We come today to the last actions and words of Jesus in His public ministry (John 12. 20-36), after this He retreats from the public eye to spend His last few days with His disciples before His trial and crucifixion. Some Greeks who have converted to Judaism come to see Jesus but aren’t really sure how to proceed and so they go to the apostle Philip to ask, and Philip isn’t sure either so he speaks to Andrew who asks Jesus directly. And Jesus responds rather strangely ‘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’. Jesus is speaking of His death; these words are very specifically about Him. He must die that many may live. Indeed if we skip on a few verses- ‘And what should I say ‘Father, save me from this hour’?’ He prays to His Father as to whether there is another way to save humanity He is speaking again of the cross, knowing the pain and suffering that it will bring. For a He moment asks if there is another way to achieve His mission, He doesn’t disobey, He doesn’t turn from His mission, but He asks if there is another way to obey and achieve His mission. But there is no other way, this is the way it must happen. ‘No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.’
Dominic and I were chatting many months ago about where the centre point of scripture lies, the moment when things change. Dominic said it was at the incarnation whilst I said it was at the cross but in a way we are both right for the entire point of the incarnation is the cross, there is no other end point, there is no alternate ending, Jesus came to die for sin. Indeed all of His teaching is cross centred: the Kingdom cannot come without the cross, the way of life that brings is only possible through God’s grace given to us through the cross. Last week I was at the last of the sessions for the Canton Lent Course which was hosted at Wesley Methodist church and they had summarised this intrinsic link beautifully, they had taken their Christmas tree, stripped off the branches, cut off the top and nailed it as the cross member turning the tree into a cross. There is no cross without Christmas but there is no Christmas without the cross. Jesus comes to give us life and give it to the full and at the cross His life is poured out that all may live. Throughout His ministry He indicates what His death is going to look like, it comes as no surprise to Him that this is how it ends, He knows because His life is lived in obedience to His Father and in that obedience He is able to see where His Father is leading Him, from the moment He steps out of the crowd by the Jordan river to be baptised He knows where this is going. But despite telling His disciples repeatedly what is coming they don’t hear or understand Him, neither do the crowds who just after Jesus speaks these words challenge Him about His fate telling Him that He must have got it wrong, if He is going to die then He cannot be the Messiah but if He is the Messiah then He cannot die. It echoes the words of Peter upon realising who Jesus is: you’re the Messiah, you cannot die. And Jesus responds with chilling words ‘You have the light only a little longer’ two days to be precise ‘Walk while you still have the light so that darkness does not overtake you’. Get moving, make a decision to actively pursue God, stop drifting in your faith, the light is walking forward, the Kingdom is moving don’t get left behind. This is not the time for complacency, take up your cross and follow me. What is it to walk in the light? Jesus after speaking of His own death speaks of our task ‘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.’ What are our priorities? Are we living for ourselves, gathering stuff and experiences, getting as much as we possibly can out of our short lives here on earth or are our eyes fixed on God, seeking to follow Him and walk in His footsteps. When Jesus speaks of hating our lives I don’t think He means that we have to be miserable and hate our every waking moment but rather we should love God so much more than this world and this life that by comparison it is as though we hate this life. In a parallel line in Luke’s account Jesus speaks of hating our parents and siblings and children, again this is to say that our love for Him must so outstrip our love for them that it is as though we hated them. These are dramatic words but they make us think, the sharpness causes us to stumble over them and in the process, reassess how we are living. Have we truly counted the cost of following Jesus, are we prepared to let go of our lives, to hold everything this world tells us to hold close and grab onto to hold that at arm’s length and to kneel before the cross and give it all away? Jesus challenged the rich man to sell all He had and then, freed from what was holding him back, to follow Christ. What would we choose if we were faced with having to choose only one, would we leave behind our property, ambitions, hopes, friends and family in favour of God if that is what God called us to do or if they called us away from Him. Lent has passed and hopefully we have assessed our state, the state of our relationship with God, the state of our discipleship. If you haven’t then now is the time to do so, to reorient everything to the cause of Christ, to live your life poured out at Jesus’ feet following where He leads. Jesus’ life is the perfect example of how to live this way, He can challenge us to live our lives as though we hated them because that is what He did, He can call us to the standard because that is what He lived. A life lived for God and for others, a life of obedience to God and in servitude of those around Him. And in walking that way He was drawn so close to God that He could see where His path was going, He could see the destination in the distance, the cross. In this life we will never be able to draw that close to God consistently, we will draw close and then move away a bit and then draw back in a bit weaving between God and this world. But in drawing close to Him we may catch a glimpse of the next stage of our journey with Him, the unfolding of the next chapter. We never hear what happened to those Greeks who came to see Jesus that day, no more is said of them, but Jesus’ words to the crowd, that would no doubt have been relayed to them, draw His ministry to its close and leave us with a challenge. As Christ goes to the cross surrendering His entire being, all that He is, may we live that sacrifice, surrendering all that we are to the cause of Christ and His kingdom: obedience to God and servants to those in need.
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AuthorAn Anglican Curate in my 20's I was raised in an Anglican Church, went to a Youth Club run by an Evangelical Church, attended a Baptist Church while at Uni and was a member of a New Monastic Community after graduating. As such my faith has been influenced by these experiences and traditions into what I hope is a more rounded viewpoint. Archives
September 2022
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