This evening’s gospel (John 12:20-36) was set in the context of the Feast of Passover, one of the holiest days of the Jewish faith. Jewish people would travel long distances to celebrate the festival together at the Temple.
Some of these people were the Greeks who met Philip in our reading – and came up with the simple but incredibly profound words, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’.
Sometime ago I had a meeting with Bishop David Yeoman, the Assistant Bishop of Llandaff, and he said that when he was travelling in Africa, a Bishop came up to him on the Saturday evening and asked him to preach at the big confirmation service the following day.
Bishop David hurriedly prepared what he thought he was going to say and the following morning climbed up into the pulpit about to preach, and in front of him he read a note that had been left for him. It said very simply, ‘Sir, we want to see Jesus.’
Suddenly all the words he had to put down to preach were in question – how many of those words were actually helping to reveal Jesus to people ? And as we journey through Holy Week perhaps there is no greater request that we can make than to see Jesus a little more clearly…
And as we look at him through this Holy Week – perhaps there are a number of different images we see…
First we see the risen Jesus – triumphant, the conqueror of death, the giver of life. On Sunday we will rightly celebrate that great victory – on Sunday we will reflect on how our lives have been changed by the resurrection of Jesus… Joy and celebration should play a great part in our lives as we recognise that God loves us and went to enormous lengths to show us that…
Secondly perhaps we’ll see the Jesus who fought for justice, who favoured the underdog and gave everyone chance after chance. We look at the Jesus who for example talked about Good Samaritans, who talked about Prodigal sons, 1 sheep out of 100 going missing but being tremendously important to the farmer; Jesus, who spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well when nobody else would, who mixed with those who were considered the outcasts and sinners in society; Jesus, who taught about justice and peace; Jesus, who forgave sinners and promised to the dying thief on the cross, a place with him in paradise – Jesus, who confounded so many of the expectations people had about him…
Thirdly, and Holy Week reminds us of this, we must also look at the suffering Jesus. Through his earthly ministry he faced persecution constantly, he was rejected by many, he was tortured horribly, he was even killed…
It’s impossible to look at Jesus without looking at those parts of his life when people, people just like you and I, did everything they could to destroy Jesus.
Because it’s only in looking at his life in that way that we can really come anywhere towards seeing the love that he has for us all…
The incredible love and compassion that he showed in his earthly life is love that remains constant today – and that love is personal – it is for every single one of us…
And perhaps that is the final thought this evening – ‘We want to see Jesus’ means to want to see him in every way – it means to see him as a triumphant Saviour, to see him as an advocate for justice and for peace, to see him as someone concerned for the needs of absolutely everyone, it means to see him as a suffering servant – someone willing to give up everything for us, but above all it must surely mean seeing him as someone who can make a difference in our lives…
Jesus is not a picture in a book or a window, he is not a figure of history simply to be studied and admired; he is a Saviour who wants to transform our whole lives – a Saviour who wants to be invited in to share every moment of our lives….
Someone once reproached the preacher Charles H. Spurgeon and said to him, "Mr. Spurgeon you are preaching too much. You will kill yourself by damaging your constitution, Sir." Spurgeon at the time was preaching roughly ten times a week. Spurgeon smiled and said, "If I had a thousand constitutions I would gladly ruin them all for Jesus Christ's sake."
We may not have that strength or that commitment but we are called to respond today and every day to a Saviour who gave so much more than that in commitment – a Saviour who gave everything….
And so may we pray in the words of the song :- bn
“Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him,
and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord,
and teach us to listen,
open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus.”
AMEN
Some of these people were the Greeks who met Philip in our reading – and came up with the simple but incredibly profound words, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus’.
Sometime ago I had a meeting with Bishop David Yeoman, the Assistant Bishop of Llandaff, and he said that when he was travelling in Africa, a Bishop came up to him on the Saturday evening and asked him to preach at the big confirmation service the following day.
Bishop David hurriedly prepared what he thought he was going to say and the following morning climbed up into the pulpit about to preach, and in front of him he read a note that had been left for him. It said very simply, ‘Sir, we want to see Jesus.’
Suddenly all the words he had to put down to preach were in question – how many of those words were actually helping to reveal Jesus to people ? And as we journey through Holy Week perhaps there is no greater request that we can make than to see Jesus a little more clearly…
And as we look at him through this Holy Week – perhaps there are a number of different images we see…
First we see the risen Jesus – triumphant, the conqueror of death, the giver of life. On Sunday we will rightly celebrate that great victory – on Sunday we will reflect on how our lives have been changed by the resurrection of Jesus… Joy and celebration should play a great part in our lives as we recognise that God loves us and went to enormous lengths to show us that…
Secondly perhaps we’ll see the Jesus who fought for justice, who favoured the underdog and gave everyone chance after chance. We look at the Jesus who for example talked about Good Samaritans, who talked about Prodigal sons, 1 sheep out of 100 going missing but being tremendously important to the farmer; Jesus, who spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well when nobody else would, who mixed with those who were considered the outcasts and sinners in society; Jesus, who taught about justice and peace; Jesus, who forgave sinners and promised to the dying thief on the cross, a place with him in paradise – Jesus, who confounded so many of the expectations people had about him…
Thirdly, and Holy Week reminds us of this, we must also look at the suffering Jesus. Through his earthly ministry he faced persecution constantly, he was rejected by many, he was tortured horribly, he was even killed…
It’s impossible to look at Jesus without looking at those parts of his life when people, people just like you and I, did everything they could to destroy Jesus.
Because it’s only in looking at his life in that way that we can really come anywhere towards seeing the love that he has for us all…
The incredible love and compassion that he showed in his earthly life is love that remains constant today – and that love is personal – it is for every single one of us…
And perhaps that is the final thought this evening – ‘We want to see Jesus’ means to want to see him in every way – it means to see him as a triumphant Saviour, to see him as an advocate for justice and for peace, to see him as someone concerned for the needs of absolutely everyone, it means to see him as a suffering servant – someone willing to give up everything for us, but above all it must surely mean seeing him as someone who can make a difference in our lives…
Jesus is not a picture in a book or a window, he is not a figure of history simply to be studied and admired; he is a Saviour who wants to transform our whole lives – a Saviour who wants to be invited in to share every moment of our lives….
Someone once reproached the preacher Charles H. Spurgeon and said to him, "Mr. Spurgeon you are preaching too much. You will kill yourself by damaging your constitution, Sir." Spurgeon at the time was preaching roughly ten times a week. Spurgeon smiled and said, "If I had a thousand constitutions I would gladly ruin them all for Jesus Christ's sake."
We may not have that strength or that commitment but we are called to respond today and every day to a Saviour who gave so much more than that in commitment – a Saviour who gave everything….
And so may we pray in the words of the song :- bn
“Open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus,
to reach out and touch him,
and say that we love him.
Open our ears, Lord,
and teach us to listen,
open our eyes, Lord,
we want to see Jesus.”
AMEN
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