience, that radical obedience that is absolutely contrary to every instinct we have for survival, he glorifies his Father. He’s troubled – the way of the cross will be literally excruciating (ex+crucio) and he knows it.
For most of us it isn’t quite so grim. It means opening our eyes to see with his eyes, opening our ears to hear with his ears, opening our hearts to love with his heart and putting our hands to work for him. There is a cost. We all have plans. But what do YOU want us to do, Lord? As we honestly take that question to heart in our prayers and conversations with each other, you get answers. There are many here who have done so, many witnesses to that truth.
When it comes down to it, I’m no different from these Greeks. My deepest, strongest heart’s desire is to see Jesus. I’m talking about when I die and he comes for me. I want to see Jesus, face to face, just as I am seeing you right now. And I want that as I live today, tomorrow and the next day; to see Jesus at work in and through all the gatherings and meals and ministries we will continue to do. I want to see Jesus.
AMEN