Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew, then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 

Jesus answered them, “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 just a single grain, but if it dies it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say: ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 

Jesus said to them, “The light is in you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.”

After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them. (New Revised Standard Version)

We continue to journey with Jesus during this Holy Week, on Tuesday. A mix of both Jews and devout Gentiles made their way to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. It was amongst this group of people that Jesus delivered his final public teaching to the crowd.

There were some Greeks who really wanted to see Jesus, and they saw an opportunity to do so when everyone was gathering at Passover time. They asked some of Christ’s disciples if they could do so, and the word was passed to Jesus. This occasion prompted Jesus to let the disciples know that the time has come for death, and therefore, life.

For those with the eyes to see what was happening, many of the people were being drawn to Jesus, rather than the temple. The Lord Jesus was gathering the nations – foreigners and outcasts – to the holy mountain to meet with him. Salvation would be found in him.

Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely separate me from his people,”
and do not let the eunuch say,
    “I am just a dry tree.”
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose the things that please me
    and hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,
    a monument and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that shall not be cut off.

And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,
    to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath and do not profane it
    and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar,
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
    for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
    who gathers the outcasts of Israel:
I will gather others to them
    besides those already gathered. (Isaiah 56:3-8, NRSV)

Jesus does the work of connecting the disconnected, of bringing together disparate humanity into a needed and peaceful wholeness and integrity. Christ is the ultimate gatherer, fostering get-togethers that bring the opportunity for divine/human connection, as well as the chance for unity and reconciliation between people.

Christ was about to die on behalf of the nations. He was sacrificing himself in order to bring Jews everywhere scattered in diaspora together. And he was giving himself for the sake of Greeks and all sorts of ethnicities, so that both Jew and Gentile might be gathered together as the one people of God. In other words, Jesus Christ offers himself for the life of the whole world.

There was certainly a gathering of people on Palm Sunday with Christ’s triumphal entry. Yet, this was not the event that truly brings everyone together. It is the death of Christ that does that.

Up to this point, on Holy Tuesday, Jesus had already communicated several times in various ways about his upcoming death. (i.e. John 2:20; 3:14-15) On this day he refers to it again through the cryptic language of stating that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Using an agricultural metaphor that surely connected with his hearers, Jesus let the gathered ones know that he is the seed who will fall, and die, yet produce an incredible harvest. He is the one who willingly gives up his soul on behalf of the world. Jesus does this in obedience to his Father’s will.

In fact, Jesus is so sure about his mission as Savior of the world, that he confidently proclaims he will face death without asking for divine deliverance from it.

The confused and divided crowd of people were given a direct voice from heaven. This was not to assure or reassure Jesus, but was for the sake of the gathered folks in Jerusalem. They were provided some light, so that there was some guidance in the midst of the darkness which was about to happen in a few days.

Wanting to see Jesus needs to become more than a desire to meet a celebrity, or to fawn over him as a fan or a groupie following him around. Our ears need unclogging. Our eyesight requires some correction. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus will unclog us and correct us.

The darkness will always be around the corner, this side of heaven. And death will persist, too, until Christ returns. Therefore, we must trust that God will bring about life through death. In the darkest of times, a light will illumine the path.

Holy and immortal God, from earliest times you have named us and called us into discipleship. Teach us to follow the One whose light scatters the darkness of our world, so that we may walk as children of the light. Amen.