Sermon: March 17, 2024

Reading: John 12: 20-33

If we wish to see Jesus; if we want to follow where he has led, we must embody his teachings; and embody his example of sacrificial love. We must make decisions that reflect God’s love for his creation by standing up for those who are oppressed and discriminated against and see Christ who is within each and every human being.  

It can be challenging and frightening to sacrifice and stand up to forces that exist in this world which encourage hate and fear. Even in the Gospel story, Jesus says his soul was troubled. And yet, as children of God, we are called to demonstrate his love. When we say we wish to see Jesus, it means we are to be obedient to God just as Jesus was obedient to God, glorifying him by following God’s commandment to love others. And through our obedience, we, too, will glorify God.

      We wish to see Jesus. That’s what the Greeks asked, and we, too, ask to see Jesus. But seeing him is more than something we do with our eyes. It requires us not to seek glory for ourselves or the world, but to glorify God by seeking first Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God above all things and in all things.

Jesus gives us this example as he announces that the hour has come for the Son of Man to Glorify God. As we proclaim that we, too, wish to see Jesus, may we, with the eyes of our hearts enlightened, truly see Jesus by glorifying him as we demonstrate his love so all the world may see Jesus.