A Dangerous Opportunity

The Holy Gospel According to St. John, the 12th Chapter

Now 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. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

The Greek brothers, Nick, Gus and Nick pulled into town along with everybody else and their mother!  The traffic was terrible.  They, like everyone else, had come to Jerusalem for Passover.  They, UNLIKE everyone else, stood out as very different.  They were Greeks, not Jews, but they weren’t like most Greeks either.  Nick, Gus and Nick were what the Jewish people called “God-fearers.”  They were faithful followers of the Jewish faith but no matter how well they followed the Torah, Nick, Gus and Nick could never be REAL Jews... never be REAL children of God, because they were not BORN as Jews and THAT... was THAT. 

But recently, word had reached the three that there was a man who was teaching with authority, a man who was doing great signs, a man who some thought might be the promised Messiah.  Nick, Gus and Nick wanted to see this man.  Not just to set their eyeballs on him, but really SEE him... to get to know WHO and WHOSE he was... because if this man WAS the Messiah, HE would have the power to change everything.... to make them children of God.

Nick, Gus and Nick arrived in Jerusalem at THE moment.  The Greek word that is translated as “judgement” in this text is “kresis.”  It’s a word that means something different than simply a “yes or no” judgement and in spite of sounding like the English word “crisis” it doesn’t have those same negative connotations.  What was happening in Jerusalem was more like the two Chinese characters that come together and get translated into English as “crisis”... which are the characters for DANGER and OPPORTUNITY.   This moment in which Nick and Gus and Nick came to town, was the moment God had taken the OPPORTUNITY to do the DANGEROUS work of transfiguring, changing and healing all of creation. 

That dangerous opportunity that God was beginning meant that it was dangerous for Nick, Gus and Nick as well.  Not everyone thought Jesus was the Messiah.  Some thought he was a leader of a growing terrorist group and that made Jesus a dangerous person to be around.  But for them it was worth the danger... THIS was their opportunity... maybe their only opportunity... to become Children of God.  So, in spite of the danger, these Greeks wanted to really SEE Jesus.

Of course this was also a dangerous time for Jesus.  This “kresis” was not just some random moment.  In John’s Gospel, everything had been pointing to this moment.  From the wedding in Cana when Jesus told his mother that his hour had not yet come... THIS was the HOUR he had been talking about.  This was THE moment and THIS kind of moment isn’t one that simply begins and ends.  THIS is a particular kind of moment that starts and then ripples out from that point throughout all of time and through all of creation.  The particular Greek grammar here makes it clear...This was to be the moment God turned the world upside down and THEN, the implications of that turning would continue to ripple out and continue to change everything... even for us, even here, even today.  

Changing everything though, isn’t easy.  It’s dangerous.  The world doesn’t generally like change... we don’t like change... even when that change comes from God... even when that change means new life.  Because change means that former ways must die so that the new ways might begin and former ways hardly ever go quietly into that good night.  So even in John’s Gospel where Jesus seems most in control, this is no waltz to a finish line and we see the humanity of Jesus when he says that his soul is troubled.  Even for Jesus... change was hard.   

The thing for us to understand, is that the hour that began then, when the Greek Brothers came to town... that hour, that moment, that kresis, that dangerous opportunity from way back then is actually the VERY SAME hour, moment, kresis, and dangerous opportunity in which we live in today... right here...right now.  What began then is still rippling out into our lives now... right here in this spot!  We too have the same dangerous opportunity the Greek Brothers had then.  We too have the dangerous opportunity to really SEE Jesus! 

But before you get all excited, I have to warn you... SEEING Jesus is not the same as HEARING about Jesus.  You may have HEARD that Jesus is the light of the world, a light that shines into every darkness.  You may have HEARD that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  You may have HEARD all of that; you may even have heard it in a clap of mysterious thunder.  BUT to SEE Jesus means that all we have grown comfortable with will be lifted up with him and crucified to make room for a very new and different life which God has in mind for us.  So the question for us is, are we ready for more than simply HEARING about Jesus or intellectually agreeing to a list of doctrines ABOUT Jesus?  Are we ready, here and now, to really SEE Jesus?   Because SEEING Jesus means agreeing to let go of the need to be in control and live in that uncomfortable in-between sort of time while God transforms us from what we were into the Children of God we are called to be... it means living in a world that is under construction... changing from the way it is, into the Kingdom of God.

That was exactly what the Greek Brothers were looking for THAT day and THAT is the opportunity we have been given THIS day; the opportunity to SEE Jesus.  And by God’s grace it is also the opportunity we will have tomorrow and the next day and the next and the next and the next until the day when finally, ALL are drawn to Jesus.  The HOUR came when Nick and Gus and Nick came to Jerusalem.  Paradoxically that same hour is still here today for us.  The moment of our salvation came 2000 years ago.  That moment is paradoxically still here. 

So, what do you say, my Greek brothers and sisters from other mothers... Are we ready to ask to SEE Jesus?  Are we ready to dive into this dangerous opportunity?  Are we ready to choose to live in that awkward spot in between what was and what will be?  Are we ready to REALLY trust God that on the other side of the death of all that we know, there really is a new and abundant life?  So, are you ready to SEE Jesus?  Amen.