Holy Wednesday4/12Now 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. I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.’ How does Jesus describe the meaning of his own life and death? He uses a seed. All of us understand that, but especially the people of his own time in an agricultural society would understand it as an everyday reality. This reading is chosen for the very midst of Holy Week, because it prepares us for what is to come... death followed by life, death with life just waiting to "spring" forth. It may not seem this way. After all death is so very real, and that which is buried in the ground seems to have lost life for good. But, says Jesus, that is not the case. From the seed that is buried comes life in all of its growth, all of its power, all of its beauty. That's true in the natural world, and it is also true for us. There is an Easter hymn about seeds... I always think of it on this day. One stanza is so honest about death and burial, Jesus' and ours. "In the grave they laid him, Love whom hate had slain, thinking that he never would he wake again, laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen," and then the hopeful refrain to each verse "Love is come again like wheat that springeth green." It is Jesus' story... and it is also our story... Pray this final stanza about us... "When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain, thy touch can call us back to life again, field of our hearts that dead and bare have been: Life is come again like wheat that springeth green." Where is your heart wintry, grieving or in pain? How do you perceive Jesus' touch calling you back to life again? Where might your growth in faith, hope, and love happen most readily? - The Rev’d Dr. Jim Lemler Today's |