(~) Do you want to see Jesus? Fifth Sunday in Lent April 2, 2006

Jeremiah 31:31-34 Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 119:9-16 Hebrews 5:5-10 John 12:20-33

This reading from Hebrews emphasizes the humanity of Jesus, who cried out loudly to God and shed tears of grief, as we know from the story of the death of his friend, Lazarus (John 11:35). It speaks of Jesus as a high priest, like Melchizedek. Who was Melchizedek? Mentioned in Genesis 14:17-20, he is called a priest and the King of Salem. “Salem” has the same root word meaning as the words “Shalom” and “Salaam” — it means “peace.” Melchizedek is a “king of peace,” who offers bread and wine and creates an atmosphere of truce and negotiation, however brief, in the bitter tribal wars and chaos that dominated life in his day.

The author of Hebrews writes more about Melchizedek in chapter 7, marveling that Melchizedek did not fit the “standard profile” of human expectations of what a high priest was supposed to be. Neither did Jesus. That observation might have some contribution to make in present-day debates happening in many churches over who is and who is not qualified to be ordained.

The passage from John’s Gospel has Jesus drawing on ancient imagery of new life from apparent death in the “grain of wheat” motif. The passage also echoes his saying from Mark 8:35 (NRSV), heard on the second Sunday in Lent: “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

Speaking to the Greeks, the outsiders, who have come to see him, Jesus promises to draw all people to himself when he is “lifted up from the earth” (John 12:32, NRSV). These words echo both the “bronze serpent” story from last week’s readings, or the theme of the seed that must be dissolved in the earth before it rises or is “lifted up from the earth.”

So, you want to see Jesus? — You have to look at death, for yourself. You have to take a long, hard look at that frightening thing. You have to hear the thunder. You have to be ready to take the plunge into the muck and be dissolved in it. Jesus said, “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” (John 12:24, NRSV). Talk about faith!

The texts from Hebrews and JOHN should not be read in ways that elevate, idealize, or idolize suffering, submission, and sacrifice for their own sakes. This is a psychological mindset characterized by abuse. They are, instead, elements of a journey toward God on which Jesus was the prototype of the traveler. This is his priestly function, and ours, toward communion with God. Blessed journey.

This week’s Reflection was prepared by Lisa Bellan-Boyer, who serves as a writer and consultant for the American Bible Society and is an Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies and Humanities at Hudson County Community College and a Research Associate of the Harvard Pluralism Project.