Traditionally the fifth Sunday of Lent was referred to as Passion Sunday. Nowadays Palm Sunday shares this designation. But still, with today’s readings we shift our focus to the coming Passion. We do this because the Lord shows us it is the proper time to do so.
Some Greeks wish to see Jesus and approached Andrew and Phillip, the answer Jesus gives seems to have little to do seeing visitors. But look more closely at that answer. Jesus is beginning to meditate upon His upcoming passion and death. As a prelude to His struggles in the Garden of Gethsemane, He is grappling with what He should do. Should He ask the Father to save Him? But it was for this hour that He came.
These are the thoughts that Andrew and Phillip interrupt. Jesus does not reply to them but instead gives voice to His thoughts. Will He flee and save His life only to lose it? Or will He lose His life and thereby save it?
Jesus concludes that He must accept what is to come. It is the only way to salvation. The one who saves His life will lose it. The one who loses it for God’s sake will save it. That is the wisdom Jesus leaves us, and the challenge we are faced with. Do we save our lives for ourselves only to lose it, or do we die to self for the sake of another and have our lives restored to us by God?
Pax Vobiscum
The 5th Sunday of Lent