Thank you to Fr Anthony Denton for this homily on the Gospel for this Sunday John 12:20-33

During the week it emerged that Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State (or Foreign Minister) of the most powerful country in the world learnt of his sacking by President Trump via a “tweet” on the social network Twitter. Mr Tillerson was in a position that most people would think opportune for knowing exactly what the President was thinking. As the United States’ Secretary of State he would bring many people into contact with the President. Even so, he seems to have been caught by surprise.

Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world and yet he was a King. He didn’t have a Secretary of State, but he did have those around him, even within the Twelve, who were closer than others. We are all familiar with Peter, James and John who were privileged to experience things that the others did not, like the Transfiguration. Philip seems to have been another intimate, whom people recognised as a sure conduit to get close to Jesus. Don’t worry! That’s as far as my comparison with Rex Tillerson and Donald Trump goes! I’m pretty sure that Our Lord would not have sacked anyone via Twitter!

Philip is the one to whom some Greeks came with a seemingly quaint request: “We want to see Jesus.” The term, “some Greeks” refers to people who were out of the social and religious milieux of Jewish life in Jerusalem. They were probably God-fearing  Jews from the diaspora; that is, Jews living abroad. It is a curiosity that we are not told whether or not they actually did get to see Jesus. What we do know is Jesus’ response. At first it seems to have nothing to do with the request for a meeting between the Greeks and Jesus. On deeper examination seeing Jesus is intimately connected to his answer.

In chapter 12 of John’s gospel, we recall that we are on the verge of entering into John’s account of the Passion. Up until this point in John’s gospel, we have heard many times that Jesus’ hour has not yet come, but now Our Lord states explicitly that his hour has come. In fact, in this gospel passage Jesus now explains exactly what the coming of his hour means.

‘Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest’ (Jn 12:23-24).

Jesus will be glorified; His Kingdom will come. However, first he must suffer and even die. Jesus uses an example from nature to explain the mystery. The wheat grain, once it has been harvested resembles something dead. It appears to have no life in it; but once it does drop out of the kernel and falls back into the ground, it is then that the grain germinates and begins to grow.

In Australia some eucalyptus and banksia trees actually require the otherwise devastating heat of a bushfire to activate their seeds to germinate. The cycle of plant death and life is, of course, different to human life. The seed isn’t really dead but just dormant. Nevertheless the analogy, be it wheat or banksia, isn’t altogether incorrect because, while the body truly does die in death, the soul lives on.

Jesus’ point is that to truly see him, one must recognise who he is: the One who has power over death and life and who chooses death in order to be raised to eternal life. In other words, he is God: God prepared to suffer for love of us.

The request for an encounter with Jesus provides the impetus then, for the central teaching of this gospel passage for us: Like the Greeks we too want to see Jesus. Seeing Jesus however, depends on recognising him for who he is: God; but not just any god, but a God who’s message of salvation is by way of the cross.

This is the crux of the message: Many people say that they want to see Jesus. But to really see Jesus, we have to listen to him and accept what he says about himself. This testimony is confirmed in the mysterious voice from heaven in today’s gospel. Jesus really is the Son of God.

It is significant that in todays’s world Jesus has often been remade in man’s image. Many people decide who Jesus is. I have heard many people over the years say things like, “The Jesus I believe in wouldn’t say this or that.” This is especially true about some of the harder teachings of Jesus about who is saved. In effect what they are saying is that I believe in my own church with its own set of teachings which are acceptable to ME! They don’t actually think that consciously, but it is the effect of deciding what you will or not accept about Jesus and his Revelation.

Jeremiah predicted the definitive covenant which would be written on human hearts. The Church today reminds us that Jesus is about to sign this new Covenant with his Blood on our behalf between Him and the Father. The Greeks probably didn’t get to see Jesus, except perhaps from a distance. By that stage it was the bloodied and disfigured face of the suffering servant that they saw. Philip and Nathaniel could take the message to them that “it was for this very reason that [Jesus came] to this hour”: to be glorified after suffering for mankind’s sins.

Our Lord himself said, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.”Cardinal Newman, reflecting on this “view of the cross” writes that

“The world, at first sight, appears made for pleasure, and the vision of the Christ’s Cross is a solemn and sorrowful sight interfering with this appearance.”( The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World)

He adds that this is a superficial view.

“Look at misery, look at poverty and destitution, look at oppression and captivity; go where food is scanty, and lodging unhealthy. Consider pain and suffering, diseases long or violent, all that is frightening and revolting. Would you know how to rate all these? Gaze upon the Cross.” (The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World)

Thus the message for us this week is to make the request of the Greeks the subject of our prayer in preparation for Holy Week:

Loving Father, we want to see Jesus. Not the fake news version of your Son separated from the cross, but the real Jesus, almost unrecognisable as he takes on the guilt of our sins. Help us to see Him in the face of the those who suffer, in the poor, the unloved and unlovable. Help us to recognise him in those closest to us and even in ourselves when we feel far from him. Amen.

~ Fr Anthony Denton, Priest of the Archdiocese of Melbourne.