Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” John 12:20-21
We are all familiar with the carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, but we are probably less familiar with the author of that carol. Phillips Brooks was an Episcopal priest in Boston. He was responsible for building Trinity Episcopal Church, one of the masterpieces of nineteenth century architecture. But there is one little detail of Trinity Church that can only be seen by the ministers who preach from its pulpit. Phillips Brooks instructed a wood carver to engrave these words on the inside of the pulpit so that only the preacher could see them: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus”.
Each week in Lent our Scripture readings have been bringing us step by step closer to that fateful Thursday evening when Jesus was arrested and to the next day when He was crucified. Each year as we live through the Season of Lent, those events become ever more real to us...precisely because we know what will happen at the end. I recently watched the four-week series on CNN about Abraham Lincoln. Last Sunday’s program began as President and Mrs. Lincoln prepared to go to a play at Ford’s Theater. Knowing what was going to happen, I watched that program with growing sadness. That is how we also approach Good Friday. As we travel through Lent every year, we see Jesus moving closer and closer to Jerusalem, and we know that when He gets there He is going to be betrayed and crucified.
In this past Sunday’s Holy Gospel, St. John told us that some “Greeks” approached Philip and said: Sir, we want to see Jesus. There were many “Greeks” or Gentiles living in Israel at that time, and many of them had come to believe in the God of Israel. Because they did not fully convert to Judaism, they could not be called “Jews”. But they were called “God-fearers” – Gentiles who worshipped the God of Israel. Just as Jesus and His disciples were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, so also were these God-fearing Greeks also on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. But Jesus was going to Jerusalem for a different purpose. He was going to Jerusalem to suffer and die on the cross and on the third day rise to life again for us and for our salvation.
When those Greeks approached Philip, they said to him: Sir, we wish to see Jesus. When Philip brought their request to Jesus, Jesus said, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. This verse is a key turning point in the Gospel of John. Up until now, Jesus kept making references to his “hour” or to his “time” by saying that his hour has not yet come. But now when these Greeks ask to see Jesus, now Jesus knows that “his hour” (his time) has arrived and he says, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
If somebody were to say to us, “Now the time has come for me to be glorified”, we would probably think that they had just gotten a big promotion or had won a big prize or were being honored with a special award. But because we know what is going to happen to Jesus when He gets to Jerusalem (just as I knew that Abraham Lincoln was going to be assassinated when he went to Ford’s Theater that night) we know that Jesus’ “glorification” is going to be something very different than receiving an award or a metal. For Jesus to be “glorified” means that He will be nailed to a cross and die. Jesus knew what it meant that His “hour” had finally arrived. That is why He goes on to say what He does here:
...unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it does, it bears much fruit...Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save Me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour...And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself.”
And then, to make sure the readers of his Gospel understood it, John adds this comment: Jesus said this to show by what kind of death He was going to die. By those Greeks coming to see Jesus, St. John is telling us that Jesus’ mission is not just to the people of Israel but is universal – to the whole world. That was a sign for Jesus that the hour had come for Him to be lifted up – that is, to be crucified – so that He could complete the mission His Father had sent Him on to draw all people to God.
These words Sir, we wish to see Jesus are words for all of us. All around us there are people who need to see Jesus. The problem is that most of them don’t even know what Jesus looks like. If they are ever going to see Jesus, then they are going to have to see Jesus in the loving faces and in the serving hands of the lives of the people who are Jesus’ people — you and me. Martin Luther once said that every Christian is to be a “little Christ” to the people around us. So, let me ask: When people look at us, do they see Jesus in us? Do people see in us the compassionate Savior who reached out in love to lepers and blind and deaf people? Do people see in us the Jesus who accepted sinners and outcasts and embraced them with His love? Amen.
Rev. Paul D. Doellinger
March 22, 2021