THE PASSION OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO

St. JOHN

St John Chapter 12, verses 20-33

Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish 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. 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. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honour. "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. Father, glorify your name." 

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."  The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."  Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. 

Reflection – Christ for the World

The above text begins in the Temple area where the Passover celebrations are getting underway. If Jesus and his disciples had approached the festival as pious Jews the events of the coming week would have been very different, and Jesus would be remembered as just another Hebrew prophet. But some Greeks had also arrived in Jerusalem and, having heard word of Jesus, they are keen to meet him and approach Andrew and Philip who have Greek names. The context then moves from the local to the global with the saying of Jesus that, ‘when he is lifted up from the earth…he will draw all people to himself.’ Here lie the seeds of a new Christian faith, not as a local sect but as a global religion. According to tradition a fourth century monk named Regulus brought the relics of St Andrew from Greece to Scotland. He made landfall in Fife where he built a church to house the saint’s remains at the place now called St Andrews.

Prayer: 

O Saviour of the world, who by thy Cross and precious Blood hast redeemed us, save us and help us we humbly beseech Thee O Lord. (Collect for the Visitation of the Sick, Church of England).

Hymn: When I survey the wondrous cross (CH4 392)