Fifth Sunday in Lent Year B

“The hour has come … "

 

 

20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very 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. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

John 12:20-33  

 

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Seed Resurrection

WESLEY, Frank

1923 - 2002

Painting

 

Notes:

Wesley was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh into a fifth generation Christian family of Hindu and Muslim descent. He belongs to the Lucknow school of painting. His paintings reflect this influence and that of the Chughtai school of painting that flourished in India at the turn of the century. Wesley made art based on both biblical and secular themes. He used water colours, oil paintings, miniatures and wooden carvings.

Wesley's painting "Blue Madonna" was used for the first UNICEF Christmas card, while five of his paintings were exhibited at the 1950 Holy Year Exhibition in the Vatican. He is also known for designing the funeral urn for Mahatma Gandhi's ashes.

https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/diglib-fulldisplay.pl?SID=20240315850475090&code=act&RC=59247&Row=23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t be afraid of change …

because it is leading you to 

your next new and amazing beginning.

~ Joyce Meyer

 

 

 

I remember I am your God. 

  Be my walking rainbows, 

      so that the whole world 

         will know to whom you belong, 

for I am the God who keeps promises, 

    and I have not forgotten our covenant.”

~ Ann Weems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our biggest snowstorm since 2003 (six feet in Evergreen back then).

This time, the official measure for Evergreen was 35 inches.

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At my place, it was only about 30 inches.

We had an additional 10 inches after this picture was taken.

 

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Early in the storm, I shoveled a short path for Harley.

Before he had a path, he just disappeared into the snow.

 

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My neighbor kindly shoveled a path from their patio to mine.

 

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Harley loved it!

 

 

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Kei is back in New York and sent a picture of the (new) Times Square New Year’s ball taken from a window at his workplace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We must honor the principles of the Constitution 

for every man or we shall not have it 

to protect any man.

~ Ralph Carr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 17, 2021  Fifth Sunday in Lent Year B

Previous OPQs may be found at: 

     http://www.dotjack.com/opq.htm

 

 

 

5So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, 
     “You are my Son, 
          today I have begotten you”; 
6as he says also in another place, 
     “You are a priest forever, 
          according to the order of Melchizedek.”

7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 5:5-10

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

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Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

 

Restoration

 

Create in me a clean heart, O God, 

and put a new and right spirit within me.

                 ~ Psalm 51:10

 

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LECTIONARY

Jeremiah 31:31–34 

Psalm 51:1–12 or Psalm 119:9–16

Hebrews 5:5–10 

John 12:20–33

 

 

Summary

Nearing the end of the Lenten season, those faithfully fasting begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus too, in the Gospel reading looks forward to his glorification, but also his passion. 

When Jesus refers to being “lifted up,” this is a rich, multilayered allusion. Jesus has already compared himself to the serpent lifted up in the wilderness in John 3:14—the image of death defeating death. There is also the suffering yet triumphant servant who is “lifted up” in Isaiah 52:13. So, Jesus is looking forward to fulfilling both dimensions of these scriptures by being lifted up on the cross at his death, but then also lifted up on high at the ascension.

The apparent defeat of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection are inseparable in his plan of redemption, and so suffering and victory are inseparable in the life of the believer. Since Jesus suffered, our suffering as believers becomes an opportunity to imitate the Lord. Jesus changes everything he touches, so suffering is no longer meaningless, but the path to victory.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/

 

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 12: 20-33

THE WORD:

Today’s Gospel is a pivotal moment in John’s narrative.  Jesus’ words about the “coming” of his “hour” mark the end of John's “Book of Signs” and prefaces of “The Book of Glory”: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The Passover is about to begin; many Jews (including some Greek Jews) have arrived in Jerusalem for the festival.  Meanwhile, Jesus’ conflict with the Jewish establishment has reached the crisis stage.  The events of Holy Week are now in motion.  Jesus obediently accepts his fate and is prepared for the outcome.

Jesus compares his “glorification” to a grain of wheat that is buried and dies to itself in order to produce the potential life within it.  The sacrifice and harvest of the grain of wheat are the fate and glory of anyone who would be Jesus' disciple.  The “voice” heard from the sky expresses the unity of Jesus’ purpose and God’s will.

HOMILY POINTS:

To become the people God calls us to be, to live our lives in the joy of God’s love, begins by our “dying” to our doubts and fears, “dying” to our self-centered wants and needs, “dying” to our immaturity and prejudices.

The risk of being hurt is the price of love.  That is the challenge of the grain of wheat: only by loving is love returned, only by reaching out and trying do we learn and grow, only by giving to others do we receive, only by dying do we rise to new life.

The Gospel of the grain of wheat is Christ's assurance to us of the great things we can do and the powerful miracles we can work in letting go of our prejudices, fears and ambitions in order to imitate the compassion and love of the crucified Jesus, the Servant Redeemer.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#march17

First Reading Jeremiah 31:31-34

31The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Psalm 51:1-12

1   Have mercy on me, O God, 
          according to your steadfast love; 
     according to your abundant mercy 
          blot out my transgressions. 
2   Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, 
          and cleanse me from my sin.

3   For I know my transgressions, 
          and my sin is ever before me. 
4   Against you, you alone, have I sinned, 
          and done what is evil in your sight, 
     so that you are justified in your sentence 
          and blameless when you pass judgment. 
5   Indeed, I was born guilty, 
          a sinner when my mother conceived me.

6   You desire truth in the inward being; 
          therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart. 
7   Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; 
          wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 
8   Let me hear joy and gladness; 
          let the bones that you have crushed rejoice. 
9   Hide your face from my sins, 
          and blot out all my iniquities.

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God, 
          and put a new and right spirit within me. 
11  Do not cast me away from your presence, 
          and do not take your holy spirit from me. 
12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, 
          and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Or alternate Psalm Psalm 119:9-16

9  How can young people keep their way pure? 
          By guarding it according to your word. 
10  With my whole heart I seek you; 
          do not let me stray from your commandments. 
11  I treasure your word in my heart, 
          so that I may not sin against you. 
12  Blessed are you, O LORD; 
          teach me your statutes. 
13  With my lips I declare 
          all the ordinances of your mouth. 
14  I delight in the way of your decrees 
          as much as in all riches. 
15  I will meditate on your precepts, 
          and fix my eyes on your ways. 
16  I will delight in your statutes; 
          I will not forget your word.

Second Reading Hebrews 5:5-10

5So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him, 
     “You are my Son, 
          today I have begotten you”; 
6as he says also in another place, 
     “You are a priest forever, 
          according to the order of Melchizedek.”

7In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; 9and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel John 12:20-33

20Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Very 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. 25Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

27“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say — ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.