Weekly Devotion: Seeing Jesus
We are the legacy of Christ who was glorified in his death on a cross.
Those poor Greek visitors. They got more than they bargained for.
They wanted to see Jesus, which I guess meant they wanted to meet this guy who was causing such commotion in the land. My guess is they had heard of Jesus’ deeds and wanted to learn more about who this man was and maybe gain some wisdom. I’m interested in their request to “see” Jesus because in a way Jesus gives them a taste of seeing him in full.
All they wanted to do is see what all the commotion was all about this guy from Galilee. Scripture never says that they met him, but I’m guessing that they did and Jesus starts talking about seeds dying and then this voice seems to come from nowhere. These folk are wondering what in the world is going on.
This story is found near the end of Jesus’ ministry. Chapter 13 starts the Last Supper, which in John is a very, long talk that Jesus gives to his disciples. Jesus knows death is near and starts to tell the people gathered about his impending death by talking about seeds.
Anyone who is a gardener or even a frustrated gardener knows that when you plant a seed that seed has to die for the plant to grow. To get a new life, the seed has to die.
Jesus was talking about his own death. For salvation to come to the world, it would come through Jesus who would sacrifice his life for the life of the world. The death of Jesus wasn’t the end, though. Just as a plant loses its leaves in the fall, lies dormant during the winter and comes back to life again in the spring, so will Jesus come back to life on Easter morning. Death doesn’t have the last word.
As I read the scripture, I am reminded of the song Pride (in the Name of Love) by U2. The 1984 hit was a song about Martin Luther King, but the band wove talk of Jesus into the song and that wasn’t by accident. Martin Luther King wasn’t Jesus, but he lived a cross-shaped life, a life that was lived for others to the point of giving his own life on a hotel balcony in Memphis.
Theologian Andrew Root talks about how life our lives doesn’t end when we die. But in our modern life, our lives end at death and people are busy trying so hard to amp up their lives. But death isn’t the end of life. It wasn’t the end for Jesus and it doesn’t end for us. This is something I’m taking more to heart these days in the aftermath of my mother’s recent death. Amid the pain of losing her, I was reminded by a friend that I am her legacy. And I know that as hard as it is to come to terms with her passing, I know that her death isn’t the end. I look forward to the promise of the resurrection when I will see her again.
We are the legacy of Christ who was glorified in his death on a cross. We live a cross-shaped life where we die to ourselves and trust that the good news of Jesus lasts far after we pass from the scene. We trust in the resurrection knowing that death isn’t a final word in our lives and in the world.
“We wish to see Jesus.” Seeing Jesus means seeing him on the cross, giving his life for the sake of the world. It is seeing Martin Luther King on that balcony. It is the El Salvadoran priest Oscar Romero preaching on this passage before he is gunned down during worship.
Seeing Jesus means seeing the cross and then joining Jesus in living a cross-shaped life.