Morning Prayer 3rd April

John 12:30-36 (Click here for text)

The hour has come.

Throughout His ministry Jesus has often said that the time had not yest come for Him to be revealed. Now He says that the time has come for him to be revealed in His glory.

The trigger for Him is the beginning of a Gentile following. That nations will come to Jerusalem is a sign of the Day of the Lord and that Day is the day that the Messiah is glorified and God's Kingdom is established.

But the lifting up of the Messiah is to be understood in an ambiguous way. It is a 'lifting up' that will fulfil both meanings of the word - a lifting up on the cross to bear punishment and death and a lifting up to the throne of Heaven in the resurrection. Both these meanings are captured in this passage and the paradoxical nature of the unfolding of God's intentions are the subject of the wrestling in Jesus' words.

The seed must die to bear fruit; life must be relinquished in order to be gained; to hold on to life is to loose it. If only there was another way - Jesus prays that there is but understands only too well that there is not.

As usual, everyone else in the passage is confused by what is going on and what Jesus is actually prophesying.

Philip and Andrew don't understand whether or not Jesus is for the Gentiles or not. They talk amongst themselves and take the issues to Jesus. We don't know whether that understand his answer as an explanation that it is a sign of the coming fulfilment or not.

The crowd, as usual, are baffled. They don't understand the Messianic allusions that Jesus is making. They don't understand why there is an ambiguity in the lifting up of the Messiah as they understand the Messiah is going to reign forever - so how can he be killed?

Jesus doesn't engage with their confusions merely encourages them to continue to follow and listen to Him as He shifts the entire framework for understanding God's plans for His Kingdom to a new level. As ever, these things will only be understood when the cross and the resurrection are understood together as the saving and transforming work of God.