Personal (MPLS)

Jeremiah 31:31–34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

John 12:20–33

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.

‘Text Message’ Reflection:
From Pastor Kris Tostengard Michel

This week’s reading from John is dense with meaning and allusion to other utterances in Scripture. In last week’s Gospel, for example, Jesus said to Nicodemus that, “just as Moses ‘lifted up’ the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be ‘lifted up.’” He was referring to a story from the Hebrew Scriptures when God instructed Moses to lift a bronze serpent up on a pole in order to save the people; Jesus was telling Nicodemus that he, too, would be “lifted up” for the purpose of salvation. Jesus uses the phrase, “lifted up,” three times in John’s Gospel (3:14, 8:28, 12:32) to predict his death. In this week’s reading, it is “to indicate the kind of death he was going to die.”

In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus foretells his death and resurrection three times, as well. He tells his disciples directly that he’ll be rejected, suffer and die, but it’s so unexpected that they can’t hear him. In John, he’s even more cryptic, subtle even, and says he’ll be “lifted up.” (At least it’s subtle for modern readers who don’t connect the phrase “lifted up” with being killed.) Jesus will be “lifted up” on a cross, the Roman instrument of torture and execution, but death won’t be the last word. In resurrection, he’ll be “lifted up” from death, and in ascension, he’ll be “lifted up from the earth.” He will “draw all people to himself in his death, resurrection, and ascension.”

Today’s reading is part of Jesus’ final public appearance in John. He says his hour has come, but he has something important to tell them first, something they already know, something they can trust with their own lives: Remember how seeds work? They fall into the earth, and they’re transformed. They cease to be what they once were, but new life springs from death. That’s the pattern that’s hard-wired in creation. It’s death and resurrection all over again.

‘Text Message’ Reflection Questions:

• When have you witnessed new life that springs from death?
• Imagine first the sorrow, then joy, that Jesus’ disciples felt upon of his death and resurrection. What might they have experienced with his ascension?

Prayer:

Gracious God, open our eyes to see Jesus and our hearts to believe. Draw us all to you that we might find our life in you. Amen.