In the Gospel for this Sunday, the 5th Sunday in Lent, from John 12, the evangelist tells us, “Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’
For some reason, in spite of the many times I’ve read this text, it struck me as odd that suddenly these folks show up and want to see Jesus. Who are they? Why do they want to see Jesus? They seem out of place. Jesus is in Jerusalem for the festival, we’re told. Why would Greeks come to a Jewish festival? And what in the world did they hear about Jesus that would so spark their curiosity.
John then explains that Philip brought their request to Andrew and then the two of them went and told Jesus. “Hey Jesus, there are some Greek dudes here to see you.” Jesus’ response is even more strange because he starts talk about how his hour has come, and John never says that Jesus actually met the Greeks at all.
What a strange and confusing episode. One suggestion is that John didn’t actually mean “Greeks,” as is people from Greece. What he meant was people who weren’t Jewish, like the rest of the disciples and Jesus himself. In reality you could say that the whole of the Mediterranean world was “Greek” – Greek was the language everyone spoke, it was the language of philosophy and commerce, of drama, and story.
I think it could be that these Greeks represent a new reality: they represent the world (as it was known then), and the world desires to see Jesus. In some ways they are like the Magi in Matthew who don’t belong ethnically in Jerusalem or Bethlehem, and yet who come and honor the new born Jesus with their gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. In a sense the world, represented by these foreigners, has come to see Jesus.
Does the world still desire to see Jesus, to come to know him, and to come to believe in him? Are there folks who need to come to know who Jesus is and what God has done through him for the world. Remember John 3:16? “For God so loved the world…the world!”
The Gospel of John is a Gospel of God’s love for the world. God doesn’t love some more than others. All people are God’s beloved. Did the Greeks finally meet Jesus that day? What did they discover about him? About themselves?
Here’s a better question: what if someone comes up to you tomorrow and says, “Say, what do you know about Jesus?” What would you say?
It’s our calling as disciples of Jesus to do what Andrew and Philip did in the Gospel this week: bring people, even people we might not think belong, to Jesus.
That my friends is the purpose of the church, isn’t?
It’s not to bring people to church. That can turn out to be a disappointment.
Rather, the church is to bring people to Jesus.
When people gather for worship at Peace, so you think they meet Jesus?
Pastor Joe Hughes
March 21, 2021