The Grain of Wheat

John 12: 20-33

Fifth Sunday of Lent

The Greek-speaking visitors mentioned in today's Gospel had come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to celebrate the Passover, the most important Jewish holy day.

And when they hear about Jesus, they give us one of the most beautiful prayers in the whole Bible. So simple, and so powerful. They come up to St Philip and say, "Sir, we would like to see Jesus."

Jesus' response to this request is kind of confusing.

“23… 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.” (NRSCE).

Is that a Yes or a No?

Instead of just saying, "OK, show them in," he gives a long explanation of "his hour," his coming sacrifice on the cross. And He uses a beautify analogy: The Grain of Wheat.

The language of Jesus is odd. We don’t usually say when gardening that we are causing seeds to “die.” And yet, it is true that in the process of planting and growing, the seed will cease to be. Its life goes into the plant it becomes - a plant that, allowed to grow to fruition, will produce many seeds of its own.

When it is dropped into the earth, the seed shrinks, empties itself, and dies. But in the warmth and moisture of the earth new life breaks out of the husk and bears much fruit/ life.

The hour is at hand when Jesus will be buried in the heart of the earth and rise from there to transformes and transforming life.

Jesus says that becoming a disciple doesn’t consist on “to see him” but to follow Him. He is talking about the Cost of being a disciple: The grain of wheat must die. We must choose to empty ourselves of self-centeredness, of the instinct for self-preservation at the expense of our sisters and brothers. Those insulated from others suffering, eager for good connections, popularity, and status, rather than finding and following Jesus, will lose their lives. From seeds buried in warm love and service of others, and watered by fidelity to our baptismal commitment, the Christian community grows into the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

This is not easy; it was painful for Jesus, and it is painful for us. Jesus’ soul was troubled, we hear but he embraces his “hour” of his own free will.

The father voice affirms Jesus’ proclamation, declaring that Jesus is giving glory to God, and will be glorified because of this. It is a voice, says Jesus, that speaks not so much to reassure Jesus himself, but to bring faith and encouragement to the bystanders.

Seed and Earth: Life-giving love. Giving life implies dyeing!

“Holiness is not a program for life, but something obtained from God.

However great our efforts, we cannot change ourselves. Only God can get to the bottom of our defects, and our limitations in the field of love; only he has sufficient mastery over our hearts for that. If we realize that we will save ourselves a great deal of discouragement and fruitless struggle. We do not have to become saints by our own power; we have to learn how to let God make us into saints.

That does not mean, of course, that we don’t have to make any effort; but if our efforts are not to remain fruitless, they must be directed to the right end. We should fight, not to attain holiness as a result of our own efforts, but to let God act in us without our putting up any resistance against him; we should fight to open ourselves as fully as possible to his grace, which sanctifies us.

This opening of ourselves demands a great deal of humility because it means renouncing our tendency, born of pride, to want to manage by ourselves; it means accepting our own poverty and so on. But at the same time it is very encouraging.

“God calls us to perfection, but he is not a perfectionist.”

Jacques Philippe. “In the School of the Holy Spirit.”

This is what St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta meant when she said, "Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things. It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in accepting and following the will of God."