FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT – YEAR B
IT IS NOT EASY TO GET ALONG WITH GOD
A father who felt accused by the children of having deceived them, of not seeking their good, but their downfall, would be seized by despair. He may be indignant, vent his bitterness or quite discouraged, in sorrowful silence. This defamatory charge was often implied by the Israelites’ complaint against Moses, "Why did you make us leave Egypt, to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?" (Ex 17:3). Moses felt deeply that the charge was directed at God. At Kadesh-Barnea, the Israelites came upon a race of giants and were frightened to the point of considering themselves locusts in front of them. They thought that God had deceived them, led them into that country to make them perish by the sword, and they said to one another, "Let us choose a leader and return to Egypt" (Num 14:1-4).
Nothing could offend the Lord more than this lack of confidence on the part of his people. With bold anthropomorphism (human language), the sacred author puts in God’s mouth this reaction: "How long will these people spurn me? How long will they refuse to believe me, despite the signs I performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them" (Num 14:11). The language is very expressive: it shows how much God remains hurt if someone suspects that he desired the death, not the life of a person.
The paths indicated by the Lord seem to flow into death, but the ultimate goal is life. We would have every reason not to believe him if Jesus did not walk this path first and if he had not given us, along with a new heart, the courage to trust and follow him.
"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, give us a heart like yours."
First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
A brief historical introduction helps us to understand this oracle, one of the most famous of the Old Testament. Jeremiah spoke it during the reign of the pious Josiah, one of the few kings to whom the Bible rendered an accolade. He was the grandson of Manasseh, the most wicked of the kings who had introduced religious corruption and moral decadence in Israel during his nearly fifty years of reign.
Josiah was only eight years old when he ascended the throne. He was educated by wise guardians and grew up with a loving spirit, caring for the poor, respecting the law of the Lord. He carried out profound religious, political and social reforms. He thus awakened the dormant hopes of spiritual rebirth, of a restoration of the glorious reigns of David and Solomon, and a reconquest of the northern lands occupied by the Assyrians.
Jeremiah carefully accompanied the political choices of the young king and, while not openly siding in his favor, he agreed to the reforms. During these years, the oracles of consolation contained in Chapters 30–33 were composed, and today’s reading is taken from there. The prophet addresses God’s loving invitation to the people who, for years, had endured many misfortunes: "Weep no more and wipe the tears of your eyes… There is hope for your descendants; your children will return to their own borders" (Jer 31:16). It is the announcement of the return of the Israelites deported to Nineveh by the Assyrians in 722 BCE.
In the first part of the passage (vv. 31-32), the error of breaking God’s covenant is denounced. It had led to the exile, and then the surprising response of the Lord to the sin of the people is recounted. At Mount Sinai, the Israelites had concluded an alliance: "Taking them by the hand" (v. 32), the Lord had brought them out of Egypt. He committed himself to protect and fill them with blessings. He had assured them of a prosperous and joyful life, provided that they followed his advice and listened to his words. Israel had solemnly pledged to remain faithful to this alliance but, unfortunately, her story was a series of betrayals, and the consequences were catastrophic. It was not God who repented of the failures of his people and punished them. The truth is that sin always brings with it the seeds of death, which cause the ruin of those who commit it (Pro 13:6).
Can the Lord resign himself to the infidelity of his people, considering it inevitable? He answered this question: "How can I give you up, Israel? … My heart is troubled within me, and I am moved with compassion … for I am God and not human" (Hos 11:8-9). He will enter into a new covenant with Israel, different from previous ones that have proven unsuccessful.
The second part of the passage (vv. 33-34) explains, in detail, how he will act to involve his people in response to faithful love. At Sinai, God wrote His ‘ten words’ on the stone. They showed Israel the journey of life, as road signs indicate the direction to follow. But the sign does not communicate the energy to reach the goal. Although based on just and holy laws, the old covenant was doomed to failure because people had not the strength to be faithful. With incisive expression, Jeremiah expressed himself thus:" You know, Lord, that man’s life is not within his own control and it is not for him to direct his steps!" (Jer 10:23).
God has decided, therefore, on a new covenant, not a remake of Sinai’s, but a qualitatively different one. The radical change is in the newness of the law: no more sets of rules and prohibitions that the partner is required to observe, but an inner dynamism. At Sinai, the Lord had engraved his words on tablets of stone. He now sculpts them in his people’s hearts. For a Jew, the heart is the will, passions and courage, knowledge, and memory seat. All the senses of the body refer to the heart: "My heart has seen much," says Ecclesiastes (Ecl 1:16); "Give me, therefore, an understanding mind" is the prayer of Solomon to the Lord (1 K 3:9).
It is the heart of stone that makes Israel numb and unable to adhere to the word of God (Ezk 36:26); "Speak from a double heart" is the term used to indicate the duplicity and insincerity of a person (Ps 12:3). Jesus also believed that all personal choices come from the heart (Mk 7:21-22). If God wanted to make his people faithful, he could not simply give orders, suggest behaviors. Everything would remain useless until he intervened directly at the level of the heart. And so, his promise: "I shall give you a new heart" (Ezk 36:26) and, in the words of Jeremiah: "They will come back to me with all their heart" (Jer 24:7).
In today's passage, the same message is conveyed through the image of the Lord's law engraved in the soul, written on the heart (v. 33). It’s no longer an external imposition, then, but an inner need, and desire, to behave well, a divine impulse that leads us to think and act according to God’s will. The commandments and precepts will then become superfluous because all will spontaneously adhere to the Lord's will, from the smallest to the greatest, moved by God’s Spirit. When will this prophecy be fulfilled? This is the question we ask. Who feels free from all weakness and fragility and deeply moved to be faithful to God? Who is more saddened by his moral misery?
"Those born of God do not sin, for the seed of God remains in them; they cannot sin because they are born of God," assures John (1 Jn 3:9). But who, even among Christians who have signed the pact of the new and everlasting covenant in the Eucharist, can claim to have achieved this goal? What we observe in ourselves and others can lead to pessimism. To many, it seems that everything continues like the time in which the law of God was written on stone, and the world appears similar even to the time before the flood when God saw “the wickedness of man on the earth and that evil was always the only thought of his heart” (Gen 6:5).
Nevertheless, the promise of the Lord has already begun to be realized; but we should not expect a miraculous and immediate change in the human heart that “is set on evil from childhood" (Gen 8:21). The law of God is gradually grafted upon the human heart, located in the depths like a seed that develops and provides abundant fruit in a slow but irresistible way. The one who has received the divine seed of the Spirit is like a newborn baby (1 P 2:1-3), is fragile and in need of help, but he has in himself the principle of life that allows him to grow spiritually and become an adult.
Second Reading: Hebrews 5:7-9
It would be difficult to follow the path suggested by Christ if he had merely pointed to it and urged people to follow it. The Letter to the Hebrews answers our doubts and uncertainties, recalling a truth easily forgotten: we are not alone in this journey; Jesus accompanies us. He lived our own experience and has passed through all our temptations(Heb 2:17; 4:15).
Today’s passage focuses mainly on his reaction to pain and death. Jesus experienced what every person experience in similar situations. He turns to the Father asking for help, if possible, to spare him from suffering and death (v. 7). He prayed, calling on God to reveal his will and the meaning of what was happening to him.
The reading continues: "Although he was Son, he learned through suffering what obedience was" (v. 8). A few verses earlier, the author had said: "He is able to understand the ignorant and erring, for he himself is subject to weakness" (v. 2). These are moving statements. Jesus did not behave like those who give provisions, and orders, carefully avoiding being involved in the drama and anguish of those who have to perform them. He did not stay in heaven impassively watching human suffering. Instead, he made himself a traveling companion. He was first to go through the path of humiliation and death. That's why we can trust him when he calls us to follow him.
Gospel: John 12:20-33
Some Greeks were among the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem for the Passover. They had heard of Jesus and manifested their desire to meet him to Philip. Philip spoke with Andrew and together, they reported the request to the Master (vv. 20-22). The fact itself seems trivial, but the evangelist’s reference to it means that it contains an important message. Who are these ‘Greeks’? This term indicated those pagans who cultivate dsympathy for the Jewish religion or were converted to Judaism. Although they are not Abraham’s children, they were respected and loved by the Israelites. They considered these Greeks the first fruits of those peoples and nations that, according to the prophecies, would one day be streaming to Jerusalem to be trained in the ways of the Lord (Is 2:3).
Jesus referred to them when, shortly before, he had said: "I have other sheep which are not of this fold; these I have to lead as well, and they shall listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock since there is one shepherd" (Jn 10:16-17). Here they are now the‘ other sheep’ who come to him to receive his Gospel.
“They had come up to Jerusalem” (v. 20); therefore, they had already covered a good part of their spiritual journey before meeting Jesus. They had learned from their fathers to worship idols. As soon as they discovered the God of Israel, they embraced the Jewish religion. They were desirous of becoming partakers of the blessings promised to Abraham. They had come up to Jerusalem to celebrate their new faith, but perhaps also to discover what was the next step that God expected of them. In the depths of the heart, they perceived they had not yet reached the ultimate goal to which the Lord was calling them.
The need reveals the spiritual restlessness they felt to see Jesus. This is not a trivial curiosity, a little frivolous desire to meet the star of the moment, to know him whom everyone is looking for because he has raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 12:9). In the Gospel of John, the verb ‘to see’ is to grasp the essence of a person. This is its meaning in the prologue of the Gospel. When John says, "We have seen his glory" (Jn 1:14), he means to affirm he belonged to the group of those who understood who Jesus really was.
These Greeks were not interested in what features Jesus had, how he dressed and presented himself. They wanted to find out his identity and know whether he could give them a new role in their lives. The Greeks do not go directly to Jesus. They go through his disciples because this is the only way. It is only by going through the community that one can come to Christ. They do not appeal to just any of the apostles. They turn to Philip and Andrew, the only ones among the twelve, who have Greek names and, perhaps for this reason, they are considered the most suitable to act as mediators.
Andrew has already appeared at the beginning of the Gospel. He was one of the two disciples who were following the Baptist. The two disciples heard Jesus’ invitation: "Come and see" (1:39). They had gone to him, had seen him, and immediately felt the need to talk about him to others. For this, they can accompany anyone who wants to see him. Now the meaning of the passage becomes clear. The Greeks who wish to see Jesus represent all Gentiles. Their spiritual journey is the same as that every person eager to become a disciple must travel.
We do not know if they were then led to Jesus or not; John leaves them out of the scene, as he did with Nicodemus. Their presence served as a ploy to prepare the ground for the topic that he wanted to develop. He aims to show Jesus to his readers. Here is why, instead of concluding the story, John introduces a discourse where Jesus makes himself clearly seen (vv. 23-32), showing his true face. Jesus begins with an image taken from the agricultural world: for the precious ears of wheat to germinate in the field, the grains must disappear in the earth. A hundredfold life can bloom only after their death.
The application is dramatic: the stakes are life, and it comes down to choosing what values should be aimed for. Jesus makes his bewildering, absurd proposal: the only fully realized life is the one consumed by love. First, he offers his own life and this is his glory. This is the revelation of the glory of his Father. We are the antithesis of the Greek conception (and now we understand why John has staged the ‘Greeks’).
In Greek, the term ‘aristoi’ had been coined to indicate the best, the successful people, the ‘aristocrats.’ Aristoi were able to achieve a remarkable position in society, those who got what gives prestige: imperishable fame and honor. Jesus believes this ideal of life is a foolish proposal, a diabolic suggestion that—the evangelists remind us—was also given to him: "Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain, and showed him all the nations of the world in all their greatness and splendor. And he said, ‘All this I will give you if you kneel down and worship me’" (Mt 4:8-9). Jesus explains to the Greeks and all his listeners that true glory is to fall into the ground and die to bear much fruit.
Now is the crucial moment of his mission, and he was tempted to run away, to ask the Father to be saved from that hour. However, he knows that only through his death, the Father will reveal to the world his immense love for people. Behold, at that moment, confirmation from the sky comes: in Jesus who gives himself, the Father declares himself perfectly reflected, expressing the fullness of his glory.
There is no need to have known Jesus physically to see him. Anyone can contemplates true face, the one that, through today’s Gospel, he shows, a look: "many have been horrified at his disfigured appearance" (Is 52:13); "He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows familiar with grief, a man from whom people hide their face, spurned and considered of no account" (Is 53:3).
Challenged by Jesus’ proposal, the subtler temptation is not that of refusal but that of falling into superficial religious practice instead of authentic adhesion to Christ in faith. There is the formal recitation of prayers and participation in rituals and celebrations a gift of life ... but as little as possible, and only with doubt and hesitation. The face Jesus shows to all ‘Greeks’ requires total commitment. His proposal is "a great scandal for the Jews and nonsense for the Greeks" (1 Cor 1:23), but only one who, like him, dies for the brothers and sisters, is a successful person in the eyes of God.