Lent
March 21, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 12:20-33

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. — John 12:20-26

What is holding us back from fully being the persons God created us to be? Jesus uses the example of a seed that must be planted in the earth and die to produce even more fruit. Yes, he may be predicting his own death and the impact that would have on the spreading of his message. But this paragraph has some interesting wording that seems unrelated that I think we might want to prob.

There were some Greeks, non-Jews, at the festival that wanted to see Jesus. When the disciples bring them to Jesus, he starts talking about bearing fruit. Later Paul will talk about Jesus’ death resulting in his followers dying to the law. (Rom. 7:4) Jesus seems to be opening the door for all of God’s children to be included among the perception of who were the chosen. I think Paul got that message and worked hard to make all one in the Body of Christ.

There is perhaps another issue here worth exploring. 1 Peter 2:24, talks about our dying to sin through the death of Jesus. When we are separated from God we are caught up in our own undoing. When we define ourselves by the call of lesser gods: money, power, racism, self-righteousness; we separate ourselves from God. It is a paradox, but it is true when we give up these lesser gods and other things that separate us from the one true God, we become whole.

In a world torn apart by greed, bigotry, elitism, and war; we need to turn back to the one who gave his very life so that we can overcome that which is now overcoming us.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for craving the things of this world and letting the attainment of them define us. Cleanse us, heal us, and let your love so overflow us that we can be stronger than that which beguiles us. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.