John 12.24
In the Middle
Ages, to be told you had leprosy marked the end of life, well normal life
anyway. When once leprosy was confirmed
the local parish priest would lead the leper into the church, and would read
the burial service over them. From then on, the lepers would be forced to wear
black clothes and live in a leper house, or in a
village for lepers. A leper village was
always situated a long way outside the city, far enough away to be out of sight
and out of mind. Liberton, not far from
us, was one such village five hundred years ago, that’s what the name means – Leperton, or now Liberton. There, cut off from family and friends, lepers were not
allowed to attend the service on Sunday at the local Church, but they were
allowed to look through a hole cut through the church wall and see the priest
celebrating Mass at the altar. There, on a cold winter’s day, or in driving
rain, or in the warmth of the summer sun, they could be seen – a little group of
strangers gathered, huddled, outside the Church.
There is a hole like that in the wall at Legerwood parish church in the
Borders. The little Church there is over a thousand years old with a lovely Norman
arch over the door. The inside is plain, with wood lined roof with old oak
beams. In the 13th. century
there was a hospital nearby at Aldenstoun and a hole was made in the wall at
But that hole in the wall speaks of those days gone by – when some human
beings, in the misery of illness, were classed as outsiders, barred from worship,
from life, healing, forgiveness, and salvation.
Outsiders.
John’s gospel in chapter 12 tells us that some Greeks who were in the
crowds of those in
And
how poignant their words are, the words
of outsiders - "Sir," they said to Philip, "we would like to
see Jesus." They ask no more
than that – simply to be allowed to see
Jesus.
For they are
outsiders, outsiders to the life of
But, you see, these Greeks, Gentiles are the sign, a
symbol of the great world, the nations, the peoples beyond
Searching, looking for truth,
life, blessing………...
And, the gospel shows us, their moment has
come, for in Jesus - the situation is already changing and these Greeks, indeed
all outsiders including ourselves will
find because of Jesus, through Jesus, in Jesus, a way in to the life that God
the Father gives !
For Jesus is here for just that – that those
outside, those who stood and stand outside may be brought in – He is the Good
Shepherd who calls the sheep, the sheep, His sheep know His voice and come in,
come into the fold…….. no longer scattered, no longer
lost in the wilderness…… but home, in Him……….
Here is the Lord, spoken of in that great,
great prophecy in Isaiah 63,
“Who is
this coming from Bozrah in
The time – for salvation for
Sir, said the Greeks, we want to see Jesus – well, the time is at hand, for all the
world to see Him !
These are the words of Jesus as we read them in
verse 23
The hour has now come………..
the
time is near,
now of
course, the hour Jesus speaks of, the time, has nothing to do with dawn,
the
hour Jesus speaks of, the time, has nothing to do with the way we measure time,
by our
watches or clocks or whatever.
No - the hour Jesus speaks of,
the time, is God’s time,
that
time in which Jesus lives from moment to moment –
close
to His Father in heaven - healing men and women in God’s good time,
speaking
wonderful truth in God’s perfect time,
journeying
to
Throughout all the days we read
of here in John’s gospel, the sunrise and sunset, the hours marked by the
watchmen on the walls of the city - Jesus is living in the deeper time of the
Father’s care, following His Father’s will.
So too, it is for us, is it not ? Our days are
marked by the clock, by times to do, times to go, and to come, times to sleep,
times to be awake,
but
our lives have a deeper rhythm, a deeper time,
the
deeper time of the Father’s purpose for you and me and our lives,
the
deeper time of the Father’s care and love for us.
The words of Jesus as we read them in verse 23
The hour has now come………..
And what is this hour ? if we read the gospel word
further we find that the hour has come
for the Son of Man, says Jesus, to
receive great glory……
Last week, I hope you remember, we heard of the
glory of Jesus as we see it on the Mount of Transfiguration. Where the gospel
tells us of the glory, the radiance, the light the disciples saw in and through
Jesus, up there on the mountain, that light, that radiance, which
speaks of the Father’s presence.
Well, here in John’s gospel,
Jesus speaks of glory.
But this now is hidden glory -
the glory we see here is the glory of Jesus’ love, the glory of His wonderful
perfect life, the glory of His self giving and sacrifice for our sakes
We read these words in the gospel
the Lord says -
I tell you the truth, unless a grain of wheat falls to
the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if
it dies, it produces many seeds.
Jesus is Himself that grain of
wheat,
who
has given Himself for us,
who
has taken our distance from God,
who
has taken our sinfulness,
who
has come to where we are as outsiders
and
brought us into the kingdom
brought
us into God’s close presence
and
given us His own holiness………
He is Himself that grain of
wheat
and
through His death, a great harvest is
being brought in throughout the world,
a
harvest that includes you and me
through
the self giving, the self giving love of Jesus for our sakes………….
and it is this deepest pattern of life
He calls us to…………… we read these words of
Jesus:
25 whoever loves his own life will lose it,
26
Whoever wants to serve
me must follow me;
What is it that He calls us to ?
He calls us to - the grain of wheat life……..
Jesus calls us to a way of life
following Him,
calls
us to follow His way of life,
the
way of life,
a life
of great richness,
in
which
we
give of ourselves.
We give of ourselves, above all
to our Father in heaven, and His Son our Lord Jesus,
and
give of ourselves to and for those round about us.
The word of Jesus is that to
live this way is to live life in abundance,
and in
the grain of wheat life, we find joy,
happiness, fulfilment and fruitfulness
For this is His promise…
“my servant will be with me where I am And my
Father will honour anyone who serves me.”
AMEN