Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. 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 honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. - John 12:20-33
Lent 5 Year B/March 18,
2018
St.
Stephen Lutheran Church
Pastor
Maurice Frontz
I
have a book on my shelf –
well,
actually I have a lot of books on my shelves.
This
book is called What Was the World of
Jesus?
and
it goes into detail about the hopes and realities
of
people 2,000 years ago.
The
hopes were that God would act to fulfill his promises,
one
of which we have today in our reading from Jeremiah,
that
God would make a new covenant with his people,
that
he would forgive their sins
and
put new desires in their hearts,
so
that they would finally fulfill their destiny,
to
be a people of God not only in name, but in word and deed.
