FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT- YEAR-B

I Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34: I will make a new covenant and never call their sin to mind.

II Reading: Hebrews 5:7-9: He learnt to obey and became the source of eternal salvation.

Gospel: John 12: 20-30: If a grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest.

Jesus Approached as King: The Misunderstood Messiah, Jn 12:20-36

Jesus experienced suffering, anguish, rejection and death on the cross and saved the humankind. We have every reason to go through suffering courageously and joyfully.

Jesus prayed to his Father to give us the strength we need to endure suffering. Jesus associated us both with his suffering and with his glory.

An early Christian hymn started with the words: “If we have died with Christ, then we shall live with him.” (2Tim 2:12). With so many assurances on God’s part, we should not feel reluctant to suffer or even to die.

In the first reading, prophet Isaiah sees the day of new life when God will make another covenant with his people, written not on the tablets of stone, but on their hearts. God will forgive; God will rebuild.

The second reading sets out some of the qualities of the High Priest. He learnt obedience through his suffering and this is a source of power to save.

The Gospel teaches that the Greeks want to see Jesus. Within a short time the Gospel would be received into the Greek world. Their language was to become the first medium of Christian expression. The death-life cycle of a grain of wheat becomes the basis of Our Lord’s teaching about the higher life. we note, too, the third occasion in his life when the voice was from heaven.

Now let us analyse the Gospel passage:

People misunderstand the Messiah. There are four misunderstandings in particular.

1.     Some Greeks representing the world, sought Jesus (v.20-22; cp.12:19)

a.     Jesus was accepted as king, 12:12f

b.    Some Greeks requested to see the king

2.     Misunderstanding one 1: His glory (23-26)

a.     His hour had come

1)    He had to die first

2)    He could then bear fruit or produce many seeds

b.    Man’s hour is come

1)    Man must lose his life to bear eternal life

2)    Man must serve and follow Jesus to be assured of Jesus’ presence and God’s honour

3.     Misunderstanding 2: His cause (27-30)

a.     His troubled heart

b.    His great cause

c.      His prayer

d.    The people’s conclusion

e.      God’s purpose: To His approval of Christ

4.     Misunderstanding 3: The world (31-33)

a.     It has to be judged

b.    It is ruled by an alien prince

c.      It is conquered by the cross

5.     Misunderstanding 4: The Messiah (the Light) 34-36)

a.     The people misunderstood the Messiah

b.    The claim: He is the Light (/the Messiah) the light is to be extinguished

c.      The need

1)    To walk in the light

2)    To believe in the light

Thought: The glory of Christ is the glory of the cross (Rom 14:9; Phil 2:8-11; Col 1:14, 18; Heb 1:8-9; 2:9; 1Pet 2:24-25; 3:18, 22; Is 53:12).

Suffering was for Jesus as painful as it is for us; the only way to endure it, is to put our trust in God our Father, as Jesus did.

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