Preaching Paths 17 March 2024

Sally A. Brown, Professor Emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary

Today’s gospel lection, John 12:20-33, forms part of the “bridge” in John between Jesus’ public ministry and his Passion (arrest, trial, crucifixion, resurrection).  In John, Jesus refers to this as his “glorification”—the revealing, through his dying, of the glory of the Father  (Jn 1:14, 18). John’s gospel has no Gethsemane;  the struggle is reported and resolved in two verses (vv 27-28a).

Jesus’ words here are his last to a public audience in John. They follow three dramatic events that have left Jerusalem supercharged with tension: Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the tomb, Mary’s anointing of Jesus with costly perfume, and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem amid public acclaim. On one hand, the crowd is electrified and expectant; on the other, three parties simmer with jealous rage: the temple leadership, the Pharisees, and one disciple—Judas.  It is at this point that “Greeks” arrive, eager to “see” Jesus. Jesus takes this as a signal that his long-deferred “hour” (2:4; 7:30; 8:20) has come. There will be a showdown with the rulers of this world, but not as the crowd hopes. It will be Jesus’ “lifting up” in crucifixion that will accomplish his glorification and his Father’s.  Thus, to would-be followers Jesus delivers a sobering message:  just as a seed must “die” to bear fruit, so it shall be in their hating (repudiation) of self-preservation that they shall experience “eternal” life (God’s life).

A sermon might focus on either of this text’s two subsections.  Managing in a single sermon both Jesus’ pronouncements on discipleship (vv 23-26) and the reflective soliloquy on his imminent death (vv 27-33) could prove as taxing to the congregation as to the preacher. That said, including vv20-22 can help listeners decisively pivot, with Jesus, toward the dramatic unfolding  of his decisive “hour.”

Jesus’ final teaching for would-be followers (vv 23-26) is introduced with John’s “hear this!” signal—”very truly I tell you.” The analogy about the seed suffering dissolution in order to bear fruit is not unique to John; there are classical parallels. (This suggests that “Jesus answered them” means Jesus is responding to the Greeks who seek him; might they recognize this trope?) Like a seed unsown, those who prioritize self-preservation on this world’s terms are, paradoxically, losing their life. Those who spurn self-preservation—as Jesus continues to do—are already finding eternal life. Concretely, this may mean risking loving another, instead of keeping our hearts safely closed. It may mean drawing alongside innocent victims in a war zone, telling the truth despite threats, or pursuing justice for those whose lives others treat as worthless.

In the dramatic soliloquy of vv 27-36 (which pauses today at v 33), John’s Jesus “leans into” his “hour.” He offers himself up to the events that will reveal the Father’s “glory.” The heavenly voice we hear in v 28— the only such voice we find in John, unlike the Synoptics—validates  Jesus’ path, yet not for his sake, but the crowd’s. Most misunderstand,  or mistake it for thunder. Jesus declares, first, that his “lifting up” will unseat the “ruler of this world.” (Here, as in I John, “world” refers to the self-preserving machinery of earthly powers.)  Second, in being “lifted up,” Jesus will draw “all people” to himself.  Lifted up to die, Jesus will unleash for all humanity the Father’s grace, truth and life.  Jesus promises that when his followers dare to forswear, as he did, the enticements of this world’s “rulers”—dominance, control, and self-made immortality—they will find themselves experiencing the very life of God: eternal life flowering in and among them, full of grace and truth.