What is She So Happy About? John 12:20-33

A text – John 12:20-33

12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.
12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
12:22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
12:23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
12:24 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.
12:25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
12:27 “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.
12:28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
12:29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”
12:30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.
12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
12:33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

A reflection:

Jesus is nearing the end of his ministry. His fame has spread so that foreigners are seeking him out. Greeks find some of his followers and ask to see him. When Jesus hears Greeks are asking for him, he says to his disciples, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” A moment is coming that will be felt by people from many nations, not just Jesus’s small inner circle or a few people who had come to see John the Baptist. The heavens will open and a voice will call out.  Jesus says, while he is teaching the large group, “Father, glorify your name.” A voice from heaven says, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” But the crowd doesn’t hear it as the voice of God the Father. They think it is thunder or an angel. God’s voice promises Jesus that God will glorify God’s name yet again, probably meaning God will raise Jesus from his coming death. The crowd and even Jesus’s disciples don’t get what is about to happen. But later they will remember this incident, and John will record it.

Jesus’s heavenly Father is the source of power for everything Jesus does, and Jesus keeps connected to his Heavenly Father throughout his ministry. He prays often, he is constantly describing his Father to the people he meets and teaches, and he embodies the Father’s love for human beings in his bearing toward his friends and in his indignation at the authorities who treat human beings unfairly. And he presses forward to the cross, a very public death, which he will turn from a permanent ending of a life to a doorway into a new life, when God raises him from death. Jesus’s job was to introduce people to who the Father really is, and to the Father’s love for all humans. Then his remaining task was to open the doorway for each of us to pass into an eternal life with this heavenly Father. These are the reasons Jesus lived on earth with us and died to open the door for us. Jesus made possible our connection with a God who loves us and wants us with him. And all this love God has for us is pure gift. It would exist no matter what we did. Our eternal future is available regardless of our past. Our joy in receiving the gift should bubble over in our lives so that others can see it and wonder, “What is she so happy about?” And then we should tell them. Because so far, a lot of people don’t get it. They think God’s voice is thunder or an angel. But we know better. Let us share the news.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for your gift of eternal life with you. Thank you for this security that we don’t need to fear death or earn our own salvation. Help us live in such a way as to help others see what we are so happy about. Amen.