Scripture — John 12:20-33 (NRSV)

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.

Devotion

Given that the Fifth Sunday of Lent is approaching, our Scripture readings are meant to point us in that direction—the next Sunday after the one coming up will be Palm Sunday. In fact, although it’s not entirely clear from the lectionary excerpt we have here, today’s Gospel passage actually occurs on the same day as the event we celebrate now as Palm Sunday.

In John 12:1-7, Jesus attends a meal at Mary and Martha’s house in Bethany where the two of them and their brother Lazarus are present and where Mary anoints his feet for, as Jesus puts it, “the day of my burial.” (Judas objects.) In 12:9-11, people begin conspiring against Jesus. In 12:12-16 Jesus participates in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem which we will soon celebrate with palms and Hosannas.

In 12:17-19, the word about Jesus continues to spread, and finally, in today’s passage, some Greeks who have heard about all this ask to be taken to see the famous preacher. When Andrew and Philip bring the request, the group walks straight on stage into what is obviously already the third act of an ongoing drama. There they hear Jesus prophesy his own death, not once, but twice:

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 (12:24-25).

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (12:32; John helpfully lets us know in the next verse that Jesus “said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die”).

Your Lent may have gone many ways up until this point—you may have felt yourself drawing closer to God, or you may have felt the inadequacy of your own strength. Probably it is a little of both, and probably, either way, you may have come to understand what it means to lose your life and fall into the earth and die. The next few weeks may not be easy for you individually and undoubtedly will not be easy for us all collectively. War, illness, political and social turmoil—the world has it all going on.

Yet in the middle of it we have these two prophecies from Jesus which are also promises. Hang onto them as you walk the wilderness road of the end of Lent, and the journey into Holy Week. Out of death—Christ’s death—will come much fruit, fruit we can barely now begin to understand. And when he is lifted up from the earth, we will all become his.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Jesus’ Sacrifice (John 10-12).

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