Seeing Jesus
Lent 5 (B) for St. Francis’ Episcopal Church
March 25, 2012
John 12: 20-33
The Rev. Jeri Gray-Reneberg
One of my favorite movie “Jesus stories” is the TV miniseries
that came out about 30 years ago, “Jesus of Nazareth.” It’s a
compilation of all the gospel stories, so we don’t get any one
gospel-writer’s viewpoint exclusively, but it’s an interesting and
moving account of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection. It’s
also dramatized, which means that it takes liberties with some
situations and dialogue.
One of the story threads concerns one of the wise men.
Supposedly, after he brings gifts and worships Jesus as a child,
he spends many years trying to locate him again. And when he
finally does – what a nightmare! This extraordinary man is being
crucified. I imagine this foreigner, who spent so much of his life
chasing a dream that had been hatched many years before,
1
might have grieved that when he finally got to the right place, it
was the wrong time!
The Greeks in today’s lesson from John have a similar
experience. They are either Greek-speaking Jews or Gentiles.
Scholars disagree on that point, but these people have come to
be a part of the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, and they’ve
added this note to their travel itinerary: “Look up the man known
as Jesus, who has healed people and performed wonders all
over the country.”
And then, who should they encounter but Philip, one of the
disciples from a town in Galilee, a town known as Bethsaida,
where Greek is also spoken. Philip’s name is Greek, and means
“horse lover.” What luck! they must be thinking. So they come
to him and say, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
And then, Philip tells Andrew, and the two of them go to Jesus.
But Jesus is on to other things. He speaks words that are hard
to understand, something about being glorified and a grain of
2
wheat falling into the earth and dying, and then bearing much
fruit… And Jesus doesn’t really seem to answer his disciples.
After more words that predict his own death and what will
happen for the world because of it, and a few uncomprehending
words from the crowd – he goes away and hides.
does!
He really
A few verses after the end of the lesson we read for
today, it says, “After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid
from them.”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I feel some sympathy for these
Greeks.
They had a hard time like the wise man did in the
dramatization of “Jesus of Nazareth.” And, as the gospel writer
tells it, when Jesus goes away and hides, he won’t be seen
again in public until his arrest. Talk about being in the right
place at the wrong time!
And all they wanted to do was “see
Jesus”!
I feel sympathy for the Greeks in today’s lesson – until I wonder,
“Which Jesus did they want to see?”
After all, those in the
crowd who had followed Jesus, off and on, for three years, and
3
who saw what John calls “signs,” but misread their meaning,
become confused when Jesus starts talking about dying, and
bearing fruit, and feeling troubled. Maybe the Greeks, along with
those in the crowd who still didn’t understand, COULDN’T see
Jesus any more.
As he got closer to his outrageous and
horrible death, he actually BECAME HIDDEN from them. They
didn’t understand any Messiah who would do these things. So
they didn’t see him. Some of them would eventually put him to
death.
There is a long tradition of churches using that sentence, “Sir,
we wish to see Jesus,” to refer to themselves, and especially the
preaching that takes place in their church. Many churches have
put that phrase on a brass plaque next to the pulpit, to either
inspire or terrify the preacher – I can’t decide which!
But there is no question that people visit a congregation
because they’re looking for Jesus and they want to see how
Jesus looks from a particular seat, in a particular church, on a
4
particular Sunday.
And when everything feels right, they feel
that they are in “the right place at the right time.”
Sometimes, in a particular church, they may THINK they see
Jesus… They get a feeling of always hearing positive and
hopeful messages and being supported in the choices they
make. They feel good because they hear that God WANTS them
to have everything they want and need – all they have to do is
pray for it.
They hear that “abundance” is practically God’s
middle name. And they come to believe in a gospel of glory, a
theology of abundance, and the power of positive thinking. This
big, warm, fuzzy feeling will last for a while. That is, until they
lose their job, or lose someone they love, or lose their health.
Then, it’s as if they hear, “buck up – don’t lose heart – stop
grieving because after all, how can you be sad? Your loved one
is with Jesus. And if you still feel bad, if you’re still sick – you
must not have enough faith, you must not be ‘saved’ – you’d
better get away from ME – what you have may be contagious!”
5
And then, those people who think they’ve seen Jesus in that
place – never want to see him again!
Other people think they’ve found Jesus in a place where there is
much political talk and people wear “What Would Jesus Do”
bracelets. As if that were easy to know or figure out. I would
much rather focus on “What DID Jesus Do?” There’s enough in
the gospel record that, put into context, will give us much to
think about – we don’t need to speculate!
We know that we are happy to have other people become part of
the community we know as St. Francis’ Episcopal Church. We
pray that people who are looking to find Jesus will find him here.
But we can’t make the same mistakes some churches make.
The Jesus we worship did not avoid or turn back death. The
Jesus we worship does not promise wealth, or easy solutions,
or abundant health, long life and to die in our sleep – although
those things may happen for some of us. The Jesus we worship
doesn’t tell us, “What would I do? I would vote in this way” or “I
would value this behavior and despise this behavior.”
The
6
Jesus we worship is the one who lived his life in love for God
and others, and showed us what God is really like. He is the one
who did not avoid conflict with evil, but suffered evil and is with
us in our suffering as well as in our joy. He willingly became the
grain of wheat that died that he might bear much fruit – the
Church! Us!
As we enter into Christians’ holiest time of the year, we will “See
Jesus” as we participate in the remembrance and experience of
his Passion, book-ended by the cries of “Hosanna!” and
“Crucify him!”
We find that both cries feel familiar and
authentic.
There is a Jewish rabbinic story, based on our lesson from
Jeremiah, where the Lord speaks of making a new covenant with
the chosen people, which can maybe help us to understand both
sides of ourselves, now and in the future, a little better.
A disciple asks the rabbi, “Why does the Torah tell us, ‘place
these words UPON your hearts’? Why does it not tell us to place
7
these holy words IN our hearts?”
The rabbi answers, “It is
because, as we are, our hearts are closed, and we cannot place
the holy words IN our hearts. So we place them on top of our
hearts. And there they stay, until, one day, the heart breaks and
the words fall in.”
We are about to live into the new covenant. Jesus’ heart, and
body, will be broken. If you truly wish to see Jesus, this is the
right time, and the right place.
Amen.
8