As Jesus prepares his followers for the Passion, we’re invited to see beyond our own expectations of good and evil.
Jesus keeps inviting us to see what could be
Lent 5B | John 12:20-33
Cynical Leadership
When reading around this week’s gospel, this is what I ran into just a few verses before it: 9 through 11.
“When the great crowd of Judeans learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.”
This passage really struck me this week. What a cynical response to what has happened.
Jesus has literally raised a man from the dead. People are coming out of the woodwork to see this. And people who have no reason to believe him are starting to.
So what do the people in power do?
Plot an assassination. Actually, correction: plot a second assassination. They were already planning to kill Jesus! So it is not just Jesus, the subject of their obsession, but the embodied miracle himself that is now the target.
The Temple leaders see the life of Lazarus as a problem for them. A problem for God. So they start planning to answer God’s gift of life with the punishment of death.
This backwards vision of life is something we can probably recognize in our own world. The way a country will bomb others for peace or kill to prove killing is wrong.
It’s also kind of House of Cards isn’t it? We have a problem, so we best just make it go away. And certainly without the self-reflection that this self-preservation is itself evil.
More than two sides
We’re so inclined to saying that any story has just two sides. On the one hand, there’s Lazarus being brought back from the dead, which is good. And on the other, are some powerful people who are worried about their tradition.
This is how we often cast our own events: with an either/or frame. We remind each other to see things “from the other side.”
But there’s often far more than two sides. And in this case, one group, the leaders are literally talking about killing somebody who they think makes them look bad. There is no “other side,” but everyone else. We really don’t need to help them justify a murder plot.
This is the background for Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem. We’ll explore that next week. But here, in John’s telling, we see the plotting of the powerful. Who witness how the people are flocking to a new teacher. And how their eyes fill with jealousy and rage.
This is the context of this morning’s gospel. People of faith, seeking Jesus, seeing him as not merely a faith healer, but as something far more than that. Who has Lazarus for his proof of true divine power.
In the background
Perhaps Jesus seems even more threatening as he isn’t simply attracting Hebrew people as their Messiah, but now Greeks as well. His message about a loving and merciful God has transcended tradition and is appealing to people who aren’t supposed to count.
The “sides” in this equation are multiplying.
This is supposed to be good. We’re supposed to love the idea that God is redeeming the world. But these leaders are so afraid of losing their power. And to this nobody from up north?
It is far easier to make this win/lose and us/them. Good and evil. With God or against God.
So they grumble in the background. Scheme. Plot. Prepare for their chance.
And for us, this is truly in the background. It isn’t the primary focus of the story. It’s what lurks behind the story.
At the front of the story
At the front is this growing interest, the fruitful multiplying of faith. Outsiders become newcomers and newcomers reach out to members and members reach out to Jesus: they want to see you. Seeds planted are growing. New life is born from old. We’re seeing a transformation and innovation of faith in real time.
This is the story at the front of our vision; in the light. A way of being that is generous and courageous. Let us see, too!
They come because of Lazarus, of course. The miracle. A man raised from the dead. From Bethany? That town outside the city? Huh. Isn’t that interesting? God is doing a new thing. Dare we say that? Is it possible? God is with us, restoring us, bringing us new life. Let’s check it out!
Jesus Shifts Gears
The story suddenly shifts gears as Jesus pronounces his troubles with what is in store. That scheming in the background will eventually come into the foreground. We, like Jesus, know it’s there.
And just as sudden, the voice responds from heaven, leaving the people dumbstruck and conflicted. Is it thunder? or Is it an angel? Dare they consider it divine? A sign?
Jesus answers the unspoken question, saying that the voice is for the witnesses. The point is, of course, that God has answered their questions and their curiosity is rewarded.
Yes, this is the guy.
And Jesus keeps their focus.
“…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.”
It’s hard to hear these words and not think There’s a new sheriff in town.
The Invitation
It is easy to see how we get from here to the Passion. And we know scared people do bad things. So it is tempting to give justifications for it. Like, Clearly they’re having a bad day. And Jesus is making it easy enough. He walks into their scapegoating trap.
Of course, that doesn’t make it right. Or even, sadly, inevitable. Simply predictable.
Let us resist the impulse again this week to skip forward. To the story we know is coming. It’s foreshadow looming over all of Lent. It’s prediction captured throughout Jesus’s teaching. The background story will come to the front soon enough.
Let us, instead, remain in the space in which different options are available. That murder is not justified or inevitable. That humiliation and religious purity are not an excuse for ungodly actions.
In a moment when Jesus is offering us an entirely different path forward, we are invited to accept this as our invitation. One without violence or vengeance, but generosity and mercy. One that does not fear the loss of cultural dominance, but embraces the glory of God’s expanding grace. That we might bear witness ourselves to its flourishing in our community.
This is our second chance. Let us not mistake the fruit that grows in our midst, killing it a second time. These are not weeds. They are people. Loved by God. And invited to this big party.