St. John 12:20-43
Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the account which we pondered last Sunday. St. John’s gospel situates this just days before Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It was a pivotal and critical time. Tempers were flaring among the Pharisees, onlookers were perplexed and amazed, and the passion of Jesus was near. Just before the palm-strewn procession with Jesus riding in on a donkey, was the dinner with Lazarus. It is significant. Jesus eats with the one who had been dead, and the feet of Jesus are anointed with the fragrant ointment. He who was dead is alive, and He who is life will soon be dead. The sins of the world swirl around. The Pharisees want Jesus to die. His miracles bring them to envy and unbelief, while certain Greeks approach wanting to see Jesus. Herein lies the great irony. Yet, this is the way of Jesus. He comes into the midst of people and brings life. The beautiful, aromatic fragrance of Christ is life for some and death for others. Jesus knows what the raising of Lazarus has done. His miracles, His works, and His preaching all come with a sword. The sword cuts. He sees it. Christ cuts to the heart and soul. Sins are revealed--some repent, while others hide in judgment. The despised seek Jesus, while God’s people from days of old reject Him. Jesus knows the hour is at hand. The shouts of “hosanna” are a signal to Jesus, even though the people may not fully comprehend the depth of what they say. “Hosanna,” is a mixed statement of joy and a call for desperate help. “Save, I pray” is perhaps the best translation from Hebrew. Jesus sees it. He hears it. This is why he was incarnate in the womb of the virgin and took on flesh. The Father’s creation is dying. The compassion of Christ shows itself well in St. John’s gospel. The cry of the people, “Hosanna,” “Save, I pray,” seals the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy that the king comes on a colt, the foal of a donkey. The Greek men’s request to see Jesus cannot be overlooked. Jesus knows that the time is near at hand, and He must die. He must die for the sins of the world, and He talks about it in the gospel lection for the day. Jesus proceeds to teach that His death will bring forth fruit. What happened to Lazarus will happen to others. Jesus, who is life, will give life to the dead and take death away and place it upon Himself. He who wears the white robe of righteousness shall take the black robe of death and adorn it, while the dead shall have the white robe of life and righteousness placed upon them. Christ’s death is a sort of hinge, like that of a door. To be sure, Jesus died on the cross for the life of the entire world. Jesus says, “and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”(vs. 32). St. John makes this abundantly clear throughout His gospel, but in the gospel for today Jesus is teaching creation what happens when the event of His death is placed before all. Jesus never ceases to be the teacher. “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you”(vs. 35). Christ, the Light, is before all humanity. The light dispels the darkness. Jesus is saying to hold on to this. Do not let the darkness cause you to turn your back on the goodness and salvation of the Lord. The warning makes itself concrete at the end of the gospel, because St. John tells us that there were many Jewish rulers who believed in Jesus but they did not confess Him because of the Pharisees. Anyone who confessed Jesus would be excommunicated from the Synagogue. John ends with the reason they didn’t confess Jesus: “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”(vs. 43). St. John strikes a blow at those who would love Jesus but compromise their devotion to Jesus because of the world. Jesus, always being the teacher, shows us that we should worship Jesus with partiality, sharing Him with our devotion to the world and the flesh. Today, Jesus still comes into the midst of a dying world. When Jesus enters the midst of people through the gospel, we are shown that things come to pass. Some come to believe, while others listen and turn away. Our culture has a different issue, somewhat. We are not afraid of being cast out of the Synagogue. Instead, people are afraid of how they will be labeled. In addition, and perhaps more troubling today, is the aloof and callous response to the gospel. Our devotion to Christ is often compromised by our busy schedules, our kids’ schedules, our fleshly desires and the need to make our lives more enjoyable. But through it all, Jesus takes death and makes it His own. The response by the world is nearly one of indifference. What can be said, but that nearly every kind of response is to the gospel is presented in St. John 12. There are those who want to believe but are afraid of what others will think. There are those such as the Pharisees who see nothing but irritation when they look at Jesus, and there are those who wish to see Jesus, such as the Greek men. Jesus does shake up the world. He enters our world and people are never the same. When Jesus comes, He draws people and they either rest in the arms of Christ or they turn away and follow their own vain philosophies. When Jesus comes, either people are brought closer to heaven or they move further away. But when Jesus enters the scene, the people who observe are never the same again. So, the church journeys onward. We move from the tomb of Lazarus, where we see Jesus bring life to a dead corpse, towards the tomb of Christ where the sins of Lazarus, your sins, my sins, and the sins of the whole world are locked away. In this way, you are then clothed with the robe of Christ in Holy Baptism. He took the black robe of death off of you and gave you His white robe of holiness. He forgives you of all of your sins, and Jesus comes closer to you with His absolution and love. You are His. As Jesus enters your midst in the sacrament, He makes His way to you in order to make you His holy children, who have the light of life. And so Holy Week begins. The light is with us. Let the lamps and candles burn in recognition that Jesus abides with us in the gospel and the sacraments. Let us set our gaze forward to Christ’s unspoken answer to the Greek’s request to see Jesus: He shall be seen hanging from the cross, the ironic end that brings a new beginning for all who would find themselves resting amongst the wonderfully, fragrant aroma of Christ who was anointed to die that He may live....and we with Him. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
