Seeking Jesus
Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent
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31 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.
32 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, though I was their husband,g says the Lord.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: 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. 34 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, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. -
Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
6 You desire truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
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7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
8 Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;
9 and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,
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Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus
20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 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. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
Jesus Speaks about His Death
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. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoplee to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
Some Greeks Wish to See Jesus
Today’s whole Gospel passage, and Jesus’ words, are introduced by the story that some Greeks approached Philip with this request: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus”. Most likely these Greeks were people who were not Jewish but who had adopted some aspects of the Jewish faith, and they had come to Jerusalem to worship at the festival. We only speculate about how they knew about Jesus. Had they heard about Jesus even before coming to Jerusalem, or did they hear about him once they got to Jerusalem? Is it possible that they were in the crowd listening to Jesus preach. And, to fulfil their desire to see Jesus, they approach one of the apostles of Jesus who has a Greek name, Philip.
Interestingly, Philip goes to the other apostle of Jesus with a Greek name, Andrew, and together they go to Jesus to present this request. Significantly, Andrew is the apostle associated with bringing people to Jesus. First, he introduces his brother, Simon Peter to Jesus, then there is that other story of Andrew bringing the boy with the five loaves and two fish to Jesus. In today’s Gospel, together with Philip he brings the Greeks to Jesus. Andrew is a missionary in a very literal sense, and he reminds us of our call to be missionaries.
It is not surprizing that there would have been an interest in seeing Jesus. Remember that by this stage Jesus had quite a reputation. He had become increasingly popular after being at the centre of some amazing events and even some controversial ones. He had changed water into wine and fed the multitudes with five loaves and two fish. He had healed the crippled man and he had restored sight to the blind man. He associated with outcasts and sinners, including some Samaritans. He scandalously forgave an adulterous woman. And he raised Lazarus from the dead.
We Wish to See Jesus
If the Greeks and others were curious about seeing Jesus, and others held him in high esteem, this was not true for the religious leaders of the day. For them, Jesus had become a dangerous man. They wanted to kill him, because, as they said, “If we let him go on in this way everybody will believe in him”.
Given this hostility towards Jesus, it is not surprising that there is a sense of foreboding, a sombre mood in the Gospel for this Sunday. We are nearing Holy Week, and Jesus’ words in the passage Gospel of John for today are an echo of his agony in the garden of Gethsemane that we read about in the synoptic Gospels. There is a reference to this in the second reading from Hebrews, where we hear of Jesus offering up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears.
As we participate in this liturgy and hear this Word of God at this stage of Lent, we are called to allow it to awaken and strengthen our desire to see Jesus. This wish of the Greeks to see Jesus is an expression of the desire that lies hidden in every human heart - the desire that the psalmist expresses so powerfully in saying: “It is your face, O Lord, that I seek. Hide not your face from me.”
This desire for God in us comes from the fact that we are created in the image of God and we are created for a relationship with God. The Spirit within us keeps reminding us of our desire for God. We may be aware of that desire within us, but often we do not take a step towards the fulfilment of it because we don’t feel free, or we are afraid, or we don’t feel worthy, or we procrastinate.
Those Greeks who were in search of the truth would not have been able to approach Jesus if their desire had not been expressed through a clear decision. They had to commit themselves by saying to Philip: “We wish to see Jesus”. To be truly free means having the strength to choose the One for whom we were created and accepting his lordship over our lives. No procrastination. We need to act on our desire, like the Greeks did.
Holy Communion
If we allow ourselves reflection and solitude, we know in the depths of our hearts that all the good things we enjoy, all professional success, even the human love that we dream of, can never fully satisfy our deepest desires. Only an encounter with Jesus can give full meaning to our lives. Like those Greeks, we must not let ourselves be distracted from this search. We must persevere in it because it is our fulfilment and our joy that are at stake.
All the Gospels have stories of people who wanted to see Jesus. And those who took a step towards the fulfilment of that desire also got to experience God in Jesus. Remember the wise men from the east came following a star because they wanted to see the King of the Jews. Remember Bartimaeus called out to Jesus to heal him so he could see. And remember Zacchaeus climbed a tree because he wanted to see who Jesus was. In each case a desire to see Jesus was acted upon and led to an encounter with him through which they were transformed. It is the same with our encounter with Jesus.
In John’s Gospel, seeing is a metaphor for coming to faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Our desire to see Jesus, must lead to an encounter with him in which we come to faith him. This happens so profoundly and beautifully when we prayerfully receive the sacraments, especially Holy Communion.
In the gospel story of today, thanks to Philip and Andrew, the Greeks got to see Jesus. As they approached Jesus, Jesus prayed for the glorification of his Father’s name. And we are told that a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will again glorify it.’ We understand that through the death of Jesus, God’s love was made visible and through this visible love, his name was glorified.
Jesus himself goes on to tell them, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself.” Jesus is lifted up from the earth, so that seeing him lifted up in his death and resurrection we are drawn to the love shown in him. Seeing with the eyes of faith Jesus lifted up on the cross we can understand with our hearts that he is the Son of God. Through Jesus being lifted up we are drawn into union with God.
Jesus is the Source of Eternal Salvation
In the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, we hear of the new beginning and new covenant that God will make with his people, where he will be their God and they shall be his people. In this covenant, the people of God will know him, and their sins will be forgiven. We are the people of the New Covenant. God is our God, and we belong to him. In Jesus Christ we can receive forgiveness for our sins.
The responsorial psalm expresses our longing for forgiveness of sins: Have mercy on me O God in your merciful love; according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me completely from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Standing at the foot of the cross, the everlasting sign of the new covenant spoken about in Jeremiah, we see God’s love made visible. We find in him the forgiveness of our sins and we are healed. We understand who Jesus is as Son of God; and we are drawn in love to be one with him in God. As the reading from the Letter to the Hebrews says, Jesus is the source of eternal salvation for us who obey him.
Seek Jesus
Today we identify with the Greeks who came with the desire to see Jesus. And we act on this desire, choosing to seek him out and we ask to see him, and we find in him the satisfaction of our deepest desires.
This Easter we will renew the covenant we entered into with God through baptism. Today at the end of the season of Lent, the Word of God invites us to act on our desire to see Jesus, to take a step towards Jesus lifted up, so that we may see him more clearly, that we may love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly.