Readings:
- Jeremiah 31.31-34
Psalm 51.3-4, 12-13, 14-15 Response: “Create a clean heart in me, O God.” - Hebrews 5.7-9
- John 12.20-33
[Note: Many parishes use the readings from Cycle A during Lent. In that case, the gospel would be John 11.1-45, the story of the raising of Lazarus.]
Reflections on the Gospel Reading
In this Sunday’s gospel reading, the “Greeks” appear to have been left standing there, waiting to see Jesus. Even though the role of the apostles is to bring people to Jesus, when Philip and Andrew pass on the Greeks’ request to see Jesus, his answer seems to ignore them completely. Who are these “Greeks,” and what is the meaning of Jesus’ “answer?”
Most likely, the “Greeks” were Hellenistic Israelites, that is Judeans, Gallileans, and Pereans who had emigrated to other parts of the Hellenistic world but who were accustomed to make the pilgrimage (that is, “go up”) to Jerusalem each year for the feast of Passover. (See Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998, 211, as opposed to Brown 1966, 466 and Perkins 1990, 971.) It is worth noting that these “Greeks” approach Philip and Andrew, both of whom have Greek names.
John the Evangelist tells us that they wanted to see Jesus. In his answer Jesus apparently ignores these Hellenistic Israelites and launches into a discourse that seems to have no relationship to their request to see him.
The word “see” in John’s Gospel usually has overtones of belief (See Pilch 1996, 61.), so their request could be translated, “We want to believe in Jesus.” If that is what the Hellenists are really asking for, the reply of Jesus makes more sense.
In his reply Jesus lays out the consequences of believing in him, first by an image of falling and later by an image of rising. The seed must fall to the ground and die in order to bear much fruit. Jesus must be lifted up to draw everyone to himself. The contrasting metaphors convey the same message. True belief in Jesus is possible only after he has been glorified by the Father through his death and resurrection. True belief involves willingness to share in the suffering and glorification of Jesus.
The fact that Hellenistic Israelites are coming to Jerusalem to believe in Jesus means that the end-time is near – the time for the ingathering of all Israelites to Jerusalem to witness the coming of the “Son of Man” on the clouds in glory. It is also an indication that the time for Jesus’ death and resurrection is at hand. When Jesus is lifted up from the earth he will draw everyone to himself. Only then will the Hellenists be able to see him and believe in him. Thus, their request to see and believe in him now is premature.
For John the Evangelist Jesus’ glorification is the judgment of this world. Acknowledging both Jesus’ death and his resurrection is the fundamental criterion of belief. The Greek word, which we translate as “draw,” has a double meaning. It means both “to attract” and “to hail into court.” (See Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998, 213.)
The cross and resurrection will have an enormous attraction. Those who respond to that attraction with belief and who follow Jesus regardless of the cost will be judged innocent in the court of divine judgment. Those who are drawn only to the risen Jesus or only to his miracles but put off by the necessity of suffering as a consequence of belief will be judged guilty before God.
We who aspire to believe in Jesus can identify with the Hellenistic Israelites. We must take to heart the words of Jesus: “Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.” If we follow Jesus even at the cost of suffering we can hope to inherit the promise that “the Father will honor whoever serves me.”
In preparing these reflections, in addition to the biblical texts, I consulted the following works:
Brown 1966 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., The Gospel according to John (i-xii) , Volume 29 of the Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966)
Brown 1997 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., An Introduction to the New Testament. The Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York: Doubleday, 1997)
Dodd 1968 – C. H. Dodd, The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel (Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press, 1968 [originally published 1953])
Fuller & Westberg 2006 – Reginald H. Fuller and Daniel Westberg, Preaching the Lectionary: The Word of God for the Church Today, Third Edition (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 2006)
Malina & Rohrbaugh 1998 – Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh, Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of John (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1998)
Moloney 1998 – Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B. The Gospel of John. Sacra Pagina Series Volume 4, A Michael Glazier Book (Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press1998)
NJBC = New Jerome Biblical Commentary 1990 – Raymond E. Brown, S.S., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. and Roland E. Murphy, O. Carm., Editors, The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990)
NRSV = NRSV 1994 – New Revised Standard Version – Bruce M. Metzger and Roland E. Murphy, Editors, The New Oxford Annotated Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. New Revised Standard Version. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)
Perkins 1990 – Phoeme Perkins, “The Gospel according to John” in NJBC, Section 61.
Pilch 1996 – John J. Pilch, The Cultural World of Jesus: Sunday by Sunday, Cycle B (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1996)