March 17, 2024 – The Fifth Sunday In Lent
Fr. Cal Calhoun
In the Name of God: a God who works through the mystery of death and resurrection: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s Gospel follows immediately after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem with the palms and shouts of Hosanna in the Gospel of John. I have mentioned this before, this gospel brings up some interesting images for me. What are these Greeks doing in Jerusalem for the Passover festival? I have these images of tourists in Hawaiian shirts, cameras around their necks and floppy hats on. They certainly seem to know how to get what they are after. They want to see Jesus. So they find a disciple, one from Bethsaida, which means he would be more likely to speak Greek. And they say, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” I also always wonder about why Phillip went to get Andrew on the way to tell Jesus. Was Jesus in a testy mood that day? They say, “Hey Boss, there are some Greeks here who want to see you.” Jesus answers them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” “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.” This image of the wheat needing to die in order to bring new life prefigures what is coming for Jesus. It is also symbolic of what life in this world and the discipleship of following Jesus are like. New life comes at a cost.
We heard a sermon a few weeks ago that related to us the messy middle of Lent. Here we are near the end of Lent. In fact, this is the last Sunday we actually call one of the Sundays of Lent, the 5th Sunday of Lent. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, or Passion Sunday, which ushers in Holy Week. So, in a very real sense, Jesus’ hour has, indeed, come. And Lent, it seems, is still messy. It is still a hard thing to wrap our heads around, that the Son of Man would be glorified in this way.
Jesus continues, “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.” Here, we are given a window into Jesus’ humanity. A troubled soul. He is not looking forward to what is ahead. Even if Jesus knows this path that will glorify God, it is not a path of least resistance.
Our words from Jesus this morning end with, “And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself.” I believe this is what the presence of the Greeks means to Jesus. I have always felt bad for Philip and Andrew. After asking Jesus about the Greeks who want to see him, Jesus never answers that question. After hearing Jesus through, I have this sense that Phillip and Andrew look at each other as if to say, “what do we tell these guys?”
“And I, when I am lifted up, will draw all people to myself.” It seems that, for Jesus, this drawing of all people to himself as already begun. These Greeks show up. Uninvited. Unwelcome in a Jerusalem celebrating the Passover. Much like the Magi showing up uninvited in Bethlehem, these Greeks showing up, seeking Jesus, is a sign to Jesus that this dying and rising business is getting close. It is a sign that the hour has arrived, and so his soul is troubled.
If you have never walked the part of Holy Week with Jesus that we call Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, I strongly encourage you make space for it. In Lent we walk with Jesus to Jerusalem. Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. And in Holy Week we walk with Jesus to the cross. Walking every step of that journey makes the discovery of the Empty Tomb on Easter morning that much more powerful and compelling.
In the meantime, what do Jesus’ words this morning mean for us? Jesus said, “unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it will not bear fruit.” Br. Curtis Almquist at SSJE the Episcopal monastery in Boston says, We are meant to be fruitful. We are created to be fruitful. Something will need to die for us to be fruitful: some image of ourselves, some impression, decision, resolution, privilege, or fear. Something needs to die. Otherwise, it’s going to get in the way of what Jesus calls “abundant life.”
As we finish this walk with Jesus to Jerusalem and to the cross, I invite you to figure out what needs to die, an image, a decision, a fear, a memory. Then, let that go, surrender it, let it die. And celebrate the abundant life of Easter morning.
Let us pray.
Almighty God, Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; because of the journey our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to make. Amen.
Year B – The Fifth Sunday In Lent – March 17, 2024 – The Rev. Cal Calhoun
