It Was Still Dark

It Was Still Dark

Easter

The Collect of the Day: Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preceding us, thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Gospel: St. John 20:1-10

The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre. And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in. Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.

From noon till 3:00 P.M. on Good Friday a supernatural darkness covered the site of the crucifixion. Then Jesus died. While the sun came out again, darkness continued to engulf the souls of Mary his mother, the eleven remaining Apostles, and his followers. Their hopes for the kingdom of God died with him.

So it was entirely appropriate that when the first visitor set out for the tomb on Sunday morning it was still dark.

1. Mary and the Body of Jesus

Jesus was crucified on Friday. The day for Jews began at 6:00 in the evening, so Friday afternoon the Jewish leaders began to worry about the fact that Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, was fast approaching. Since burials should not take place on the Sabbath, the leaders asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken. This would hasten their deaths, because they would no longer be able to support themselves in order to expand their chests. This would lead to quicker death by asphyxiation. The soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals crucified with Jesus, but they found Jesus had already died.

John tells us about the burial of Jesus:

...Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.  So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. (St. John 19:38-42)

The body of Jesus lay in the grave beginning late Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Then early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene (and from the other Gospels we learn at least two other women) set out for the garden tomb. They also took spices wanting further to anoint the body of Jesus. By the time they got there the dawn was beginning to break. When they got to the garden tomb they found to their shock and dismay the stone which covered the cave had been moved. So they went to find Peter and John, two of the disciples closest to Jesus and said: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Why did the removal of Jesus’ body so distress Mary?  Why do families of soldiers and airmen who are missing in action in Vietnam and Laos so desperately want to recover any remains that can be found now - more than 40 years since they were lost? Why, when people die, do we not send their bodies to the garbage dump? Why, even when bodies are cremated, do families receive the ashes in an urn and then place them in a columbarium or other special place? Why don’t we put them in a plastic bag and send them off with the rest of the garbage? Because bodies matter.

We often try to pretend that bodies don’t matter. We say of them, “The real body is just a shell. The real person is the soul.” That is not the Christian faith. It was the Greeks who demoted the body and elevated the soul or spirit.

Why do Christians honor the body?

First, because humans are made in the image of God in both body and soul, and the body and soul are so intertwined that nothing can separate them but death, and then only temporarily.

Second, because when the Son of God became incarnate he took to himself a real human body and soul. He was a human being who had both body and soul made in God’s image.

Third, because when our Lord was raised he rose bodily. His body was changed and immortal, a glorious resurrection body beyond the touch of death and decay, but a real body. He bodily ascended to heaven; he bodily resides in heaven; he will bodily come again.

Fourth, because he has promised to raise our lowly, corruptible bodies and make them like his glorious, incorruptible body. Our eternal destinies as Christians is to live as fully human persons, made like Christ, with perfect unity and harmony of body and soul.

We express our Christian faith when we mark the deaths of Christians with the Christian funeral service in our Prayer Book, and when we dispose of their bodies in a way that testifies to the dignity and future of the human body.

2. Peter and John and the Tomb of Jesus

Mary informed two disciples that the stone covering the tomb of Jesus had been removed. One was St. Peter and the other calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” This is the way St. John designates himself throughout this Gospel he wrote.

Both ran toward the tomb, though John was faster, and arrived first. When John arrived he stopped at the entrance of the tomb, stooped to look in, and saw that the linen grave clothes were there but there was no body. When Peter arrived he characteristically did not stop but went right into the tomb. He saw the same linen grave clothes, and the cloth that was wrapped around the head, which was separate from the other clothes and folded. There are many good reasons my wife would admire Jesus more than she does me, but not least among them is that he was neat and folded his clothes.

The significance of the way the grave clothes and napkin were found is that it makes it very unlikely the body was stolen, whether by enemies or friends or some other persons. But it is unlikely that anyone taking the body of Jesus would have taken the time to unwrap the grave clothes from the body and to fold the head napkin.

That’s the way John saw it when he followed Peter into the tomb and surveyed the scene. As John himself describes it, “he saw and believed.” That is this was the beginning of his faith that Jesus was not dead but alive, of his belief in the resurrection of Jesus.

Neither John, nor Peter, nor any of the other Apostles were predisposed to expect the resurrection of Jesus. They did not understand at this point that the Old Testament Scriptures taught that the Messiah must rise again. It was only later in the light of the resurrection and the further teaching of Jesus. The evening of the resurrection walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus Jesus said, “O foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter his glory?” By the day of Pentecost Peter saw it all clearly and preached:

      “... David says concerning him,

“‘I saw the Lord always before me,

   for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;

therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;

   my flesh also will dwell in hope.

For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,

   or let your Holy One see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life;

   you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

“Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

It was dark on Friday. It was dark when Mary went to the tomb on Sunday morning. And then there was light - the resurrection of Christ which brought life and immortality to light for all believers.

The Lord is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Do You Know What this Means?

Do You Know What this Means?

Maundy Thursday

Collect of the Day Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, did institute the Sacrament of his Body and Blood; Mercifully grant that we may thankfully receive the same in remembrance of him, who in these holy mysteries giveth us a pledge of life eternal; the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

Gospel: St. John 13:1-15 (KJV)

1 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;

3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

11 For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

An Anglican boy and a Baptist boy were best friends, so they decided to visit each other’s churches. They went to the Anglican church first, and the Baptist boy constantly whispered to the Anglican boy, “What does that mean?” When they went to Baptist church, the Anglican boy didn’t have many questions, but, when before the sermon began, the Baptist preacher took off his watch and placed it on the pulpit, the Anglican boy, who had never seen such in his church, leaned over and asked the Baptist boy, “What does that mean?” “Not a thing,” replied the Baptist boy.

When on Thursday evening, Jesus washed his disciples’  feet, Jesus asked them, “Do you know what I have done to you?” This question is vital for us too, if we are to understand the nature of Christ’s mission and the nature of our discipleship.

1. What Happened

On the night before his death Jesus and his disciples gathered in the Upper Room to celebrate Passover, which he transformed into the Lord’s Supper. Jesus knew that the climatic hour of his ministry had arrived. He had laid aside his glory and come from the Father, and now it was time for him to return to the Father and take up his glory - but first there was the cross and death.

When they had finished the meal, Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, took a basin of water, washed each of the disciples feet, and dried their feet with a towel. Then he put his clothes back on and went back to the table.

In the world of Jesus and the disciples it was customary for people to take a bath before going to a meal like Passover. However, as they traveled in sandals through the streets, their feet would get dirty. So the host would provide a basin of water and towel for washing feet. If there were servants present, it was the job of the lowliest servant to wash the feet and then unobtrusively retire. If there were no servant, then each guest would wash his own feet.

We know that there was no servant and that no disciple had offered to wash anyone else’s feet, not even Jesus’s feet. For some reason no one had washed his own feet. But, when they had taken food and drink, Jesus got up and did the job, and then rejoined them at the table.

2. What did it mean?

What did the washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus mean?

a. What it meant for Jesus.

Jesus was saying, “The Father sent me to be a servant to accomplish your salvation.” Jesus took the role of the servant when he wrapped himself in the towel and washed the disciples’ feet. This was not the job of a host, much less of a teacher and master.

This is why Peter objected. It did not fit with his understanding of Jesus or his understanding of his relationship to Jesus. When Jesus got to Peter, Peter asked, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter put his foot down but not in the basin: “Lord you will never wash my feet.” Peter thought it inappropriate.

Jesus replied, “If I do not wash your feel, you no part with me.” “Peter, do you want to be in fellowship with me? Do you want to share in my future? Then I must wash your feet - otherwise you do not share in my life.” When Peter heard that, he dropped his objection, but showed he still didn’t understand: “Lord, then, if I need to have you wash my feet to share in your life, then give me a bath! Don’t just wash my feet. Wash my hands and head, too!” Jesus said, “No, you don’t need that. You already had a bath. What you need is your feet washed, because that is the job of a servant. I can fulfill the mission for which the Father sent me into the world and accomplish your salvation only by being the one one who serves, the one who came not to be served but to serve and to give my life a ransom of many.”

St. Paul taught about the servanthood of Christ that “though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” Philippians 2:6-8, ESV). Our salvation could not be accomplished and our sharing in Christ’s present glory could not be obtained except by Christ’s becoming a servant and going all the way to death, even the cruel and humiliating death on the cross.

b. What it means for us.

When Jesus had washed everyone’s feet, and went back the the table, he resumed his place as their Lord and asked, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me your Master and Teacher, and you are right to do so, because that is what I am. If I your Lord and Master have washed your feet, then you also ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you an example that you should do just as I have done for you.”

Jesus was saying: “If you are in saving fellowship with me, then you must accept me as your

Servant who accomplishes your salvation. But, if you are in saving fellowship with me, then you also must accept the role of being each other’s servants. My call to you is not to stand on your pride and expect others to serve you, but to take the initiative and assume the role of the servant, without expecting anyone to serve you. The servant does not serve in order to be served. His service is not based on reciprocation. He is a servant, and so he serves.

When do we wash another Christ’s feet? When our servanthood and another’s need coincide - when he is too sick and weak to bathe himself and needs a bath. But servanthood is not confined to literal footwashing. It is our being willing to do the lowliest task imaginable if it serves Christ and serves his people. It’s not just that we sometimes serve but that we are servants. That is our identity, our calling, our fellowship with Christ.

How low can you go? How low will you go? There is no place too low for the servant of Christ and his people.

The Son Reclaims His Father's House

The Son Reclaims His Father’s House

Palm Sunday

Collect of the Day: ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who, of thy tender love towards mankind, hast sent thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, to take upon him our flesh, and to suffer death upon the cross, that all mankind should follow the example of his great humility; Mercifully grant, that we may both follow the example of his patience, and also be made partakers of his resurrection; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: Matthew 21:1-17

1 And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples,

2 Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.

3 And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.

4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

5 Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

6 And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them,

7 And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon.

8 And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way.

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?

11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,

13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased,

16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

17 And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

When I was a minister to students, I took a young man to lunch and asked, “What do you want to do with your life?” It turned out that his family’s business had been bought and several family members dismissed. He told me he goal was to go into that business and reclaim it for the family.

Jesus as a Son loved his Father and his Father’s house, the Temple. One of his goals was to reclaim the Father’s house for the Father.

1. Claiming Kingship

Jesus spent Saturday night in Bethany with his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. On Sunday morning he began the short journey from Bethany to Jerusalem. As he and his disciples arrived at the Mt. of Olives Jesus sent two of his disciples to get a donkey colt he had arranged with the owner to use. The colt had never been ridden so the disciples also brought along the mother to calm the colt.

As they got near Jerusalem, the disciples threw their cloaks on the colt, and Jesus began to ride into the city. There were people following along behind Jesus, and people coming out of the city to greet him. Many people took off their cloaks and threw them on the ground, while others went into the countryside and cut palm branches which they also threw on the ground, so that Jesus rode on a covered path.

One of St. Matthew’s special interests is the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy in the life and ministry of Jesus. Here he quotes briefly from today’s Old Testament lesson from Zechariah 9:

All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying,

Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold,

           thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and

     sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of

an ass.

Not just St. Matthew but Jesus himself sees his entrance into Jerusalem as the fulfillment of Zechariah’s words. Having repeatedly damped down speculation that he was the Messiah, Jesus now embraces that identity. He is the Messiah-King. He is not not like the vain kings of the world, for he is not proud and grabbing power, but meek. He comes not riding a charger at the head of a great army but riding a donkey as a king on a mission of peace. On this day Jesus says, “I am your Messiah - your King. I am not the King you envisioned and wished for, but I am the King you need - the King who will deliver you from  Satan, sin, and death.”

At Passover time, when the people celebrated their deliverance from Egypt, Messianic excitement ran high with hopes that this year the Messiah might appear as their Deliverer and Liberator to expel the Romans and restore the Jewish kingdom. So, when Jesus came riding on a donkey, a crowd already around him, and others gathering so there was  great crowd, some going ahead of Jesus and some following him began to shout, “Hosanna to the son of David; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.”

Their words come from Psalm 118, the last of 6 Psalm called Hallel Psalms that were sung at Passover. It is likely that St. Mark was referring to this Psalm when he wrote that at the conclusion of the Passover Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn before they went to the Mt. of Olives.

Psalm 118 was written for the celebration in Jerusalem of a king’s victory. At one point his cause seemed hopeless, but the Lord helped him, and he prevailed. As Jesus rode into the city, the crowds shouted to him, “Save us, we pray, O LORD.” When that is translated into Greek it is “Hosanna!” The people went on shouting to their King, “Blessed is he who comes in the  name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD.”

They were shouting words from  an ancient and and well known song. They were calling out to words that celebrated the victory of a king. The scene caused such a stir that people were asking about Jesus, “Who is this?” Others answered, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” That answer is true but inadequa

What was Jesus saying? He was saying, “I am the Messiah, the King, the Deliverer of God’s people. I am the greater Son of great king David, the Messiah you have longed for. I am different from your expectations of a nationalistic, military Messiah. I have come on a mission of peace - to establish peace between you and God by dying for your sins. I will do a far greater work of salvation and deliverance than kicking out the Romans and sitting on a throne in Jerusalem. I will save you from the devil, sin, death, and hell.

Jesus orchestrates Palm Sunday to proclaim himself Messiah, King, Deliverer, Liberator.

2. Cleaning House

When we read St. Matthew’s account it seems that Jesus reclaimed the Temple for his Father on the same day as his Triumphal Entry. But when we compare Matthew’s account with St. Mark’s we find that Matthew has compressed the story. Mark tells us that on Sunday Jesus went to the Temple, looked around, surveyed the condition of the Father’s house, and then went back to Bethany for the night.

The next day he went back to Jerusalem and to the Temple. He saw what he had seen the day before -  merchants selling animals and moneychangers exchanging currency. Why had the Temple authorities allowed people to set up to do business at the Temple?

First, it is important for us to know that these businesses were not set up inside the Temple building itself or in the area outside the entrance where sacrifices were made on the altar. The Temple area was large and included courts outside such as the Court of the Women and the Court of the Gentiles. The merchants were set up in one of the courts.

There was a practical reason that these merchants were doing business in the Temple precincts. Remember that pilgrims - Jews, Gentile converts called proselytes, and Gentile followers called God-fears - came from Palestine and also from all over the Graeco-Roman world to participate in Passover. They needed sacrifices to present at the Temple. Those who could afford it were expected to offer a sheep, while the poorer people offered pigeons. But, unless you lived near Jerusalem, it was impossible for you to bring your own animal. You would need to buy one. Where more convenient to get an animal for sacrifice than at the Temple itself?

Worshipers also needed to give offerings of money. However, Roman currency was not accepted at the Temple. There was a special Temple currency, so worshipers needed to exchange their secular money for temple money. What could be more convenient than to exchange your currency at the Temple?

But this convenience put the merchant at an advantage. If you’ve flown into a foreign country where you needed to exchange some American dollars for local currency, you know that, if you do that transaction at the airport, the exchange rate will be less favorable to you. You will pay a premium for the convenience.

But the buying and selling at the Temple went beyond the customer’s paying extra for the convenience of buying at animal that near the altar and exchanging currency that near where you would make your offering. The merchant had the customer at his mercy. He  could and did take advantage of the situation to charge exorbitant prices and fees for animals currency exchange. It opened up all sorts of opportunity for dishonesty, fraud, and price gouging. The effect rob those who needed the services.

So Jesus, who loved his Father and his Father’s house, saw it as his responsibility as the royal Son, to do something about the corruption he found in his Father’s house. So Jesus drove out both the sellers and the buyers. He overturned the tables and seats of the merchant and moneychangers. He said, quoting from Isaiah, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” He was saying, T”his place is dedicated to God - a place of worship and prayer, but you make it look like a cave where a bunch of robbers hang out planning their crimes.”

We see here a side of Jesus that many don’t know about and others prefer not to think about - the holy anger and righteous indignation of Jesus. Some think the God of the Old Testament is a God capable of wrath, but when Jesus comes we see that God is a God of love and tolerance. This scene says, “No, Jesus reveals the holy anger of God over the corruption of his Temple.”

What is the Temple today? St. Paul tells us that the church is the temple of the living God. You, we together, are the dwelling place of God, the holy building made up of living stones, where God is worshiped and proclaimed.

Jesus had to cleanse this Temple to make it a place where God would live - a place where God would dwell and not consume with his wrath against sin. Jesus cleansed and purified his church with his blood so that the Father sees the church not a spotted with the defilement and dirt of sin, but as clean and white, washed in the blood of Jesus.

So we come to this Table, the memorial of Christ’s sacrificial death, the place of  thanks for his shedding of his own blood to make us clean, and the place where by faith we commune with Christ who makes our bodies clean and washes our souls with his precious blood.

Jesus's Moment of Clarity

Jesus’s Moment of Clarity

The Coming of the Greeks

Passion Sunday

Collect of the Day: We beseech thee, Almighty God, mercifully to look upon thy people; that by thy great goodness they may be governed and preserved evermore, both in body and soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Gospel: John 12:20-36a

20 And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast:

21 The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus.

22 Philip cometh and telleth Andrew: and again Andrew and Philip tell Jesus.

23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.

24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.

28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.

29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.

30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.

31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

33 This he said, signifying what death he should die.

34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man?

35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.

In August of 1966 the youth of my church met at the church one Saturday afternoon to go to a home with a swimming pool. When we loaded up in cars I crawled into the back seat of one of them and found myself sitting next to a 16 year old green-eyed blond. It seemed an entirely ordinary thing, but next June we will celebrate 47 years of marriage.

It seemed ordinary when some Greeks asked to see Jesus, but Jesus saw it as a sign from the Father.

1. Realization

What we read in the Gospel today happened on the Monday after our Lord’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Sunday. The population of Jerusalem swelled at Passover as people came from all over the world to celebrate the Feast. There were Jews from Palestine, and Jews who were part of the Diaspora, Jewish people scattered throughout the Graeco-Roman world.

Others came who were not ethnic Jews. Some were proselytes, Gentiles who converted fully to Judaism and were circumcised. Other Gentiles admired the monotheism and morality of Judaism and attended synagogues but did not fully convert. They did not submit to circumcision. They were called “God-fearers.” The Greeks in John 12 were probably God-fearers.

They approached one of the disciples, Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip went to his fellow Apostle from Bethsaida, Andrew, and together they took the request to Jesus.

The communication of this request resulted in what we might call “a moment of clarity.” Therapists talk about moments of clarity as times when the mental fog lifts and a person is able to see their situation clearly. An abused wife sees, “He’s not going to change. I’ve got to get out of this marriage.”  A person who began taking medicine for serious pain realizes, “I’ve got a problem with prescription narcotics.”

For Jesus the seemingly insignificant event of some Greeks in Jerusalem for Passover was a momentous event that brought the realization, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” In St. John’s Gospel, “the hour” is the time set by the Father for the Son to accomplish the work of salvation. Up till now Jesus has said, “My hour has not come,” but now he says that the hour has come - the hour when he will be glorified.

That would lead us to expect, especially when just a day ago the crowds were shouting, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” that Jesus is talking about a kingly triumphant full of royal splendor. But Jesus adds unexpected words: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” A grain of wheat by itself will always be just a single grain, no more. But, if it is buried in the earth, it will die and from its death will come more grains of wheat than can be counted.

The request of these Greeks says to Jesus that the time has come when he will bring into the kingdom of God not just Jews but Gentiles. Up till now Jesus has said that his mission is to seek and save the lost in Israel, but the coming of the Greeks signals that the mission is about to expand to take in the whole world.

However, if there is going to be such a large harvest gathered from the whole world, Jesus sees that he will have to be like the grain of wheat - he must die that there may be such a harvest.

2. Agitation

The coming of the Greeks impressed on Jesus that his hour had come and that, while it would lead to glory, it also meant that he must die. He said, “Now is my soul troubled.” Jesus had predicted a number of times that he was going to Jerusalem where he would be rejected, condemned, and killed.  He knew what was coming. So why did he say, “Now my soul is troubled”?

Think of a man on death row who first knew he was going to die when the judge pronounced the sentence. The realization grows when he is placed on death row. Then one day he receives a notice that the governor has set his execution date for two weeks from that day. He has known for years he is going to die, but now it hits him as it never has before that he really is going to die, and it shakes him to the depths of his being.

What Jesus is experiencing now will become most intense a few nights later in Gethsemane when he opened himself to his three closest disciples, and said, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death.” What troubled Jesus’ soul when the Greeks asked for him, which became most intense in the Garden, was not just that he would die, nor that he would die by crucifixion, horrendous as that was, but the kind of death he would die to save the Greeks and all who believe in him. He would die under the wrath of God; he would experience the abandonment and pain of hell in order to save us.

He responded, “What shall I say?” What should he pray at this point? Should he pray, “Father save me from this hour”? Did Jesus consider praying that or did he pray it? We might think that, because he was firmly committed to dying in Jerusalem, he would not pray to be saved from the coming hour of suffering. But it is more likely that he actually prayed, “Father save me from this hour.” We know that because a few nights later he would pray in Gethsemane: “Father, if you are willing take this cup from me” - this cup of suffering, this cup of the wrath of God.

But, as soon he prayed to be saved from the hour of suffering, he added, “But for this cause I came unto this hour.” “The whole reason I came into the world was to die in the place of my people in order to accomplish their salvation. If I were to be saved from this hour, I would not fulfill the purpose of my coming into this world.” Then in Gethsemane, after praying that if the Father willed he might be saved from the drinking the cup of wrath, he said, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.”

Because he had come to do the Father’s will he prayed, “Father, glorify thy name.” Immediately the Father spoke, “I have both glorified and will glorify it again.” Because he loved the Father and desired the Father’s glory this was reassurance and comfort. The Father will be glorified, and, even as it is the Son’s desire for the Father to be glorified, so it is the Father’s will and determination to glorify the Son after he accomplishes salvation by his death on the cross.

3. Declaration

The request of the Greeks to see him signaled to Jesus that the hour had come for him to be glorified by planting his life in death that there might be harvest of salvation among the Gentiles. Now Jesus says something about the way he will die: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.”

At the beginning of his ministry Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” The book of Numbers records a time during the wilderness wanderings of Israel when they indulged in their characteristic sin of grumbling against God and Moses. God sent fiery serpents among them, and people began to die. Then some of them went to Moses and said, “We’ve sinned; intercede with the Lord for us. The Lord told Moses to make a serpent of bronze, to lift it up on a pole in the camp and to tell the people that all who look at it will live.” So all who believed Moses and looked up at the serpent lived.

Later Jesus said to the hostile Jews, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he…” He knows they want to kill him and will succeed, but he tells them that, when they have done that, they will see that he is the Son of the Father who has done nothing but speak the words and do the will of his Father in heaven.

Now he says, days before he is crucified, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John adds the comment, “This he said, signifying what death he should die.” How will these Greeks - these Gentiles - be saved? When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, he will draw them to himself. And not only these Greeks, but all men - not just Jews, or Gentile proselytes, or Gentile God-fearers but all kinds of people in all sorts of conditions throughout the whole world.

Jesus in his death has a magnetic power. People are not drawn to him in his death because he died pathetically so that they feel sympathy for him or because he died heroically and they admire him. They are drawn to him because his death atoned for their sins. They are drawn and look to him in faith and are saved.

Every Sunday in the reading and preaching of God’s Word and in the celebration of the sacraments, we focus on Jesus the crucified, risen, and ascended Savior. Jesus is attracting us to himself. He is calling those who have never believed to believe in him and be saved. He is calling all who believe to keep their eyes fixed on him, to renew their faith in him, and to be assured by him that when he was lifted up he removed their sins.