A Lonely Grain of Wheat

Year B: Fifth Sunday of Lent

The forty days of Lent bring into focus a long biblical tradition beginning with the Flood in the Book of Genesis, when rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. We read about Elijah walking forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Mt. Horeb. We read about the forty years that the Israelites wandered through the desert in order to reach the Promised Land. The biblical desert is primarily a place of purification, a place of passage. The biblical desert is not so much a geographical location—a place of sand, stones or sagebrush—as a process of interior purification leading to the complete liberation from the false-self system with its programs for happiness that cannot possibly work.¹ —Thomas Keating

Year B, Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 17, 2024

First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

Psalm: Psalm 51:1-13 or Psalm 119:9-16

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

Gospel: John 12:20-33

Sermon - A Lonely Grain of Wheat

Throughout the Gospel According to John, John wishes the audience to pay close attention to a coming “hour.” In John 2:4, Jesus responds to his mother’s request to do something about the lack of wine by arguing that his hour hasn’t come. Jesus also talks about an eschatological hour that is already present (or on the verge of being present) while also to come (John 4:21-23; 5:25-29). On two occasions, people tried to arrest Jesus but were unable because, like in John 2, his hour had not yet come (John 7:30; 8:20).

But is in our text today from John 12 that Jesus recognizes that his hour had finally come. After this exchange, the entire story begins shifting towards the Cross.

After Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, some Gentiles came to see Jesus. In John’s gospel “seeing” may be more than just simply wishing to visit. In John 1:39, 46; 3:3, 36; 4:29 and other passages, seeing involves a deeper commitment, even entering the kingdom of God.²

When the Greeks told Phillip who told Andrew who told Jesus that Gentiles had come to see him, Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23).

Why this response? Jesus usually sees the faithfulness of foreigners contrasted with the unbelief of his own people (John 12:37-43) as a sign that the kingdom of God has come because it is in the kingdom that all people of every nation are drawn to God.

The unbelief of Israel and the acceptance of the nations shows up several times in Isaiah, such as in the passages Jesus would go on to quote. Paul himself makes several complicated articles from Isaiah and Hosea, as well as a few other passages, in his famous section on the relationship between Israel’s unbelief and God’s irrevocable promise to them in Romans 9-11, despite their status as “enemies” as Paul would say (in Paul’s understanding, Christ died for all of us when we were enemies; compare Romans 5:10 and Romans 11:28).

I thought of including this as a footnote, but I thought you might find it interesting. In Acts 28, Paul invites many people into his house for an in-depth study of Moses and the prophets and how they relate to Jesus. When his teaching is not well received, he commits to continuing his ministry to the Gentiles and he backs it up with a quotation of Isaiah 6 (Acts 28:25-28; Isaiah 6:9-10). In response to the unbelief of the people following the incident in today’s gospel passage, John cites the same text (John 12:38-43).

But how would these newcomers enjoy full fellowship with the Divine? They couldn’t enter the temple since they were Gentiles. This brings us back to our lesson from a few weeks ago when we pointed out that one of the major themes of John is the Messianic temple! Jesus must “fall to the ground” in order to bear much fruit. In John’s narrative, Jesus’s death and resurrection serve as the foundation of the new temple, a temple in which anyone can worship God regardless of what mountain they prefer or what nation to which they belong.

When we lose our life with Christ, we cease being a lonely grain of wheat, and we become part of the Divine family. We enter the Holy Place when we follow Christ because “where I am, there will my servant be also” (John 12:26).

But this sacrifice caused Jesus’s soul to be troubled. He knew that his death was near, but willingly dying instead of calling angels and saving himself would be the ultimate expression of God’s love, a love that can transform even a terrorist like Saul.

Jesus cried out, “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 something strange happened. A voice came from heaven.

There are only a few times this happens in the life of Christ: at his baptism, on the mount of transfiguration, and here.

“I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

When the crowd heard this, much like in the conversion of Paul, they didn’t actually hear what was said. They perceived God’s voice as thunder or at most an angel.

(By the way, were you ever told that thunder is angel’s bowling? You didn’t know that was biblical did you?)

This voice from the heavens gave Jesus the authority to claim, “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” (John 12:31–32).

The ruler of this world, being now gone, what is stopping us from following the Christ? What is stopping us from consenting to the one who draws us to himself?

Second Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10

In our study of Hebrews, the Golden Agers class and I have been fascinated with the theme of Jesus as our High Priest. This theme is so intriguing because of its implication that if Jesus is the High Priest, then we, as members of his body, are also priests. But in becoming a high priest, Jesus did not glorify himself, but he was appointed to this position by God (Hebrews 5:5). 

And this appointment did not come easily. 

In Hebrews 5:7, Jesus entered into his priesthood with “loud cries and tears.” He wished to be saved from death, and he was, just not in the way he desired when he cried, “Let this cup pass from me.” Instead, he was resurrected on the third day, being exalted as the Son of God and called into heaven to sit at God’s right hand (Hebrews 5:5).

The Hebrews writer then says something we might not expect: “Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered…” The basic meaning of this is that he practiced obedience. That is, when faced with the decision to follow God or his flesh, Jesus chose to follow God and submitted to his captors. But this apparent defeat led to his perfection, and he now serves as the source of eternal salvation for us today. In this way, Jesus was appointed as our high priest. 

As priests in God’s kingdom, you and I are called to obedience. We are not passive participants in the plans of God, but we are called to live as living sacrifices, refusing to be conformed to the world. While we might sometimes, like Jesus, offer up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, we can rest assured that our trials will give way to perfection and transformation into the image of God. 

Thanks so much for keeping up with this blog. If you have any suggestions, recommendations, or critiques, you can always comment here or reach out through my website: https://danielr.net.

1. Keating, Thomas. The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience. New York: Continuum, 2008. Print.

2. Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel according to John (I–XII): Introduction, Translation, and Notes. Vol. 29. Anchor Yale Bible. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008.