In the gospel reading for Tuesday in Holy Week -- John 12:20-26 -- some Greeks attending Passover in Jerusalem approach Philip, a disciple of Jesus: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip goes to Andrew, and together they go to Jesus with this request. Does Jesus agree to meet these Greeks? Or does he put them off with a claim to being too busy, here in this tumultuous week? Neither. Jesus responds to Philip and Andrew with what appears to be a strange non sequitur. He begins to talk about the Son of Man, about a climactic moment approaching the Son of Man, about the need for a grain to die in the ground before it can produce a bounty of wheat. Does Jesus misunderstand Philip and Andrew and the eager Greeks? Does he not care about these Greeks and their request as he seemingly launches into these oblique references to himself and his sense of mission? Is his response a non sequitur? The answer is no and yes.
The answer is no in the sense that Jesus -- in his commentary on the Son of Man, on death, on losing one's life for the sake of Jesus, and only thus and then gaining true life -- precisely answers the Greeks, precisely tells them what it means to see Jesus. Do they wish to see Jesus? Do we wish to see Jesus? Look to the cross. There he is, loving God and loving the world, in and through suffering and death, for the sake of the world. This is where we see him, or we do not see him at all.
The answer is yes in that Jesus on the cross does not portray or embody the wisdom of the world. Jesus crucified is, in worldly terms, a non sequitur, a cipher of utter foolishness and failure. Moreover, to see Jesus truly is to be where Jesus is, in suffering love, not in self-focused pursuit of achievement, satisfaction, and fulfillment, the way of the world. In Holy Week, crossing off the days to the climactic end of the week, we follow the non sequitur of our crucified savior and lord, or we do not follow him at all.
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