Rev. Winston D. Persaud, Ph.D.
We have come to Holy Tuesday in our Lenten journey of self-reflection. We have heard and listened anew to the accounts of Jesus’ journey to the cross, a journey which includes sorrow, betrayal, denial, suffering, and death in which Jesus is made a public spectacle of shame and powerlessness. On the journey, we have been invited to pause and ponder: What did it mean for Jesus’ life to end the way it did? What does it mean for us, with the church throughout the world and across the ages, to confess: in Jesus Christ, God meets us in this world of sin and brokenness, violence and longing for a new day? Yes, in this season of Lent, we heard and continue to hear about God’s unconditional love for us, for the world.
We all long to be loved, to be accepted, to know that we count. We have heard so many conflicting messages about ourselves and the world, messages which are so loud that they drown out the good news that we are not alone, that God has not turned away from us. Particularly in this season of Lent, we have heard again and again about Jesus’ journey to the cross in which he experienced denial, betrayal, suffering, and rejection.
It is fascinating to hear the report in John’s Gospel that “some Greeks” come to Philip and say to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Jesus’ response to hearing from Andrew and Philip the request of the Greeks calls us to pause and ponder Jesus’ unexpected declaration: “[t]he hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Jesus intensifies the utterly surprising thrust of his message by speaking about being “lifted up and thereby [he] will draw all people to” himself.
The way of God’s love for all is the way of the cross. That is not the message Jesus’ hearers expected and wanted to hear. It should not come as a surprise that we are not unlike Jesus’ hearers
then. The call of Jesus to us through the Holy Spirit is not about following Jesus into suffering in order to merit God’s grace; it is not about showing through our suffering that we are worthy to be loved by God for Jesus’ sake. We are not worthy. Thus, the call is to trust in Jesus who on the cross is there for us, for the world. To believe in him will mean that we are to share the good news of God’s love for all in Jesus. All people need to hear that the glory of Jesus on the cross—suffering and dying—means that God has not given up on us, on the world. Behold and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who calls us to himself.
Prayer: O God, I give you thanks that Jesus refused to have any other way of glory, but that of the cross, in order that all may know and experience your unconditional love. I thank you that the Holy Spirit continues to call us all through the Gospel and empowers us to point to Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, for the salvation of the world. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
