“We Would See Jesus” has been the title of books, songs, and most likely hundreds of sermons. It is a great phrase loaded with dozens of directions that a preacher can go with a sermon. It is a temptation for any preacher to take the phrase where he wants it to go but the truth is that staying inside this story, without leaping in countless directions is the very best way to teach and understand what is happening. Let’s look at this biblical account and try to see the real story as it unfolds.
It begins with a few Greeks approaching Philip to request a meeting with Jesus. They had come to Jerusalem to worship the one true God. They were obvious converts to Judaism. They had traveled many miles for this wonderful opportunity to attend the Passover feast and be a part of this religion they had adopted. They were Gentiles, not of any Jewish descent. The day was Tuesday following what we call Palm Sunday. Being from out of town and pilgrims from a faraway land, they would have been there to see Jesus riding into town on the back of a donkey. They would have heard the cries of “Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” Their minds would have been set afire. Here they were in Jerusalem at the same time as the man people were declaring to be king of the Jews, the Messiah.
Many of us have been in a place when a famous person is present. The common reaction nowadays is to get a selfie taken with that person so you can show all your friends back home and at work. Some of you have those pictures on your phone right now. Some may have them on your walls at home. Our first reaction is to somehow get near them. Then we tell everyone we know, “Hey, I got a selfie with so and so.”
I imagine that was part of what drove them to want to meet Jesus. Another part would be their desire to see if he was for real. Was he really the Messiah they had so recently learned about and believed in? Good question. If I was in their shoes, I would want to know as well. They probably spent Monday asking questions of the other Jews to see what they thought. Some would have been followers and some would have been doubters but by then there were stories of Jesus healing the sick, the lame, the blind, and even raising the dead. They would have heard stories of the people raised from the dead. Someone may have pointed out and said, “That guy over there is Lazarus. He was in the grave, rotting away when Jesus called him out the grave. Lazarus was as dead and smelly as an old fish and look — he’s walking around as alive as we are!” The hearts and minds of these Greek men would have been excited. They had to see Jesus.
They spent Monday and Tuesday asking questions and finding out the location of this man, everyone called the Savior. Then Tuesday the small group gathered the nerve to go to him. They found a disciple of the edge of the group that surrounded Jesus as he sat teaching. In hushed voices, with a little fear, they asked Philip, “We would see Jesus.”
Philip had been with Jesus, walking the roads and listening to his teachings for a few years. Philip slipped away to talk to Andrew. He told him Greek men had come to see Jesus. They were not Jews although they are here to worship our one true God and attend the Passover. Andrew heard the message from Philip. The two then approached Jesus to see if the Greeks could meet him. Why the layers of protection? I suppose the disciples were being cautious but most likely it had to do with the men being Greek, although followers of the Jewish God, they were not part of the Jewish race. They weren’t sure if Jesus would accept Greeks. Of course, he did accept them.
The men obviously entered into the teaching area. We could call this the beginning of taking the message of salvation to the Gentiles. They wanted to meet Jesus. They wanted to know if he was the king of the Jews. They wanted to know if all the things they had heard of Jesus were true.
The scripture never says what was on the pilgrim’s minds, what they wanted to know, or even how they responded to the teachings Jesus laid down before this group of disciples. What we do know is that Jesus could see their hearts. He knew their questions and knew their stumbling blocks. Then Jesus laid out simply what it meant to be a believer and a follower.
A few weeks ago you entered into this year’s Lenten journey. Why? Because you, like the Greeks, wanted to see Jesus. You wanted your doubts and your fears washed away. You wanted your sins forgiven and you wanted to meet Jesus in a real way. In many ways, we are just like the Greeks. We have heard of Jesus. We’ve read stories of Jesus. We’ve heard sermons about Jesus but all those things had still left questions, possibly doubt, possibly pain. We needed more of God, more of Christ and so we took the first step towards seeing Jesus. Our lives before weren’t enough. We decided we wanted more than three dollars’ worth of God. Wilbur Reese wrote this short, tongue-in-cheek piece.
“I would like to buy three dollars’ worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough of him to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack, please. I would like to buy three dollars’ worth of God, please.”
You entered your Lenten journey because you knew that you hadn’t given your whole heart to Jesus. You’ve been buying only three dollars’ worth of God, whenever you needed it. When a child was sick you would stop by and buy three dollars’ worth. When there were struggles and stress at work, you bought another three dollars’ worth. Has it been enough? Listen to what Jesus taught the Greeks and the disciples.
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
There comes a time in our journeys when we realize that we must serve Christ in order to follow hm. When we serve God we get a lot more than three dollars’ worth of God. We get honor. We get eternal life. This is the point in your spiritual journey when you have to make that decision. Can you exist on a few dollars’ worth of God every couple of months? Or do you need to be like that kernel of wheat that falls into the ground and dies to yourself so that you produce an abundance of seeds?
Amen.