Great commotion was created in the holy city of Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of the Passover. On that occasion worshippers came from all over the Mediterranean world to fulfill their obligations at the Temple. A carnival atmosphere filled the precincts of the Temple with the commercial traffic that was created with the sale of animals for sacrifice and the exchange of foreign currency. Today the Holy Gospel takes us to the city during the festival. We are not in the court of the Temple but somewhere out in the city which is not only crowded but bubbling with the excitement that Jesus had created when he entered the city with his entourage.

The previous Sunday the people had given Jesus a stirring welcome and applauded him with the kind of acclamation normally reserved for a king. The excitement put a glow on the city and the company of Jesus in particular. The city had undoubtedly better than doubled its population with all the visitors. Crowded in and among them were the followers of Jesus who must have also grown in number as Jesus received the ovation and outstanding recognition on Sunday. No doubt anyone who had claimed any association with Jesus now wanted to be a part of his scene. Well, there were other people, too, who wanted to meet Jesus. It is their experience with Jesus that is worthy of our attention.

The Greeks

In the crowds pressing to get to Jesus, John says, were some Greeks. It is a good guess to say that these were people from Greece who were proselytes. That means they were Gentiles who had espoused the Hebrew faith and had come to observe the Feast of the Passover. They were not Hebrews who spoke Greek. However, they did have the good sense to seek out a disciple of Jesus, who had a Greek name and who came from a region where the Hebrews did speak Greek. We all know how that works. Quite commonly we say, "It's not what you know. It's who you know." That is true whether you are looking for a job, trying to get tickets to the Final Four, or trying to meet the guest soloist backstage at the symphony.

The Greeks went to someone who could understand them and probably would also be sympathetic to them. Philip responded to that well enough. Though he wanted to do something for the strangers, he was rather timid himself. He went to get another Greek-speaking disciple by the name of Andrew, and the two of them were able to usher the Greeks into the presence of Jesus. That is a good model for us, also. When one feels too timid to introduce someone to Jesus, it is a good idea to bring someone else along to help one over the rough spots. The timid person will feel more comfortable in the presence of someone who can serve as an alter ego.

We Wish To See Jesus

The Greeks who approached the disciple made the request in a polite form: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." The substance of their request was that they wanted an interview with Jesus. They were not autograph hunters. They wanted to know about this Jesus. Undoubtedly their curiosity had been raised by the commotion about Jesus the previous Sunday. We have no idea of what they really expected to see or hear from Jesus. If they were like King Herod, who later had the chance for an interview with Jesus, they would want Jesus to perform some spectacular signs. People today come pursuing Jesus for different reasons.

The people's agendas are not all the same. Some people look to Jesus to be only a healer. Some want him to be the perfect shrink, a good psychiatrist or psychologist. Others want him to be the Great Reformer, the one who can cure all the ills of society. Still others want him to be the one to guarantee success as a Chief Executive Officer, who knows how to encourage people to achieve excellence. Still others are sure that Jesus can be the one to guarantee wealth, that to live life abundantly as Jesus said is to have a life of abundance filled with all good things. Then, of course, what was most likely in the excitement of the week in which the Greeks came was that people expected Jesus to be the perfect political leader, king, tzar, president or whatever it would take to make the ideal government.

Surprise

When the request of the Greeks was presented to Jesus, Jesus did not refuse to see the people. However, what he did say had to be a shock. Jesus used the occasion to make a most serious and solemn announcement. If these people wanted to see him, they would have to understand what was involved. He said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life." That was not a very good prospect for these people who wanted to follow Jesus.

Jesus was headed for the cross, and he knew it. It was a moment he had been preparing for. This was zero hour. It was necessary. It could not be avoided. Jesus used the analogy of the grain of wheat that must die in the earth to illustrate that he must die and be buried for the sake of humankind. The point for the people who wanted to follow is that they should also be willing to die. They have to put to death their own sinful lives. Jesus called that "their life in this world." By that he meant the life that is attached to this world, that conceives of the good of this world as being the essence of life. If we love that life, we will be sure to lose it in death. However, if we are willing to put that life to death in Christ then we will keep life. That is not a contradiction. It involves a turning away from serving ourselves to following our Lord Jesus Christ.

How You Die

We, of course, know how Jesus died. In these Lenten days we meditate upon the Passion and death of our Lord, who was crucified as a common criminal. Accused both by religious and civil communities, he died an ignominious death as an insurrectionist and blasphemer. Both crimes were the highest offense against either the state or the church. We know that Jesus was guilty of neither. Yet that is not what the law said. Under the law he died as accused. We know that it was for our sake that he willingly submitted to this treatment under the law of God. But now how do we follow him into death? We all know we are going to die some day. But how do we die the kind of death of which Jesus speaks? Jesus made that possible.

In baptism we already have experienced our own funeral. In baptism we have been put to death with Christ, and as all our sins were nailed to the cross with Christ, so they were buried with Christ. Each time we say the Lord's prayer or hear the absolution we recall the funeral of our old nature. Each time we come to the sacrament of the altar we die to sin again. Christ makes it possible to follow him into death through the Gospel and the Sacraments. In so doing we can leave behind the old self every day, and every day begin anew in him. In so doing we can live as those who can live above the world and live in him by faith, which is to live eternally, beginning right now.

The Glory Of It

When Jesus spoke of these prospects, however, things did not look all that good. Here come these strangers, who certainly must have appeared to flatter Jesus by taking the time to look him up and express their interest. Then Jesus comes back with this very sober appraisal of his prospects. He is going to die, and asks his followers to die with him. However, Jesus called it his "hour of glory." Way back at the wedding of Cana he had told his mother his hour had not yet come (2:4). He said the same thing to his brother (7:8).

To be sure Jesus recognized this hour for what it was. It was trouble, and he said so publicly: "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say -- 'Father, save me from this hour?' " Later we know that he did suffer agony in the garden because of his impending trial and crucifixion, and the epistle for today speaks of his "prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears." Yet in spite of what was ahead, Jesus would not try to escape. He confessed that this is why he had come. Consequently, Jesus prayed, "Father, glorify your name." Jesus had come to personify the very glory of God in what was to happen when he died upon the cross. It is in that ugly, dark, terrible moment when all the earth trembled and shook at the prospect of God's Son dying upon the cross that the glory of God was revealed. What was revealed was God's love. God in the flesh was dying for sinners. Paul says in that pitiful moment of weakness God showed his power (1 Corinthians 1:18). It is at the cross of Christ you touch God's glory and his power.

For Your Sake

John records that when Jesus spoke his brief prayer a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it (my name), and I will glorify it again." What the voice meant was that God had revealed his glory in the creation of the first Adam. That had been spoiled by sin. Now God would glorify it again and restore innocency to the world through our Lord Jesus. The people did not know what they heard. Some thought it was thunder. Others thought an angel spoke to him. Jesus said that the voice had come for the sake of the people. Jesus already knew the glory of the Father. Now, however, through the Lord Jesus the people would be glorified. In what was happening, the climax of events that would transpire at the cross, Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out."

It would be obvious in the death of our Lord just how the unbelief of the world can result in the cruelty of killing the holy, innocent Son of God. That is the judgment of this world. It had judged and condemned itself. The death Jesus dies is the death it deserves. Because of that the devil is rendered virtually powerless. The demons are driven out of the world of the people who recognize what God has done in both judging and saving the world. Thus, Jesus says, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." Jesus' being lifted up, of course, was his description of the cross, but for John it also meant his being raised from the dead and ascended to heaven. That is why the voice and all that Jesus had spoken was for our sake. It was for the sake of the world. What Jesus accomplished was satisfaction for the sins of the whole world that all could be saved.

Serve Him

One note that Jesus also spoke for the benefit of the Greeks was, "Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor." Jesus would have his way with us. All that Jesus summarized in his statement to his disciples for the benefit of the Greeks was realistic about what would transpire in his life. It was also realistic about what has to happen in our lives. However, the benefits are all ours.

If following Jesus appears difficult because we think we have something in ourselves or the world that we cannot give up, Jesus says we are bound to lose it. Following him through the cross, however, not only guarantees that we have eternal life, but we also live in the presence of Christ. Christ is present with us now. He gives the signs of that in the sacraments and pledges it in his Gospel. However, we also know that finally when we depart this world we will also be with him where he is. In addition to that Jesus says, "Whoever serves me, the Father will honor." Grandmothers used to say if you did something unselfishly you "would get stars in your crown." Better yet, serving our Lord in faith is guarantee that God will honor us right along with God's Son, and we shall be with him and like him."