March 17, Lent 5B (John 12:20–33)
“If you really want to live you’ve gotta die” is a puzzle that could leave you off kilter your whole life long.
On the pulpit at my seminary there was a plaque that only the preacher could see. It read: “We wish to see Jesus.” The reminder was there for all who stood behind it that our job was to make Christ’s life and message real and relevant for those who heard our words. It is a grounding statement, reminding the preacher of the stakes.
As Jesus approaches his death, he tries to tell the ones he loves the most about what is at stake. From his friends’ perspective, Jesus is just getting started. His reputation is growing, the crowds are coming, and soon he is going to hit it big. Jesus has way too much momentum to stop now.
As another crowd gathers, pleading to see him, Jesus begins to prepare the disciples for what is coming. He will find glory, but not in the way that they expect. He speaks first about wheat. A grain of wheat is just a grain of wheat, but in death it has the potential to become something even more. If that wheat dies on soil, it can be the catalyst for new fruit, new life.
