A reflection for Lent 5.
“Sir we wish to see Jesus”
In today's gospel the shadow of the cross looms ever closer and darker. “Very 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” We are right to prickle and cringe at the sense of foreboding and I want to come back to the cross a little later. Sometimes, just sometimes, when I am reading the good book a one liner reaches out from the pages and smacks across my left cheek. I hope occasionally this might happen for you too.
In today's gospel it was this line. “Sir we wish to see Jesus”. It is spoken by Greeks who normally would have been considered outsiders; but no… here they are at the festival, wanting to worship and wanting to see Jesus. We are not told about their motives, whether they had a shopping list for Jesus or whether they were just down right curious. Maybe they were just wanting to jump on board with the latest and most controversial fad. We are not told if they got to see Jesus. We are not even told how many there were. For some reason I had always assumed that there were just two. But read again Fr. David. We are not told. In fact after their request, they are never mentioned again. They are one of many people who frustratingly disappear from scripture and we are left scratching our heads wondering whatever happened to them.
***“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
If we are honest there are times in all of our lives when we have echoed that line if not out loud, then certainly deep from our heart. We wish to see Jesus. It is one of the most authentic prayers that we can offer. It doesn’t try to pretend that things are lovely, sweetness and light and smelling of roses. It simply tells it as it is. So if you find yourself uttering this prayer at any stage, for any reason, then it is not a sign of failure, but rather an indication that you know how much you need him and you have come to the right place. A gold star to you.
But where do we see him? Here are a few classic places that you might glimpse him.
In the face of the unexpected stranger who is sent into your life. They might be just like the Greeks. People who just brush against your life and then are gone again.
Then there are the people who drive us nuts. Yes, those who we know we will never agree with, who hold vastly opposing views to our own, who have that irritating habit of getting under our skin. These are the people who stretch us, challenge us, infuriate us and in their aggravating, exasperating ways make us think again, ponder and wonder. They stretch our thinking and our patience and perhaps that is not such a bad thing.
We find Him of course in the sacrament of the altar. This is my body. Nothing more, nothing less. We have His promise for it and we do what he has asked of us.
We see Jesus in the face of a friend. That confidant, that special person who knows all our eccentricities. The one who knows our frailty better than we do. The one who has a twinkle in their eye and a winning smile whenever they see us and we know that we are going to get a good hearing and sage advice.
If we are very patient we might also see him in the mirror. This might seem completely mad, but strap yourself in and just go with me on this. If we glimpse the Master in others is not also likely that they glimpse Jesus in us. Surely that must be possible, if not probable, if not certain.
And finally we glimpse him the crucifix. This is love made visible. The image of Jesus with his arms wide open on the cross to embrace us. The crucifix says. “This is how much I love you. This is what I am willing to do for you.” The mangled man on the cross is the loving face of God looking at us.
Sir we wish to see Jesus.
I suspect that there are times when we are grouchy and we really want to see Jesus and give him a piece of our mind. Or maybe we have a “to do” list for him. Dear God, you can start by…. Let me tell you… and then you can…There are other times I suspect when we might have a guilty conscience and we are really not quite sure that we want to see him at all. If you’re anything like me then you flit quickly from not wanting to see him, to really wanting to see him very much. As I speak, in this fleeting second, I don’t really know where you are up to. But this much I do know. I do know that He sure wants to see you.