Sunday 17/03/24

Fifth Sunday of Lent 

 John 12:20-33 Jeremiah 31:31-34

Passiontide begins

Those of you who are botanists or keen gardeners will know this already: that the purpose of a seed is not to be kept in a jar on a shelf, but in being put into the ground, where it can sprout and grow into the plant or tree that it is designed for. For even though some plants have seeds that resemble the seeds of other varieties, a tomato seed, for example, won’t grow into a cucumber! Any seed – or bulb for that matter – that is put into the ground will only come up according to its kind, and not as something else. The soil does matter, too, of course, as I found out some years ago when I planted lots of bulbs and none came up – but that is another parable…
Today is also called Passion Sunday. We are on the journey to Good Friday and Easter; each week we are drawing closer and this is reflected in the readings. The passage from John’s Gospel today makes it very clear that the focus of Jesus is on his mission to walk towards the cross for our redemption. Hence the somewhat cryptic message to the Greeks who came to see him: ‘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 honour.’ It may not have been quite the response that those Greeks had counted on; but it does give us a moment to ponder the meaning of the cross. We get even more than that: Jesus – when talking to his Father – is affirmed by the Father, both for his benefit and for those who are with him. Some thought that it had thundered, and others said that an angel had spoken to Jesus. But Jesus said that it was for their benefit, when God spoke, saying that he would glorify his name through Jesus. So, the message is clear: Jesus is on his way to the cross, to fulfil his purpose, to die and to bear much fruit in us through faith. He is to be lifted high, to be shown to the world as the true King; not with a crown of gold but with a crown of thorns. It’s so very different from the way we would have thought God would do it! And yet it is the best and only way to save the people from their sins.
The reading from the prophet Jeremiah talks about this: ‘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, even though I was their husband,’ says the Lord. ‘But this is the covenant that I will make […] after those days: 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; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.’The failure of the knowledge of God in many parts of society is here turned into a promise of restored relationship – a new covenant between God and his people, not just for Israel alone but through Israel for the whole world.
Once we did not fulfil our purpose; we were like the seeds in a jar. But now, in our redeemed state, we have died to sin and are recreated, renewed, growing into our true purpose, just as God has designed us. It takes a step of faith to allow God to take charge of our destiny; but it’s worth it, because he has decided that we are worth it. Amen.