New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
(Year B: 5th Sunday in Lent, 21st March
2021)
This passage from John contains a very
striking phrase that is found in all four gospels. In John it reads as follows:
Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:25)
More or less the same words are found in Matthew
10:39, in Mark
8:35 and in Luke
9:24.
Make no mistake about it – this phrase was
a strong and most challenging one heard by the earliest of disciples and
transmitted, at first by word of mouth, and then in written form. The reference (in the English) to ‘hate’ in
regards to our ‘life in this world’ is, indeed strong. We need to read this as
‘love less’ (this life) or ‘prefer more’ (God and eternal life). This life is,
for the most part, good and even very good for many of us. We must love all
people including those who annoy us or possibly even set out to harm. We are
not bid to trust all people and we are certainly not commanded to love things as
if they were ends in themselves. However, by loving all of God’s creation we
love God who made it all and who identifies himself with the weakest, the
poorest, the most excluded and the most vulnerable.
So, what does this idea of losing
mean? A few might be called like Saint Francis
to cast off all worldly goods and to live in a state of religious or vowed poverty.
This is not necessarily the call addressed to you and me (but let nobody be
deterred if wisdom and prudence so dictates!).
The point is that following Jesus is a radical choice and might mean
losing a lot. It might even mean losing our life. Seriously.
Jesus, in being lifted up on the cross (‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth,
will draw all people to myself.’ (John
12:32)], lifts us up too. The word ‘exalted’ or hypsóōin Greek is used here and, also in Isaiah 52:13:
See, my servant will act wisely; he will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
In being lifted up we experience real and
deep healing. Part of that healing is facing, naming and ‘shaming’ our own
inner demons. Only we can do this – through Jesus who is the Healer (a rare
one-in-a-million anam-chara or
spiritual soul friend might also help). Those demons may reflect deep
shortfalls, guilt, insecurities, hurts, resentments, past traumas – all buried
deep in the psyche. But, ‘those who hide in him shall not be condemned’ as it
says in Psalm 33:23*.
There are experiences and memories in our
lives that echo hurts; deep hurts linger.
These concern things others said or did that wounded us. Perhaps, we
experienced bullying in some context – at work, in the family or in the
community. Perhaps someone said things about us or to us that were untrue and
very undermining. Perhaps we acted
likewise towards another? It is not easy
– but we must learn to let go of these things. They belong now to Christ and are
covered by his Cross. Letting go means acknowledging these things – facing
them, naming them, addressing them and then letting go of them. The cross
stands between us and these things and we can leave our baggage there so that
we are free to move on.
Often it is not that we reject the cross
but, rather, this particular cross which is not ideal or savoury! It may be that we want to choose our own
cross our way and not in ways that take us by surprise and come like the wind
‘from the North-West’ (‘an ghaoth aniar aduaidh’
as the saying goes in Irish Gaelic). If only we could get to choose our own
cross life would be easier to anticipate, plan and regulate! One thing is
certain – in the life of discipleship as well as every other life – suffering
is unavoidable. We can see it as part of the journey towards the full light of
resurrection or we can stay in the dark cursing it and wishing it were
otherwise. But, none of this takes from the point that suffering is suffering
anytime and anywhere. It does not help those suffering to hear others make
light of it or over-spiritualise it. Our task as disciples of Jesus who walked
this road before us is to bear with the sufferings that come our way and work
to alleviate, as best as we can, the suffering of others around us.
* Psalm number references in this blog are from the Grail Psalter using Septuagint numbering).
(words above = 758)
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Some notes on the Gospel passage (John
12:20-33)
Preliminaries
This passage combines a teaching about Christian
discipleship addressed to the disciples followed by a dramatic foretelling of
the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the ‘Gethsemane’ moment of John’s
Gospel. The passage comes towards the end of the first part of John’s Gospel
sometimes referred to as the ‘Book of Signs’. There follows the ‘Book of Glory’
from chapter 13 onwards.
20-21:
Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus
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.’
It is not entirely clear who the ‘Greeks’
were. They may have been Syro-Phoenicians who spoke Greek. They may or may not have been Jewish. Interestingly, they came to Philip who, being
of Bethsaida in Galilee would have been from a relatively multi-lingual and ethnically
mixed territory and may have been seen, therefore, as receptive to a request by
foreigners.
Be careful what you wish for. Were we to
see Jesus today where would we find him – exclusively locked up in a box or out
and about moving among us and being present in a very real and special way in
those who suffer, are weak and are on the margins.
22-26: Unless
the grain dies
Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour.
As in many parts of the Gospel, Jesus draws
analogies from the world of nature and work on the land about him.
Those wishing to see Jesus and those who
conveyed this to Jesus are now confronted with a stark and uncomfortable
message …. Unless we die, lose, let go ….. this ‘seeing’ of Jesus is of little
value.
27-29: Jesus
is greatly troubled – the Gethsemane moment in the Gospel of John
‘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. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’ The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, ‘An angel has spoken to him.'
We should never doubt or minimise the full
and undiminished humanity of Jesus faced with a horrific and painful death. Why would he not experience great anguish and
fear? Great as his anguish was, he was
never alone. The Father is with him in his hour. This hour is the hour of his
glory and our freedom. Let us never forget that.
30-33: The
Cross is the only way
Jesus answered, ‘This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
There are no short-cuts to victory. There
are no short-cuts to freedom. There are no short-cuts to glory. In his lifting
up we are drawn to him. It is more that
this inexpressible love is so extraordinary and attractive that we cannot help
being drawn to him in his hour of glory and of passion.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.