An Answer for the Greeks [Lent 5B - John 12:20-33]

 The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

John 12:20-33

 

An Answer for the Greeks

Trinity, Watervliet, NY

 

These Greeks were strategic.  They wanted to arrange a meeting with Jesus.  But that was difficult.  During the years of his public ministry, Jesus was always surrounded by crowds of the lame, the sick, the curious, and the skeptical.  But on this particular day, the day the Greeks decide to check in, the crowds were exceedingly large.  On that particular Sunday, Google Maps would have labeled Jesus “busier than usual” – maybe even “as busy as it gets.”

 

Jesus’ fame was hitting its crescendo.  He had just entered the Holy City Jerusalem.  In the city, he was greeted by palms and psalms; he was greeted as a king.  And so, for the Greeks, on that day, it was especially hard to get face time.  Jesus was a popular guy under normal circumstances; but the crowds were wild that day, that day we call Palm Sunday.  Jesus was absolutely surrounded.  And so these visiting Greeks realized they needed the perfect plan if they were going to push to the front of the line. 

 

Their plan was sound.  What better way to get to Jesus than by cozying up to someone in Jesus’ inner circle?  And not just anyone: Philip, and by extension, Andrew – the only two disciples with the Greek names.  These Greeks were strategic.

 

But also were never heard from again.  We have no idea if their clever plan actually worked.  Because Jesus’ answer was not exactly an answer.  According to today’s Gospel from John, Jesus never said yes and he never said no.  Instead he talked about wheat.

 

But not just about wheat: about dead wheat, about how wheat has to die to produce new and abundant life.  For Philip and Andrew, it must have been a confusing response.  Like, will Jesus see the Greeks or no?  Because the Greeks were probably just up the block waiting for an answer and these two disciples were honestly trying to be responsive.  But Jesus has launched into a lecture on agriculture and the Greeks are going to think that Philip and Andrew didn’t pass along their message and it is going to be awkward the next time they run into each other.

 

I suspect it was not the lack of a clear answer or even the preoccupation with wheat that most alarmed the disciples though, that most chilled their bones.  There is a lot of death in Jesus’ answer.  And the death talk felt out of place on that triumphant day of celebration.  On that day, in that city, Jesus was a celebrity.  He was star.  He was famous.  The crowds were quite literally singing his praises.

 

The multitude of on-lookers, the Greeks, even the disciples were attracted to Jesus’ fame – and what that fame promised.  The big stage gave Jesus the opportunity to do big things, make big changes, have a big impact.  Already he was changing lives with his signs: with the wise sayings and the miraculous healings and, in the previous chapter of John’s Gospel, the dramatic resuscitation of the dead man Lazarus.  People notice things like that.  People want to be around people who can do things like that.  The enraptured audience lined the streets just to catch a glimpse of Jesus, to see Jesus.  They were singing royal songs as he passed; they were calling him king.  This was Jesus’ chance to mobilize a movement, to rise to the top.  The hour had come for Jesus to be glorified.

 

And so Jesus takes the mic…and announces his impending death.  Probably not what his adoring followers expected.  Although, if it is what Jesus was going for, it was a pretty effective way to temper the hype.  And then, to further dampen the mood, he invites those listening to follow him to the cross, to the place of death.  Not a very upbeat message; not a good way to kick off a political campaign.  By the end of Jesus’ speech, the positive momentum of the Jerusalem entry is as dead as the wheat.  At this point the Greeks are probably slinking away, hoping to go unnoticed, relieved that Jesus did not invite them over.

 

It shouldn’t have been death.  Jesus was the best of us: the fullness of God in human form.  Jesus could have ended up on a throne; should have ended up on a throne.  Instead he marched toward the cross.  And almost no one could make sense of that – not the old tempter in the wilderness, not the trailing crowds, not the fickle disciples, not the Roman Empire that took his life.  They all saw Jesus’ potential; they all expected, or feared, more of Jesus.  What they could not understand was that there was no more.  For us and for our salvation, Jesus gave his all.

 

He gave his life.  And in doing so, he invites us into eternal life.  To the world it appeared that Jesus chose the wrong path.  But Jesus understood that the cross and the crown weren’t two different paths; they were always one and the same.  When the wheat dies it bears much fruit. 

 

The way of Jesus is one of holy surrender to the impulse of love; it is an absolute dedication to a life of loving sacrifice.  And whoever serves Jesus must follow him on that way.  In this world, we are taught to chase success and hunt for treasure.  We are encouraged to look out for number one, to feed our egos, to satisfy our selfish desires, to, as my boys say, stack dubs.  And honestly a fat bank account sounds much better than an old, rugged cross.  A road paved in gold seems like a happier way than the road Jesus walked. 

 

But not to Jesus.  To Jesus the way of love is always worth what it costs.  Stuff decays and beauty fades and fame is fleeting.  Even a world of wealth cannot make a lonely grain happy.  It is only in giving that we receive.  When Jesus gave his life on the cross, he opened the world to an Easter reality.  He planted the seeds that would grow into the holy, boundless family that we call the Church.  When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, he drew all people to himself and embraced a universe.  “If it dies, it bears much fruit.” 

 

We are called to follow Jesus.  And when we follow Jesus into the holy depths, into that place of loving sacrifice, we find new life.  It is when we give that we discover life’s greatest treasure: love.

 

The Greeks asked to see Jesus, but they did not realize what it would cost Jesus to grant their request.  For them, for us, for love, Jesus gave everything.  He was lifted up so that we can draw near, near enough to kneel in his shadow, near enough to breathe in his air, near enough to see the shape and scope of love.  Jesus stretched out his arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of his saving embrace: Jew and Greek, me and you. 

 

Though not obvious, the Greeks, I guess, actually did get an answer to their question: the answer was yes.  The cross was the answer.  Those who wish to see Jesus need only lift their eyes toward the cross.  Because it is in the depths of his loving sacrifice, in the strange glory of the cross, that Jesus is most clearly seen.