St. Joseph of the Lakes

Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew;  then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” (Jn 12:20)

I find it fascinating to think that Jesus was waiting for some sort of a cue in which he would begin his final journey in accord with His father’s will. In the reading from Hebrews today we are told that Jesus’ prayers to be saved from death were heard and this only happens after he performs his greatest act of obedience, his death on the cross. The God who created and holds everything in His care reaches beyond death to raise Jesus back to life. Jesus creates the pathway in which each of us are given access to this gift from the Father. 

This will be Jesus’ last Passover feast. He has just raised Lazarus from the dead. He has paraded into Jerusalem as people laid palm branches and proclaimed Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

I wonder why this request for a meeting with Jesus by some Greeks triggers the announcement of Jesus that his hour has come to be glorified. In looking at several commentaries the only information I could get was that these “Greeks” might not necessarily be from Greece, but this was the title given to anyone who was not Jewish yet practiced the Jewish rituals in the Court of the Gentiles. They were men and women who were seeking a profound relationship with God but had not yet converted into the Jewish faith. If they were men they would have to have been circumcised. The prophets throughout the ages spoke about how all the nations would come to hear of salvation in God through God’s people, the Jews. This is the perfect intersection of the prophets. It is the Passover feast, and all are gathered at the temple to offer their ritual sacrifices.  It is from that place that these Greeks seek out Jesus. This is to fulfill Jeremiah’s prophecy that we hear today:

I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives how to know the LORD. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.