John 12:20-33
Among those who went up to the festival were some Greeks [not Jews by birth], who approached Philip, having come from Bethsaida in Galilee. They said to him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew and they went together to tell Jesus.
Jesus replied to them: “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Truly I tell you that unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and my servant will be with me in the glory of my Father, wherever I am. Whoever serves me, my Father will honor.
But now my heart is troubled, so what shall I say, “Father, save me from this hour?” But it is for this very 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 by said that it was a clap of thunder, while others said, “No, it was an angel speaking to him.”
Jesus answered, “It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours, ‘Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be driven out. And when I am lifted-up from the earth, I shall draw all people to myself.’ By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.
- What image best expresses what you long to see but now cannot?
- How would you picture the inner life of the Spirit?
- How would you picture the phrase “union of love”?
The Icon Through Western Eyes by Russell M. Hart
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