JESUS WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we would like 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. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be.The Father will honor whoever serves me.

"I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again." The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, "An angel has spoken to him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." He said this indicating the kind of death he would die. (Jn 12, 20-33).

The closer we come to Easter the Church invites us to meditate on the infinite love of God, who "did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (Jn 3, 17).

After the Last Supper, just a few hours before his sufferings, Jesus said to his disciples, " No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (Jn 15, 13). The disciples were friends of Jesus. However he did not offer his life only for them but for all people, friends and enemies. Indeed, he wants to save everyone. Once Jesus said, "Your Father in heaven makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Mt 5:45). We can partake in the benefits of the sun and of the rain, that is in the fullness of God's grace, "if you do what I command you" (Jn 15, 14), not as servants but as friends. Indeed, the mission of Jesus is that everyone may have life and have it abundantly (cfr. Jn 10:10).

Jesus told us he is the Good Shepherd and he taught us that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. We are the sheep of his flock. "Do not be afraid", he is always telling us. "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20) is Jesus’ promise for all who wish to be his friends. Our answer should be, "Amen, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev 22:20).

During his life on earth, on several occasions Jesus said "My hour has not yet come!". Jesus said these words for the first time when, at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, Mary, his mother, told him, "They have no wine!" Jesus answered, "Woman, my hour has not yet come!" Because Jesus was an obedient son, he granted his mother’s wish and  made good wine for the wedding feast.

Once John wrote, "When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself." (Jn 6, 15). His time had not yet come! When his enemies wanted to kill him Jesus said, "My time has not yet come." (Jn 7: 6). In fact, Jesus is the lord of his time!

It is therefore interesting that Christ’s response to the two Greek men who asked to see him, Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Why did he say this? I think it was because while his enemies sought a way eliminate him, some Gentiles sought to see Jesus, not out of curiosity. They wanted to know him, perhaps to become his disciples. The time had come for him to open his mission also to the Gentiles who were coming to him.

After the Last Supper, Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you" (Jn 17: 1). The time of Jesus had come, not to do his will, but in obedience to his Father. He once said, "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (Jn 6: 38).

It is very interesting to note that Jesus twice acknowledged that his time had come. First, in obedience to Mary, his mother, at the beginning of his public mission, and second, in obedience to his Father in heaven at the end of his life on earth. St. Paul reminds us that Jesus, though he was God, “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2: 8-11).

Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit”. Work in the fields is not easy. A sower has to prepare the field and then throw the seed in the soil, bury it and wait. Psalm 126 reminds us, “May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves” (Ps 126, 5-6). Jesus carried his cross through suffering and insults. He was killed! His body was buried. However, a seed sown loses its skin but retains its power to grow and bear its fruit. Jesus resurrected!

Jesus was afraid when he foresaw that he would die on the cross, and he asked, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." (Lk 22:42) Jesus accepted the will of his Father. He was sown, that is "he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end" (Nicene Creed). Therefore, he who died as a criminal between the two criminals will return as a judge in the glory of his kingdom.

By words and deeds, Jesus tells us, "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life". Once Jesus said to his disciples: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." (Mt 16: 24-25). He also said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10,28).

We lose our lives the way Jesus asks us to, whenever we try to do God's will as Jesus did. It is not always easy, but it is not impossible with God’s help.