“Christ For All People!”

“Christ For All People!”(Jn.12:20-26).
“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
The opening of this pericope is one of unmet suspense. We expect to know whether Jesus granted the audience to those Greeks, and if he did, what is it that they wanted?
However, Jesus used the opportunity of that moment to say, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” What we surmise is that for him to choose that moment to make an open declaration about his soon-to-happen death suggests the all-inclusiveness of his salvific death.
The Greeks represent all Gentiles, and he is talking about his death and its subsequent effect upon all humanity. This universality of his sacrifice on the cross is confirmed in when he said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself”(Jn.12:32).
Yes, Christ is without borders! “Christ will draw all people to himself without regard to nationality, ethnic affiliation, or status.”
A seemingly solid argument our detractors use in ridiculing us is the idea of a Saviour who has to die first before becoming the Saviour. Jesus explains this with the analogy of the kernel of a wheat. The principle of life through death is clearly seen in the plant world. Any seed that you plant must perish before you have a plant. For example, you plant a single seed of pear. The seed gets rotten in the soil as it produces a plant that grows into a big tree, producing fruits year after year.
If you cherish keeping safe your pear seed, you will never have a pear tree that bears fruits year in, year out. In the same way that Jesus went to the cross to become the resurrected Christ, our love for God through Jesus should be totally and unconditionally sacrificial!
That is not to say all other love is trivialised; rather, the love of God in absolute obedience should be top on our scale of preference.
In this way, where the Christ is, “his servant also will be.”
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit, help me in my daily walk of faith to put my Lord first in word and deed. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
04/04/2025.