Fifth Sunday of Lent

Lectionary: 34

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.

 

Scripture scholars recognize two major sections of Saint John’s gospel: the book of signs and the book of glory. Signs include the miracle at Cana, the discussion with and revelation to the woman at the well, several healings, and – the last and greatest -- the resuscitation of Lazarus. That incident led directly to Jesus’s arrest, prosecution, and death; and signals the transition to the Book of Glory, which opens with the Mary’s prophetic anointing of Jesus’s feet, and his spectacular entry into Jerusalem.

At that critical juncture, when some Greeks inquire about Jesus, he announces the long-awaited hour of glory. We first heard of that hour when Jesus replied to his mother, “My hour has not yet come.” When soldiers tried to arrest him, they could not touch him because “his hour had not yet come.” Now, at last, the hour has come and we, the chosen, must witness what will happen.

His glorification does not begin with Jesus’s resurrection. That, we might suppose, is the most obviously glorious event. After the ignominious horror of the crucifixion, his resurrection is certainly glorious.

But Saint John has a very different understanding of this mystery, and we do well to study it. To see his glory we must not avert our eyes from his crucifixion. Our Catholic tradition insists upon that as we often dwell upon the suffering of Jesus:

• the liturgical observation of Holy Week with the reading of two passion narratives,
• the weekly observance of Friday as a day of abstinence,
• the stations of the cross,
• the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary,
• the crucifix (rather than a cross) in our churches and homes, and
• reflections on, and imagery of his crown of thorns and
• reflections on, and imagery of the wounds on his hands, feet, and side which appear in Catholic imagery.

If we fail to contemplate his suffering and death, we risk knowing nothing of the Man. And we would fail to take up our crosses and follow. Nor would we recognize the crosses others carry. We might suppose there is something wrong when bad things happen to good people.

Speaking of his impending passion, Jesus assures us, ““The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified;” and “…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.”

 

Today’s gospel includes Saint John’s version of “The Agony in the Garden.” We hear anxiety in Jesus’ voice, ““I am troubled now.  Yet what should I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?”

And then two things happen. First, he says, “But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Immediately, we hear “a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” 

First, the Lord resolves his difficulty as he remembers his purpose and turns his full attention to God his Father. And then “a voice came from heaven.” But he says the Voice was not for him, as he has already been consoled. This divine audition was “for your sake.” 

What have we heard? The Father’s name will be glorified.  

Throughout his brief life on Earth, Jesus never forgot his purpose, to give glory to God. Even as he was severely mocked, tortured, and crucified he kept his gaze on his Father. Neither the pain, shock, and insult of death nor the mockery of his enemies nor the stony silence of heaven could come between the Father and the Son. If he did not resist his torturers by an act of will, neither did he cease to wait on God's mercy. By his faithful, free, and confident waiting on the One who had sent him to Jerusalem, he gave glory to the Father. 

Many Christians and Catholics throughout the world, as we witness the ebb of democracy before resurgent racism and demagoguery, might say with Jesus, "We are troubled now." For some the situation might appear as hopeless as that of Jesus before the Sanhedrin, Herod Antipas, and Pontius Pilate. 

But his Holy Spirit assures us, the Father is glorified in our fidelity. And so we wait with him.