We Wish to See Jesus

John 12:20-33

²⁰Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Very 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. ²⁵Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
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. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ³³He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

We wish to see Jesus.

How I wish I could have been standing alongside Philip in that moment. What was it like for him to be approached by strangers who apparently recognized that he was one who could point them to Jesus?

Philip was one of the first disciples Jesus called to follow him. Jesus went to Galilee, found Philip, and said to him, Follow me. Philip, in turn, found Nathanael and invited him to come and see this Jesus.

In the days that followed, Philip watched as Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. He watched as Jesus overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple and was astonished when he and his fellow disciples found Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well.

Surely Philip was there when Jesus healed a child who was at the point of death and a man who had been ill for 38 years.

Philip, who couldn’t imagine how the large crowd that had gathered around Jesus could be fed, watched as Jesus fed them all with the five barley loaves and two fish offered up by a young boy; when all 5,000 were satisfied Philip helped to gather up the leftovers.

Philip was in the boat when Jesus walked on the water and in the crowd when Jesus saved a woman from condemnation, saying, Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.

He kept following Jesus even though many of the disciples turned back, and so he was there when Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus, Jesus’ friend and theirs, had died. Philip saw Jesus weep as those on the scene, including Mary, the sister of Lazarus, invited Jesus to come and see the tomb of his friend. And Philip was there when Jesus cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And Lazarus came out, leaving that place of death for a life unbound.

Philip was surrounded by the fragrance of the perfume as Mary anointed Jesus’ feet and he was surrounded by the crowd waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna! Save us! as Jesus entered into Jerusalem.

And now, on the heels of that triumphal entry, Philip and the other disciples still not understanding all that was taking place, Philip is found a second time. His story has come full circle. Where in the beginning he was found by Jesus, now he is found by those who wish to see Jesus. And, as in the beginning, Philip’s response is to go and tell.

On February 1, the ELCA churchwide organization implemented Future Church, a new working structure focused on motivating the entire church to actively share the way of Jesus with more people so that they might experience community, justice and love. In a conversation with Living Lutheran, Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton said, It’s our intent to contact a million new people and introduce them to the ELCA as this community of Jesus. This has to be our great mission and our great purpose.

Phil Hirsch, executive director of ELCA Christian Community and Leadership, said, This is something we hope everyone will see their place in—that they will be able to find a way to reach out to somebody new around them…I know that some people are concerned that focusing on new people, on others, will take away something from their experience of church. My experience is that when people see others come to faith, experience the love and the belonging that is in community, the longing for justice and peace, the people who were there all along are energized in a way that’s hard to describe. My hope for the church is that we will have that experience again. Because I think once people get a taste of it, there’s just nothing like it.

And so I wonder, what was it like for Philip that day in Jerusalem? What was it like for him to see people—people different from him, from a different place, from a different culture, from a different context—wishing to see Jesus? Wishing to see the same Jesus who had made such a difference in Philip’s life? Wishing to see the same Jesus who had found Philip and transformed him into a witness, one whose first instinct was to go and tell?  What was it like for Philip to understand himself as one who could help others to see Jesus?

What would it be like for us to understand ourselves as people—found by God—who are now called to help others to see Jesus, to see the one who has saved us, to see the one who has changed our lives, to see the one whose love makes our love possible, to see the one who answers the prayers of the psalmist, the prayers that are our own, the prayers that are the deep, deep longing of this world? 

Have mercy, God.

Let us hear joy and gladness.

Renew a right spirit within us.

Restore to us the joy of your salvation.

Sustain us with your bountiful spirit.

Turn the water into wine.

Reveal the reforms that are needed.

Cross every dividing line. 

Heal the chronic pain.

Satisfy our hunger.

Walk to us on the rough waters; tell us to not be afraid.

Free us from condemning others and from condemning ourselves.

Weep with us and then lead us out through death to unbound life.

Let our prayers rise up like incense; let the fragrance of our offering fill the room, fill the world.

Save us. 

Have mercy.

The psalmist knows that God alone gives life. Matthew Stith, in his commentary on the psalm, writes: every mention of a remedy or answer for the miserable consequences of sin is couched in terms of God’s initiative and God’s execution. The Psalmist does not entertain any fancies about human ability to cleanse, to purge, to wash away, or to blot out sins—all any human being can do is to beg God to graciously do what is beyond us to do.

We wish to see Jesus.

Philip doesn’t say, Are you sure? Let me show you what I can do instead. I’ve been following Jesus all this time, and I’ve got it all figured out. I know exactly what you need.”

No. We wish to see Jesus.

I was listening to an interview this week with Pastor Mandy Smith. It was recorded in 2017, but her words were so timely as we look at the challenges we face in the church today.

She said, I don’t think the world has ever needed from the church easy answers, or quick arguments, or a system, or a program. If we could let ourselves be seen in need of our creator, I think that that would be an incredible witness.

It has never been about our ability, our worthiness, our competence. Nobody needs to see us succeeding—not as individuals, not as a church.

They need to see the abiding love of God for a world that longs to know itself as beloved, that yearns to hear joy and gladness, that begs for mercy. They need to see the power of God, the competence of God at work in the world. They need to see Jesus.

We need to see Jesus.

Amen.