I Want to See Jesus

John 12: 20-33

Lent 5, March 22, 2015

Some Greeks ask to see Jesus.

That’s all it says, not much else,

just that they were Greeks in town for the festival of the Passover.

In other words, they were Gentiles by birth,

non-Jewish people

But they’re in town for the Jewish festival.

So maybe they’ve converted to the Jewish faith.

Not unheard of, even in that time.

Maybe they are not Jewish, but they’re spiritually curious,

like lots of younger people are trying out different things,

hoping to find the one that fits.

Maybe they are just religious tourists

fascinated with others spiritual practices.

For whatever reason they’re there,

now they want to see Jesus.

Maybe it’s just another part of their religious experience.

Maybe just another facet of the Jewish religion.

Or maybe Jesus reputation has preceded him

and they want to see the man who feeds five thousand,

and heals people and has done so many impressive things.

They’re not followers yet, they’re seekers.

Like all of us at one time or another.

They want to see Jesus.

So , I don’t think they were prepared for the speech that they got.

When they did actually get to see Jesus.

Somehow their arrival prompts Jesus to tell

them and the crowds around him

that it is now time for him to die.

There’s no turning back in other words.

This is what he’s come into the world to do.

To die, it’s a strange concept really.

We usually think that people are born to live.

but Jesus says he was born to die.

Jesus uses the wheat as a metaphor.

He says, if a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies,

it spreads it’s seeds around so that more can grow.

In other words, Jesus death isn’t just a death

it’s for the benefit of all people, so that others can live.

The usual theological construct that has been put on this

Is that Jesus pays the price for our sins,

We should be punished, God demands punishment

but Jesus sacrifice of his own life somehow

changes God’s mind and we are freed.

But as we heard last week, Jesus said that God

so loves the world and that’s why Jesus was sent.

And as the modern theologian Richard Rohr

reminded us in recent devotion

Jesus wasn’t sent to change God’s mind.

Jesus was sent to change our minds.

And in the next sentence of today’s Gospel,

Jesus makes that clear. 

He tells us and his disciples and those unsuspecting Greeks:

“Those who love their life lose it, and those

who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Not only will Jesus go the way of the cross,

but he wants us to do it as well.

So what does that mean for the Greeks?

What does it mean for Jesus disciples?

What does it mean for us? How do we hate our lives?

I think lots of us struggle with this statement, because

it seems like we’re told that we should be thankful for our lives,

we should spend our time thanking God for our blessings.

We should love our lives, not hate them.

Couldn’t Jesus have just said “put God first”

or something sweeter like that?

Hate is such a strong word.

But I think the answer comes

when we look at that cross.

That death that Jesus was about to die.

I don’t mean just look at it,

but think about the whole story of Jesus.

God so loved the world that God came into the world as Jesus,

He shared the story of God’s love, God’s forgiveness, and God’s mercy

and said that the world should align themselves to God.

And as a result, he was arrested and killed.

Something is wrong with a world that can do that.

When we look at the cross we shouldn’t be comfortable,

we should be uncomfortable, outraged, upset.

So we can love our life, but also hate that it’s part of this world

that punishes the innocent, that uses death as we weapon,

that resorts to hate when it feels challenged.

- So for instance: I love my house,

but I hate that there are so many people without homes

who live on shelters, in cars, and on other people’s couches.

- I love the comforts I have, but I hate that there are so many people

who have to come to food pantries like ours to survive.

- I love my security, but I hate that there are people

who live their life in fear of all sorts of things,

fear of their neighbors, their spouses, the police, their governments.

- I love my life, but I hate that so many people

lose their lives to violence, hatred, and war.

The list can go on.

  

God loves the world.

And God wants us to love the world too.

When I look at the cross and know the story of the cross,

I can’t help but feel mal-adjusted to this world

that I am a part of.

Mal-adjusted to my life.

So Jesus does say, “hate your life.“

Look at that cross.

And see the world that would put God’s love to death.

Be uncomfortable with it.
Be uncomfortable with the privledge you have.

Don’t be so attached to your life.

Be willing to change it so that God’s will can be done.

The cross shines the light of truth into our lives.

Let the cross be our catalyst for change.

The Greeks wanted to see Jesus.

And we want to see Jesus too.

And this is how Jesus wanted to be seen.

On the cross.

If you want to see Jesus,

walk with him to the cross,

hate what you see there,

look at it and live.