Sir, We Wish to See Jesus

It seems to be a favorite writing technique of John to use important words in such a way that they may have several meanings and may be interpreted in all of those ways at the same time.

What if the Greeks were merely wanting to see Jesus, to observe him from afar?

Then Jesus' reply is meant to tell them that they can't really see him from far away.

It is up close and personal, watching the interactions between Jesus and selected people where one can see the important things happening.

What if the Greeks really meant “understand” when they asked “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”?

This takes the encounter to an even more significant level.

In effect, Jesus says: “So, you want to understand me?

I'll tell you all about myself.

I'm the one sent from the Father to act out God's love.

His love is of a kind that spends itself completely for the sake of the beloved,

just as a grain of wheat gives itself completely when it is planted int eh earth, for the sake of the new creation that will emerge.

To understand me, you need to follow me, and that does not mean standing and casually observing from a distance.

To follow me, you will be deeply involved, to begin to spend yourself as I have done.”

As one scholar has observed, to see and understand Jesus is an encounter that demands decision and action on our part.

We cannot remain neutral observers: we either become active followers or passive despisers of Jesus.

For me as Pastor, one of the most frustrating things is dealing with folks who think that there is some sort of middle ground:

--that they can say that this Jesus is nice, and I'll be involved once in a while, when it doesn't interfere with what I want to do.

--that it can be a pleasing and socially acceptable decoration on my life.

--that I can twist the Greeks' question into meaning “Sir I'd like to see Jesus...as a nice picture on the wall, which I can admire and then get on with other things.

Let's think again of Jesus' words: “He who is not for me is against me,” and the warning in the book of Revelation to the church of Laodicea: “I know your works: you are neither hot nor cold! Because you are lukewarm, I will spew you out of my mouth.

There is no middle ground on which to stand.

Fortunately, Jesus never ceases in his work of persuading us to be found on the right side.

He continues to say, “Look here, and understand, and live this way because of what you have come to know about me.”

Someone is sure to object that that was fine 2,000 years ago in Judah when Jesus walked those roads, but where do we look today to see and understand?

Here Jesus' strange reply to the Greeks can help us.

He does not say “Well, here I am, look and see.”

Instead, he describes what he is doing to act out God's love and to glorify the Father.

That is what we can do today also.

Pointing to a place where one can pin Jesus down and objectively studying Jesus is an fruitless enterprise.

He will not be caught in such a simpleminded way.

But he will show himself in what he does in and among us.

1)Where two or three are gathered in my Name, there I am in their midst.”

--softening hard hearts with his Words,

--consoling broken hearts with his Holy Spirit,

--encouraging faint hearts with his promise.

That is happening right now!

2)”This is my Body, given for you.”

Where can we point to see and understand Jesus?

Perhaps Holy Communion is the most vivid and dramatic activity: in that taking and blessing and breaking and sharing, Christ is seen and apprehended by those who participate.

“Sir, we would see Jesus”

Outside observers just won't get it.

But there is still more beyond what we do together here on Sunday morning.

We can see Jesus whenever we do the activities of praise and service which he bids us to do.

--In the sharing of time and resources

--in sewing a quilt

--in tutoring a student

--in comforting the bereaved

--in loving a family....

Those outside will say that they that they cannot see anything special about any of these activities.

But those called by the Lord Jesus Christ will know him in all those events as well, since these events are the forerunners of the kind of community we will share in the completed kingdom of God.

It has been that way from the beginning.

When Jesus was asked to explain himself, to what things did he point?

He asked the folks around him to see the sick healed and comforted, the imprisoned visited, widows and orphans loved and assisted, all those things which the prophet Isaiah had said that the Messiah would do to show God's rule.

At its best, the church across the centuries has tried to follow that model.

When no one else cared, it was the church who cared for widows and orphans, who nursed the sick and established hospitals.

It has been the same here in the US: so many hospitals, orphanages, and other institutions were founded by the church, including our own Tressler organization, which began with an orphanage for children after the Civil War, and has grown to include nursing homes, retirement communities, refugee resettlement, and so much more in PA and MD.

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus,” the Greeks asked the disciples.

And by his reply, Jesus intends to draw both Jew and Greek, those in ancient times and today, as well as you and me into that group of activities by which he has said that he will be known.

Those who wish to see Jesus shall not be disappointed, for he shows the Father's love, here, in worship and in service.

Amen.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.